Refugees made to feel welcome
Educators, learners and parents at Clareville Primary School in Clare Estate, Durban, are still abuzz over the visit to the school by Nene Annan, wife of Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations.
Annan, accompanied by former President of the Netherlands Rudd Lubbers and Bemma Donkoh of the United Nation High Commission for Refugees in Ghana paid a visit to the school during the World Conference Against Racism late in August.
Annan was given a briefing by the principal on the school’s successful integration policies and later treated to a play by the South African Artists Network, with HIV/Aids and xenophobia as its themes.
Clareville Primary has a number of children of refugees at its school, and has gone out of its way to welcome them.
During her address, Annan told learners that all children were born equal and enjoyed basic human rights, such as food, education, shelter, protection and love.
Annan said she was pleased to hear that refugees had been integrated into the schooling system in South Africa, in particular at Clareville Primary.
Lubbers spoke about the international refugee problem and tried to explain why people flee countries of their birth. “All people share the same economic rights, such as employment, health care, schooling, food and water,” he said.
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, November 2001.