By Hindaty Traore, Girls’ Project Manager

They say first impressions matter. If that’s true, we really started things off right with our first meeting of the new school year for the Girls’ Project! All the girls in the Project’s five new villages (Diorlia, Sankama, Mana, Nieguenkoro, and Manabougou) enjoyed our first Girls’ Group meetings immensely.

Looking at our girls during the meeting, I saw in them hope, courage, and motivation. I watched them concentrating and participating in the debate of the meeting and felt confident they will do well this year. They were also excited to know right away all that we are going to do together this school year. This was because they want to succeed in their studies but feel they do not know how.

For our first Girls’ Group meetings, we discussed the theme of the importance of a girl's education and the professions that women can exercise after their studies. Some girls were so motivated that they already envisioned themselves in their dream job!

For example, when I interviewed a girl -- Korka Doumbia -- in Sankama to understand her impressions of the meeting, she also asked me questions in return. I asked her why she was asking me questions too. She announced, “I am already starting to practice on my dream job, which is journalism.”

“My name is Korka Doumbia. I am 16 years old. I am the only girl in grade 9 in Sankama this year. I am very happy to have the Girls' Project in our school because it will allow many girls to avoid mistakes like going to work in the mines and also to understand a lot of things about our school life and our life in general. I used to go to the mine but with what we have just seen in today's topic, I will stay in school to study and become a journalist.

I asked Korka about why she wanted to become a journalist. Korka shared, “I want to become a journalist to inform people because I learned that good information is better than a gun. My dream is to inform people about the resources of my village so that people come to invest so that my village can develop.”

When we moved on to discussing her impression of our first Project meeting, Korka had some good feedback. “I was very impressed by this first meeting because it allowed me to better understand the importance of a girl's education and I was unaware that girls had the same right to education as boys and that a woman could become a judge. I can't wait to discover other themes," she said.

Although each girl was excited about the Girls’ Project, there were diverse reasons for their excitement. Some are excited to do activities like soccer or to compete in the annual the reading contest, while others really want to understand the topics we are going to discuss. Others say they will give up on the idea of leaving school because they don't understand the lessons, now that they will have support. An example of this is a young woman named Kadiatou Komokara from Nieguenkoro:

“I am 15 years old and I am in the 8th grade at Ross and Marilou Moser Middle in Nieguenkoro. I really liked today's theme, your way of explaining all that can be obtained through education gave me a lot of courage to continue my studies and to work well at school. Thanks to this meeting, I also learned that educated girls will also be more sensitive to the education of their own children in the future. This will allow many people to be educated,” said Kadiatou. “I can't wait to start reading classes because my level is very low in reading and I have trouble understanding my lessons. My dream is to become a doctor to treat people who do not have the means because I come from a poor village and I have to contribute to the health of the people in my village. I'm aslo excited to play soccer because I've never touched a ball to play!”

Informing girls about the importance of education at the beginning of the year is very beneficial because it helps them understand all that they can obtain thanks to education. Just this basic information can help them to have a lot of courage and to concentrate more in class and do well as a result.

I really look forward to working with all the girls in our new Project villages this year! Learn more about the Girls’ Project.