Education Niger Project #49496

Building Brighter Futures For Children in Niger

by Rain for the Sahel and Sahara

Building Brighter Futures For Children in Niger

Project Report | Jun 28, 2023
Building a Towards a Brighter Future

By Kyana Burgess | Communications and Outreach Manager

Students working hard at their studies!

As the school year comes to an end, we celebrate the successes of the girls at the Agadez Learning Center and their commitment to advancing towards new opportunities. Education is at the heart of our mission at RAIN, and we are thrilled to see our students achieving their goals.

But as we celebrate the number of girls at the ALC, we cannot ignore the countless others yearning for the same chance. This is why we are resolute in our plan to expand the center and refuse to turn away any deserving student who has worked tirelessly to qualify.

Our plans for the center are advancing quite nicely, as we are working with local architects to incorporate traditional earthen building techniques to provide for a more sustainable and climate-adapted expansion. Extra-thick earth walls and windows aligned with breeze patterns keep cool internal temperatures year-round and eliminate the need for costly fans or AC units.

This expansion will support hygiene through an updated septic system that can accommodate over 50 girls and include both living and learning space to free up older, less adapted space for storage or office needs. We have identified a firm in Niamey that has experience with this kind of construction and have worked with them, architects in Agadez, and advisors in the US and Niger to design plans that will serve RAIN and, more importantly, middle school students with no other access to school.

We’re planning to break ground for construction this fall, but need your help to make these designs a reality. On July 12^th, RAIN is participating in GlobalGiving's July Bonus Day to raise funds for the ALC expansion, and your contribution, no matter the size, will help propel us forward in our efforts to make education at the ALC a reality for students who strive for a better future.

Consider inviting your friends and family to support this project, multiplying the impact of your generosity.

These resilient girls deserve an opportunity- an opportunity that together, we can provide. Your support will transform lives and shape the future of these aspiring learners. Can we count on your help?

It's a good day when our students are having fun!

Students at the ALC strive for new opportunities

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Jan 26, 2023
The Tortoise and the Hare (We're the Tortoise)

By Katherine Kolios | Executive Director

Hi from the girls studying at the ALC in 2023

This project has been a long time coming but we are moving forward and we know, with your help, that we will get there.

In 2023, the Agadez Learning Center (ALC) is hosting 54 students - the most it has ever had - and the girls are extremely enthusiastic about studying here. These girls are bright and committed to their studies and the ALC is their only opportunity to remain in school... but there are so many more girls who want to study who we cannot accommodate yet. Girls stuck in their home village with no hope to return to school, girls on a fast track to early marriage. Niger has the highest rate of child marriage in the world but school is a way out... if school is an option.

The girls at the ALC are lucky. Many of their neighbors don't have the same opportunity.

We're making progress with our plans to expand the center because we don't want to have to turn away a single student who has worked so hard to qualify. We are excited to review the new blueprints with the architects in Agadez next month... but we don't yet have the funds we need to break ground.

With the help of generous individual donations and some committed grant funding, we've raised $75,000 (not reflected on the GlobalGiving site) toward this construction project... but we know that's not enough to start building.

We want to be ready for the 2023-2024 school year, which means breaking ground this spring/summer so that we can finish the construction while the students are on school break.

Can you help us?

Any donation helps build momentum - especially if you ask friends or family to give with you.

These girls deserve a chance - and together, we can give it to them.

Excited about school & about expanding the center!

Help us raise the remaining funds to break ground!

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Sep 15, 2022
Some Stability in Unstable Times

By Amy Warnock | Development Manager

With temperatures in the Sahel increasing at a rate 1.5x faster than the global average, water cuts are becoming the norm in the city of Agadez. These cuts can leave students staying at the Agadez Learning Center (ALC) without running water for days on end. As we continue to raise funds to expand the number of students we can host, we have already begun implementing changes to make the center more comfortable and sustainable for students - now and in the years to come.

RAIN recently drilled a well at the ALC. The 30.50m well has been connected to solar panels (to pump the water up from the well) and a water tank. This provides adequate drinking water for the students-in-residence, even when the city water is not accessible. This new well makes the center more self-sufficient and ensures students' basic needs are reliably met every day.

Each improvement made to the ALC will enable us to better serve our partners in Niger. Knowing their daughters have a safe place to stay can make it easier for parents to send their children away to study in the city. Living with other students who are a long way from home makes it easier for young girls to acclimate to a new environment. Getting the center off the city's electric and water systems means we can promise girls and their parents that these needs will be met - providing dependability during a time where things feel so uncertain.

Thank you for supporting education and for helping make it possible for rural and nomadic students to go to school. If you are able, please consider increasing your donation to reach even more students and to make sure their daily needs are met. Share this project with your network and ask your friends and neighbors to join you to make an even bigger impact.

Girls doing evening revisions.

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