Trinité magazine - Spring 2020

orld OUR
SION
OUR
ION
in the World
by Ann Dushane
5
Students in Niamey, Niger
Nourishing minds
and preparing futures
Girls in Niger, one of the poorest nations on the
planet, tend to occupy the bottom tier of the poverty
cycle, with little schooling, early marriage and no hope
for improving their lives or those of their families.
The American Cathedral’s Mission and Outreach
Committee (M&O) is working to change that, with a
very simple solution: food.
LES AMIS DE HAMPATÉ BÂ SCHOLARSHIP STUDENTS, 2018-19. PHOTO BY THIERRY BETZ
Can you imagine having no breakfast and enduring
an hour-long walk to school or work each day under a
blistering sun, temperatures as high as 41°C / 106°F?
That is the daily reality of 60 scholarship students in
Niamey, Niger, whom M&O is supporting through its
“Food for Thought” program, in partnership with the
Paris-based nonprofit association, Les Amis de Hampaté Bâ.
Betsi Dwyer, former
parishioner and M&O
committee member, joined Les
Amis de Hampaté Bâ in 2010.
She brought the association
and its work to the attention
of M&O in June 2016, just
as she was preparing to move
back to the United States.
Having spent some time
in Burkina Faso visiting a
diplomat friend, I was aware
of the oversized role played
by schools in rural African
villages. I met with Thierry
and Sher Betz, founders of
the association that supports
Amadou Hampaté Bâ, a
private, co-ed, secular middle
and high school in Niamey,
Niger’s capital. Thierry, a