Robin, Chef du Canton and Amadou Madougou, former Mayor and former Minister of Education at the FOF launch ceremony

Had a terrific trip to Niger last week, primarily to officially launch our Farmers of the Future program.  I was joined by John Craig from Eliminate Poverty Now, and Dov Pasternak, the renowned agricultural scientist who created this program.  Although we have been working on this program for the past two years, it was time to officially launch it in public. 400 people showed up at Gueriguinde Zarma, the village where one of the three sites is located. The idea of the program is to teach primary level children in grades 4-6 how to view agricultural as a business and not merely as a way to subsist. This past year we have built full curriculum in seven subjects, and trained the teachers, working alongside the Ministry of Education officials. The hope is to pilot this program for the next two years and monitor and evaluate it to see if it accomplishes the goals we have in changing the mindset of the younger generation from subsistence agriculture to market oriented agriculture. The Minister of Livestock and Minister of Education participated at the launch ceremony along with a member of the Prime Minister’s cabinet. It was well organized and beautifully done.

Farmers of the Future young girls sing and dance at the ceremony!

FOF – sign for the official launching ceremony

Young children from Bangou Banda school in Libore attend the ceremony!

Children at the launching ceremony for the Farmers program

Farmers of the Future launch – young girl gives grafting demonstration to Ministers of Education and Livestock

Invited guests and officials visit the garden and see the drip irrigation

We were recently featured on Premier Dalton McGuinty’s blog – BlogOn(tario). Here is what he had to say:

“This time of year, especially, we all try to look for ways to make a difference. The spirit of the holidays helps us open our hearts to families and communities who don’t have the same opportunities we enjoy here.

That’s what Robin Mednick has done in spades. Her “accidental journey” started with a phone call in 2005. “A friend who was just back from Niger told me that 30 kids there were sharing one pencil. I couldn’t just leave that sentence hanging,” Mednick says. And so her Pencils for Kids adventure began.”

Read More

This year, in honour of those you love, give the gift of education to a child in Liboré, Niger, Africa.

It has been a challenging year for the people of Liboré, Niger. Pencils for Kids has officially launched its Farmers of the Future program together with our partner, Eliminate Poverty Now, in three villages, teaching children how to practice agriculture as a business. Our first ever scholarship recipient from our Scholarships for Girls program has gone on to University, and the sewing centre continues to thrive.  But amidst this uplifting news, there was massive flooding in August, displacing thousands of families, who not only lost their homes, but their crops as well. Many P4K supporters  responded to our appeal and, as a result, we were able to send money to purchase tons of rice, thousands of dollars of medicine and hundreds of bed-nets.

We remain deeply committed to helping this community get on its feet and develop programs that are self-sustaining. All of the Kindergartens begun by P4K are now run by the government and fully sustainable. The Cooper sewing centre sells creations and sewing supplies to local villagers, and the money from this,  along with modest student fees, help support the centre and teacher. The women’s tree nursery that was begun as part of our Farmers of the Future program will sell its trees to local farmers and use the money to support other women’s gardens. Despite the setbacks imposed by the flooding, Liboré continues to make tangible progress on all these fronts.

Please join us on twitter and facebook and read our blog. Check out our website www.pencilsforkids.com which is filled with descriptions of all of our projects, inspirational stories, videos, photos, and more!

Thank you for supporting the work of Pencils for Kids and letting the children in Liboré, Niger know that you care!

- Pencils for Kids

The wonderful P4K supporters rallied and raised over $11,000 in a week to help the people of Libore buy food for those displaced by the flooding in August.  Along with our partner Eliminate Poverty Now, over $22,000 was sent to buy bednets, medicine and bags of grain.