KINSTON, N.C. (WGHP) — South Carolina resident Souleymane Sana plans to use his $100,000 scratch-off win to help schoolchildren from his hometown in Mali, Africa.
“I’m going to keep doing my best to help build more classrooms for the children in Mali,” Sana 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,” he said. “That was one of the main reasons I bought that scratch ticket was to be able to keep helping them.”
The 39-year-old dance instructor bought his winning 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 the lottery headquarters.
After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $71,259.
“My dream is just becoming true, little by little, and I hope it will keep going,” Sana said.