OPEN International: Empowering Children and Strengthening Communities Through Education

While visiting my hometown of Nioro, Senegal, in the Summer of 2008, I could not help but notice  there were still many problems with the public school system that I had grown up in. It was not simply the fact that the schools did not have enough supplies or even enough space for students. What really hurt was that most of the standards of these facilities did not match the overwhelming enthusiasm and joy that students had for learning.

During my visit, I was approached by a high school teacher and a group of his students who asked if I could help them build a library because there were no such spaces for them to study. Other issues like a lack of required textbooks for exams, access to computers, coupled with constant strikes by teachers, were also quite prevalent. I realized that I had to do something and in 2009, I started OPEN International, a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide the children of Nioro access to quality education and increase their success after school through a combination of academic and agricultural programs.

Students are required to take core classes such as English, Math, Science, and History, as well as courses in Agri-Business. The goal of this program is not to only increase the chances of students graduating and attending university after high school, but also to give them marketable skills they can use in their communities to financially support themselves and potentially help support their families.

The same year OPEN International was formed, we successfully raised enough money through fundraisers and from multiple donors to begin building a school in Nioro called College Adja Penda Ba, named after my mother who owned the piece of land where the school is built. This marked the beginning of a journey that would help bring OPEN International closer to accomplishing its mission as well as attaining its vision of empowering and strengthening the Nioro community through education. In 2009, College Adja Penda Ba only had enrolled 50 students for 9th and 10th grade classes. Now seven years later, there are more than 200 students enrolled in grades K – 5th and 9th – 12th.

OPEN International, and Ecole Adja Penda Ba have come a long way since 2009, but there is still a long way to go. Every year, hundreds of students are kicked out of public schools for failing national exams because of family, financial, and a slew of other reasons that are completely out of the students’ hands. With nowhere to turn in the current public school system, College Adja Penda Ba gives these children a second chance at something that one can never put a price tag on, a place to start or continue their education. More information about OPEN International can be found at: http://openinternational.org/