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You're watching UNICEF Television.

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We are in Gayak, a small village in the extreme north of Cameroon.

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This region has the lowest rate of school enrollment in the country.

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Farm work, livestock, daily chores, and more importantly, poverty, keeps one in three boys

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and one in two girls from attending school.

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At the beginning, girls didn't go to school in these regions.

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They were only prepared for marriage.

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This is a real problem.

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Even now it remains like that in some families.

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Mothers generally refuse to send the girls to school, and mothers can't do anything about

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it.

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They are completely submissive.

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Mothers of students set up an association in order to encourage fellow mothers to send

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their daughters to school.

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One of the most frequent challenges in the area is the inability of women to read and

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understand their children's health report.

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The social success of educated women is also emphasized.

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I couldn't go to school myself, so when I see other women that are educated, I want

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my daughter to go to school.

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Sending and keeping girls in school is only possible through the solidarity that exists

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between mothers and with support from the educational system, the state, development

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partners, and traditional chiefs.

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We want girls to be responsible, therefore we have to educate them as we would educate

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the boys.

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The village has opened and runs a preschool class.

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At the primary school, a children's government was set up so that students could participate

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in regard to questions related to daily life and hygiene, and to intervene when children

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leave school under the pressure of their parents.

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My parents told me to abandon school.

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The children's government came to visit us at home.

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As a result, I returned to school.

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I hope everything will be alright.

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I want to keep going to school, but we don't have money.

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Poverty remains a major obstacle to keeping girls at school.

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The strong mobilization of stakeholders is what will help Cameroon achieve these objectives.

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This is Natasha Ekoli reporting for UNICEF Television.

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Unite for Children.