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Welcome to
Children of Rural Africa (CORAfrica)
SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM
CORAfrica is pleased to make available a Sponsorship Program which will support the growth and development of the education program for our children and ultimately their families and in turn, the community. Please take a moment to review details about the program here. It is our hope that through this program we will fulfill the requirements as described in the following article.
Help us upgrade ‘Little Flower Nursery Primary School ’
Recently, Little Flower Nursery Primary School came under close scrutiny. The Zonal Educational Area Authority, a division of the Cross River State Ministry of Education is presently clamping down on institutions that are not meeting the “Regulations on Minimum Standard for the Establishment of Schools in Cross River State” recently enacted. Upon inspecting the baby institution which was originally opened by CORAfrica to educate the rural indigent children in Ipong-Obudu, the Zonal Director of the Obudu Local Government Area Education Authority (OLGEA), Mrs. Monica Agba, lamented that though the new institution has strove to offer quality education to its 66 children enrolled so far since its inception. She observed that the school lacked some basic amenities.
She emphasized that though the institution was founded barely a year ago, the pupils in the school have shown tremendous progress in their academic endeavors as well as other indices such as cleanliness, mode of dressing, punctuality and general progress. She charged the Proprietor and entire community to work together to provide a lasting solution to the problem of the lack of basic amenities to operate the institution.
In a letter addressed to the Proprietor of the school and dated October 6th 2008, Mr G. W. Andoya the Assistant Director who signed the letter on behalf of the Director of the OLGEA, lauded the present operations in the school and named the basic requirements needed to enable the school to operate better as follows: “Two Standard buildings for Primary School operations that includes the following:
A Sick Bay or First Aid Room
Electricity / Water Supply
Computer Room
Library
Assembly hall / Reading Room and an open field with sporting and Game equipment for children”
In October 2007, Little Flower Nursery Primary School was opened with its first admission of 73 infants. Since then, the number of enrolments has dwindled because of the inability of the parents to pay the standard tuition. CORAfrica is hoping to partner with the Ipong community in raising awareness for the need for good education of children in the area. Already, there is an ongoing micro credit program as well as sponsorship program in view to address the problem of chronic poverty faced by parents and guardians in the area. CORAfrica is hoping to pair children from Little Flower with sponsors from across the US to assure that the immediate needs of the school and its children are met. To guarantee that Nigerian parents remain invested in the success of Little Flower, they may be required to still pay some amount of tuition when these programs kick off.
CORAfrica’s vision is to equip the school and build support systems such as health clinics, agricultural stations, and good sources of water supply in the area. The school will serve the surrounding villages of Okambi, Igwo, Bebuagbong, Bebuatsuan, Bebuabie, Begiaba, Kutiang and Akorshe Oweh, where majority of schools are mere business ventures. There is a lack of basic facilities such as standard buildings, desks and other basic necessities that foster quality education for rural children and that is attracting a lot of concern from the Ministry of Education. According to a World Bank report, majority of school children who live in rural areas drop out of school due to the lack of support facilities to attract them towards staying. The rate of transfer from primary to secondary school is decreasing and only 5% of children who complete secondary education from rural villages go on to college, while a whopping majority of youths who are opportune to attain some kind of education fail to establish sustainable ventures in the villages that will enable them stay on. CORAfrica hopes to raise funds to erect a model school in Ipong and other villages that will address these problems.
Help us upgrade Little Flower Nursery School. We are hoping to apply for re-inspection after meeting the Regulations laid out by the Ministry of Education in Nigeria. We rely on your good will to build this educational center that will become the pride and future of children and their community. Please help us build this baby institution by joining our sponsorship program or donating to CORAfrica securely through our website.
Report By
Fr. Peter Abue, Ph.D.
November 26, 2008 The Truck is Up!!
Thank you to our donors! On behalf of CORAfrica and Founder, Fr. Peter Abue, we wish to express our sincere thanks for your generous donations to repair
our Toyota Hilux.
Summer 2008 Interns
Our two Ithaca College student volunteers Liz and Aaron recently visited our sites in Nigeria. Visit the Liz and Aaron Travel Journal to read about their impressions of CORAfrica' programs.
CORAfrica Mission and Philosophy:
Children of Rural Africa is dedicated to providing educational opportunities and economic and humanitarian assistance to impoverished rural African children and their families. We are a child-friendly organization committed to building a meaningful future for children in rural Africa starting in the Ogoja region of Nigeria.
We have the following aims and objectives:
- Building community education centers that offer quality education and scholarships for rural children and youths.
- Health-related awareness and improvement for children and their caregivers through the use of clinics, hospitals and health centers.
- Credit building and economic security for impoverished families based on the philosophy that poor people are credit worthy.
- Agricultural training in the formal school system for both children and adults.
- Faculty and student exchanges, especially US scholars going abroad to complete internship programs related to our specific causes.
Our philosophy guides all of our activities. Find out more...
Children of Rural Africa (CORAfrica) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to providing educational opportunities for rural children in Africa. Find out about our programs and how to get involved. Learn more about our history and you may also want to read about Africa in our dispatches and the travel journals of those who have visited our sites in Nigeria.
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