Dorcas
Philomena
We first met Philomena fifteen months ago. She and her brother Maxwell live with their elderly grandmother who barely is able to support herself, and is unable to pay school fees for both children. So Maxwell was in and out of school, depending on when funds were available, and Philomena was at home doing chores all day. We could tell she was bright, and she shared with us her dream for the future - to go back to school and someday become a nurse.
Dorcas also lost her parents to death several years ago and she and her brother were separated, living with different relatives in two different villages. Dorcas was in and out of school, and her brother was not attending. Now, both Dorcas and Emmanuel are in school - he moved to Mpobi when we were able to secure a sponsor to pay his school fees.
Both Philomena and Dorcas will take the exam in April to enter Senior High School. This is a test they will study for all semester, knowing that their score will determine if they are able to enter a Senior High school. In Ghana, only 37 percent of students enroll in Senior High. The fees are considerably higher than secondary school, forcing many parents to make the difficult decision to end their child's education after junior high. For orphaned teenagers like Philomena and Dorcas, there is often no one who is able or willing to pay these costs. We believe that completing Senior High school opens doors for students that help them not only rise from poverty, but become future leaders in their community. We are committed to ensuring that students in our sponsorship program are able to complete Senior High school, but we don't want sponsors to shoulder the entire burden for three years. Most Senior High schools are boarding schools, and so the costs can reach up to $1,200 for one year of school. Our Senior High Scholarship Fund is there to accompany the funds that the students' sponsors contribute to their education. The supplemental funds we seek for one year of high school for each student is $900. Your contribution to the fund makes it possible for students like Philomena and Dorcas make it to the finish and complete Senior High school.
Help us send these girls - and other students in our program - to Senior High school. You can contribute to the scholarship fund here.