Betharbel school: Giving hope to needy IDPs

Several internally displaced people’s camps litter the northeast, northwest, northcentral, and middle belt zones, no thanks to poor governance that gave rise to insurgency, banditry, and sundry crimes in the zones, which in turn led to the people being displaced and needing succour. Since the terrorist group Boko Haram launched its activities against the Nigerian state, there has been a surge of persons uprooted from the places they had called their homes.

Without a doubt, the most vulnerable among the displaced people are the children who need sound health, good shelter, and education to flourish. Their education, especially, cannot be over-emphasised.

The foregoing undoubtedly poses a great challenge, considering how difficult it can be to re-orientate disoriented and psychologically battered children.

Circumstances tend to lead to deviation in life’s course. This bears truth in how Mrs. Monisola Aiyekueshin has taken up the challenge of making a huge mark in the lives of the displaced children. While she was a teenager, she never thought of internally displaced people, let alone devoting her time and energy on them.

Today, life has turned full circle, as she finds herself devoting her life to the upliftment of the downtrodden children, even establishing the Betharbel Free Elementary School for the internally displaced in the Durumi area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja where she tends not only to the education of the children but also to other needs. Indeed, being deeply involved in the child development project is an understatement.

As a non-profit educational institution established by Betharbel Foundation to provide free education to the IDPs in Nigeria, the Betharbel Free Elementary School aims to bridge the education gap being endured in the crisis-ravaged areas of Nigeria which has left many children without access to formal education.

Needless to say, the children have since become a huge burden, as much as they are but also as little as Mrs. Aiyekueshin has taken it with calmness and resolve.

She said her strength in the face of the daunting challenge derives from the words of the late South African iconic leader, Dr. Nelson Mandela, that “education is the most powerful weapon which can be used to change the world.”

Mrs. Aiyekueshin was once a resident of Bayelsa State, where she did a lot of work with kids in the education sector. She ran a school over there and at the same time did a lot with the West African Examinations Council and NECO. Personal issues soon demanded that she relocate to the federal capital where she carried out a few tasks that she believed would help her settle in quickly. It was during this time that she encountered the IDPs. The sight of kids wasting away at the camps petrified her a lot as she pondered the future of Nigeria with such illiterate children.

The zeal to start off a school occupied her thoughts. Unfortunately, funding immediately proved a stumbling block. Notwithstanding, however, she founded Betharbel Free Elementary School for the IDPs.

It seems just like yesterday when she established the school in 2021, but it is already in its third year and despite the challenge of funding, the school has continued to waddle through problems by the sheer will to succeed and be reckoned by posterity.

Her inspiration to forge ahead derives from two sources: One, Maria Montessori, who said “The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say at the end, ‘the children are now working as if I did not exist.'” Two, Oprah Winfrey, also said “education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom.”

The proprietor runs a hundred percent free school, relying on donations from individuals, organizations, and philanthropists. But such a “chain of supply” cannot be expected to last for too long, considering the economic situation in the country at the moment. There are 110 displaced children and six staff members. The challenge in catering for all these can be gargantuan. But the proprietor and her staff are determined not to give up.

Mrs. Aiyekusehin is a trained educator who studied accounting and education, got certified by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, and later earned a master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Benin. She is educating the young ones to become a better version of them, having since put her challenges behind her to focus firmly on the future.

Recognition came last month as the Betharbel School, in conjunction with Queen Vee Chess Academy, received Canadian philanthropist, Daven Prashar-Savoie, in the school with loads of advantages to enjoy soon.