Two
Chibok schoolgirls who escaped Boko Haram from the northeast have
graduated from High School in the United State of America.
One of the Chibok girls at the graduation ceremony in Washington DC
Two Chibok schoolgirls, who escaped from Boko Haram militants have graduated from a high school in Washington D.C..
The two girls known simply by their first names Debbie and Grace
graduated after completing junior year (11th grade) and senior year (12
grade) at a private school in the Washington metro area in America.
Debbie and Grace were part of the 57 girls who escaped from Boko
Haram terrorists after the mass abduction of almost 275 schoolgirls in
April 2014. Unlike most of their colleagues who jumped out of the trucks
en route, the two were taken all the way to the terrorists camp in
Sambisa before they escaped and made it back home in a terrifying
journey that took about a week with their captors in hot pursuit.
They were the last to escape Boko Haram until last year’s escape of Amina Ali after two years in captivity.
The two schoolgirls were among a dozen Nigerian girls sponsored to
school abroad by a Nigerian NGO Education Must Continue Initiative with
the help of US based international human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe.
EMC helps victims overcome the impact of the insurgency by the
world’s deadliest terror group Boko Haram which has destroyed hundreds
of schools and killed thousands.
By this graduation, Debbie and Grace became the first escaped
Chibok girls to graduate from an American high school with diplomas
after completing and meeting academic standards.
This comes three years after terrorists interrupted their education during their final year in school in northeast Nigeria.
Several other girls had dropped out of EMC’s school abroad project
after managing to graduate from middle school (8th grade) last year and
are now attempting to take the GED exam (external GCE equivalent).
On hand to witness the graduation of the two Chibok girls in the
class of 2017 were a delegation from Nigeria which included the founders
and directors of Education Must Continue Initiative Mr and Mrs Paul
Gadzama and the parent of one of the girls who traveled all the way from
Chibok in northeast Nigeria.
The only Chibok girl currently pursuing a degree program in an
American university, cut short her summer vacation in Nigeria to return
for the graduation of her colleagues.
The girls’ American host families and Barrister Emmanuel Ogebe and
his family were among the audience who witnessed the historic
graduation.
The class of 2017 was the 50th graduation of the school which was
the first high school in America to win a prestigious President’s award
last year. The Chibok girls were among only 21 students who graduated as
a few international students were unable to graduate.
In remarks during a celebratory reception, the Chibok girls thanked
their host families, the NGO volunteers from EMC for supporting them to
achieve their dreams. They particularly appreciated them for driving
the girls daily to and fro from school for two years.
Also speaking, the parent visiting from Nigeria stated that he had
personally seen that the team had done more for his daughter in America
than he could have done for them in Nigeria and thanked them for their
love.
Recounting the story of how he conceived the project by divine
favour, human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe described how he first
brought the orphan of a pastor murdered by Boko Haram to school in the
US in 2013.
The following year, Boko Haram attacked her village and abducted
275 girls. Consequently because he had helped an orphan from Chibok
before, he was able to help these ones as well.
He appreciated the sacrifice of EMC founders Mr and Mrs Gadzama who
flew at their own expense to witness the girls’ graduation after
missing their own daughter’s graduation with a Masters in Public Health
(MPH) in Michigan just a few weeks earlier.
He also thanked EMC’s American volunteer Education Adviser Deanna
who helped obtain admission and scholarships to the exclusive $35,000
per year school for her role after their former school tried to take
advantage of them.
The girls had to repeat 11th grade after their initial school failed to meet up to its obligations.
A church Thanksgiving is planned for the girls who are exploring
their future endeavours following graduation. Among several awards won
by them was an award for “Most hard working student in English as Second Language 3”.
“This is an outstanding feat for Chibok girls especially given
the fact that in Nigeria, most continue to speak in Hausa to the
consternation of many Nigerians.
“This shows that our education model of immersion – placing the
students in American homes – was immensely successful as they are now
able to engage confidently, communicate effectively and blossom
generally,” says Emmanuel Ogebe the International Program Director.
“This is why the girls in EMC’s US program are the most articulate Chibok girls anywhere in the world.”
Confirming this, host parents including lawyers, doctors and
accountants narrated tales of how Americanized the girls have become,
with one of them being quoted as saying “mum, the weather is gross” while on another occasion explaining to her host mum, an American doctor, how Uber, the app-based taxi service, operates.
With this graduation, EMC has no more students in high school in the US.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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