By Merritt Frey, Executive Director

As we wrote about two weeks ago, COVID-19 was slow to be confirmed in Mali. However, Mali reported their first 2 confirmed cases of COVID-19 last Wednesday, and today (Monday) the WHO places the total number of confirmed cases at 18. Local reports suggest the total is higher already. We are heartbroken and worried for everyone in Mali.

Like you, we are all figuring out the best ways to move through this new reality. Our first concern is for our students, their families, and our dedicated Malian staff. Although we took early steps to make sure we limited the risk of spreading the virus into our partner villages, we are thinking fast on our feet about how we can still best serve our students and villages over what may be a long haul.

As you might imagine, online learning is not an option in rural Malian villages! The government closed schools for 3 weeks, and we expect it to be longer by the time all is said and done, so we need to get creative….fast.

Currently, Mali Rising staff are working on some great ideas to deliver information and education in the villages. For example, we are launching a new radio-based effort to reach into family homes in our villages (and many other villages!) with important health lessons for children and parents alike. We think radio could be a great tool for delivering educational messages to our Girls Project girls too, with the added bonus of reaching thousands of other girls in the region. If successful, we will expand this work into other educational topics. Staff are also exploring tools like text-based approaches to delivering educational content straight to the cell phones that exist in about 85% of our village homes.

We are also lucky to have great direct personal connections in our 23 partner villages, making us uniquely suited to reach leaders like teachers and principals with important health information. For example, our existing WhatsApp groups for teachers and principals are now great toola for sharing information about COVID-19 and protections. We are also in regular phone contact with the principals and others in the villages, sharing information and asking how we can help.

In a nutshell, we are working hard to find ways we can be helpful to our students in ways that are safe for our partner villages (just tromping in there with staff from the capital city is not the way to go!). Even with schools closed down in Mali, we will find ways to keep education going and make sure students can return to school healthy and ready as soon as possible.

We all have a lot on our minds right now, so thank you for sparing some of your brain energy to think of our students in Mali. We will keep you up to date with news from our partner villages, and will also be sharing ideas about how you can explore more about Mali or volunteer if you are staying safe at home and looking for ways to use your time to explore new ideas and information.

Take care and be well.