Help 80 Secondary Pupils in Niger Read and Write

Dear Friends,

 We came, we met them, we met their families, & we met their needs!

Who are we talking about? We have an amazing story to tell about 9 of our scholarship students at Hampaté Bâ School who are presenting their baccalaureate this year. We had the honor of meeting them during our recent trip to Niger in February.

Some years ago… We founded les Amis de Hampaté Bâ to provide a quality secondary education to unprivileged youth in Niamey, and especially girls, who had no access to secondary education, without our help. We fully supported the Hampaté Bâ School’s philosophy to give more to those who had less and we wanted to give girls opportunities for a brighter future than being married at 12.

And so our adventure began… with giving scholarships to a group of young students with low levels of reading and writing skills and with illiterate parents who couldn’t help them with homework. Thanks to you all, we were able to provide school fees, books, uniforms, meals and especially high-level tutoring classes taught by motivated, trained teachers in small groups to bring the students up to level and avoid drop out. This same group of students who barely knew how to read and write, has now acquired excellent literacy skills through our accelerated tutoring programs at our Middle School and also through our newly opened High School in Niamey. Attending Hampaté Bâ has become a game-changer for them!

Here is the good news: After almost 7 years of perseverance and diligent hard work, we are proud to announce that 9 of our current 60 scholarship students have reached their Senior Year of High School and are presenting their baccalaureate in July 2018! Seven years of pursuing remediation classes after school have paid off! And 8 of the 9 students presenting their baccalaureate are GIRLS! Many other scholarship students are feeling encouraged by the testimonies of these 9 who have succeeded in reaching their senior year thanks to their after school remediation classes. Mission well accomplished!

Courage and Drawbacks : Getting a baccalaureate in Niger is not easy. Only 27% of those who apply, actually succeed. We congratulate heartily our 9 students for their hard work and bravery to have come this far despite the many drawbacks: the 45 degree heat, the long distances on foot, no electricity to study at night, strikes by student unions cancelling classes. The road to success demands, indeed, lots of courage. Next step: one full month of intense, relentless, concentrated preparation, requiring energy and hope. We wish these amazing students good luck and the excellent results they deserve.  

Encouraging Actions taken on site: We could not remain insensitive to the many needs of our 9 baccalaureate candidates on the last leg of their long road to graduation. To help them out, we immediately took action to provide exercise books, upscale private tutoring 7 days a week, orientation counseling, evaluations to target weaknesses, solar lamps to provide light at night to study, and shared transportation to get to remediation classes every day.

Thank you so much for your support. The students wouldn’t be where they are today without you!

Thank you all for participating in this worthwhile and uplifting cause and believing in us and the students! We are very encouraged by what we have seen during our trip this year, and there is still a lot to be done! We are also setting our sights on the next few years, as the challenge is still on for 51 more scholarship students currently in Middle School and the first of years of High School. Thanks a million to all of you who encourage these students to realize their dreams and seek a more productive life. Their future success will be possible because you continue to support them. Your donations count!

Our scholarship students applying for their baccalaureate are determined and grateful. As Fatchima expressed with great pride: “This is my 7th year here and I am now a candidate for the Scientific Baccalaureate. I WILL SUCCEED this exam. It is the least I can do to thank you for everything you have done for me. I am proud to be a scholarship student at Hampaté Bâ School.”   

You, our many donors, can be proud too!