By Adama Kone, Teacher Project Manager

One of the biggest obstacles students in Mali face is language. Although students in our villages grow up hearing and speaking their local language (Bambara), school is taught in French. In primary school students are « eased » into French instruction, but by 7th grade all classes are taught in French. So, if you haven’t learned French by then you are often just out of luck!

Sadly, many students really do not learn enough French to survive middle school. In fact, this is one of the biggest problems our teachers tell us about. As a result, Mali Rising Foundation launched a new campaign to help – the French Language Intervention Project (FLIP). FLIP is a kind of « boot camp » for incoming 7th graders to learn basic French skills they will need to survive middle school.

As part of FLIP, I work with each school’s French teachers to conduct a pre-assessment of the student’s French skills. While doing this at the Mindful Bunch Academy recently, I talked with a young student, Dowelé C. She was excited to participate and eager to share her thoughts :

My name is Dowelé and I am in 7th grade. I am thirteen years old. I have four brothers and one older sister. They do not go school and my father regrets that a lot because none of them has a good job to support my family. My family lives in this village of Kafara and I like school. Every day I play with my classmates at school , especially during the school break in the morning. Sometimes we go and eat snacks at home. Sometimes we take a cord and play with it by jumping over it.

I am pleased to be assessed by Mali Rising Foundation today because this can help me understand my weak areas. Then I can work hard to improve my skills.

I  am a new student in 7th grade and I am very excited to participate in this assessment because i know that if I am able to work harder and improve my skills I will get  better scores and make my family happier with me. I love to see my parents excited about my work. Any time I have better scores in school, they feel more honored by me.

About this assessment, I am sure my scores are not too bad but I still want to improve them as time goes. My vocabulary is limited and i struggle to understand my teachers sometimes. So I will be thrilled to participate in the French classes at my middle school. French is very important to me since it helps me understand all the other subjects. My teachers explain all their lessons in French. When i do not understand their explanations, I feel shy to ask questions in Bambara.

My favorite subject is French because i want to fluent in it and able to do any other subject thanks to French.

I would like to be able to succeed in school and get a good job in the future. My good job will allow me help my parents financially. I dream that I could buy a car for them and build a fancy house.

I thank Mali Rising Foundation donors for helping me with FLIP and I am willing to improve my skills through this work and make my dreams come true.