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We are dedicated and committed to helping Africa's only hope- it's children.
from
Ibrahim Akar
(children@Africaspromise.net)
Africa's Promise
3725 George Busbee Parkway
#1608
Kennesaw, GA 30144
U. S. A.
December 10th, 2001.
Hello:
How did Africa’s Promise come into being? It began 3 years ago, when our founder,
Ibrahim Akar, returned to Kano, Nigeria for the first time since becoming an American citizen.
While visiting friends and family, Ibrahim was appalled by terrible condition of the local grammar school
(Panshekara Primary School), where before coming to America he taught for a short time. Ibrahim couldn’t
believe the lack of facilities:
·
Children sitting on the dirt floor because there are no chairs or benches.
·
No First Aid supplies – not so much as a Band-Aid for a skinned knee.
·
Virtually no school supplies – paper, pencils, books (the teacher may have a book or two).
·
Children who are hungry virtually all the time due to lack of food at home and school.
·
Even schools are in such short supply that the classes run in shifts – one class in
the morning, one in the afternoon, and a third in the evening, often taught by the same exhausted teacher!
·
On a less basic level, they don’t even dream of having things we take for granted – sports
equipment, lunch facilities, athletic fields, etc.
Ibrahim, along with his sister, Hayat, who still lives in Kano, decided to try and help these children.
Hayat, who was already involved with helping children at the Special Education School
and Ibrahim’s mother, Laila, who has been bringing food to the children of
Children Home Nassarawa during the Muslim
Holy Month of Ramadan for many years got Ibrahim interested in these causes as well.
In 1998, Ibrahim traveled to Kano to visit family and friends again. But this time, Ibrahim brought
school supplies from the States and bought rice and other foodstuffs in Nigeria for the children.
Ibrahim paid for it all from his own pocket (considering a plane ticket from Atlanta to Kano is $1500,
the effort was substantial).
Last year, Ibrahim returned and with a little help from his friends (and family), provided the school
the following:
·
Over 1000 pens and pencils
·
Chalk
·
Board Erasers
·
Math Sets
·
200 exercise books (notebooks bought in Nigeria)
·
Sharpeners
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Teacher reference books for Mathematics and English
·
Rulers
·
Tons of Crayons and coloring pencils
·
Pencil Erasers
·
and more
For the orphanage:
·
Sixty new pairs of children’s flip-flops
·
One 110 lb. bag of rice
·
One 110 lb. bag of semovita (very similar to semolina)
·
One 110 lb. of sugar
·
One carton of spaghetti
·
Sixty sweat shirts (for the cold weather)
·
Each child also received a goody bag with a small loaf of bread, a banana, a lollipop and a
piece of candy
When Ibrahim returned to the States last year, it was suggested that he form an official charity. After some
thought and discussion, the current members of the Board of Directors formed Africa’s Promise. The guiding
principal behind Africa’s Promise is that EVERY DIME collected will get to the children in need. Ibrahim,
for the foreseeable future, will continue to make yearly trips to Kano, paid for out of his own pocket.
The cost of starting the charity has been born entirely by the board members. The cost of shipping goods from
the States has been and will continue to be paid for by benefactors of Africa’s Promise. Volunteers will do all
the behind the scenes work (WEB design, bookkeeping, etc.). Further, an accounting of every dime collected
and dispersed will be available on this WEB site very soon.
We hope you will join us in helping Africa's only hope - it's children
Brought to you by Kano Online 2001
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