Introduction
“Sur le chemin de l’école” (2013) is a film by Pascal Plisson depicting the journey to school of children in different parts of the world. Salome and Jackson are one of four sets of people featured in the film.
Script
Narrator: This is the first time that Salome and her brother Jackson have been outside Kenya where they belong to a Masai tribe. So when they arrived in Paris, the exotic Jardin d’Acclimatation seemed almost like a home from home. Pascal Plisson, a French documentary maker, made a film about their lives in Kenya. Everyday the siblings have to walk across 20 km of savannah to go to school. It’s a journey full of obstacles and carries the risk of meeting dangerous wild animals.
Jackson, Student: If there’s an animal in front of you, it’s better not to try and walk past because that could put your life in danger. Once we saw an elephant in front of our house. You know elephants can’t see very well, but they can smell human beings perfectly well. This elephant had smelled us before we even realized he was there so we walked into him and he started chasing after us and we ran! I want to finish primary school and go on to secondary school and then to university to become a professor.
Narrator: Jackson and Solome are one of four sets of people featured in the film “Sur le Chemin de l’école” (“On the Way to School”) which was premiered in Paris. All the stories in the film deal with young people who are prepared to make extreme efforts to get an education.
Pascal Plisson: We came across fifty extraordinary stories of journeys and we had to choose which to film. I found these four stories outstanding because they’re only kids, but they’re really determined to go to school. The advantage they have, these kids who live at the end of the Earth, is that they learn to cope on their own very early, to be courageous, to look after their young siblings etc.. They are, in fact, more mature then Western European kids and they are determined to go to school because they know that, with education, their lives will improve.
Narrator: Certainly being determined to get to school has resulted in a life changing journey for Salome and Jackson.
Quiz
1. When they arrived in Paris, the exotic Jardin d’Acclimatation seemed almost like a ______. Discussion
- How far did you have to travel to get to school as a child? Did you travel by bus, train, car, bicycle, or some other form of transport?
- Did you ever feel that you were in any danger during your daily commute to and from school?
- How close are we to ensuring that all children in the world can exercise their right to education?