Rosalia's story (Angola)
Thirteen-year-old Rosalia Zita's story is typical of many young Angolans.
Her family was displaced during the country's long years of conflict, and she lost her father to malaria. She also missed many years of primary schooling because of the destruction of school and social infrastructure. But the recent renovation of Rosalia's school building is now bringing hope for a better future.
Rosalia is now enrolled in grade 4 at Primary School 103 in São João, Huembo. Her school's roof and walls were repaired last year, thanks to Schools for Africa. With the renovated facilities, Rosalia and her schoolmates – 959 boys and 975 girls – can attend school all year round, even during the rainy season.
Rosalia goes to school each morning until 12:30, then spends the afternoon caring for her extended family, cooking, cleaning, feeding the younger children and selling flowers with her sister to earn a few extra pennies. Her brother-in-law's job as a stone cutter brings in the equivalent of US$50 a month – barely enough to feed the family.
Rosalia studies hard, doing each day's homework in the evening when her domestic chores are finished. She wants to become a teacher, but since she can't afford textbooks of her own, she has to copy the lessons from classmates. A Portuguese-language textbook costs around US$30 – more than half the family's monthly earnings.
