By Adama Kone, Teacher Project Coordinator

Ousmane Samaké is a 7th grader in The Mindful Bunch Middle school in the village of Kafara. He is 15 years old and says he misses his classmates so much. Ousmane has not been in school for months because of teacher’s strike in Mali followed by the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the whole world.  

There are 35 students in his grade, and they get along with each other very well. Ousmane loves all his teachers but feels disappointed this school year knowing he did not study much. He thinks that math is the hardest subject for him because he has hard time understanding the calculations when his math teacher explains it. So he wonders how he will ever catch up on Math!

His favorite subject is English because he wants to be a big person in the future and help his village with more schools, health centers, and better roads. Ousmane knows that education is the easiest and fastest way to make that possible. He hopes that the government will reopen all the schools soon so he can learn more and see his school buddies again very often.

Even with the current challenges, Ousmane says he is thankful to Mali Rising Foundation for the Mindful Bunch Middle School in his village. This school allows Ousmane and his friends to learn in their own village and saves them from walking long distance to get to school every day. In addition to all that, Ousmane is grateful for the Mali Rising workbook project that is keeping them connected to learning while they are not in school. He promises to try his best to get his workbook done. He thinks that Mali Rising is the best NGO in the commune in terms of education because of this idea of workbook that will be so useful during the pandemic. Ousmane hopes his parents will allow him work on his workbook so he can try to be the best scorer.

He is worried that the work in the fields with his parents will harm his workbook time since it is the rainy season now. He is willing to try to convince his parents and try his best. While he is in field, he helps his parents plough, sow and weed the field of sorghum, millet, and corn. His parents want him to study hard but they also need him help them in the field sometimes. His parents do not have enough boys to help them in the field, but they will still want him in school if the government reopens it.

Ousmane plays soccer with his friends for fun and loves his grandmother’s funny tales at nights. Usually he and sisters and brothers gather around their grandmother and listen to her funny stories at nights. They also learn lessons from those stories like pros and cons of being kind, wicked, a liar and a true teller. Most of her stories are about “the hyaena and the rabbit” referring to “a stupid person and a clever person” acting.

Ousmane Samaké thanked Mali Rising for thinking about his school and keeping them working despite the pandemic. Now it is up to the students to benefit from this privilege. Thank you, Mali Rising, for the great partnership!