In BENIN Batonga is:

Granting scholarships: Batonga is supporting 229 girls in continuing their education into secondary school. All of the girls were selected by community members who are closely involved in ensuring their success. All of the girls are disadvantaged in some way: they include those orphaned by AIDS, those who are disabled, or those who come from very poor families. Nevertheless, they have taken on these personal challenges with enormous spirit, tenacity, and dedication to their education. Batonga is supporting these students from grade 7 through grade 12 with scholarship packages that include tuition, uniforms, school supplies, mentoring, and community awareness activities that broadly promote girls’ education.

NGO Partner: World Education

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In CAMEROON Batonga is:

Granting scholarships: 20 girls, all AIDS orphans or from families affected by AIDS, have been awarded secondary school or post-secondary scholarships. They began their first year of secondary school in September 2007 and this same scholarship will be paid annually by Batonga until they graduate. The scholarship includes tuition, uniform, school supplies, mentoring and community awareness programs.

In-country NGO partner: African Action on AIDS (AAA)

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In ETHIOPIA Batonga is:

Granting scholarships: In Addis Ababa, Batonga, in collaboration with a local charity, Hope for Children, has created a unique program that supports college education for girls orphaned by AIDS.  Scholarship recipients are enrolled in various university programs including nursing and law. Each scholarship includes annual course fees, uniforms, books and materials and a transportation and food stipend.  Batonga supports each recipient until she has successfully completed her courses. Currently, Batonga provides 17 girls with annual scholarships.

Batonga is also supporting Hope for Children’s Youth Learning Center in Addis Ababa.  The center offers after school tutoring programs and summer learning programs. Last year, Batonga filled the Youth Learning Center’s library with 5,000 books, providing the over 300 children who regularly attend classes there with access to the necessary tools for learning. Batonga also donated 5,000 books to a variety of organizations and schools including the new library at Project Mercy in Butajira, the Agazi High School and the community center and public library in Adigrat/Tigray.

Batonga is also partnering with the Gemini Foundation in Ethiopia to provide educational support for girls from Gemini families, which are destitute families with twins living in the slums of Addis Ababa. Batonga will provide school supplies to 31 girls attending universities in Ethiopia and 500 girls attending school in Addis Ababa.

Providing microloans: Batonga’s newest project, in partnership with Mercy Corps, is titled PROSPER, which stands for Promoting Sustainable Partnerships for Economic Recovery. PROSPER is a program that  targets vulnerable communities in the Konso and Derashe districts of Ethiopia. Its objective is to empower marginalized women to enable girls to complete their secondary school education and improve their well-being.

As an incentive to keep the girl in secondary school, mothers/female care givers will be provided with a loan of up to $150 linked to the secondary school enrollment of the girl.  The profits that the mothers make from their loan will be used to expand their income generating activities and continue payments for the costs associated with sending their daughters to school.

The project will provide secondary school scholarships for 140 students.  In addition the project will support up to 50 girls in continued vocational education and apprenticeship opportunities after graduation. Each girl will be provided with $30 per month for a period of 10 months to cover daily subsistence and transportation costs.

The project will also place emphasis on encouraging parents to keep their daughters in school through secondary education. Awareness raising strategies will be devised in consultation with the respective Woreda education offices and special events will be organized to bring together parents of children on a regular basis to discuss their income generating activities, positive changes in their households and performance of their children.

In-country NGO partners: Hope for Children , Gemini Foundation and Mercy Corps

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In MALI Batonga is:

Granting scholarships: 75 girls have been awarded scholarships in Kidal in northen Mali, one of the toughest and most isolated places in the world. These girls, all of whom are disadvantaged, have overcome daunting obstacles to pursue their education. Batonga is supporting the scholars from grade 7 through grade 12 with scholarship packages that include tuition, uniforms, school supplies, mentoring, and community awareness activities that broadly promote girls’ education. NGO partner: World Education In-country NGO partner: Aide à l’Enfant du Désert et du Sahel (AEDS)

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In SIERRA LEONE Batonga is:

Granting scholarships: 78 girls have been awarded secondary school scholarships to attend Waterloo Junior Secondary School in Waterloo, Sierra Leone.  They are enrolled in various grades, and the same Batonga scholarships are being paid annually until each girl graduates from grade 12. Each scholarship includes a set of school uniforms, a school bag, a pair of school shoes, 7 core text books (including business, grammar, math, and literature studies), a packet of 12 exercise books, a math set including pens, pencils and erasers, school fees, and mentoring activities. In-country NGO partner: Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE Sierra Leone Chapter)

Supporting a vocational school: Funds are being provided for 25 girls to attend a Vocational Training School in Freetown that currently has 48 girls enrolled, all of whom were rescued from brothels. These girls were forced into the sex trade due to devastating poverty and a lack of opportunities for women.  They are currently enrolled in two-year training programs in sewing, photography, carpentry, basket-weaving and pottery, tie dying, tailoring, and soap making.  Batonga also provides “employment kits” to graduates so that they have the tools they need to start their own business. In-country NGO partner: Children Associated with the War (CAW)

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