Amina, Sadia and Ousseina : Thriving, succeeding, and shining!
We are honored to announce that students in Paris, France gave a Spring Concert on May 24th with proceeds going to our Girl Empowerment Project: “Let them Learn” promoting equal access to quality education for teen girls in Niger.
In conjunction with the current United Nations Girl Education Initiative, this program dedicated to gender equality aims to finance secondary education of adolescent girls in Niger, one of the 5 poorest countries in the world. Despite severe and ongoing challenges in Niger limiting educational opportunities for girls, with only 6% enrolled in secondary school, this great project aims to break the poverty cycle and encourage self- respect for girl students. We want to increase the number of scholarships for girls and focus on specific girl-oriented educational innovations: finance a specialized home economics teacher, discourage early marriage, teach hygiene and home economic skills and promote nutrition. According to students like Amina, Sadia and Ousseina attending this Girl Empowerment Program:
“The atmosphere in our home economics class is positive, pressure-free and non-competitive. That is why I feel so comfortable in that class.”
“I’ve just learned that too much salt and mono-sodium glutamate are not good for one’s health. The bouillon cubes my mother uses in her cooking contain plenty of those ingredients! I’ll ask her to use them more sparingly.”
“Before, at home, I had to cook dinner, and wash up and do all the other house chores which girls are expected to help with. Now my parents allow me to spend more time on my homework.”
The benefits of providing students like Amina, Sadia and Ousseina with a Girl Empowerment Program at the Amadou Hampaté Bâ School are clear. They are more likely to enter the work force, earn higher incomes, delay marriage, plan their families, and seek an education for their own children. Their children will more likely be healthy and survive past the age of 5. When they earn income, they will put 90% into their families, compared to only 40% for men.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela
Thank you for changing the world of these girls. With your help, we are doing it! Your continued support and generous donations allow them to have the freedom to learn.
Fatchima and Abdoul-Rahim : “We count and so do our talents and human qualities!”
LES AMIS DE HAMPATE BA IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS IN DIVERSE RANGE OF FIELDS AND ACTIVITIES
Every year the French Cultural Center in Niamey organizes a Spelling Bee contest with the purpose of providing young students with the opportunity to participate in a positive, competitive spelling exchange to improve their French language, spelling capabilities, comprehension and communication skills. This year, one of the 8th graders from our school, was able to go all the way to the semi finals ! We praise and congratulate him for this amazing accomplishment. He did not win first place, but what mattered was his participation and the fact that by doing his best he got that far in the competition. The lessons learned by participating in a spelling bee can last a lifetime and benefit all concerned.
As Alhousseïni, our Spelling Bee candidate, remarked :
“I am just thankful that I got to compete at a National Spelling Bee competition for my school. Next year, I'll try to get further and perhaps even win first place! It'll be good for me, it'll be great for my school."
What do report card ceremonies in this school look like? Each student is honored and recognized for developing his/her unique strengths, virtues, talents, and/or interests. The focus and goal is on EACH student and not just CERTAIN students. The philosophy at Amadou Hampaté Bâ School is to move away from traditional educational hierarchy which values students excelling in French and Math more than those who excel in fine arts or who are leaders of good character. Academically weak students feel just as important as academically strong students. In addition, all students are recognized daily in class and throughout the year.
It is your donations supporting teacher training and quality education that have made this CHANGE possible. THANK YOU for your continued contributions which enable us to make HUGE steps forward and a real difference in all the students’ lives by letting them learn.
Hadiza
Age 12-years-old
Class 6th grade
Ambition I want to join the National Guard.
Hobbies I love sports and music
My story My dad often travels to Benin to buy and sell stuff at markets. He rarely comes home because he has to earn money for the family. My mom is a housewife. I have one brother and two sisters. My brother is unemployed. Our house is very small and very crowded.
I was studying at a public elementary school, but was not able to get a place at a secondary school. So I was staying at home and helping my mom with house chores. Then one day somebody from a private school came to interview me and my family. I showed them my report cards which were excellent. A few days later, my family was told that I was accepted to study at the Amadou Hampaté Bâ Middle School for free! I cannot tell you how happy I was. I love this school and I love my teachers. I love the size of our school yard. It is huge! I believe this school is the best! I am working hard so I can make it all the way to high school. Then I will join the army!
Abdoul-Kader
Age 12-years-old
Class 6th grade
Ambition I want to be a soccer player
Hobbies I love sports
My story I only have one brother. My father is dead. My mother is a housewife. It is our uncle who takes care of us. I like coming to this school because I like having different teachers and different subjects. P.E. is my favorite subject. I think we don’t have enough hours of P.E. I wish the school could do something about that. I work hard so that I can keep my scholarship. Otherwise I will have to drop out of school. My family cannot afford to pay my school fees. Later, when I grow up, I want to be a soccer player.
Thanks to your donations, Les Amis de Hampaté Bâ is able to do much more than just offer students like Hadiza and Abdoul-Kader a scholarship. In addition to paying school fees, we provide books, school supplies, school uniforms, after-school activities, school trips, academic tutoring and gender equality workshops.
The dream for many of our students is to go to university or to get further training of some sort, but all that is known right now is that thanks to your generosity they have been set on the right track, that they have the aptitude and ambition to one day become educated and ethical leaders for their communities, their country and the world.
We look forward to keeping our vision alive so that Hadiza and Abdoul-Kader, and those who will follow them, will be supported to achieve their dream of changing the outcomes of their lives for the better. Thanks so much for your constant support and generosity.
