By Merritt Frey, Executive Director

The US- and Mali-based staff spent two weeks in January together in the field in Mali. Our incredibly limited access to the internet did not allow us to post our blog updates from the field, so we are sharing them now from the zippy wi-fi of the U.S. Join us on the blog for the next few weeks for a daily update on the trip!

Day 7 of traveling was a very full Friday indeed. In the morning, we visited the Sue Taylor Middle School of Diorila, which is about one and a half hours down a bumpy dirt road. We returned to Ouelessebougou for lunch and a trip to the big Friday market, before zipping down the road to visit our Sue Chung Chiu Middle School in Simidiji.

Diorila

This fairly large visit is far from the main road, but it always seems to be hopping. As usual, I met with the teachers and the school committee, while Hindaty talked with her Girls Group and distributed menstrual kits and education. Tim and Courtney interviewed students about their dreams for the future, and attracted a huge crowd of younger kids.

My conversation with the school committee and teachers was great. After several years of very disappointing graduation exam scores, Sue Taylor Middle School has really rebounded, with 86% of students passing the exam last year (compared with 52% nationally). This year the school has 107 students, and is hoping to repeat their exam success.

Their big worries? The school’s math teacher was transferred elsewhere and they haven’t been able to get a replacement. This is a HUGE challenge in Mali, where teachers are assigned by the national government. However, we will try to help by adding our voice to the village’s as they request a new teacher.

The other big topic of concern was girls’ education. For years, this school has had the worst enrollment rate of all of our schools for girls. This year, there are only 21 girls — out of 107 students enrolled. That’s exactly whey we launched the Girls Project in Diorila this year…the village girls need our help to get to school!

Going to Market

Ouelessebougou, where we are staying, is the “big town” in the region. As such, it hosts a large market every Friday and people come from villages all around. The whole crew, including Courtney and Tim, headed to market after our lunch. It is crammed with people, and loudspeakers blaring speeches, and women carrying trays of goodies on their heads. Food is a huge part of the market, but fabrics, home supplies, homemade laundry soap, and more abound. We even found a table full of dried mice and parrots, if you are so inclined. I stuck to buying some of the gorgeous fabrics and Tim snagged some exotic dried hot peppers to enjoy at home.

Simidji

Our afternoon school visit was a mellow one, because the students of Simidji were out of class for the afternoon so they could partake in the Ouelessebougou market just 20 minutes up the road. Still, we met with the principal and a few of his 5 teachers, along with members of the school committee. The best news of the visit was that the school now has a science teacher, and it is female teacher — a rarity in Mali. Studies show female teachers help girls stay in school, so we hope that is true for Simidji, which is an original Girls Project village. (Last year the school actually had more girls than boys!)

The main topics of discussion were the need for help in improving parental involvement to support students studying at home. We are considering Sue Chung Chiu Middle School for a pilot project aimed at increasing parental involvement, so that was a fruitful conversation. In addition, we discussed a serious need for more books at the school, particularly in French, math, and chemistry/physics.

All in all this was a calmer, less exhausting day. Tim and Courtney bowed out of the trip to Simidji for a bit of well-deserved rest, and even the rest of the team was back at under our mange tree by about 5:30pm. This was a very good thing, because the next day was the big opening of a new Mali Rising schooll, which is always incredibly exciting and incredibly exhausting. More on that next.