Congratulations to us All !
Eleven years of hard work by our charity, to set up an innovative program to empower girls through education, has worked ! We are overjoyed to conclude that our initiative to give scholarships to underprivileged girls who could not afford an education without our help, has turned out to be fruitful for many of our students. The added features of tutoring sessions, computer training, and Home Economic Classes have also provided the girls with an incentive to succeed and to gain confidence in themselves as young women ! We thank the girls for their determination and we thank you, our kind donors, for supporting the girls’ efforts.
Halima’s Story
Although many of the girls have been successful in their studies, there is one girl who stands out particularly and who has an interesting story to be told.
We are proud to announce the remarkable results of Halima, one of our first students to be awarded a scholarship to attend our Girl Empowerment Program at Hampaté Bâ School back in 2012 ! And therefore she is our first student of the 2012 starting group, to have received 4 different diplomas over the years, the most recent one being her Bachelor’s Degree with Honors end of July 2023.
This list witnesses her various accomplishments over the years :
- 2012 enters Hampaté Bâ Middle school
- 2016. BEPC Certificate (Brevet end of Middle School)
- 2016 enters Hampaté Bâ High school
- 2019 Baccalaureate Diploma in Literature (High School Diploma)
- 2020 enters ESCAE Business School
- 2022 BTS State Professional Diploma
- 2023. Bachelor’s Degree at ESCAE Communication & Marketing
- (WITH HONORS !)
- 2024. Ready to find a good job or paying internship and work !
Courage to continue in spite of Road Blocks
Halima’s determination to succeed in her studies was extraordinary, considering the many challenges, difficult conditions and odds against her (mentioned below) that she faced during the very last steps in preparing the validation of her Bachelor’s degree (writing the report and preparing the speech).
Her parents normally have very meager means, but worse than that, her dad had lost his job at the start of the year, and so even paying for small bits of food and transport to school posed a problem.
A few months later, the owner of their housing, asked to take back the place where they were living which had been rent-free.
Her parents had to move the whole family of 7 children to another lodging that was a 2 hour bus ride round trip from Niamey.
It was very problematic to go from the new place to school because the distance was so far and took so long .
The first week that the family had moved into the new lodging, the place was robbed and all their belongings, for example their mobile phones were taken away.
Without a phone, Halima couldn’t be aware of when her exam would take place and was unable to communicate with anyone.There was a group chat on what’s app that specified all the details, but she had no phone any more, so wasn’t aware of the dates, etc.
To top everything else off, the business school had cancelled her candidature since she didn’t show up on the day she was scheduled. But she had no way of knowing the date without her phone and it was vacation time so no one was at ESCAE to answer questions.
Finally the big day of the presentation came and it was raining hard and there were floods, so the majority of her audience was obliged to stay at home, as no taxis were available. Only her family was able to show up.
However, Halima had enough stamina, perseverance and devotion to get through her presentation and answer adequately all the questions of the jury on her report whose theme was “External communication at the incubation center at the University Abdoul Moumouni of Niamey.
After more than one hour, the jury reached a decision and Halima had impressed them with her deep conviction and her excellent Internship Report that she had written and when they handed her back her Thesis, she saw the notation of 15/20 and: “BIEN” written in big letters. What a great result ! Such a good grade ! It was amazing.
The photos accompanying this report show Halima and her family who attended the session. By the smiles on all their faces, you can tell how proud and jubilant everyone was. She now has a professional degree which will certainly help her find a job.
THE BIG CHALLENGE
A reminder concerning Niger, so as to appreciate Halima’s excellence and the wonderful opportunity she was given when she became a scholarship recipient at Hampaté Bâ School.
With only 7% of girls attending secondary school in Niger, one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, and with a drop out rate of 63%, the challenge is to get more girls into and through secondary education and even higher education and professional institutes.
Our innovative girl empowerment project helps give girls more than just an academic basis. It expands knowledge and strengthens confidence to improve their families’ well-being and fight gender bias. Human values and skills in critical thinking and decision making is accessed. The girls are able to gain an understanding of concepts, skills, attitudes and qualities needed to become agents of effective social change locally and globally
We are counting on our faithful donors to keep helping us support this worthy cause to give courageous underprivileged girls in Niamey an education and the chance to have a better future for themselves and for their families. Scholarships will help girls stay in school. This is so essential.
Halima has expressed to us time and time again how grateful she is for all the support we have given her over the years We wish much luck to Halima in looking for a job and wish her all the success in the world.
Halima is one example, but there are many more!
Thanks for your continued support which is so necessary to keep these girls in school.