Needed: School Lunches!

Introducing two of the 685 students enrolled in the Lycee Modern de l’Amitie (LMA, the combined middle/secondary school for girls in northern Burkina Faso) this year. 

• Beatrice.  I am 18 years old and an orphan – both of my parents have died.  My family is unable to pay for my education.  I qualified to attend NEEED’s middle/secondary school for girls.  I am very fortunate to be at a school with good teachers and the canteen which provides me a hot meal every day.  This helps me to work hard.  My goal is to study medicine and become a physician so I can care for people’s health.
• Alexis.  I am 14 years old.  I want to thank NEEED and its partners for all that they do to offer us a noon meal every school day.  The canteen allows me to better concentrate on my studies.  What can one do if one is hungry?  I am sure that I will succeed with my studies here.  I want to become a math teacher.

Four hundred of the students enrolled in the LMA this year are from primary schools in distant villages.   These girls’ educations are supported by the Lambs Support Girls’ Education Project, a project (run by Association NEEED in Burkina) which has enabled village girls to enroll in village primary schools with the initial gift of a lamb (which the girl’s parents raise and sell to buy another lamb each year and pay for their daughter’s schooling).   Now enrolled in the middle/secondary school for girls located 3 km from the nearest town where they can find a family to stay with, these girls walk 6 km each day to and from school.  Their parents are unable to pay for their food, lodging and school materials beyond the very modest profit they receive from the sale of their lamb each year. 

This school year is starting out with a particular challenge.   With only 22 students to date able to pay for their noon meals, the ability of the school to continue to provide a noon meal is in jeopardy.  A student’s lunch costs only $.45/day, $9/month, or $77/school year.  Please help these girls get the nutrition they need to succeed in their studies and become the leaders they can become.

“While basic education begins to unlock potential, it is secondary education that provides the wings that allow girls to fly. Secondary education helps turn brave, bright girls into confident and strong leaders who can change their communities and country."  Malala Yousafzia, Nobel Peace Prize laureate 2014

Many thanks for your support!

Suzanne Plopper