“Mini-School” for a Brighter Future

Words …. language …. reading … writing – all have meant a lot to me from a very young age.  I’ve been told that I taught myself to read at age 4 and I’ve not looked back since … an insatiable appetite for reading from the get-go!  I loved school: reading, writing, learning (not so much math!).  I loved languages.  I loved biology.  I loved high school English and all things Shakespeare.  Learning and studying has been and continues to be a HUGE part of my life.  Teaching taking a close second – I still remember the joy of having a reading buddy when I was in Grade 9 … she was in Grade 1 and could not read.  By the end of the school year, her appetite and love for reading all but matched mine! 

I grew up in a privileged world

Never is this so more obvious to me than since my arrival in Niger.  Many are the children – oft too many to count – who do not have the privilege of going to school.  The streets are rife with little beggar boys who spend their days begging for money to take back to the religious leader who is in charge of their ‘education’.  The little girls are often married at a young age: 14+ being the appropriate age to be married off and start a family.

Life in the village harder than that of the city – many villages do not have a school for the children to attend.  Their only hope of education walking 4-10 km to the nearest school or being sent to family in the city for a chance to learn.

One of the village sites where I focus work is just such a village.  At the beginning of our work in this village, when we surveyed the village elders and community as to their needs – the lack of a school scored high on their list.  Admittedly, this was a need that I felt I could never address – all it would take to build, staff and supply a school astronomical in light of the work we are here to do in Niger – albeit a need that was always close to my heart.

These children need a school … one hope in a changing world … a brighter future.

But this year – we dared to DREAM big!!

For my village – the dream for these children is two-fold.  The first step is helping the village petition the government to have a public school started in their village.  The second step is the starting of the “mini-school”.

This“mini-school”  will be classes 2 mornings per week – and is being taught by a local teacher … in fact, the chief’s son!  The children will learn French, Reading and Mathematics!  

The “mini-school” is a shared partnership between the parents and the contributions from my team. 

Classroom: The parents are building the classroom (straw and wood structure) and we have supplied the mats for the children to sit on and the blackboard.

School Supplies: The parents are contributing ~ $1.25 per child towards their school supplies (exercise book, pen, pencil, eraser, pencil sharpener).  Our team is supplying the mini blackboards, chalk, textbooks.

Teacher Gift: The parents will contribute ~ $0.25 per child per month towards gifting the teacher to pay for motorcycle gas to travel to the village and we will supplementing a gift to the teacher as well.

In a meeting with the parents last weekend – the parents agreed to the details of the program …. declared it “good” and thanked us for our aid.

Wednesday: Opening Ceremony of the School

This last Wednesday, we held the opening ceremony of the school!!!  The parents and their children came – it was an afternoon of joy to see all these children arrive and so many parents come to support them!

Of course, no African ceremony is complete without the speeches from every party involved.  So, I gave a speech.  The director of our team – Timothy Tjosvold – spoke as well. 

A few parents spoke on behalf of the group, thanking us for the project – and the chief declared that “it is sweet to my mouth that you have started a school”!

And then the fun part …. passing out the school supplies to each the children who came!!!:

The children all looked pretty excited and proud to receive their supplies and start school!

In total, there are 57 children registered in school this year …. these young students range ages 6-13 …. none have ever before attended school, so all are at the same level: Grade 1! …. 57 students for whom a Brighter Future will include an education!

There are a few different projects being spearheaded by my teammates and I … all part of the Brighter Future program sponsored through the Justice and Compassion Gift Catalogue.  Funds through this program not only help these children in this village – but also help to 1) sponsor 24 children to attend school and 2) run a library and tutoring program for children of our neighbourhood who are enrolled in school.