True lasting change is achieved through learning - in school, under the compassionate gaze of a woman mentor. This year, in rural Niger, where only one in ten girls make it to the 3rd grade, 30 women mentored over 600 at-risk girls, who returned to school in numbers 20% greater than their unmentored peers with your help.
You've generously given to this project because you're passionate about education for at-risk girls. On Giving Tuesday, December 2, Microsoft YouthSpark will be matching every donation to our Mentoring program on GlobalGiving.org. This is a wonderful opportunity to share your passion with a gift donation in honor of someone special. Or, just sharing the project on Giving Tuesday with friends and family will be a win for the women and girls working so hard against all odds.
In this season of sharing, give a piece of your heart -- give the gift of possibility for nomadic girls.
Thank you for your caring spirit, and the very best wishes for the holidays!
Bess Palmisciano
Founding Director
"My name is Aichatou and I'm a Grade 3 student at the primary school of my village Iférouane, 250 kilometers north of Agadez. Our mentors have taught us embroidery in linen, crocheting, cooking and hygiene advice. Before I didn't know about any of these things. Now with the mentoring initiated by RAIN, I wash my hands before eating and leaving the toilet with water and soap. I have made a tablecloth and share my knowledge with all my sisters who do not have mentors. We are very much thankful to RAIN, which is really the friend of nomadic children."
Your support makes the dream of a better life through secondary education a possibly - one for which most nomadic students of the West African desert regions do not have. Scholarships, secure dormitory space, tutoring and mentoring is just the beginning. Secondary school is where students learn the critical skills needed to stretch their horizons, become community leaders, and shape their own futures.
You've generously given to this project because you're passionate about access to education for rural and at-risk children in Niger. On Giving Tuesday, December 2, GlobalGiving and Microsoft YouthSpark will be matching every donation to the Agadez Learning Center. This is a wonderful opportunity to share your passion with a gift donation in honor of someone special. Or, just sharing our Agadez Learning Center project on Giving Tuesday with friends and family will be a win for the girls and boys working so hard against the odds.
In this season of sharing, give a piece of your heart -- give the gift of education nomadic girls and boys.
Thank you for your caring spirit, and the very best wishes for the holidays!
Bess Palmisciano
Founding Director
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In 2015, RAIN will be focusing on the expansion, improvement and rehabilitation of existing School Market Gardens and their attendant wells in current partner communities before expanding into new communities. Existing gardens will be expanded from 500 square meters to 1,000 square meters to accommodate cash crops, increasing sustainability. In some communities, the gardens need intensive rehabilitation due to recent floods, droughts and changes in nomadic living patterns. As our agricultural programs develop they are taking the form of mainly women driven community wide gardens that not only support schools but benefit entire communities on a wider scale.
To reflect this shift in scope, look for our Community Garden microproject coming soon - another opportunity to support organic food production in Niger. RAIN will provide a tailored action plan for each partner community - for example, in Gougaram, we're strengthening their current gardens with small grants, training and educational opportunities. For Ingui, the well will be restored and the School Market Garden expanded. In Mari, RAIN will continue to build on the success of the Women's Garden and as a launching pad for our pioneering garden-as-classroom cirriculum in organic techniques, crop variety and rotation, and maximizing nutrition for children and adults alike.
We plan to launch a Microproject focusing on our community garden grants program with this wider focus. An additional Microproject will support improvements to our Agadez Learning Center - a "home away from home" for nomadic students persuing middle school - which will include a 1,000 square meter School Market Garden to provide produce to the students and help support the center. We hope you'll continue to support food security to the most remote struggling in the Sahel and Sahara with these new opportunities!
Warm regards,
The RAIN Team
U.S. & Niger
