By Hindaty Traore, Girls Project Manager

As the Girls Project Manager, I sometimes hear very hard stories from the young women I work with. On a recent visit to some of our most remote schools, I heard a story like this from a brave young woman – Kadiata D.

When I met Kadiata D., I could see that she is a girl who is reserved and sad but who wanted to connect. At our gathering of girls from the villages of Toubon and N’Goko, she participated very actively in the meeting of the girls. She is a 17-year-old 8th grader from Mali Rising’s middle school in the village of N’Goko.  

After our meeting with the full group of girls, Kadiata told me what she experienced:

“I am very happy with the girls' meeting today because there were a lot of things that I didn't have understand but I learned thanks to this meeting. For example, I was wondering why I am at school, why I am fighting to be in the future and also how education can help me in my future. I felt like I was fighting so hard and did not know exactly why!

After our discussions today, I better understand why education matters. I know I would like to become a firefighter because I would like to save lives and….help people. I am ready to give my life to save people's lives. Today I had the opportunity to dream a little in this meeting because I never had this chance in my family.

However, I'm afraid that my problems will prevent me from becoming a firefighter one day. My parents really like child marriage [for their daughters]. They have already married my older sister who was only 14 years old at the time. I am the first girl in my family who made it to 8th grade.

My parents even took me out of school after 6th grade because there was no middle school in N’Goko [before Mali Rising built a school there]. My parents sent me to Kadiolo to live with one of their acquaintances so that I could continue my studies while waiting for my parents to choose a husband for me. However a few months later my landlord began to make advances towards me. He began to abuse me and tried to touch me in an indecent way. I refused and even said that I was going to tell my parents about it. His wife didn't know everything he did to me.

Suddenly my landlord and his wife started mistreating me and they hit me. Then they called my parents to say that they can't accommodate me because I was insolent. My parents came to get me and told me that I was a liar. My parents said they sent me to the people to study and that instead I sullied the name of a family that welcomed me with open arms. They brought me back home from Kadiolo.

From that day until today I have no longer had peace. Every time I speak I am called a liar. My parents are so furious that I spent a year without going to school. At the time there was no middle school in N’Goko so I spent a year without going to school. Now thanks to the construction of the new school in N’Goko, I have returned to school. But my parents don't care what I do or don't do at school. I want to study well enough to be independent and  proud of myself one day.

I would like the Girls’ Project to come here often so that we can have a place to confide in without being afraid or judged and also be motivated throughout our studies.”

Some parents are the first enemies of their children in Mali. When girls talk about things they suffered, they are called liars. The parents don't want to know what really happened. The story of this young girl had a huge impact on me. It seems like she was waiting for an opportunity like this to confide and free herself of her burden. Many young girls are in the same situation as Kadiata but because of society they are forced to remain silent. The Girls’ Project is beneficial to them because they now have a place where they are listened to and guided towards the right path to success.

Kadiata thinks she is considered the shame of the family. She has no right to say what she feels or what is on her heart. She took advantage of our visit to tell us everything she had to go through. Even just the trip from N’Goko to Toubon for the girls’ meeting gave her a feeling of relief and a chance to breathe easier. She told me she loved being surrounded by other girls from another school and how they exchanged ideas. According to her, it's as if she was locked in an egg and was released.

This is why the Girls’ Project means so much to me personally – girls like Kadiata can find a space to imagine a different future for themselves and see that someone is there for them as they try to build that future.