Bertine was born in 2003.  She is the oldest of six children.  Her parents are subsistence farmers.  Her family lives in a small rural village in West Africa.  The village does not have access to electricity or running water.  

The family grows millet and corn to feed the family as well as cotton and sesame for cash crops.  Bertine helps to care for her younger siblings so that her mother can work in the family’s fields.

Bertine attended school until the 11th grade but at that time her father could no longer pay her school fees and she was forced to leave her studies.  

Bertine is an excellent candidate for the Girls Training Center where she will learn life skills such as sewing and traditional weaving, gardening techniques and animal husbandry.  Bertine is anxious to learn so that she will be able to live independently as well as help to support her family.