The joy of six year old Osayamo, whose name means “God owns all children”, lights up every room, but like many children in Nigeria, he is forced to grow in an environment where the future is uncertain. With 10.5 million children currently out of school in Nigeria, the A2S After School Academy, through early childhood education, student mentoring, and core curriculum, provides hope and promise to Osayamo and his peers. The A2S After School Academy provides a safe place to celebrate the imagination and encourage creative thinking of 250 children who walk through the doors of our After School Academy. For a child like Osayamo, his dreams and joy finds a place of exploration and expression in the safe spaces we provide.
He is a gift of joy. Osayamo’s laughter is contagious, and around the After School Academy, souls are inspired when they witness the many ways his jokes and wittiness engages the reaction of his peers. Osayamo’s joy is NOT based on his circumstances, rather, his joy is based on deep-rooted happiness and expectation of something good on the horizon. My goodness, we have so much to learn from Osayamo and his affection for joy. Not only is he a teacher of triumph, Osayamo is also an excellent student.
He has a love for learning that stems from the A2S early childhood education he’s received. Because of his progression, Osayamo is able to participate in a class at the After School Academy called “further math”, for children who excel in basic mathematics. He also has a deep appreciation for his teachers, who praise him for being obedient and attentive to their instruction. What a focused young man! He credits his tutors at the Academy for making math fun. It is because of their training and the organized curriculum that he is able to continue to excel.
He dreams big! Osayamo dreams of becoming an Electrical Engineer. It’s a good thing he loves math! He hopes to use engineering to contribute to the issue of power outages within his community. In a country like Nigeria, where every 60 seconds six people fall into extreme poverty, Osayamo is already envisioning ways to bring change to his community and to his country.
He continues to grow. We are so grateful to be in a position to provide Osayamo with consistent education in his early childhood years through our core curriculum and our student mentoring programs. We pray that his joy, love for learning, dreams and opportunities to grow work together for his good, the good of his country and for God’s glory.
We believe children should love to learn. Every day, 250 youth swarm the A2S After School Academy, excited to have a safe, engaging place to go after school. We tutor. We play sports. We make music. We mentor. We explore technology. We celebrate the children’s imagination and encourage creative thinking. Our goal is to keep children in school and help them move from one grade level to another.
To help children like Osayamo continue to grow and learn in an environment that cares for the whole child, consider a tax deductible donation to our end of year campaign, My Dream Project.
