At the Hermina jump, a difficult passage near the town of Apatou, you have to zigzag between the rocks, being careful of the current which risks turning over or smashing the canoes against the reefs.
The most experienced canoeists carry out the maneuvers. “I put a senior, it was he who trained the two youngest” canoeists, also on board, comments Madeleine Akatia, manager of the AKM company, which ensures the transport of people and goods on the Maroni.
Despite the canoeist's dexterity, the hull hit several times, causing jolts. “You see, that’s why we no longer transport primary school students,” says Madeleine Akatia.
The situation has been going on since the beginning of October. She does not want to take a risk by having children take this leap, most of whom are under 10 years old. On the other hand, the line which transports middle school students still works. “But the children go down, cross the jump on foot and get back in the canoe afterwards.”
Upstream of the Hermina jump there are several kampoe, dwellings gathered away from the town. The children who live there depend on the canoes to get to school. Along with planes and helicopters, canoes are one of the means of ensuring communication with the communities located upstream of Apatou. Their thousands of inhabitants depend largely on the river to receive freight.
Such a drought, “we hadn't seen that for years”, sighs Madeleine Akatia, who has distant memories of a year “when we could cross the Maroni on foot”.
The phenomenon affects “all of Guyana and the Amazon basin”, Emily Perquin, from Météo France, explains to AFP. The territory has experienced a rain deficit which has lasted for 18 months.
At Ma Aiyé college, in Apatou, the management has adjusted the timetables, because the canoe journeys have been lengthened by the part that the students have to cover on foot.
– Educational continuity –
For the 22 students concerned, “that adds about an hour of transportation. So that they don't arrive at night, we make them leave an hour earlier,” explains Alice Joseph, the principal of the establishment.
Since the beginning of November, the situation has gotten worse: “the canoes arrive late”, laments the head of the establishment, who asked teachers to adapt their lessons. If the risk becomes too great, “we will take the necessary measures (…) this is one of the first missions of the head of the establishment: the safety of property and people”.
“Two weeks before the (All Saints’ Day) school holidays, around fifteen students were no longer present,” says Emmanuelle Saroul, director of Lambert Amayota elementary school, which has 256 students. So families get organized. Some moved outside the kampoe, others entrusted their children to people living in the town.
In 20 years of presence in Apatou, this is the first time that the director has seen such a drought. “We have directives from the rectorate, we are trying to find alternative means to ensure educational continuity, but it is the children furthest away who are the most impacted,” notes Emmanuelle Saroul.
Out of all the establishments in the town, “around fifty schoolchildren can no longer go to school”, details the mayor, Moïse Edwin.
The councilor is also concerned about the delivery of drinking water: “we try to load the canoes as little as possible, but if the level of the Maroni continues to fall, we will have to contact the state services to see how we can transport it by air.”
Throughout Guyana, eight river school transport lines have already been interrupted, according to the prefect, Antoine Poussier.
He also keeps an eye on food freight. The local airline Guyane Fly and the armed forces are mobilized to transport water and food to communities without roads.
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