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Chibok girls who escaped Boko Haram defy militants by returning to school
Left to fend for themselves by the government, the traumatised schoolgirls a second chance at education thanks to one determined Nigerian woman
Godiya made a decision then. She approached her boss at the American University of Nigeria in Yola, Margee Ensign, an energetic, cheerful woman who has run the establishment for six years.
“She came into my office and, really quietly, she told me that her sister was one of the girls who had escaped, and she and all the other girls were just there in Chibok, doing nothing,” Ensign recalled. Could anything be done to help them?
Ensign set up a foundation, which garnered $50,000 (£33,000) in donations to put 10 girls through the university for one year.
snip
The young women have turned down all offers of counselling so far, Ensign says. “They tell me they pray every night, and then they talk to each other. They don’t want to talk to anyone else about it.”
Turai Kadir, a member of staff, likes to tell a story of how she bumped into the girls three months after they arrived. “They said, don’t you recognise us? We’re the Chibok girls! One was so much taller, the other looked so much healthier, the other looked so much more cheerful. They were transformed,” she says.
Recently Ensign asked the girls to write an essay describing what education meant to them. “Education gives me the wings I need to fly,” Martha wrote.
“She came into my office and, really quietly, she told me that her sister was one of the girls who had escaped, and she and all the other girls were just there in Chibok, doing nothing,” Ensign recalled. Could anything be done to help them?
Ensign set up a foundation, which garnered $50,000 (£33,000) in donations to put 10 girls through the university for one year.
snip
The young women have turned down all offers of counselling so far, Ensign says. “They tell me they pray every night, and then they talk to each other. They don’t want to talk to anyone else about it.”
Turai Kadir, a member of staff, likes to tell a story of how she bumped into the girls three months after they arrived. “They said, don’t you recognise us? We’re the Chibok girls! One was so much taller, the other looked so much healthier, the other looked so much more cheerful. They were transformed,” she says.
Recently Ensign asked the girls to write an essay describing what education meant to them. “Education gives me the wings I need to fly,” Martha wrote.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/03/chibok-girls-escaped-boko-haram-new-fear-return-school?CMP=share_btn_tw
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