ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT PROGRAM
One of the highlights of the Foundation’s activities is the three-week Academic Enrichment Program (AEP). This program is a seven-hour daily session. Each session includes academic and recreational activities, breakfasts, and lunches. The program also includes two 16-mile field trips in a “luxury” bus to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital for medical and dental checkups and care. After each healthcare trip, we head to Kilimanjaro Restaurant, a popular fast-food restaurant where the scholars have lunch and spend time at the play station or window shop at Tropical Mall.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAM
Given the collectivist socio-economic dynamics in most villages and semi-urban towns in Nigeria, the Foundation has initiated several community outreach activities and services. These include the distribution of off-the-counter reading glasses to the elderly, presenting at the university, presenting at the ministry of education, the occasional mobilization of the youth for labor-intensive community services such as sanitation and clean-up activities, and the provision of clean water to the four primary schools in Etinan. In recognition and appreciation of the Foundation’s overall work in the community, Etinan traditional stakeholders gave me two honorary traditional titles – Obong Ifiok, Etinan and Uko Ikot Ebo – in July 2022.
NEWTON NORTH INTERNATIONAL SERVICE TRIP to Nigeria
Program: Academic Enrichment Program, Etinan Children’s Scholarship Foundation, Inc.
Destination: Etinan, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
Schedule: Every Summer, late July to mid-August (approximately 3 weeks)
Organization: Etinan Children’s Scholarship Foundation (ECSF), Inc.
Trip Leader: Dr. Isongesit Ibokette
Since 2017, I have been traveling to Nigeria every summer to run an Academic Enrichment Program (AEP) for a group of about 30 orphaned and/or indigent elementary school-aged children – popularly known as “scholars”. The AEP is a key component of my Foundation’s overall focus and consists of three weeks of academic, recreational, and field trip-related activities. This is the program that Newton North High School, Newton, Massachusetts, USA adopted in December 2021 as a component of its International Service Program.
SCHOLARS FEEDING PROGRAM
The Scholars’ Feeding Program is a central component of the Foundation’s work. Since its inception, scholars have been given nutritious lunches on school days and for the last couple of years this has been on every school day. Ideally, the Foundation would like to expand the program to include providing raw food items to the scholars and their families during school breaks.