OUR SCHOLAR'S STORIES

HELLO,

I am Salamat Komi Naouli

Dreams to be a surgeon

female scholar with mentor

Salamat's Story

Salamat is 19 years old, and comes from the village of Mango in the Savanes region. Salamat’s favorite classes in school are math, all science classes, and English. She wants to become a surgeon; there aren’t really female doctors where she lives and she wants to show other girls that it is possible for a woman to be a doctor. She will go to University for seven years and then will do three years of specialty to become a surgeon. She would also like to study abroad in the US. Salamat has succeeded in school because it is an essential part to achieving her goal (of becoming a surgeon); she always has her goal in mind and makes all her decisions in a way that will help her reach that goal.

Yanou's Story

Yanou M’Booura is 18 years old. She is from a village just outside Blitta, a town in Togo’s Central region, but she goes to school at Blitta’s high school. So that Yanou doesn’t have to travel from her village each day to go to school, her family has rented a room for Yanou and her brother in Blitta. On weekends and during school vacations, Yanou goes back to her village where she lives in a compound with her mother, three aunts, 15 cousins, and four siblings. Her father has a second wife and he lives with her in a nearby village where he is the primary school director. Yanou’s mother sells fruit to make extra money, but she never attended school herself. At school, Yanou studies in the science track. She chose the science track, because she wants to become a doctor. In her class there are 76 students, but only nine girls. Because there are so few girls, the boys in her class often pick on Yanou and try to distract her from her studies, but she doesn’t let them shake her focus. At 14, Yanou is the youngest student in her class. This is due to the fact that she has always passed her exams, received good grades, and therefore never had to redo a class. Up until Yanou received the Pathways scholarship, Yanou’s mother paid her school fees while Yanou sold fruit on the street in order to pay for books and school supplies. She often couldn’t afford many books, so in her free time, Yanou would go to the local library to read. Now, with the Pathways scholarship, Yanou will have more to buy school supplies and books that she can call her own. 

HELLO,

I am Yanou M’Booura

Aspires to be a doctor

female scholar writing

HELLO,

I am Edwige Sabanko

Desires to create her own enterprise

young scholar

Edwige's Story

At 25 years old, Edwige Sabanko from Cinkassé (northern Togo) is the recipient of West African YALI (The Young African Leaders Initiative) fellowship. Edwidge has been a Pathways Togo scholar since 2010. YALI was launched by United States President Barack Obama as part of his effort to invest in the next generation of African leaders. Edwige Sabanko is pursuing her B.A at University of Lomé. She aims to create her own enterprise after her graduation to contribute to the economic growth of her community. Selected from among many applicants, Edwige will participate in exchange trainings in Accra/Ghana from March 21 through April 22, 2016.

She hopes to seize this YALI opportunity to increase her knowledge and build a solid network in West African. As a young African woman, she will take this opportunity to generate entrepreneurial ideas for development.

HELLO,

I am Reine Kitan

Dreams to become a doctor

Reine's Story

Reine Kitan is 11 years old. Reine’s father died when she was really young. Since then, her mother has been taking care of their four children mainly by selling vegetables at the market. Reine is a shy girl who wants to become a doctor when she is older. In her spare time, she likes playing with her friends and is part of a dancing and singing group in her local church.

She was a recipient of the Karren Waid Dream Award winner in 2017 and is currently installing hand washing stations at her school to promote hygiene practice among her peers.

young scholar between 2 mentors