ACT is a family full of children and hope. The grown-ups in the family work hard to help provide for the kids, including to receive essential education. Some children work extra hard and put in the effort that show their talent and achieve amazing results. But it can be hard to find a way to reward them. This is why we are especially grateful to TAF (Tobi Adeyemi Foundation) who are supporting the ACT family to reward our exceptional children.
TAF was formed out of adversity. The young Tobi Adeyemi had aspired to set up a foundation to offer education bursaries and scholarships to disadvantaged children and young people when he grew up. Following his sudden death when he was barely 17 years old, the Tobi Adeyemi Foundation was set up by his parents in 2011 to turn Tobi’s dream into a legacy to fulfil his hopes. The foundation aims to enable young people to reach their potential by giving them a voice, encouraging them to believe in themselves and supporting those facing disadvantage financially. TAF recognises potential, skill, talent and excellence in children and gift them with scholarships to complete secondary school education and position them to advance their skills and talents as they move on to higher education.
It was the beginning of a wonderful collaboration that since 2016 has seen scholarships awarded to thirty-one (31) ACT children across four of the eight African countries where ACT operates, ensuring that the exceptional talents of these children would be nurtured and not be buried. Travel with us to meet some of the exceptional ACT children that TAF has kindly rewarded with a scholarship.
Mariam
Mariam from Kagera, Tanzania, lives with her family and keeps some goats and a cow. Mariam had always been a hard worker, an attribute that her teachers had observed from primary school and the reason she was rewarded with a TAF scholarship 3 years ago. This is also seen in the effort she put into raising her goat, given to her and her family as part of the ACT income generation initiative. The family sold the offspring and gathered enough money to buy a cow, raising extra income and extra hope for her family. Mariam is in Form 3 in secondary school.
Robinson
You will travel 15 hours Northeast for the 500 miles journey from Kagera, Tanzania to meet Robinson in Webuye, Kenya. A very bright boy brought up by a poor woman, a peasant farmer who has looked after her four children all alone since her husband died nearly 6 years ago. Despite their poverty, Robinson had shown sparks of brilliance very early in secondary school leading to the recommendation 4 years ago that he be put forward for TAF scholarship by our partners in Kenya. A worthy scholar, this year he passed to study BSc Environmental Science at Rongo University, Kitere Hills, Kenya.
Olaide
If you travel 5,000 miles Northwest from Robinson, you will arrive at Ipaja, Lagos State, Nigeria where Olaide lives. Four years earlier, she was critically ill with epilepsy (seizure disorder) and missed two years of school. An orphan, her grandmother could not afford the cost of hospital treatment and resorted to local native remedies which made her worse. With ACT support she recovered quickly when she was taken to a hospital. The fourth of five siblings, Olaide’s parents died in 2006 when she was 4 years old. Her father after an illness and her mother from food poisoning. When she recovered from her illness, she worked very hard to catch up with her peers. She worked so hard she was moved up a school year, reducing the time deficit off school. Her hard work paid off culminating in her receiving a TAF scholarship.
The financial benefits of a TAF award encourages peers to work harder to achieve the same and promotes healthy competition, which helps them to aim high to reach their full potential.
At ACT we are grateful for many things, like good health, joy and hope of a brighter future for all our children. They are the future. Having amazing partners like the Tobi Adeyemi Foundation, just adds greater blessing to us and we will cherish this always.
ACT is for the children otherwise forgotten
Can you help us to support many more disadvantaged children and orphans living in rural remote areas of Africa who otherwise are forgotten and far from the opportunities of basic education that other children their age routinely enjoy?
Sponsor a child now with ACT for £15 a month or make a donation. To find out more, please click here.
For more information about the Tobi Adeyemi Foundation please click here.