After being asked to volunteer at a church camp in Benin, I decided to start a nonprofit to support education in Benin and other French-speaking west African countries. Currently we are doing 4 undergraduate scholarships and several English-language literacy scholarships at the new school being built in Cotonou.

I organized a Swimathon to raise funds for the nonprofit. My friends and I all swam 5 miles, and we got sponsors to commit to donating a certain amount per mile. We ended up getting over 40 donors, and exceeded our fundraising goal.

I visited Benin this summer, and I met with local church leadership there to help me give out the scholarships. While there I also volunteered at the church youth camp there, teaching swimming, English, and baseball. I look forward to returning to Benin for the next summer youth camp they will hold there.

So far we are only working with members of my church because it makes it easier to connect with them and to ensure positive outcomes, but in the future I want to expand the nonprofit to support more people and not solely members of my church.

To learn more visit scholarshipsforafrica.site!

Above is a picture of me after each mile swam during the swimathon.