Assiatou and her parents
In Guinea, two more children have received the chance to attend school : Aissatou Tounkara and Mohamed Samaké.
It has been a long, tough road for Aissatou and Mohamed. In both cases, their parents are handicapped and very ill. Aissatou had to drop out of school in 8th grade to help at home. Mohamed dropped out in third grade. In 2017, their lives will finally get easier because of the generous support of Bintou Diallo and a grant from Western Union. In October, at the start of the new school year, these children will be enrolled in school and their families will be supported to help stabilize their lives.
Mohamed (left)
This month, the children and their families received the good news.
Ibrahima Sory Tounkara, the father of Aissatou, showed his gratitude, speaking on behalf of all of the families in the MindLeaps program. With tears in his eyes, he said :
“I am the father of Aissatou. I am handicapped and live in the Solidarity Association with my wife and our children. I thank the NGO and Western Union that has given us the chance to educate our child. When I learned that my daughter was chosen for the school scholarship, I started to cry. Truly, I am filled with emotion and very happy.”
We hope that, in the years to come, we have the strength and support to provide the same opportunity to all the street children that enter our center in Guinea.
Ansoumane Conde is the Country Director of MindLeaps Guinea.