Kebbi State

in 2019, we went to Kebbi State for an educational intervention in partnership with ECWA Oakland Schools, Pisabu. Our work there enabled us to work with first-time school comers who were mostly late teens and adults. We also had girls who were rescued from forced marriages and sought refuge at the school. We were able to design and implement a customized school program, set up a school management system, lead educational advocacy visits to 21 rural communities that are indifferent and sometimes hostile towards formal education, initiate an After School Learning to Read program, won a $1000 seed grant from the Pollination Project and set up a Literacy Centre with a mini library, facilitated the full scholarships of 10 girls, held Adult Literacy Classes and implemented the Teacher Development Forum which is a weekly training session for all the teachers at the school. We also initiated and raised funds to implement four campaigns namely #GetASchoolChildOffTheFloor; #FedToLearn; #PayARuralTeacher; and #SoSheCanSchool which provided age-appropriate class furniture, 100 mattresses for the hostel, free daily breakfast and lunch with an egg that fed 196 schoolchildren and funds for staff salaries. Above all, our work inspired an increase in school enrolment and attendance from 53 to 196 students.