Builders Society

Building Hope: A New School Takes Shape in Heremakono, Mali

Building Hope: A New School Takes Shape in Heremakono, Mali

As many of us in the United States gear up for the holiday season, there's a different kind of hustle and bustle happening in the village of Heremakono, Mali. Crews are working around the clock to build a new school that promises to change the lives of children in this rural community. And the progress? It's truly inspiring.

Construction began on November 4th, and just six weeks later, the building is already more than 70% complete! Iron bars are now in place on the roof, and by December 20th, the team was planning to install the sheets of iron. The doors and windows have arrived, and the classroom doors are already in position. Meanwhile, work on the toilets has begun, and half of the interior and exterior wall plastering has been completed including the Principal’s office.

A Long, Long Walk to School

Today, October 5, is National Walk to School Day here in the United States, which is great. But for kids in Mali, every day is walk to school day. While here in the US walking to school is rightly encouraged as a good thing, in Mali it can be a huge problem. In fact, the distance kids face on that walk is often the most powerful factor driving them to drop out of school.

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There's Nothing Like Watching A New School Rise

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There are a lot of satisfying parts of this job, but few as pleasing as seeing a whole new school rise from the red soil of a small Mali village. Each year, Mali Rising builds just one or two schools (because we want to be sure we are also providing the support ALL of our schools need to deliver a quality education) and each one is as much of a joy to us as it is to the local village.

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The Kids You'll Help in N'Goko

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Our supporters are always excited about building a new school — there’s something, well, concrete, about making a donation and seeing a building rise from the red soil of Mali. But what is really exciting about a new school is not the bricks and mortar, but the hundreds — and even thousands — of kids that school will serve. We are currently fundraising for a middle school for the children of N’Goko, so I wanted to share short stories from just a few of the great kids your donation will help.

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