Peace Corps Nigeria Alumni Foundation Inc

My name is Roft Marker, Professionally I am an application Developer in an reputed IT/Software Company. Our mission is to help reduce poverty and foster economic growth in Nigeria through programs that promote equity and access to quality education.More than 10 million children of primary school age in Nigeria - more than any other country in the world - are denied access to basic education. Most of those children are girls. And more girls than boys also drop out of primary school. The disparity in basic education enrollment, retention and completion among girls in Nigeria represents a serious constraint to its development. And there are significant regional variations associated with gender disparities in education in Nigeria. In fact, the educational outcomes for girls and women are much worse in the North than in the South. In the northern region of Nigeria only 4% of females complete secondary school. Therefore, based upon the belief that educating girls is a key to economic development in Nigeria, addressing the disparities in girls’ education is a top priority for our organization. We provide support to female Nigerian students who need financial assistance to complete their education. The recipients include secondary school girls in northern Nigeria, as well as college undergraduates in both the U.S. and in Nigeria.Most Americans are not aware of the magnitude of the basic education crisis in Nigeria and how it is affecting our lives here in the United States. Therefore, in addition to providing financial assistance to female Nigerian students, we are committed to serving as a catalyst for enhancing public awareness in the U.S. about the critical need to expand access to quality education for more than 61 million primary school-age children, and 71 million adolescents in developing countries that are not in school. A major component of our mission is providing technical assistance and resources to teachers who want to use the basic education crisis in Nigeria as a vehicle for helping their students understand what global interdependence really means, and instill in them a sense of global responsibility. We all benefit when citizens of developing countries can read, write and fully participate in social and economic life.