The Northern Education Initiative Plus project encourages community participation while working to provide basic education across 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Sokoto and Bauchi states. Women groups volunteer to visit house-to-house to educate parents of the benefits of sending their children to school. They engage community leaders who in turn lend their support to the importance of education. These efforts have increased the number of children enrolled in non-formal centres in The Initiative’s implementing states.
Halima Umar, a community mobilizer noticed that after all the hard work carried out to mobilize and enroll learners at Garin Abare non-formal learning centre in Darazzo LGA, the children do not stay till the end of the lesson. The problem was that there were no toilets in the centre. “I carry out my mobilization duty diligently and parents respond positively allowing their children to attend the non-formal learning centre. But children were not staying through lessons”, says Halima Umar. Troubled about this, she decided to bring the matter to the attention of the Darazzo Womens’ Group.
Toilets built for a Non-formal Learning Centre by the Darazzo Women Group
Womens’ Group community mobilizers, passionate about the work they do, often go the extra mile doing whatever they can to make sure that children enrolled at NFLCs are comfortable. The Darazzo Womens’ Group agreed to each contribute N1000 monthly toward a toilet building. They reached out to other members of the community who also donated. Within six months, the women raised over N300, 000.
Hajiya Maijidda Garba – Leader of Darazzo Women’s Group
“We had to spend a huge sum of money to build the main pit with concrete and rods so that the toilets will last because of the type of soil in the area,” says Hajiya Maijidda Garba leader of Darazzo Womens’ Group. Because of their sacrifice and investment children are now able to stay for the entire lesson instead of going home to use the toilet.
Story written by Nura Faggo & Adebisi Adetunji
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