Salamatou’s mother never went to school, but she clearly sees the benefit of sending her daughter to school, especially one as innovative as Hampaté Bâ Middle School: “Schooling opens the minds and the eyes of my daughter. Thanks to her knowledge, my family will be lifted out of darkness because she will learn many things that will be useful.”
Our organisation’s sponsorship programme is well into its fourth year of identifying high potential young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and giving them the opportunity to realise their potential in a school that is child-friendly and offers quality education.
Salamatou and her mother have embraced this opportunity and have fully invested themselves in what Hampaté Bâ has to offer. Even though Mrs. Abdou is illiterate and cannot help her daughter directly with her homework, she makes sure that all the house chores are not assigned to Salamatou as it is the custom in Niger. “My daughter has to concentrate on her schoolwork and so I make sure that she has enough time for that and I don’t burden her with house chores.”