‘Feed and Read’ Students Begin Ramadan Break

Before she reached four years of age, little Aishar Umar had lost both parents and had to be taken in by Hadiza Umar Usman, a neighbor who didn’t want the minor sent down to the village.

Some days after she was brought in, Hadiza learned about AUN’s “Feed and Read” for Girls program and decided to enroll her newly adopted ward, Aisha, who had never been to school.

“When she started this program, I was wondering what she would learn,” Hadiza said at a June 4 ceremony that had parents of “Feed and Read” pupils in attendance. It did not take long for Hadiza to realize the program’s impact, as she started to hear little Aisha “recite some school songs and letters of the alphabet.”

Now five years old, Aisha can read, write, and “speak light English,” Hadiza said. “‘Feed and Read’ is a good program and mothers and fathers in Adamawa State have to join hands together to support AUN with what they are doing with this program.”
Another parent, Aminu Abdul Bala, who has two children in the program, is equally astonished about the progress of his wards.

“I feel so happy in a way that I cannot explain,” he said at the June 4 ceremony. “I am very happy with the way my daughters are performing, the way they speak, and the way they act now. “Feed and Read” is the best place for those of us who cannot afford to send our children to private schools. I am very happy that AUN introduced this program.”

The June 4 ceremony marked the end of a “Feed and Read” class session as students went on the Ramadan break; classes will resume after Ramadan.

The ceremony itself was marked with presentations from the “Feed and Read” students, who wowed the audience with group and solo recitations ranging from letters of the alphabet to delivering short speeches about the importance of educating the girl-child and female hygiene.

By Solomon Elusoji