Bright Minds
Empowering the next generation of women leaders.
Transforming the world, one girl at a time
The longer a girl is able to stay in school, the later she tends to get married, the healthier her children, and the more economically stable her community becomes. What if every family with means sponsored the education of a girl without means? Image the world we could live in...
Sponsorships provide: access to lifesaving medical care - high-protein food supplements for malnourished children - enrollment in school, often for the first time - school supplies and school uniforms - microfinance for mother or grandmother to launch a small business - weekly home visits from a Bright Minds case manager - a bicycle for the child
Joy - age 10
Sadiq- age 2
Nafisat - age 9
Firdausi - age 13
Destiny - age 8
Since 2018, Bright Minds has transformed the lives of thousands of families
176 scholarships awarded
5 libraries built providing books to 11,000 students
145 students enrolled in our Community Primary School in Cameroon
7 borehole wells dug providing clean water to 14,000 people
1,300 mothers trained in infant nutrition
3,250 people tested for HIV and connected with care
15 microloans made to women to launch small businesses
4 classrooms in U.S. matched in pen pal exchanges with students in Nigeria
School Partnerships
Is your child's school looking for a service project or to learn more about another culture? Our school partnerships include zoom presentations with our West African staff, service projects to build a library or well, and pen pal opportunities, dispelling stereotypes about Sub-Saharan Africa by providing one-on-one friendships with students in Nigeria. Contact us at info@brightmindsafrica.org to learn more.
Scholarships
Library Development
Health Education
1,000 people tested at free HIV Screening Event
In celebration of World AIDS Day on December 1st, 2020, Bright Minds provided free HIV testing and condoms to 1,000 community members. Destigmatizing HIV/AIDS and connecting community members with treatment is a big part of the health work that Bright Minds does.
Another shipment of books has arrived! A HUGE THANK YOU to Brisbane Elementary School, Lipman Middle School, and the East Bay Children's Book Project for helping to fill the shelves of our libraries.
Never has the need for clean water been so apparent as during the COVID pandemic. In parts of Nigeria and Cameroon, communities don't even have access to water to wash their hands. Bright Minds is partnering with local laborers to bring clean water to the communities where we work, drilling through rock to reach aquifers far beneath the surface. Thank you to the generous family who sponsored our first well, to all the community members who built it, and to our social media coordinator, Salim Habuh-Rajan, for creating this video. For $3,000 you too can sponsor a well in Mararaba Udege. It will take at least six more wells to provide the entire community with clean water.
Hope for malnourished children hit hard by pandemic
In response to food insecurity brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, on August 18th, 2020, Bright Minds collaborated with the Public Health Center in the village of Mararaba Udege to host a Nutrition Screening. According to UNICEF, malnutrition is the leading cause of death in children under age five in Nigeria. Now with the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, the situation has only worsened. Bright Minds is using the generous donations of folks like you to relieve suffering and provide hope in a village where interventions like adding ground soybeans to a child's daily meals can be the difference between life and death.
Participants came in waves throughout the day and stood in circles drawn in chalk to maintain social distancing. The entire event was conducted outside.
The Nutrition Screening targeted children ages 0-5 years, the age group at the highest risk of death from malnutrition. We evaluated 339 children and identified 20 malnourished children with whom we are now providing appropriate intervention and follow-up. We also provided participants with free de-worming and vitamin A supplements.
We set up a hand washing station so each child could practice proper hygiene to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and other common illnesses such as cholera.
Our Soka Zamba Girls Club used fabric scraps from local tailors to make masks for the participants. They also took it upon themselves to help mobilize community members to attend the event.
Bright Minds collaborated with local health professionals to conduct the Nutrition Screening.
All participants received a 400g bag of powdered soy that can be added to their children's meals to increase protein intake. We also trained participants in how to prepare highly nutritious meals for young children.
Computer and Bicycle Drive
Donate your used bicycle and it will become the joy of one of our sponsored children or a means of transportation for one of our staff members. Donate your used computer or other electronics and give it a second life in our new Bright Minds office in Nasarawa Toto. Email us at info@brightmindsafrica.org to arrange pickup!
Tammah Library Fills with Books and Students
With the support of their teachers, the students at Tammah Primary School have transformed an empty classroom into a colorfully painted library and study hall. Children queue up at the door after school to pull books from the shelves and complete homework assignments in a quiet environment overseen by their teachers. In a region where most students do not have access to books and remain functionally illiterate, the library is opening new possibilities for these students. Increasing access to education is one of Bright Minds' primary goals. Tammah Library is our second library project.
Soka zamba! Go and tell them!
Soka zamba means "go and tell them" in Hausa, referring to speaking out against gender-based violence. Our Soka Zamba Girls Club is a group of 22 adolescent girls who meet twice a month at the local health center to learn about reproductive health and train to become peer educators. Led by Bright Minds staff, they are destigmatizing HIV/AIDS in their community and speaking out against gender-based violence.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, these young women have been active in their communities, checking in on vulnerable neighbors and ensuring they have access to food and health care. They helped organize our Nutrition Screening Health Fair and sewed masks for all the participants.
Soka Zamba members with Bright Minds Director Yvette Mohbashi
377 People Tested at HIV Screening Event
In honor of International Women's Day on March 8th, 2020, Bright Minds collaborated with local health workers to host a free HIV and malaria screening event, providing follow-up for all participants. While antiretroviral drugs are free in Nigeria and Cameroon, HIV testing is not and many at-risk adults and children never get tested. We were able to identify several HIV positive children during the event and get them onto antiretroviral drugs, drastically increasing their chance of surviving childhood.
"What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead. " - Nelson Mandela
Bright Minds works in a region of West Africa where most aid organizations don't go: Nasarawa State, Nigeria, and the Northwest Region of Cameroon. We are a team of primarily West Africans fighting for children to have access to the education they deserve so they may realize their potential and become the leaders of tomorrow.
