By Merritt Frey, Executive Director
Oh that question! What do you want to be when you grow up? Every kid has fielded this question dozens of times, right? (For me: Olympic equestrian team member, veterinarian.) But it is an interesting question when we are investing in education as a tool to allow people to build the lives they want…what lives do they actually want to build? As part of the year end evaluation of the Girls Project, we asked our girls just that.
Now, this is one out of 18 questions and most of the data we collect is much more quantitative than this. And with COVID-19 restrictions, we have very limited data collection this year. (We sampled a few girls from each village rather than the whole village, and did the evaluations by phone.) But I found the answers useful, curious, and hilarious all at the same time. I thought you might enjoy them too. Here’s a random selection:
“Judge, because I love justice” — Diorila, Sue Taylor Middle School
“Nurse, because I love to heal people” — Diorila, Sue Taylor Middle School
“Pilot, so I can travel everywhere in the world” — Zambougou, Denik Middle School
Two girls said firefighter! Diorila and Zambougou
“A court clerk for judges” — N’Tentou, Trujillo Family School
Doctors….so many doctors! Three just in Sebela alone, Tim Gibson Middle School
“Accountant, because I love money” — Tamala, Frances W. Burton Middle School (Now there’s an honest child!)
Farmer — N’Tentou, Trujillo Family School
“Police officer, to help secure Mali” — Sebela, Tim Gibson Middle School
I love that these young women are thinking boldly. I also love that they are thinking practically — they want to tackle exactly the kinds of jobs Mali needs people to step into — police officer, farmer, judge, nurse, doctor. On the other hand, I wish a few more wanted to become teachers….because boy does Mali need some more good teachers! At least none of them said Instagram influencer. :)
Thanks for all you do to help Mali Rising students be able to dream about a future where their education opens doors!
Girls Project participants hear from a career speaker earlier this school year. Here the girls celebrate with a female firefighter (center, in beret) after her talk — we are guessing this is why so many girls reported wanting to be firefighters! We bring successful women to talk with the girls to help our girls explore the options and opportunities available to them if they stick with school.
