By Adama Kone, Teacher Project Coordinator

One of the biggest challenges facing students in Mali is the fact that school is not taught in their mother tongue language. Instead, schools use French for instruction and often leave students behind if they aren’t able to pick up French quickly in primary school. This year, we piloted the French Language Intervention Project (FLIP), designed to help 7th graders brush up their French skills as they enter middle school.

Earlier this month, I shared the story of one of our students who participated in the FLIP pilot. Today I would like to share the story of a second participant — Sata T. Here is what she had to say about the FLIP pilot in her own words:

“My name is Sata and I am in 7th grade. I am 14 years old. I am one of the 40 students who participated in FLIP special classes at Jade & Gabe Mellor Middle School.

I participated in all eight classes and enjoyed them so much because I like my French teacher. My teach is always smiling and is willing to support us all the times. She helps me whenever I need her help with my exercises. She also gives us extra classes sometimes, which are very useful to me. I like her too when she gives us advice. I remember her telling us one day that it would be hard for us to have better future without getting a good education. My French teacher also likes to tell funny stories sometimes, which makes all of the students laugh with her.

I am very excited today because I got a certificate after participating in all eight FLIP classes. This certificate is a great reminder to me and it will surely make my father proud of me too. I will try to hang it on the wall inside our house so it inspire my younger sisters and brothers in the future as well. When our French teacher told us about the certificates on the first day of the classes, I dreamed of being rewarded with one of them.

I will show my certificate to everyone in my family. I am sure that it will please all of them because they all want me to study hard and be successful. I will never forget this great day, which makes me proud and grateful to Mali Rising Foundation donors who gave me this opportunity.  My classmates and I have learned a lot during the classes..

One of my favorite exercises during the FLIP classes was learning new words by using them in sentences and quizzing each other about the words’ meanings. Many of my classmates liked that exercise because we later all got to create and perform in skits using new words!”