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Challenges at St. Peter's School
In this first-hand account, Sr. Christiana Sidi writes about her work as head teacher in St. Peter's Nursery/Primary School, Ndeaboh in Enugu State, Nigeria. Sr. Chrissy received her master's degree in education at Notre Dame de Namur University. While she enjoyed going to school in the U.S. and being part of the CA Notre Dame community in Belmont, she was eager to return home to Nigeria and teach.
There are few public primary schools in the village and their quality of education is poor. St. Peter's is the only Catholic nursery/primary school in Ndeaboh, and it strives to provide a quality education at an affordable cost so that many families can send their children to school. The village is remote and people are mostly farmers. 
The population of the school is 337 pupils with 18 members of staff. Three Sisters of Notre Dame work in the school. The school has both nursery and primary sections. The teachers are not highly paid as the only source of income is the tuition paid by the pupils. This money is used to finance every need of the school. As a result, retaining qualified and experienced teachers is a constant challenge.
Presently, the classes have over 30 pupils with one teacher, except for the nursery classes. This congestion frequently poses a problem of classroom management and all that comes with it.
There is a constant shortage of text books, writing materials, and instructional materials as parents cannot afford them. We improvise and make do with whatever we have. Because the school is located in the rural area of the state, I often travel on public motor bikes to Enugu City for school business for something as simple as making a photo copy or typing a document or purchasing school supplies. This can be very stressful, risky and tiring.
There is no electricity, clean water or good roads in Ndeaboh. We use candles, kerosene lamps and collect rain water in big water tanks for use. Some pupils trek a long distance, as far as 6 kilometers to school. There are no buses for transportation as the children come from the interior villages.
Despite all these challenges, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur are happily working in Ndeaboh in response to the call of the gospel and the spirit of St. Julie. We are trying to do our best to "give the children what they need for life," as St. Julie enjoins us to do. We have seen good results and this is our motivation to continue spreading the news that God is good!
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