Aumazo, Inc.

Aumazo, Inc., a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization, is working to improve the lives of girls in rural communities in Cameroon – and eventually in other African countries – by providing better boarding school infrastructure as well as a STEM (science technology, engineering and math) based education. Aumazo is not just investing in education; it is investing in Africa’s future community leaders by broadening their educational horizons to the world.

Less than a 1/5 of girls in rural Cameroon attend high school. The progress of middle school girls is hindered by high absenteeism of teachers and students, crowded classrooms, unsafe environment, and learning by rote. Very often many girls and young women will not attend classes consistently unless they have adequate access to acceptable toilets. Also, many middle school students in rural Cameroon cannot understand grade-level work in reading, math, and other subjects, limiting their chances of getting into high school. Without intensive academic support, these students cannot pass Cameroon’s complex high school entrance exams.

The increase dropout rates for girls in rural communities and the scarcity of educational resources in the country had led AUMAZO INC. to start building the community-based pilot boarding high school. Building a boarding school with clean and private toilets will give girls and young women a safe and secure environment conducive to learning.

Aumazo has started the peer-to-peer tutoring program to help girls developed their academic skills up to the grade level necessary to pass the mandatory high school entrance exam. Now in its third year, this program of mathematics, language comprehension and writing is very successful in improving both the academics and confidence of the participating girls.

To date, we have successfully tutored 88 girls so far, with more than 80 percent of them passing the high school entrance exam this year. That number far exceeded the previous local average where only 23% percent of students have successfully passed the

exam.

The improved performance is due to our methodology, which emphasizes mutual respect of students and teachers as well as collaborative learning. Last year, the teachers went beyond their normal Math, English and French lessons to provide Social Studies lessons to the girls whose day school Social Studies teacher did not show up for the entire school year. We also credit our success to the unwavering support of our donors.

While waiting to complete construction of our own school and welcome the tutoring program, graduates in our school building, Aumazo is currently providing girls with scholarship to attend a high school of their choice in the country.

We are not just investing in schools. We’re investing in Africa’s future and its future community leaders.