Mentoring for At-Risk Nomadic Girls in Rural Niger

Your donations are doing more than changing lives; they are changing
opinions about the importance of a girl’s education. One of the biggest
challenges our mentors face is convincing parents -- most of whom have never
been to school -- of the importance of education, and that attending school is
beneficial for both the child and the family.

I meet with parents to explain my work to them and
convince them to allow me to work with their children.
For some parents, it is only after many conversations
about the importance of education that they come to
understand my role in the community.
- Mentor Zeinabou Djibo

Your continued support has allowed this unique program to thrive. In addition to
supporting students and teaching them about hygiene, health, and nutrition;
mentors pass on traditional artisan skills such as weaving, basket making, and
pottery; preserving a culture that is thousands of years old. Mentors also speak
to entire communities about the benefits of education, which earns mentors
respect and gives them a voice within their communities that they use to reach
far beyond classroom walls.

I raise awareness on different themes with my
students’ parents, my neighbors and my friends. If we
take the example of young girls, I try to raise
awareness by saying that no one should give girls who
are in elementary school off to marry. These girls have
not even reached the age of puberty yet. I also speak
with the young men to encourage them not to marry
young girls. One example I give is that if a girl that is
too young to be married [then] marries a boy, as soon
as she becomes pregnant she will have difficulty giving
birth. A young girl’s body cannot support a pregnancy
or giving birth.
-Mentor Addajhjat Anasbagor

Right now is one of the most exciting times of year for our mentors, who are
meeting with their students and preparing them for the start of the school year.
They are also looking for new students to replace last year’s graduates, giving
precedence to especially vulnerable girls who would most benefit from the
program. Thank you for helping mentors fulfill their mission of bringing education
to rural and nomadic children living in extreme poverty in Niger today.

This program is really thinking about mothers as
educators. When a mother becomes a mentor to
other children, we show that we are mothers for all
of the children that we look after… Us mothers
work together.
-Assolo Sidi

Links:

• Learn more about our mentor program here.