In the second full year of our pilot program in three villages, we made a change.  We put all the vegetable gardens and tree nurseries in the hands of mothers, who would manage them full time, year-round. They would sell what they planted and earn a profit.  They would pay back expenses after a period of time.  They would become true entrepreneurs.  The children would learn about agriculture as a business from being involved with their mothers, and helping during the school hours, but the schools themselves and the technicians would no longer bear responsibility for these nurseries and gardens. It was an excellent move.  The teachers continue to teach theory in the classroom and this is complemented by hands on teaching in the gardens by the women.  We are seeing results!
Onions-and-Moringa-at-Gonzare.

Women at Gueriguinde are VERY HAPPY with the new arrangement!!

What a day!
Amadou Madougou, former Mayor of Libore and Federal Minister of Education,  and his son Alioun, who lives in Quebec, visited Toronto for the first time on August 16th.  It was a whirlwind visit marked by a special lunch at the top of the CN Tower with Louise Sherman, P4K’s Treasurer and Program Director, and Robin.  We then had a very moving dinner with members of the team who met the Mayor for the very first time.  Everyone was in agreement that this was a man with tremendous grace, humility and wisdom.  During the meal, each person explained their role and involvement with Pencils for Kids and their words were eloquently translated by Alioun, who is bilingual. The Mayor then held us all captive as he explained what impact each of our programs had on his community and the many villages that comprise it. There were tears and laughter and a sense of occasion. We wanted the evening to go on and on.  The next morning they were off to Porter airport for the flight to Ottawa and then on to Sherbrooke.  It was by all accounts one of P4K’s most memorable events — one we will all savour for a long time to come. Knowing that our work has truly changed lives is reason enough to keep our spirits high and our energy focused.  Amadou Madougou is one of the main reasons we have stayed by Libore’s side all these years — because we knew we had fallen into the arms of a man we could trust completely. He is highly respected in his country and tremendously admired here in Canada.

Congratulations to the seven girls in Secondary School who just found out they passed their final exams and will receive their BAC diplomas!!!

All of them are now automatically admitted to University, should they choose to attend. This is an amazing accomplishment for the girls, and for their teachers and community — only last year the very first girl graduated from Libore Secondary School and went on to University. Pencils for Kids has been sponsoring Scholarships for Secondary and Middle school girls for the past four years and it has certainly yielded excellent results. We thank all of our sponsors who made these scholarships possible — your belief in our program and huge support  have transformed the lives of many young women.

We are so proud of each and every one of them and wish them all huge success in the years to come.  And hats off to LIBO, the NGO that continues to run our P4K Scholarship program.

And here are the new graduates:

Aichatou Halidou

Ainaou-Mardia-Hassoumi

Haliama-Tiémogo

Nafissatou-Seydou-Farka

Rachidatou-Abdou-Hamidou

Rahina-Hama-Zakou

Salamatou-Badjé-Nouhou

The pilot program of the Farmers of the Future program is entering its second full year in October 2013 — so far the students have learned so much in their vegetable gardens, tree nurseries and animal fattening programs. The mothers too have been running their own tree nurseries and selling the grafted trees!

Galbal women’s citrus plants…

Gonzare students’ Mango plants!!