Help 80 Secondary Pupils in Niger Read and Write

The small stone of your financial support is casting a wider and wider arc in the lives of students such as Aziz and Fatchima as they develop and flourish.

Aziz has come a long way since he was first sponsored by our Association, les Amis de Hampaté Bâ, in 2011. When Aziz first came to Hampaté Bâ School in 6^th grade, he was a bright and well behaved student, although very timid and shy. However, now he has matured into a confident young adolescent who has just received his BEPC (9^th grade diploma).  “The sponsorship has changed my life and I’m really looking forward to starting high school next year”, he says smiling.

He is one of the deserving beneficiaries of your generosity and not only has he learned to read and write, but he has become a star student. The next academic year, he will enter high school. The first one in his family to do so!

As for Fatchima, in four years, she has grown into a lovely talented young girl, full of life, and nurturing the dream of attending university. “Not many girls get to go to university, either because they are too poor or because they never get the chance to finish secondary school. I’m so lucky to have profited from the special tutoring program at Hampaté Bâ. For me it is very important to make my sponsors proud by succeeding in my studies.”

Our charity believes that education is the best foundation for building a better life for our students and the surrounding community. This is why we are dedicated to providing the opportunity of schooling and special tutoring classes to students like Aziz and Fatchima who are gifted and eager to learn, but are financially challenged. The more donors we have, the more we will be able to help underprivileged children get a quality education.

We hope that generous donors around the world will join us in this great cause!

Thank you so much!

Farida’s mother never went to school, but she clearly sees the benefit of sending her daughter to school, especially one as innovative as Hampaté Bâ Middle School: “Schooling opens the minds and the eyes of my daughter. Thanks to her knowledge, my family will be lifted out of darkness because she will learn many things that will be useful.”

Our organisation’s sponsorship programme is well into its fourth year of identifying high potential young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and giving them the opportunity to realise their potential in a school that is child-friendly and offers quality education.

Farida and her mother have embraced this opportunity and have fully invested themselves in what Hampaté Bâ has to offer. Even though Mrs Habi is illiterate and cannot help her daughter directly with her homework, she makes sure that all the house chores are not assigned to Farida as it is the custom in Niger. “My daughter has to concentrate on her schoolwork and so I make sure that she has enough time for that and I don’t burden her with house chores.”

When Farida first came to Hampaté Bâ, she could not read and write at the required level. The remedial program at our school to assist students in difficulty did wonders for her and other students by using a learning approach based on first UNDERSTANDING and only then MEMORIZING. As a result, some of these students have experienced almost two-year improvements in their reading and spelling ages as well as gaining self-confidence. “I was having problems with my school work, but the training helped me to improve my reading, spelling and writing. I am doing much better in class now and I feel better about myself. I will continue to work hard and also help other students,” says Farida with a radiant smile on her face.

Thanks to your on-going support, we are able to offer new scholarships annually to underprivileged girls entering 6^th grade and open a whole new world of learning to them. Just like Farida, new students every year are reaping the rewards of quality education offered by Hampaté Bâ Middle School. Look at the results! Attendance has increased significantly, student performance has improved, there are fewer repeats and drop outs, and presently the number of girls enrolled is actually higher than the number of boys!!

We are opening doors and making a difference in the lives of underprivileged Nigerien boys and girls thanks to your donations. If you are an existing donor, we thank you sincerely for your continual support. If you are not, we invite you to consider helping us make a difference. All amounts are welcome! Thank you.