Support the Zion Academy in Benue State, Nigeria

Hi there, thank you for clicking on my link and your interest in supporting my fundraiser!

My name is Medina Bada and I am raising money for a school thats very close to my heart, the Zion Academy in Ugba, Benue State, Nigeria.

The Zion Academy has been established in September 2017 by Raymond Ijir. This is a picture of him with some of the teachers and students at the graduation ceremony this year.

At only 26 years old, Raymond realised that the education system in his village was so poor it left many children without the ability to read and write. Taking matter into his own hands, Raymond spent his entire savings to build the schools first building which only had 3 classrooms. They started with a bare structure and a handful of desks and benches, however, the interest and craving for learning was so enormous that the classrooms quickly filled up with many students sitting on the floor.

Over the next 4 years Raymond would work his day-to-day job in order to save up and develop his school further, making many personal sacrifices to grow the school and add more school buildings to accommodate all the children in the area. Financial support was scarce since the majority of parents already struggled to come up with the 3500 Naira (equivalent to about £7) per semester to send their child to school. Til today, a lot of the students walk about 5km to school, many barefoot and without having had breakfast at home.

Since the beginning of this semester the Zion Academy has admitted over 500 students across 13 classes for various levels: Kindergarten, Nursery as well as Primary 1 through 6. Due to the current lack of space some of the classes sit over 80 children. One of several projects is to build more classrooms as well as a building for a secondary school.

15 teachers, a nurse and a security guard are making sure that these children receive an education that will set them up for life. Raymond has worked with several other schools to come up with the best curriculum. The subjects currently taught are Maths, English, Christian Religion Studies, Physical Health Education, Agricultural Science, Home Economy, Cultural and Creative Arts, Social Studies, Civic Education, Verbal and Quantitative Reasoning and Computer Studies.

All classrooms are equipped with simple wooden desks and benches and one whiteboard. There is one laptop available for Computer Studies for the whole school. Outside they have a garden area where they learn about sustainable farming.

In order to grow the school further and enhance the infrastructure there are a few projects for which we are trying to raise money so these children can receive the level of education they deserve.

Currently the academy has 3 school buildings (A, B and C) and 3 offices for the headmaster, secretary and proprietor. 2 of the school buildings have a roof but still require a ceiling, the building C and the offices need roofs and ceilings. Building C has been built most recently, meaning, it still requires doors, windows, barricades and whiteboards. The offices are just rooms at the moment so we are looking to equip them with a desk and chair. As you can imagine, the school currently doesn't have any electricity or running water so one of the projects is to run wires through all buildings and to dig a well on the school ground.

The academy is in need of a computer lab with a minimum of 6 computers as well as a nurses office with a desk, chair and bed.

One of the goals is to get a school bus to collect children that live further away, meaning they would no longer have to walk hours to get to and back from school.

Last but not least, due to the costs the school is yet to be registered with the Ministry of Education, meaning that although the kids learn, its very hard for them to get their certificates recognised by other schools when they embark onto higher education.

The following is a projection of the costs for the projects mentioned above:

We would also like to get the students some school supplies such as notebooks and pencils.

I will be travelling to Nigeria in November myself and personally deliver any monetary donations made as well as purchase the school supplies and equipment to help these children have a better future.

If you are like me and want to help, I for one would very much appreciate it but I know that Raymond and all the students and teachers will be forever grateful.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support!

Best wishes,

Medina