For Souleymane Sana, a New Bern resident and native of Mali, Africa, a $100,000 scratch-off win will give him the chance to help schoolchildren from his hometown.
“I’m going to keep doing my best to help build more classrooms for the children in Mali,” he said. “That is the thing that makes me really happy.”
Sana said he created a nonprofit to help the residents of his native country.
“This was my dream,” Sana said. “That was one of the main reasons I bought that scratch ticket was to be able to keep helping them.”
Sana, a 39-year-old dance instructor, purchased his $30 Millionaire Maker ticket from Neuse Shop & Fuel on West New Bern Road in Kinston.
“I love to dance and I want to teach the children in Mali to love it too,” he said. “If you talk about culture and you talk about education, they both go together. Some of the money is going to be used to start building a dance center there.”
Sana collected his prize at lottery headquarters and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $71,259.
“My dream is just becoming true little by little and I hope it will keep going,” Sana said.
Check out the video below of Sana at lottery headquarters telling his story.
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