Educate 500 Children in Northern Nigeria

Happy and Prosperous New Year dear donors and friends. I believe that for all of us with children, one of the basic things that we wish for is quality education for our children in a safe and comfortable environment where they can focus, learn, and thrive! However, this not the case for Jinkai and some of her peers in the CDM Schools in the remote communities of Adamawa State in Nigeria, where over 90 percent of the children are the first generation in their families attending school. They lack basic furniture like desks and have to sit on the floor, making learning difficult and uncomfortable. School desks are vital furniture and influence students’ ability to focus, learn, and perform academically.

 Since 2017, through our GlobalGiving Project; we have donated over 83 desks to 4 underserved schools in Northern Nigeria; EthnoReach Nursery and Primary School in Niger State and CDM Prmary Schools; Lila, Lainde and Gimilmari.However, the number of children we support in the CDM Schools in Mubi Hills, which is in one of the most remote parts of Adamawa State grew from 270 to more than 350. Thus, the schools ran out of basic furniture like desks and bookshelves for our revolving library (where books are stocked so that the children would always have access to books). Our implementing partner in Adamawa State, CDM Foundation brought this to our notice by sending us a picture showing Jinkai and some of her classmates sitting on the floor during classes.

 The Solution:

Current research supports just how important furniture is to improving student engagement, health, focus, and interaction. In fact, when classrooms and other learning environments are designed thoughtfully, they’have been shown to facilitate student-centered learning, which leads to improved student engagement. In the last quarter of 2024, we donated ten desks and two bookshelves. Ten desks and one bookshelf were sent to CDM Primary School Lainde and one bookshelf to Gilmari

Personal Testimony:

"The lack of desks led to a drop in the attendance of the children because of how uncomfortable it is for them to learn sitting on the floor. We thank KIR Foundation for providing the 10 desks and 2 bookshelves through the GlobalGiving Project," said Comfort, the Coordinator CDM Primary Schools

Conclusion:

The observation by Comfort proves the significant role that school furniture plays in the education of underserved children, especially girls like Jinkai in remote communities. When schools have basic furniture like desks, they motivate young girls like Jinkai and her peers to enroll in school, attend, learn effectively, and finish school. Moreover, for young girls like Jinkai, not only do they acquire basic literacy skills, being in school prevents them from becoming child brides, helping them to break the cycle of poverty, enhancing, their overall well-being and quality of life. Thus, by investing in the education of girls like Jinkai, we can create a brighter future for Jinkai and countless other girls in rural communities in northern Nigeria, promoting a healthier, more prosperous, and sustainable community.

We especially thank our recurring donors, whose relentless support has helped us to provide the desks for Jinkai and her peers!  However, we still need $29,580 to ensure that girls like Jinkai in the Lainde community, continue to go to school. CDM Primary School Lainde still needs flooring and windows, CDM Primary School Gilmari needs desks and bookshelves, CDM Secondary School Lila needs solar panels for their computers, and more laptops; and all the schools need educational materials (writing materials, textbooks, and storybooks) and about 100 desks. Kindly consider becoming a recurring donor and donating to our project; http://bit.ly/2TLI6Bm . Please encourage your friends, family, and colleagues to invest in more girls like Blessing, and their peers in the Lila community to make learning easier for them! 

Links:

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• website

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says about 7.6 million girls, mostly from the northern region, remain deprived of education in Nigeria.

Lack of access to books and writing materials is the 4th barrier to quality education.  – Global Citizen

Blessing recently finished her primary school education which is a great achievement for a daughter of peasant farmers in the remote village of Lila in Mubi Hills Adamawa State. She is one of our 270 GlobalGiving beneficiaries who has been supported with books and writing materials. The lack of books and learning materials is one of the major deterrents to children from poor families whose parents are focused on basic needs like feeding and housing. Learning materials that aid the quality of education for children like Blessing is then considered a luxury. Thus, without these resources children like Blessing drop out of school and become susceptible to early marriage.

The Solution:

Keeping It Real Foundation with the support of our GlobalGiving donors adopted the CDM Primary Schools in Mubi Hills located in the remote villages of Lila, Lainde, and Gilmari. Since 2017, we have supported more than 1,890 children like Blessing with textbooks, story books, and learning materials, ensuring the following:

• Improvement in the enrolment, attendance, and retention rate by up to 80%
• Reduction in the dropout rate by over 75%
• 80% Increase in the number of children that finish Primary School 
• Decrease in the number of girls getting married before finishing primary school

Impact:

• Improved literacy: Increase in the population of people that can read and write in the communities and attend secondary school
• Acquisition of social skills: Interpersonal skills like communication and better interaction with others have greatly improved, leading to improved cooperation in the communities
• Better Decision Making – equipped with basic literacy skills like reading, girls like Blessing now have access to information that enables them to make better decisions about the future as most of them desire to further their education
• Breaking the cycle of poverty – access to better economic opportunities to support their families and communities
• Reduction in child marriages - each additional year of schooling has decreased the likelihood of child marriage, thus reducing gender-based violence and increasing self - determination 

Personal Testimony:

"I am the first girl to go to school in my family. My parents would not have been able to provide the textbooks and other learning materials provided by Keeping It Real Foundation through the GlobalGiving Project. The support given to me and my classmates, kept us in school. I am so happy that I have finished primary school. I look forward to going to secondary school. I want to be a teacher." - Blessing

Conclusion:

Blessing's story proves the significant role access to books plays in the education of underserved children especially girls in remote communities. Access to books and learning materials enables young girls like Blessing and her peers to enrol in school, attend, learn effectively, and finish school. Moreover, for young girls like Blessing, not only do they acquire basic literacy skills, being in school prevents them from becoming child brides, helping them to break the cycle of poverty, enhancing, their overall well-being and quality of life. Thus, by investing in the education of girls like Blessing, we can create a brighter future for Blessing and countless other girls in rural communities in northern Nigeria, promoting a healthier, more prosperous, and sustainable community.

We especially thank our recurring donors, whose relentless support has helped us to provide the books for Blessing and her peers!  However, we still need $29,580 to ensure that girls like Blessing in the Lila community, continue to go to school. CDM Primary School Lainde still needs flooring and windows, CDM Primary School Gilmari needs desks and bookshelves, CDM Secondary School Lila needs solar panels for their computers, and more laptops; and all the schools need educational materials (writing materials, textbooks, and storybooks) and about 100 desks. Kindly consider becoming a recurring donor and donating to our project; http://bit.ly/2TLI6Bm . Please encourage your friends, family, and colleagues to invest in more girls like Blessing, and their peers in the Lila community to make learning easier for them! 

Links:

• website
• Instagram
• Twitter