Bright Minds

Dear Friends,

The first books have arrived at Tammah Library!   Here are some new pictures.  

The world map mural in the library has been a hit.  

Outside the local health center, Yvette leads health classes for young women, teaching them how to use condoms and prevent HIV transmission.  Only 53% of the 1.9 million people in Nigeria living with HIV receive treatment.  Bright Minds is working to destigmatize the conversation around HIV and AIDS.

Yvette with some of Bright Minds' scholarship recipients, who are enrolled in school for the first time.

Found this picture of Yvette and me back in Cameroon, co-leading a literacy session for primary school teachers.  We have made a great team ever since we started working together in 2015.  Now we have two Nigerian staff members as well.

This is  Zainab, one of Bright Minds' 55 scholarship recipients to date.  The breakdown:  48 academic scholarships, 6 job training scholarships, and one emergency intervention scholarship.  

And this is Mohammed with Yvette.  Mohammed is on both an academic scholarship and a job training scholarship to become a tailor.  He hopes to be able to support his mother, who is unemployed and just gave birth.  His father passed away from AIDS earlier this year.

Here's the breakdown of what your donation can do:

$32 enrolls a student in school for the first time.  This is a one-time enrollment fee for primary school.  After that, annual fees are nominal.  

$57 provides lifesaving food for a malnourished child for one month.  This is our new emergency intervention scholarship. 

$266 supports our health classes, girls club, and mentorship programs for one month.  

$3,500 builds a library in a school with no access to books or educational materials and trains librarians to keep it running.

You can view Bright Minds' operating budget at: 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dnLw00DRkrDUP8esZ4wzZ9USnaf34l1nBw3BpZpjc1Q/edit#gid=0 

Cute kids at the first library we built, in Cameroon.  

Thank you for believing in our mission to make education accessible to all children.  We rely 100% on individual donations, so it is not a stretch to say we could not do it without you!  Feel free to reach out to me, Gina, at [email redacted] or Yvette at [email redacted] with questions or comments.  Contact Gina if you are interested in donating books or school supplies.  

I believe in this work with all my heart.  This is what keeps me going, despite all the daily bad news in the media.  It makes me feel like I am doing something small but deeply meaningful with my life.  Thank you for joining Yvette and me on this journey.  

Love,
Gina & Yvette