By Alou Doumbia, Construction & Administrative Manager

N’Goko is a very remote Malian village far from our busy capitol of Bamako and more than an hour from the nearest paved road. Due to its remoteness, N’Goko does not have a middle school for its children. Instead, the village children go to study in the 7th grade in the village of Misseni located 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the village.

For more than 8 years, the village has been looking for partners to support them in building a middle school. During one of our expeditions to the closest “big town,” Kadiolo, the Deputy Director of the Kadiolo Educational Animation Center (CAP) told us they had been asked by the village chief of N’Goko to look for a partner for the village. The Deputy asked if we would meet with the village chief to discuss partnering to help the village’s children.

After several discussions with the village leaders, we agreed to partner to build a school. Alas, just as we were about to start the construction of this school, we were prevented by the COVID-19 pandemic. What luck for this village?

The population of N’Goko was disheartened about the project — fearing their school would never be built. However, throughout the shut-downs we maintained communication and kept in contact with the village so that the population could be reassured that our vision remains and remains the same whatever the situation.

Why does the school matter so much? When school starts each year, the whole village is emptied of its older children as the students go live in Misseni with extended family in order to study. In one family, a parent of a student revealed to us that all his 4 children have left to study, another father says that he no longer has any children to watch over the animals or provide them with water in the evening, and the mothers of female students say they are afraid their daughters will be exposed to boys from other villages. Fear and worry sets in. There was even a child who demanded that his father pay him for a bicycle or he was going to give up school — he could not stand to be so far from home.

But now we have learned a lot about how to conduct construction safely during this pandemic. As a result, we are launching construction in N’Goko! Soon their school will be born in their village. Soon the separations of parents and children will end and hope will return to the village thanks to the support of Mali Rising Foundation and our new construction program. With a team full of dynamic young people, this project will be executed successfully.