The two pictures above are of Mariama Idrissu our very first Afafanto Scholar in 2010 and today in 2019. After graduating from Ndewura Jakpa high school, Mariama went on to earn her public health certificate. She now spends her time giving back as a nurse in her village of Larabanga. She’s just one of our success stories.
This year we are celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of our Afafanto Scholarship Fund. In a decade we have touched the lives of over 40 amazing women just like Mariama. Over 93% of our girls have graduated senior high compared with the national ratio of only 67.5% girls finishing senior high school. Among our alumni we have two who have gone on to University, one University graduate, three who have become nurses and several more are in government service, police officers and secretaries. It makes me so happy that Leah’s dream of giving something back to the world is being realized through these beautiful young women.
Over the past ten years, Leah’s Dream Inc. not only created a scholarship fund, but we created and nurtured the Leah’s Dream NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) on the ground in Ghana that now administers 3 additional programs as well as our Afafanto Scholarship Fund. Please support our Annual Appeal
We are well on our way to achieving Leah’s Dream of a sustainable future through our programs for women in Northern Ghana. Some outstanding young scholars now have more options beyond a simple village life. Our NGO has grown and is becoming known in the region as an exemplary program for supporting girls’ education. We now service over 80 girls from ages 12-19. These are some of our accomplishments this year:
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Though our students come from just a few villages in the West Gonja District, they attend schools all over the Northern Region of Ghana. Our office is in Tamale, central city of this Northern Region serves as a hub for our activities. We have hired a clerk so our office can be open daily for visitors to drop in for information or to surf the web. And we now have a central place for our girls to meet as peers for Bridge training learning new skills and exploring options as they transition to the next phases of their lives.
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This year, we added a Peace Corps Volunteer to our staff. His duties include training teachers in the Bagabaga JHS and the Larabanga JHS to run their own Afafanto Girls Clubs to encourage more girls to stay in school and to help them to pass the Basic Education Comprehensive Exam that is a barrier to moving on to Senior High School. He has also assists in the monitoring and tracking progress of our girls who are enrolled in high schools all over the district. We welcome this terrific partnership!
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These new efforts have necessitated the purchase of a vehicle for the use of the NGO.
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None of these programs could exist without your support. Students cannot attend school without supplies or shoes. Laptops will not work without electricity and internet. Vehicles do not run without gasoline. Over the past 10 years we have raised more than $50,000.00. We have earned our Guidestar Bronze Award. The NGO is flourishing with an expanded Board, and our cadre of fine educated young women is growing exponentially. Please help us continue this great work.
We really need your financial support this year. Better yet, why not consider become a recurring donor so we may continue securely into our second decade fulfilling Leah’s Dream?
Leah’s story and my own have resonated with so many wonderful donors. However, now in our second decade, we move beyond just honoring her memory to honoring the hard work and achievements of our Ghana staff and the young women we work with. I am truly excited for our growth and new success stories as we begin this new decade together.
Thanks so much,
Sandee Mandel, President and Executive Director Leah’s Dream Inc.