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C’est une excellente nouvelle pour cette année scolaire 2015-2016! Le Ministère de l'Education nigérien a accepté l'ouverture par le complexe Hampaté Bâ d'une section lycée et autorisé l'accueil de la première classe de 2nde cet automne. C'est fantastique!

Le principal, monsieur Baro se réjouit: "Nous sommes très fiers d'être en mesure d'accueillir 10 élèves boursiers dans notre toute nouvelle classe de 2nde. Il y a 4 ans, ces enfants sont arrivés presque illettrés dans notre école, et regardez ce qu'ils sont à présent! Nous sommes heureux de les avoir avec nous cette année. Leur présence, associée à celle des autres élèves, des professeurs et de l'équipe administrative, rend encore plus belle cette nouvelle rentrée."

Au lycée Hampaté Bâ, tous les élèves vont travailler pour avoir à terme leur baccalauréat et ce quel que soit leur milieu. Les professeurs de l'école nous rapportent qu'en visant ce diplôme, les étudiants vont gravir une immense montagne, que cette expédition sera difficile et leur demandera une grande discipline et beaucoup de travail.

Monsieur Haougui, le directeur de l'école, précise: " Notre engagement à promouvoir une éducation de qualité, des compétences informatiques et artistiques et à former des individus ouverts et tolérants est assez unique au Niger. Nous ne nous contentons pas seulement d'obtenir de bons résultats aux examens. Nous nous engageons à ce que chaque élève se sente heureux, à l'aise et en sécurité à l'école."

De fait, cette exigence de qualité nécessite la mise en place de nombreux supports. Grâce aux donations des membres de l’association les Amis de Hampaté Bâ, les élèves bénéficient de cours de soutien en mathématiques, lecture et écriture. Le mois prochain, leur professeur les emmènera visiter l'Université Abdou Moumouni pour qu'ils puissent se rendre compte de ce que pourrait être le sommet de la montagne !

Nous vous remercions sincèrement de votre soutien à ce jour et par avance, de toute l'aide que vous nous apporterez dans les mois et les années à venir, leur permettant d'atteindre leur baccalauréat afin de voir s'ouvrir les portes de l'université.

Les donations leur permettent de transformer leurs rêves en réalité, et ainsi de rendre notre monde un peu meilleur. Votre générosité fera toute la différence. Merci beaucoup.

HUGE THANKS TO GUILLAUME FARLEY for a marvelous show Thursday night and for offering us many moments of joy and poetry... with reflections on love and life ! A superb evening with much applause for an extraordinary artist. Guillaume has heart and talent and those who were lucky enough to be there, know it !! More girls in school in Niger thanks to tickets sold ! Thanks to all who came to support our worthy cause and enjoy Guillaume's show !

At Hampaté Bâ School we're proud that 50% of the students are girls - traditionally a vastly under represented group in education in Niger. Today, girls are recognised by the UN as

important agents for change, possessing the potential to solve the most persistent development problems facing the African continent. By investing in girls' economic potential through education - which can also delay child marriage and teen pregnancy - the cycle of poverty can be broken. Unfortunately however, girls are often the first to be withdrawn from school by families who require domestic support, or who cannot afford to send all their children to school.

While our Association recognises these challenges, we're determined to keep as many girls at Hampaté Bâ School as possible and are actively tackling the issue to ensure they can continue their studies. One particular initiative is the introduction of the special 'Home Economics classes'. The aim is to fight barriers to education for girls and increase their chances of completing the education cycle.

The Home Economics Program provides girls with a positive co-curricular opportunity enabling them to learn about female issues and even to share with their peers. Girls attending

this class recently organised a school event to raise awareness of the importance of girls’ education through songs and dances. They also planned and implemented an outreach

project in a nearby primary school where they spoke to all female students about menstruation and menstrual hygiene. We're extremely proud of all the girls and their teacher, Mrs Moussa, involved in this program and who are making this project a massive success.

“ I’m proud of my girls and persuaded that the message that we are trying to get across to them, that they are not second class citizens, but full members of our society, will have a

positive impact on their lives now and in the future”, says a very jovial Mrs Moussa.

Our association is funding the Home Economics Teacher as well as paying scholarships for the girls to stay in school. We need to keep this project going! Believe in us, believe in the project, and believe in the teacher, the girls and their potential. We deeply appreciate you continuing to support this innovative project. Any amount is welcome. Thank you so much.

Niger, like many other African countries, does not have a "reading and writing culture", which makes teaching literacy quite challenging. Most students do not have books in their homes. Many parents also do not know about the resources they could offer or seek out to further their children's education. Differences between the language used as the educational medium and the language spoken at home add to the difficulties of building a reading culture.

 Yet, without the ability to read efficiently, children cannot be lifelong learners because they cannot access information and their knowledge quickly becomes obsolete. They cannot cope with the flexibility required in the workplace today. Poor reading ability translates into poor quality learning.

To work on these crucial issues, our association is helping Hampaté Bâ School with teacher training, good learner material and a remedial program in order to implement a literacy and language programme that produces learners who are equipped for high school.

 The remedial teacher, Mr Cyril, uses a variety of support materials and techniques to encourage the simultaneous development of the four language skills - reading, writing, speaking and listening in a balanced way.

 “I don’t want my students to make peace with mediocrity, I want them to aspire to excellence”, says Mr Cyril and he adds, “I believe improving reading outcomes is improving these students’ life outcomes as well.”

 Thanks to your donations, we have been able to fund this specialized teacher, who is meeting the challenge of bringing students up to level, by giving them extra hours of small group tutoring. Many of the students sponsored by our scholarships really need this help, as they came from primary schools with 80 students per class where they learned basically nothing.

 We are proud of our actions to help these students learn to read. So many children don’t have access to education and risk being part of another generation of poverty, We WANT to make a difference and we can do it TOGETHER with you. We are deeply grateful for your continued donations, no matter what amount, We are determined to continue our efforts so our students can get an education, to overcome ignorance. This is important. Thanks so much.

Ne ratez pas la pièce de  théâtre de la Compagnie du Pamplemousse le Vendredi 20 mars à 20h15

« La visite de la vieille dame » de Dürrenmatt, au Théâtre Saint-Léon,11 place du Cardinal Amette, Paris 15^ème

La Compagnie du Pamplemousse nous reversera les recettes des personnes qui iront voir la pièce et qui mentionneront « Les Amis de Hampaté Bâ» sur le formulaire !

Réservez vos places en cliquant ici!

The End of Year Recognition Ceremony at Hampaté Bâ School in Niamey is designed to highlight the outstanding work the students have accomplished in the areas of service, academics, arts, and leadership, while affirming the unique challenges and experiences they share.

Two years ago, Hachimou and Fourera were struggling readers and writers !! And look at them now !!

Hachimou
Throughout the year, the values of curiosity and participation have been the foundation for his success at Hampaté Bâ Middle school. He has been a model student and has developed a real interest in computing skills. Beyond learning, he is a polite and friendly pupil who always has a smile on his face. His enthusiasm rubs off on people around him.

“The treatment at Hampaté Bâ School, in my opinion, is the best that we can get. We study in an environment where we are not scared or humiliated. Because of this, we are able to work well in an encouraging atmosphere. Besides the good learning conditions, I'm also very glad that I can learn computing skills at this school with great tools and special computer classes. Later on, I would like to specialize in computer programming."

Fourera
According to her teachers, Fourera has been an absolute pleasure to teach because of her positive attitude and approaching everything she does with joy. She works hard and as a consequence has made enormous progress in all domains since she joined Hampaté Bâ School. Fourera also always has a kind word for all of her classmates. She has been recognized for her progress in arts and her team spirit.
"The Principal and the teachers try to instill certain values in us. One phrase that we constantly hear is : it is all about choice. We must learn to make the right choices. I have chosen to help my family financially and that is why I want to succeed in school."

Groundwork for future leaders
These are only a few examples of the progress being made at Hampate Ba School, thanks to your donations, helping young underprivileged students learn to read and write, to become literate and have the right to a quality education where they WANT to learn. As a result, we are preparing groundwork for them to become responsible citizens and future leaders.

Many poor children in Niger never attend school and that is a distressing reality. But what is even more shocking is the fact that many of those who do go to school learn very little. Under the current model of education, half of Niger's total primary school population reaches adolescence without the basic skills needed to lead successful and productive lives. As a consequence, the prognosis for Niger's future economic growth and social development is not very good.

Hampaté Bâ Middle School is striving to address this deep learning crisis by raising teaching standards and improving learning outcomes, so as not to waste the potential of underprivileged Nigerien youth. This is by no means an easy task, but it can be done.

At Hampaté Bâ , the students are not on the receiving end of a monotone recitation geared towards rote learning. Here, they actually understand what they learn.

"Before coming to Hampaté Bâ, I used the word "century" a lot, but I never knew what it meant. Also, I did not know the difference between a country and a continent. Now I do", says proudly Abdou, a 7th grader in the school.

Aminatou, a bright-eyed 13 year old girl, had this to say about learning at Hampaté Bâ : "Before coming to this school, I used to learn all of my lessons by heart without understanding much and my teachers were satisfied with that. Here, the teachers make sure we understand what we recite or what we write. So learning by heart is good, but not enough."

Thanks to your generosity, we can offer quality education to students like Abdou and Aminata who, in primary section, went through 6 years of zero value-added schooling. Now, they are not only in secondary school but learning !

The ultimate aim of our association is to support Hampaté Bâ school in its efforts to equip underprivileged students like Abdou and Aminatou with the numeracy, literacy and wider skills that they need to realize their potential – and that their country, Niger, needs to generate jobs, innovation and economic growth.

Please help us achieve this aim. Your donations really count !! Thank you.

Votre association se dote d'un nouveau site internet : Les Amis de Hampaté Bâ. Ce site vous permettra de nous suivre, de nous découvrir et de rester en contact avec nous. Il permettra également aux membres d'être informé des prochains événements, assemblées générales et de toute l'actualité de l'asso !

Ce site est actuellement en construction, mais nous travaillons y activement !

Nous vous souhaitons une bonne visite sur notre site Internet !