unicef niger: hamamatou's story

Schools for Africa Niger

Hamamatou’s storyTHE GIRLS’ SCHOLARSHIP

PROGRAMME

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Adolescent girls are among the most vulnerable populations in the countries ofWest and Central Africa. Niger is no exception. Most of the country’s daughters canlook forward to a life spent in poverty in which 80 per cent will remain illiterate,60 per cent will be married by the time they are 15, and half will give birth to thefirst of seven or eight children before the age of 18. There is a way to break the cycle of poverty: education. Since 2008, UNICEF has

focused its efforts on increasing the participation of girls in primary school. Now,as these girls approach the end of their primary education, UNICEF is turning itsattention to secondary education.For girls, the biggest challenges begin immediately after primary school, in the

transition to Junior Secondary School. “This is a critical time in girls’ lives,” saysUNICEF Niger’s Education Chief, Lamine Sow. “If they have gone to school, this isthe time when parents usually withdraw them either to help earn money for thefamily, or to get married. In either case, it is the end of their education.” Recent years have seen a growing recognition of the importance of educating

adolescent girls, not only because it will provide them with bankable skills, butalso because there is no surer way to alleviate poverty and advance a country’sdevelopment. Perhaps nowhere is this more apparent—or more important—than inNiger. Consider the facts: • Early marriage is the number one reason girls in Niger drop out of school. Girlswho attend primary school reduce their chances of marrying early by 40 percent; attending secondary school decreases those chances by 120 per cent.

• Girls who marry early are more than twice as likely to become early mothers.Pregnancy at an early age comes with significant health risks, including highrates of obstetric fistula for mothers, low birth weight in babies and an increasedrisk of death for both mother and child.

THE GIRLS’ SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME

Thanks to your support,girls like Hamamatou areable to stay in school andcomplete their education.

Niger

Gomba Village

Schools for Africa Hamamatou’s story 3

• Early marriage and early pregnancy translate into a greater number of childrenper woman. Niger is the world’s poorest country. It also has the world’s highestpopulation growth rate at 3.9 per cent. At this rate, Niger’s population of 17million will double in just 18 years. Left unchecked, it is projected to reach 60million by 2050.

“This is very bad for Niger,”says Sow. “The country has few resources apart fromextractive industries, like petroleum, which are not sustainable; increased relianceon agriculture isn’t possible given that so much of the country is desert. So, as thepopulation grows, it will have to share the same revenues and resources it has rightnow. If they don’t reduce population growth today, Niger will be in big trouble inthe future. The most immediate way to address this is to keep girls in school.”The biggest challenge is cost: secondary school is free, but students need school

materials, uniforms and shoes. Multiply this by the six to eight children in theaverage family, and the education cost for a poor family is simply too much. The other factor is access: without a secondary school nearby, girls must either

travel a long distance or live with families in the village near the school. Thoughhappy to receive students, most ‘host families’ do not need another mouth to feed.To address this, UNICEF piloted a scholarship programme in 2010 in which 60 girls

in four junior secondary schools received a scholarship that provided a stipend tofamilies or host families, and gave a nominal amount to the girls. All of the girlswho received the scholarship stayed in school and are now completing highersecondary school. Based on the strength of these results, UNICEF and thegovernment have scaled up the initiative, providing scholarships to over 600vulnerable girls in four regions.The girl you will meet in the following pages, Hamamatou Oumarou, is one of

these girls. This is her story.


My name is Hamamatou Oumarou. I am 15 years old andI am in class 7 at Gomba’s Hausa College in the villageof Gomba, in Kantche District in Southern Niger. Gomba isnot my home. I am staying here with my father’s friend,Mr. Monkaila, and his family. It is better for me to stayhere while I go to school instead of staying in my village,because if I have to walk seven km to get here everymorning and seven km to return home every afternoon, Iwill be too tired to study. At Mr. Monkaila’s house, Iam not far from school. I can easily come and go and Ihave plenty of time to study. Of course, I miss my family,but I try not to think about them too much. I am herebecause I got a scholarship. To keep it, I need to focusand study hard, so that is what I am doing.

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06:54 I eat breakfast. At home, I eat with my brother and my sisters, but here I eat alone because I don't have anybody my age to eat with. It gets lonely always eating by myself.

Schools for Africa xxxxxxxx’s story 7

07:03

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06:33

07:14 Then I get dressed.


07:29 On the way to school I stop at the house where my best friend Sabra is staying and we walk to school together.

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07:46 Before class, Sabraand I talk with our friends.I’m always glad to be herebecause I know there arelots of other girls who don’tget the chance to go toschool. Today everybody istalking about the timetable.We have only a half day at school.


Girl-friendly schools

UNICEF is working with the Ministry of Education and schools to

make them more attractive to girls and more conducive to

learning. This means not only making sure schools have access to

facilities like separated latrine blocks for girls and boys and

functioning water points, but also working with teachers to

improve gender sensitivity in the classroom.

UNICEF is also supporting the introduction of minimum

standards by which to measure quality and equity in schools. The

ongoing implementation process will target 100 schools in Maradi

and Zinder, two regions that have high dropout rates for girls.

With your UNICEF support...


“Our school first opened its doors in October 2010. During the first twoyears the girls’ scholarship programme did not exist. In those two years alot of girls dropped out. But since we started implementing the girls’scholarship programme in December 2012, not a single girl has droppedout, and in some grade levels girls are now in the majority.“There were a number of reasons why the girls were dropping out.

First: before we had this new school, we had a building made of reeds.Parents had to contribute for the school building and they also had tobuy uniforms. You cannot even imagine how poor most of these familiesare, so this was a big burden for them. The second reason is that many ofthese girls were coming from villages located four, five or even ten kmaway. At the beginning of the school year they would come to school. Itwas easy. It was the cool season. After that they would get tired ofcoming and going, especially when it was really hot or their familieswere facing a lack of food. That’s when they would start dropping out. “Now many of the girls from families like these are receiving

scholarships. They live with trusted and reliable host families whoreceive a monthly stipend of 15,000 CFA (US $30) so that they can takegood care of the girls. The girls also get a little money that they can use

MOUSSA ISSOUFOUDirector of College, Gomba Village, Yaouri Commune, Matameye Department

New models for secondary education

“It is time to invest in secondary

education,” says UNICEF Niger Education

Chief M. Lamine Sow. “The students

who went to Child Friendly Schools in

primary are now going on to secondary.

Without change, they will have to sit on

the floor and be taught by teachers who

are not trained, which will undo all the

good we are trying to make happen.” But

taking this on essentially means starting

back at square one. “When we piloted

child friendly schools in 2008, access was

our first challenge. There were too few

schools.” The same is true for Junior

Secondary Schools (JSS). Sow looks to a

model he calls a ‘mini college of

proximity’ to help address this challenge.

Constructed centrally between villages,

these colleges—with separated latrine

blocks for girls and boys—are designed to

attract girls from all of the primary

schools in the vicinity and make it

attractive for parents to send them—

because parents are reluctant to allow

girls travel far to attend secondary

school.” UNICEF will construct five mini

colleges of proximity and collect the

evidence base for the model’s scale up.


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for uniforms, soap, sanitary pads and snacks at school. They really likehaving some pocket money of their own. It motivates them—and that isimportant, because in order to keep the scholarship, they must do wellin their studies. “Education is very important for girls. The population of Niger is more

than 50 per cent female. We cannot even think of developing thecountry if they are left without education. By keeping them in school,the scholarship programme helps the girls go beyond the critical period,which usually comes during junior secondary school. If a girl makes itpast this time, the risk is there, but it is less because by that time, girlsare more aware. They want to continue to go to school and they want totake their own lives into their hands, so the idea of getting married isnot appealing and they start thinking about other objectives. “If these girls succeed, they will help the country. They can, for

example, become midwives. In this country, many men refuse to sendtheir pregnant wives to health centres for consultation if the doctor is aman, and this puts their wives at risk during pregnancy and delivery. But if we have enough educated girls who train to become midwives, this problem will be solved. And, of course, every girl is also a woman to be. If she is educated, then when she gets married and has her ownchildren she can take their education into her hands. With more andmore educated women raising educated children, the whole country will benefit.”

The other challenge to access

As the demand for education grows, so

too does Niger’s population. This puts

enormous pressure on the country’s

scarce education resources. Between

2003 and 2010, the enrollment rate in

Junior Secondary School (JSS) increased

from 107,330 to 253,643 and the number

of Junior Secondary Schools nationwide

rose from 286 to 675—numbers that are

still far too low for a country of 17 million

inhabitants. However, providing even

these students with the necessary class-

rooms, water and sanitation facilities,

school furniture, trained teachers and

teaching and learning materials far

exceeds the Government’s capacity.

UNICEF is working to support Niger’s

Education ministries by advocating for a

common basket approach to education

with other donors and providing new,

cost-effective models for teacher training

and building facilites, including the ‘mini

colleges of proximity.’


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09:03


“The most important thing for me is to be able to understand what theyteach us in class. Otherwise, why go to school? The English teacher is agood teacher. He writes clearly on the blackboard and he always asks us“Do you understand?” Some of the other teachers do not write legibly andwe know they are making mistakes in what they write on the board. Oneteacher speaks so quietly that we can’t hear what he is saying. He neverasks if we understand and then he leaves class right after it finishes, sothere isn’t an opportunity to ask questions.”

—Hamamatou

09:18 My first class is English. I like the teacher. He makes us laugh.

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10:16 My next class is physics.

“The day I found out I got the scholarship I was so happy. I was here atschool when I got the news. I jumped and jumped for joy and then Iwent back home and told my parents and my friends. Fifty-four othergirls from my village also got it, including my best friend Sabra, so wewere all really happy. Now all of us live in Gomba with different hostfamilies and we go to school. “For me, the best thing about the scholarship is what I can do with the

money I receive. I have my own money, which means I don't have toburden my parents or my hosting family by asking them for money tobuy uniforms, sports clothes, school materials or snacks. I can use myown money for that.“To keep the scholarship I need to stay here in Gomba and I need to

study hard. So that’s what I’m doing. If I succeed in my studies, I willhave autonomy in whatever I do. I will also be able to get a job and earnmoney to help my parents. I will be able to help my brother and mysisters do their homework. And I will also be able to pass on what I havelearned to others—to women, and why not even to men? “My goal is to acquire a lot of knowledge. I want to pass all of my

examinations in lower and then higher secondary. After that I will lookfor a job. A lot of girls get married and drop out before they finishschool. Not me. If my parents want to discuss my marriage, it should beafter I finish my studies and get a job. I don't want to hear about itbefore then.”

HAMAMATOU OUMAROUFifteen-year-old Hamamatou is in class 7 at Gomba College

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The Girls’ Scholarship Programme

The scholarship targets girls who are

poor, live 7-15 km from school, and are

good students. There is a preference for

the most vulnerable: girls who are poor

and live with a single caretaker/mother,

are orphaned, or living with disabilities.

Parties to the scholarship include:

• The parents: Parents sign a letter

agreeing that their daughter will attend

four years of secondary education. In

return, they receive a monthly cash

transfer of 15,000 CFA (US $14) to cover

food expenses and supplies for school.

• The host family: If the school is too far

away, the girl will stay with a host

family—a carefully selected family (often

a relative) who lives near the school. If

this is the case, the host family receives

the monthly cash transfer (to cover food

and lodging) instead of her parents.

• The girl: Accepting the scholarship

comes with an obligation to attend

tutoring sessions and to do well in

school. Recipients get 4000 CFA (US $8)

every four months to cover hygiene

items such as soap and sanitary pads. If

she does poorly in school or gets

married, the scholarship is revoked.


11:36 In geography class the teacher asks me to come up to the blackboard and make a dot to locateNiger on the map he drew of Africa. Then he asks the class if I put the dot in the right place. I did!


12:43 The Director holds a meeting with the mothers and fathers, host families and other communitymembers. “We still do sensitisation regularly,” he says. “Most parents didn't go to school. So I have totell them again and again that these girls must go to school and the adults must leave them in peace tostudy, not just use them to do household work like looking after children, sweeping, fetching water, etc.”


“Before, parents were not very interested in whether their children wentto school or not. Now they want to know everything that is happeningwith their daughters’ studies. This is linked with the scholarship. It hascreated an increased awareness about girls’ education in general.“When we talk to parents about sending their daughters to school, we

don’t talk much about the early marriage aspect. They don't want to hearabout it. They usually stop the conversation by saying ‘There is no earlymarriage here.’ We find it is much more effective to give examples ofsuccessful women to show them that if girls go to school they arecapable of reaching a high level. We also explain that even if theirdaughters drop out before achieving the highest level, the gains are stillthere. Educated girls are more open-minded and they have skills thatuneducated girls do not have. For example, they will take better care oftheir families, their children and their hygiene, and this makes themmore attractive when it comes to marriage. Parents like this argument.“Most of the sensitisation we do happens during community meetings.

Not many women come to these meetings, and if they do come, fewspeak. That’s why, after the meeting, we get the women together and letthem talk. That’s when we learn about the real issues for girls—like thereal reasons mothers don’t want to send them to school. In almost everycase the reasons are the same: first, they want their daughters to workand help at home; second, they want them to help earn money for thefamily by engaging in small scale trade; and third, they worry that theirdaughters might get pregnant—a burden that would fall entirely on thegirl (who would have to drop out of school) and her family.”

SALAMATOU KOUKADistrict Advisor and Focal Point for Girls Education

Protecting girls in school

“Unwanted pregnancy is a particular

concern for parents of girls in secondary

education,” says Salamatou Kouka, one of

110 UNICEF-trained ‘focal points’

responsible for promoting girls’ educa-

tion. “It is among the most common

reasons mothers give for not sending

their daughters to school. Of course, this

happens to girls who are not in school

too, but what really upsets mothers is

that, if a girl gets pregnant, the man or

boy is never punished; it is the girl who

must quit school and she is the one left

with the baby. She is the victim, but she

carries the burden.”

UNICEF is working with the Ministry of

Child Protection and the Ministry of

Education to advocate for a new law that

will protect female students in primary

and secondary school who get pregnant.

The law calls for increased accountability

for men and boys and allows the girl to

continue in school. At the same time,

UNICEF is working closely with Parent

Teacher Associations, School Manage-

ment Committees and other stakeholders

to make them clear about their roles in

ensuring that girls are protected at school.


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13:25 After lunch, I do my laundry and take a shower.


13:25 I don’t have many jobs to do at my host family’s house.Sometimes I help out a little with the cooking or with the baby or Ipound some millet, but most of the time I study. The most importantthing for me right now is to get good results and pass all of my exams.


“When Hamamatou's father came and asked me to host her, I acceptedwithout hesitation. A few years ago we didn't have a college here. Theentire village used to send their children to colleges located in otherdistricts. Friends and relatives there used to take care of our children.Now it is our duty to host students coming from other villages. “Being a host father is a huge responsibility. I must take care of

Hamamatou as if she is my own daughter. I have to make sure she has a good place to sleep, I have to monitor her studies, make sure she goesto school on time and make sure she has good food to eat. It’s animportant job, because we need educated girls. If they pass the finalsecondary school exam—the ‘Brevet’—they can go on to work as apolicewoman, or they can do trade or work at the health centre. Theywill have many opportunities.”

MOUSBAHOU MOUNKAILAHamamatou’s Host Father

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“When I was younger, I didn't realize how important school was. Idropped out during my second year of junior secondary school. It wasn’tgoing well. I had other things on my mind, so I neglected my studies.Now I realize what a big mistake that was. If I could go back and do itagain, I would do it differently. I would study hard. But now it is toolate for me. The scholarship program is good because for those of us whodropped out, it is a kind of chance to do things over. I can make thingsright by making sure my own daughter goes to school and succeeds. “I am proud. The whole village is proud. But I think the best thing

about the scholarship is that the girls who receive it must stay in schooland study for four years. A girl who has the scholarship cannot afford tomiss classes or not come to school. She has to be focused on her studies.She knows there is a kind of commitment behind the scholarship. “Before she got the scholarship some of Hamamatou’s friends from our

village were telling her, don’t study. Drop out. Things like that. I toldher she must go to school and she must attend classes regularly. Now,with the scholarship, she goes and she is focused without me having to push.“The future for these girls goes in two ways. There are those who

would like to do higher studies and go on to university, and there arethose who will finish higher secondary and then get a job. For me, it'sfine if Hamamatou does the latter. I am concerned that if she doeslonger-term studies, higher studies, it may be difficult for her to behavecorrectly in our society. Having too much knowledge in your head can bea problem, especially when it runs counter to our society.”

OUMAR GERBAHamamatou’s Father

15:36 “When we were growingup, Mousbahou and I lived inthe same village,” saysHamamatou’s father OumarGerba. “We were the best offriends -— like brothers. So whenthe time came for Hamamatou togo to college -- and that collegeis in his village -- I didn’t thinktwice about asking him to hosther. I am very confident thatshe's in good hands.”


“When I was young I didn't have the opportunity to go to school. Therewasn’t a school in my village. I am so glad Hamamatou has theopportunity to go to school. It will make her smart and open-minded.“I got married at 15. So did almost all of the other girls in my village.

Without a school, marriage was the only choice. Then, just likeHamamatou, I went to live in another house—my in-law’s house. Butbecause it was in the same village, I could go and visit my family moreeasily than she can visit us. “Sometimes Hamamatou comes home on the weekend. I miss having

her at home. I think about her a lot and I wonder how her studies aregoing. But I am glad that she has the scholarship. Having it means shewill not get married early. Early marriage is not good. It can lead tohealth problems. For example, you may need a cesarean when you givebirth and it is so difficult to have that here. Or you may get a fistula.And the biggest problem with that is that your husband will not helpyou with it. He will just take you back to your family and leave youthere, and your family will have to bear the burden of taking care of you.“If Hamamatou studies and gets good results, she will be able to get a

job—maybe in the health centre. Her life will be good, and I will be veryhappy for that.”

RASHIDA IBRAHamamatou’s Mother

16:02 I’m so happy to see myparents and my baby sister. Hername is Rabiatou. My parentscame to Gomba to take her tothe health centre and then theystopped in to see me and askabout my studies.

Sometimes I miss my family,but it's not unbearable. Thebiggest thing I miss is that athome I can be very free. Idon't have to think so muchabout what I am doing and if others will think it is okay.

17:43 When I can, I meetup with some of the othergirls to talk and sing songs.

Girls deserve equal access to quality education at every level.

UNICEF is working with the government, developmentpartners, local education authorities and NGOs

to ensure that adolescent girls receive a secondaryeducation. Their wellbeing and that of their families,

communities and the country depends on it.

www.schoolsforafrica.org

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To fund all of its work UNICEF relies entirely on voluntary donations from individuals,

governments, institutions and corporations. We receive no money from the UN budget.

Thank you for believing that all children have the right to an education.

ABOUT UNICEF

Together with you, UNICEF is working to make a difference for all children,everywhere, all the time. All children have rights that guarantee them whatthey need to survive, grow, participate and fulfill their potential. Yet everyday these rights are denied. Millions of children die from preventablediseases. Millions more don’t go to school, or don’t have food, shelter andclean water. Children suffer from violence, abuse and discrimination. This iswrong. UNICEF works globally to transform children’s lives by protecting and

promoting their rights. Their fight for child survival and development takesplace every day in remote villages and in bustling cities, in peaceful areasand in regions destroyed by war, in places reachable by train or car and interrain passable only by camel or donkey. Their achievements are won school by school, child by child, vaccine by

vaccine, mosquito net by mosquito net. It is a struggle in which success ismeasured by what doesn't happen—by what is prevented.UNICEF will continue this fight—to make a difference for all children,

everywhere, all the time.

Photography, writing and design: Kelley Lynch

UNICEF Niger

Boite Postale 12.481

Niamey

NIGER

Tel : + (227) 20.72.71.00

Fax: + (227) 20.73.34.68

email: [email protected]

www.facebook.com/unicefniger

https://twitter.com/Unicefniger

The Schools for Africa initiative is a successful international

fundraising partnership between UNICEF, the Nelson Mandela

Foundation and the Peter Krämer Stiftung. For more information

please visit www.schoolsforafrica.org.

unicef niger: hamamatou's story

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