By Hindaty Traore, Girls Project Manager

Usually in Mali, once a girl gets married or becomes pregnant, her education ends. (This is a big problem, because 15% of girls are married by 15 and 50% are married by 18.) A pregnant girl who goes to school risks being teased by other students and being accused of being a bad influence.

Yet every year, thousands of girls get pregnant in Mali when they should be learning history, algebra and life skills at school. Adolescent girls who have teenage pregnancies face many social and financial barriers that hinder their pursuit of formal education.

Kadidiatou is a married 18 year old and is in the 9th grade at Mali Rising’s Frances W. Burton Middle School in Tamala. When we discovered that she was pregnant, we doubled our awareness campaign with her and of her husband's family until her delivery.   

After the birth of her son, Mohamed, we checked in regularly with Kadiadiatou. When Mohamed was 5 months old, we encouraged her to return to school.    

Kadidiatou returned to school when it reopened in February. This is actually the second time Kadidiatou will take the 9th grade, because she did not pass the national graduation exam last year. Why did she struggle? Kadidiatou explained that she was married just before her 9th grade year, and fell pregnant quickly. While she was pregnant, she had difficulties such as swelling of the feet, anemia, and other challenges. According to Kadidiatou, these difficulties caused her to fail the exam last year.

Now that baby Mohamed is here, Kadidiatou wakes early each  morning to do her housework before school starts. She loves all the subjects, but especially the English. Kadidiatou says her baby is too nice -- he doesn't cry a lot because he wants his mother to be educated! Even when he does cry, Kadidiatou’s mother-in-law consoles him because he is the namesake of her husband .

If Mohamed cannot be consoled, the little nieces of Kadidiatou brings him to school and she nurses him until he is happy again. Happily, Kadidiatou finds the teachers to be understanding of this. That's why she wants to succeed at the graduation exam this year -- to make everyone who supported her proud.

In Kadidiatou's family , no one forces her to come to school, it is she herself who has known the importance of school through the various meetings with Girl Project. She insists she would not like to be dependent.  After her studies , she would love to be a secretary, working in an office with the manager or entrepreneur.

“If I had one million CFA (Mali dollars), I would buy school supplies, books, documents and use the rest for my son,” says Kadidatou.  “The advice I give to my little sisters who are newly come to 7th grade is to redouble their efforts. They must learn to do their reading and stop paying attention to the boys, which can lead to errors! School helped me a lot, for example, during my pregnancy, I could read my consultation days and now my son's vaccination record.”