He says he will, which is encouraging in itself since there are only 14 girls in a class of 64 in Garango at the moment. This is partly due to parents not placing high value on a daughter's education. But it is also because girls imbibe early on the idea that education is not for them. Salamatu's half-sister Rasmatu, for instance, used to leave home with her satchel simply to hide in the bush all day. Last year the teachers threw her out.
Education can be a route out of poverty in any society.
And many parents are now aware that the sacrifices involved in paying for their children to be educated will pay dividends later on. Take Francois Mon , one of Sabtenga's most prominent sons, who passed a national exam to become an army pilot and now travels regularly in Africa and Europe for work. He maintains a very decent lifestyle in the capital and has enough left over to pay for new-style houses for some of his older relatives. But the investment is harder for some than for others. Habibu is a widow who pays for her son Momini to go to secondary school.