Everyone can agree: sometimes it is your friends who get you through the touch stuff….and middle school is REALLY tough stuff. Two girls in the Girls’ Project demonstrate this truth perfectly! Fatoumata and Tenin have been inseparable friends since primary school. Today, both girls are 13 years old and attend the 8th grade in Little Heroes Academy I school in Mana.
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Jumpstarting Language Skills
Students in Mali face many challenges, but maybe the largest is that classes are taught in a language – French – which is not their mother tongue. If a student doesn’t quickly learn French, they fall behind in all of their classes, from history to math. That’s why Mali Rising runs the French Language Intervention Project, aka FLIP. FLIP helps 7th graders improve their French skills in speaking and writing, as well as their vocabulary and comprehension. This helps students understand their teachers in the classroom, as well as making it possible for them to read their texbooks or ask questions during class.
Making Sure Girls Have Options
Young people in Mali face many challenges, particularly if they are female. Education helps girls (and boys!) by providing them options for their future, but sometimes the traditional route to unemployment is barred. That’s why the Girls’ Project encourages young women to think creatively about their career options.
Scholarship Student Makes Agriculture a Career
By Fatoumata Kone, Operations Coordinator
Students may sometimes question why they should stick with school…why do they need math or science ? We work hard to help our students connect their education to their dreams for the future…whatever those dreams are ! I want to share the story of one of our graduates – and Inspiration Schoalrship reciepient – who has a passion for agriculture and livestock farming.
Here is his story in his own words :
“ My name is Chieck Oumar Samake and I'm from a village called Zambougou. I graduated from Mali Rising’s Denik Middle School in Zambougou. After graduation, I enrolled at the Djitoumou Agro-pastoral school in Ouélessebougou and I'm in my 4th year. I was lucky enough to benefit from a Mali Rising Inspiration Scholarship to fund these studies.
Chiiek literally overseeing his young chickens at his internship during this, his last year of an agricultural program as a Mali Rising Inspiration Scholar.
Before graduating, I had some difficulties. At the time Zambougou didn't have a middle school, so I went to [the bigger town of] Ouélessebougou to continue my studies. Unfortuntaely I couldn't find accommodation and I didn't have the financial means, nor did my parents, to continue my studies.
Then Mali Rising Foundation built Denik Middle School in Zambougou, so I went back to Zambougou to do middle school. After graduation, I got the scholarship from Mali Rising too ! This scholarship helped me a lot, and with this money I was able to study in the best possible conditions.
The agro-pastoral school was my dream since I was in middle school. I've always been passionate about livestock and agriculture in general, and I love this profession.
At school we do both theory and practic. We practiced raising broiler chickens three times in our school and we succeeded. This was our first experience.
Right now I'm doing an internship on a big farm in Kita, where I'm raising laying chickens. Every morning I wake up very early to take care of the hens, then I give them food and water. I also monitor their vaccinations from day 1 to day 29. From day 1 I give them a live vaccine, after day 5 I give them an injectable vaccine, and from days 7, 14, 17 and 29 I give them a live vaccine which I put in the water and give them to drink. Laying hens live 18 months, but around 4 months they start laying eggs. Raising laying hens is a profitable business for farmers. Eggs produced by laying hens are in great demand on the local and regional markets.
When I go to visit my village, I'm the one who injects their animals - cows, sheep and chickens. After my studies, I'd like to become a great livestock breeder in Mali, and if I succeed, I'll build a big farm in my village, build roads and renovate the soccer pitch.”
We are so proud of Chieck’s hard work in school and feel confident he will achieve his vision for the future. Livestock farming is a key driver of sustainable agricultural development, contributing to food security, nutrition, poverty reduction and economic growth. In this way Chieck’s dream will improve his life but also improve life for so many Malians !
Better Teachers = Better Students
Once teachers in Mali leave their teaching program, they very rarely recieve any additional training or support. I’ve known teachers who have taught for more than 20 years and never had a day of addtional training ! That’s why Mali Rising steps up to train teachers – to be good at your job everyone needs a refresher and to learn new skills now and then. Each year, we focus intenstive training and peer support on a group of about 30 teachers. One of those teachers, Amidou Diarra, explains how the intensive work has helped him.
Alumni Network Educates Students on Malaria
Many of our schools are now old enough that they have graduated hundreds, or even thousands, of students. So, recently we began organizing school Alumni Networks with a goal of helping the graduates help their schools grow and thrive. We have found that the alumni are more than eager to help! This month, we helped one Alumni Network address a big problem — malaria.
Teachers Need Teachers!
Teachers face many challenges while doing their teaching job. These include a lack of teaching materials, textbooks, trainings and peer meetings. To help teachers in our partner schools improve their work and help students succeed in school Mali Rising Foundation provides teacher training, peer meetings, materials, and more. Of all the support we offer, one teacher told us peer meetings are his favorite. Why?
A Mother-Daughter Debate
Educating a child involves more than the dedication of that child – it takes everyone’s help. This is way the Girls’ Project works hard to engage the parents – and especially the mothers of our girls – in the drive to educate girls. This year, I’ve had several meetings with female leaders in our partner villages to solicit their help in organizing mothers’ support for girls’ education in the villages. This month, we brought the mothers and their daughters together to discuss girls’ education.
7 Ways to Volunteer for Mali Rising Today
Generous folks like you are often curious about how to help our students out, so today I want to provide a round up of 7 current opprotunities. These volunteer openings are ready for you right now, and all can be done from anywhere around the US (and some from anywhere in the world). Read on to see if one of these is the right way for you to get involved….
