By Hindaty Traore, Girls Project Manager

As part of exposing our Girls Project girls to the diverse career opportunities an education girl can dream of, we recently interviewed some career women in their workplace and videoed the interviews.

In the past, we brought these career women to the villages to meet the girls directly but because of the pandemic we took a questionnaire from the girls to the career women.

This year we had the honor of interviewing five different public servants (two customs officers, two transit agents, and a secretary). All these women spoke about their educational and professional career. The secretary also showed us her typing machines, and demonstrated the role of a secretary. The girls watched the video report with great interest. This initiative enabled girls to both learn several career options and to see role models in action through these strong women. Videos and movies are rarely seen in our rural villages, so the girls were very excited to see their own movie premier!

One example is Nana Samaké, one of our best students in Zambougou. She is 15 years old and in the 8th grade. She lives in a small village (Bladjè) three kilometers from Zambougou. Each day, she walks the six kilometers to and from school. All the girls in her village walk to school, because only boys are entitled to bicycles.

Nana is the top of her class and she wants to become a secretary. According to Nana, she wanted to be a secretary but was unaware of the existence of the typing machine and also certain roles of the secretary such as taking notes during meetings for the boss, traveling with the boss, or keeping her workplace information confidential. She thought being a secretary just meant wearing nice clothes to be presentable or tidying up the boss's things. The secretary's testimony has shown Nana the job is much more than she thought, and now she is even more determined to pursue her dream of becoming a secretary.

In rural areas, many students choose jobs by the pretty name of work without actually knowing what the job entails. Alternatively, many girls in the villages are simply unaware of the existence of certain functions that a woman could perform. The only careers the girls may know are doctor or teacher, because these two functions are frequently seen in the villages. But -- thanks to this activity of introducing the girls to real women with varied careers-- we help our girls choose better options for their future. This experience allows them to have an idea of the ​​function of a variety of jobs, but also helps develop the courage to realize their dreams when they see other women who have done so!