The Sahelian

Sahel Academy (www.sahelacademy.com) is an international Christian school located in Niamey, Niger Republic (West Africa). The school was opened in September 1986, initially to meet the educational needs of SIM missionary families. Since then, its scope has broadened to include representation from other missions and organizations in the English-speaking community. The school is also committed to meeting the needs of the English-speaking African community.

Participating missions include: Serving in Missions (SIM), Evangelical Baptist Missions (EBM) , SIL International (SIL) , and Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC).

Sahel Academy follows an international curriculum which includes IGCSE courses (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) from Cambridge University for Grades 9 and 10. The school has recently begun the process of accreditation with ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) and MSA (Middle States of America).

Currently, Sahel Academy has 80 students in grades K-12 representing 14 countries and a staff of 22 from 4 different nations. This year, 18 of the students are boarders at the Eagle’s Nest dorm on campus while the rest live with their families in Niamey.

The school property is located across the Niger River from the main part of the city of Niamey. The campus includes a library, music building, secondary block (including computer and science labs), dining room and kitchen, elementary classrooms and a dormitory. Facilities for recreation include a playing field for soccer and softball, a sports court, and a playground area.

In Arabic, the word ’sahel’ refers to the “shore” of the sea of sand - the mighty Sahara. The transition south-to-north is from grassland to desert. Moving north, rainfall decreases, and acacia-studded savanna fades gradually to clumps or tufts of grass. Spotty vegetation patches then yield to a stark, gargantuan span of mountains, rocks, and then the sand sea - the Sahara. The Sahel spans from Senegal on the Atlantic coast, east across Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, into Sudan, and Egypt’s Nile River Valley - a distance roughly equal in width to the United States.