1. Walking… to school

2. School is important. At school you can learn things that will help you when you are older. But many children around the world do not have the opportunity to go to school. CAFOD works with communities all around the world in lots of different ways. One way is to work with families so that they are able to send their children to school.

3. Hi, my name is Joe and I live in London. I walk to school everyday. Part of my journey is through the park! Do you walk to school? How long does your journey take?

4. If it takes you 10 minutes to walk to school your journey is the same as Erik in Honduras. Hi my name is Erik and I am eleven years old. I live in Honduras in Latin America. I like school and when I grow up I want to be a mechanic. When I am not at school I look after my cow and I also take care of the fish in our fish tank. We have 50 of them and we grow them to eat.

5. If it takes you 30 minutes to walk to school your journey is the same as Amira and Ekram in Southern Sudan. Photo ref BGT33535 Hello! I’m Amira and I’m 10 years old. This is my sister Ekram, she’s 8. In 2001 our school had to close because there was fighting. Now it is safe for us to travel to school again, which makes me very happy! Before, only boys were allowed to go to school but now nearly one third of the children at my school are girls. I am learning English at school and at home I speak Arabic.

6. If it takes you more than an hour to walk to school then your journey is similar to Ganggang in the Philippines. Hi my name is Ganggang and I am 12 years old. I have a long walk to school every day. It takes me two and a half hours to get there. I leave at 7am and get to school after nine. There is a group of us that walk together. It's very tiring! I like school though and I'd like to be a teacher when I grow up. Maths is my favourite class. At home I help by washing the clothes and fetching water from the well. My favourite game is playing tag with my friend who lives next door.

7. Erik, Amira, Ekram and Ganggang are all able to go to school. But some children can’t go to school. Let’s visit Zambia where CAFOD has been working together with villagers to make sure their children can still have lessons even when it isn’t safe for them to travel to school.

8. When the heavy rains cut of the remote village of Kalisowe in Southern Zambia the children had lessons with a difference! It was too dangerous to walk to school as the rivers were very full and the children could not cross them safely.

9. CAFOD has worked with the Chikuni Radio station so the children can have their lessons broadcast over the air waves to their radio school!

10. Remember Erik, Amira, Ekram, Ganggang and the children at the radio school in Zambia when you are walking to school.

11. www.cafod.org.uk/primary Photos by: Marcella Haddad, Annie Bungeroth, Simon Rawles and Caroline Irby August 2007