By Sher Betz | Co-Founder, Association Les Amis de Hampate Ba
Dear Friends and Supporters!
October is back to school time in Niger and we are thrilled to share the latest news about the Hampate Ba scholarship girls. But we are even happier that our dream of keeping these girls in school throughout Middle and High School is actually happening.
The grand goal of offering them all an education that not only provides them with factual knowledge and technical skills to obtain diplomas, but also enables them to branch out, develop self-esteem, learn social skills, feel confident in being a woman able to access resources and opportunities, and pursue a career, is becoming a reality.
We are happy to report that our girl students are growing and developing beautifully. Some of them have just succeeded in graduating from high school with a Baccalaureate Diploma and have been admitted to top universities in Niamey with hopes of becoming lawyers, judges, and fiscal experts. Others have received their Brevet, BEPC at the end of Middle School and are proud to be able to continue high school studies or still others with the BEPC have decided to learn a trade and have chosen to attend vocational training centers, mainly to be nurses or health assistants. These girls are quite different than they were as young 6th graders when they first entered Hampate Ba Middle school years ago. They are like babies taking less wobbly and more assured steps. We are proud of their achievements and exhilirated to witness the impact of the actions we put in place for them in realms of art, technology, and home economics, in addition to academics.
Our charity is growing and gaining traction, but our support is still very much needed. In Niger, the rate of early marriage is 78%. Without our help, most of our girl students would NOT have been in secondary school. Not being able to afford their school fees, their parents would have probably married them off at 13 or 14 and they would be talking about their difficult pregnancies, their babies’ health problems, their lack of independence and their difficult economic situation.
Instead, here is what our high school graduates have to say about their new studies :
« Thank you so much for your support and understanding. This college is really the school for us. We have learned so many new things and that allows us to be aware. We learn about leadership, the spirit of ethics and what behavior to adopt to change things in our desire to positively change Niger, our country. Change starts with US, the young leaders. » Salifou, 19 yrs. Old
« It’s with great pleasure that I thank you for your help in financing my studies. I am truly grateful and at a loss for words. I could never thank you enough. The first day went well at my new college: there was a conference with all the professors and administration. I am so lucky to be in this university and it’s all thanks to the education I received at Hampate Ba School and the support of the generous donors. I am really so happy.You can count on me for good grades; that is the only thing I can offer you.» Hadiza, 18 yrs. old.
« I dont’ know how to thank you for this wonderful gift of an education that you have offered me. It is thanks to your constant support over the years that I am able to attend this university that gives me so many opportunities and each day I set foot in this university, I can’t stop thinking how grateful I am, but also imagining what my life would have been without your help Thank you again so much » Fatouma -19 yrs.
Our charity, les Amis de Hampate Ba, sincerely thanks you for your generosity because you, our donors, have been very active players by: sponsoring these girl students’ tuition fees so they could stay in secondary school and by funding tools & equipment . This will surely result in many positive outcomes, including later ages of marriage, lower fertility, and healthier and better educated children.
Thank you for your help, your support and your belief that these underprivileged girls can develop their talents. Please continue aiding us so we can keep these girls in school and ultimately guide them towards their career path.
We need your donations to make this difference in their lives. Thank you
By Sher and Thierry Betz | Co-Founders, Association Les Amis de Hampate Ba
By Sher Betz-Cooper | Co-founder
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