Post secondary Education for Girls in Burkina Faso

My name is Mariam.  I am 25 years old.  Thanks to Assn NEEED, as a young child I was able to enter primary school with the help of the Lambs Support Girls’ Education Project and my lambs supported my education through secondary school.  I graduated from secondary school in 2015 and was fortunate to receive a scholarship from Assn NEEED to primary school teacher training.  Today, I am a primary school teacher in a village.  My students are wonderful and love to learn.  We are like one big family.

Last year, I observed that a 9-year old student in my class could not focus on her studies and was mostly sleeping in class.  During recess one day, I talked with her and learned that her mother had died and her father married another woman who forced this young girl to do all of the domestic chores.  This kept her up late at night and got her up very early in the morning.  She was not able to complete school work nor learn her lessons.  I took the issue to my school director and we called her father in to meet with us and the president of the Parent Teachers Association.  Ultimately, the father understood that it is inappropriate to force his daughter to do all of the domestic chores, and he understood the importance of allowing his daughter time to study and to rest.  As a consequence, at the end of the year, this student scored 11th academically out of 96 students in my class.

These are the teachers your donations support:  young women who have been challenged themselves and who are serious about the education of the next generation of village children in Burkina Faso.

To our GlobalGiving partners,

The school year has ended in Burkina Faso and students’ academic results have been posted.  Once again, the young women whose training scholarships you have generously supported this year have all passed their exams and are looking forward to their second year of training.  Two of these students wish to share with you their appreciation for your support, enabling them to receive this training.

My name is Aoua.  It is with a heart full of joy that I write you this small note.  I send you my most sincere greetings.  Last year, I received one of your scholarships for primary school teacher training.  I have just completed my first year and have been admitted to my second year of training.  I am very appreciative for all that you have done for me and for the other girls.  Truly, without this scholarship, I don’t know what I would have done in life.  I would like to ask that you continue to support our scholarships because there are many other girls who are in difficult situations like mine and who need your support so that they may receive this training.  Once again, thank you, thank you, and thank you again. 

Dear GlobalGiving partners of Association NEEED.  My name is Safietou.  I am 20 years old.  I have just completed my first year of training in the Ecole Nationale des Enseignants du Primaires (national school for training primary school teachers) in Ouahigouya.  It is thanks to your support that I have been able to benefit from this scholarship for primary school teacher training.  This has allowed me to realize my dearest dream: to become a teacher.  With all my heart, I thank you very much.  I would like to encourage your continuing support for the training of the next generations of teachers.  Thank you and God bless you.

As we approach the upcoming school year, there are many (young women) candidates in northern Burkina Faso who are qualified to enter the national school for training primary school teachers but who have no resources to pay their fees nor to sustain themselves during their two years of training (at a total cost of $1,540).  Our goal is to provide scholarships to 15 of these young rural women this upcoming school year.   We ask for your generous support to make this happen. 

Many thanks!!