Moussa is glad to return to school

Moussa's First Day in Class

Moussa woke up this morning at 6am, even though it was difficult for him to wake up that early: “My SOS Mother woke me up. I was not able to get up on my own. I lost the habit of waking up early during the holidays,” he says. Once awake he organizes his bedroom, makes his bed, brushes his teeth and takes a shower before breakfast. “I got my school bag ready on my own. There aren't too many things in there because it is the first day of classes and we are still waiting for the complete list of school supplies,” he explains.

Classes start at 8am, but Moussa leaves the family house at 7:45 am. The school is located inside the Village in Abobo-Gare, and it only takes him about three minutes to walk to school. When he arrives at school, he believes that the SOS Hermann Gmeiner Primary School Abobo-Gare became smaller over the holidays. He says, “The school did not really change. I had this impression because I stayed at the Village in Aboisso during the crisis and, upon returning, I thought that the school had shrunk in size. But, in reality, it did not change at all.” Moussa was happy to see his friends again after being separated from them: “I saw some friends among the crowd; not all of them were there, because many are changing schools this year. I was happy to be with my friends again. Each was telling me how he spent his holidays; some of them had gone to their native villages, while the others did not travel anywhere during the holidays. We were very happy to see each other again,” he says.

Moussa hopes to enjoy his last year in primary school

“Last year, I was in 5th grade and my teacher’s name was Mr. Abe. This year, I am in 6th grade and my teacher's name is Mr. Dadie. For the first day of class, there was no lesson; Mr. Dadie just gave us some rules and advice for the school-year. He asked us to be very attentive in class, to learn our lessons and especially to know the multiplication tables well. He told us to avoid being afraid or ashamed of asking questions when we don’t understand a topic. We promised to follow his classroom rules.

The first short break came at ten o'clock. My friends and I had snacks which we brought with us to eat together. Then, we had a soccer party in the school yard.

The second break came at twelve o'clock when we went to the cafeteria for lunch. We ate rice with meat. After lunch, we had some time to rest before starting with the afternoon program. The first day of classes ended at 5 pm.

Once back home, my SOS Mother was happy to see me again. She asked me what we did and I told her everything. She also asked me if I had found my friends. After dinner, we started reviewing my lessons. I particularly started reviewing my multiplication tables, like Mr. Dadie said, and then I went to bed at about 9pm. What impressed me the most on my first day of 6th grade was that I was able to find my friends again.”

Moussa's Ambitions

"School has really started again, and we have to start getting back to work! I hope that my courses will go very well this school year. I also hope that Mr. Dadie will be a good teacher and explain the lessons well, and that at the end of the year I will obtain my diploma and move on to secondary education. I would also like for Dad Mathias (the Village Director) to continue to educate us as well as he always does.”

Moussa has many dreams for his future: “I wish to take up university studies someday. I would like to study law to become a judge and defend the weak. When I watch a movie where there is a judge I always dream that it is me. I like the job of a judge and it is what I would like to become when I grow up."

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