Bringing Girls to School is a group of Mauritanian professionals and teachers who are working to educate girls in Mauritania, West Africa and improve their prospects for the future

We sponsor girls for the first six years. The cost covers private school tuition, registration fees, tutoring and administrative costs (does not include salary).

$200 Sponsor a girl's education for one year

In the villages we work to provide with the supplies and tutoring to succeed in public school. We also start microfinance projects managed by the mothers of women supporting their daughters' education. Those project then return 20% of their profits to the program.

$80 Sponsor a village girl's education for one year and provide seed money to a women's cooperative

Send tax-deductible donations for Bringing Girls to School to:

Blue Hills Corporation 301 E. Armour Boulevard Suite 650 Kansas City, MO 64111

Each year thousands of young girls in Mauritania, West Africa drop out of school to begin a lifetime of work to help their families. While this is critical to the financial needs of their families, these girls are largely uneducated and unskilled. They earn the most meager wages and are unable to change the condition of the household.

A girl is expected to marry, often around 14 years-old, and start bearing children. She will carry the weight of great responsibility in addition to the adolescent struggles we all go through.

If she had been able to stay in school, she would have the opportunity to build her skills in reading and writing. Basic skills she needs to find decent employment and improve her life and living conditions.

Without this chance, she will be destined to sell vegetables or fish for pennies at the market, or wander the streets looking for the slim chance of a job washing clothes or cleaning for a foreigner for less than a dollar a day.

However, if a girl can read and write, her prospects increase greatly. She has choices. Working in a local business or going on to further schooling. Her potential to earn adequate wages is enormously increased by her education.

Coumba believes that “education is essential for the future progress of my country.” As there are considerably more boys attending school, the project focuses on providing education for girls for the firs six years of their education.

Bringing Girls to School selects girls who have a demonstrated need for aide and would otherwise have to leave (or have already left) school. She must show a commitment to making the most of her education and mentor younger, newer girls in the program.

This year 60 girls are being sponsored by generous friends from around the world. They are given a scholarship to one of the private schools in their neighborhoods. The classrooms have about 20 to 25 students to a teacher. Further, each girl's progress is monitored carefully by the teacher and Coumba herself.

Private, no-frills schools are selected for their outstanding percentage of students who graduate and continue to the next level of school. Like all school here, each student must buy her own textbooks and supplies. What they do offer is qualified and dedicated teachers who strive to help each student reach her or his potential.

Amenons Nos Filles á l'Ecole B.P. 3875 Nouakchott, Mauritania West Africa 011-222-632-8183 anfenktt@yahoo.fr