by Hindaty Traore, Girls’ Project Manager

As we near the beginning of the new school year in Mali, I am busy meeting with leaders and parents in Mali Rising’s new Girls’ Project villages. Recently, I visited one of the five new villages – Sankama – to kick off our partnership with the girls of the village.

Mali Rising Foundation built Judge Memorial Middle School just a few years ago in Sankama. Before the construction of the classrooms, the students of the village walked 3 to 7 kilometers to get to the nearest middle schools. Because of this distance, many students dropped out of school, especially girls. Now, thanks to our generous donors, the students study in their home village and in complete safety.

In order to be able to start the activities of the Girls’ Project in Sankama, we met the members of the School Management Committee. This Committee is made up of leaders and the parents of pupils of the village. At our meeting, I  officially announced the arrival of the Girls’ Project in their villages and the activities we will carry out over the next three years. The village chief and the parents were all happy with what the Project will do for their daughters as girls’ education is one of the big challenges in the village.

Whenever I visit a village, the parents are very happy to receive the Girls’ Project support. This is even more true in the village of Sankama because they have just discovered a gold panning mine in Sankama town itself, which will lead many students to leave the school for mining.

The parents think the Girls’ Project could be a way to talk with the students about the consequence of dropping out of school for mine work or early marriage. They also hope this will allow girls and parents to know the importance of education for girls.

Now in Mali, many see the search for gold as the quickest way to become rich and afford everything one wants without having to go through the work of an education. Because the parents of Sankama students are very worried about the future of their children after the discovery of the gold mine, they are ready to support the Girls’ Project.

During the meeting in Sankama, a woman leader named Fatoumata Doumbia told her little story about the importance of a girl's education. When she got married in Sankama, every day her husband read a little book and smiled at the same time. She wondered what was funny in this book. She wanted to know what was in the book but unfortunately she could neither read nor write.

A few years later, an NGO brought a women's literacy project to Sankama. As soon as she heard that she rushed to register. After the first one-year training she already knew how to do the calculations and she had learned a lot orally but she still couldn't write. The first time she was able to write her name by herself was a great joy for her. Thanks to this training, she is consulted for everything that happens in Sankama and now manages to read the book that her husband was reading.

“I love your purpose of the Girls’ Project and would like to take the opportunity of your meetings with the girls to share this story with the girls so that they know that when you are educated you become important in the eyes of the community and the whole world,” Mrs. Doumbia said.

We look forward to working with the girls – and parents – of Sankama over the next three years to get more girls into school and help them thrive there!