By Hindaty Traore, Girls’ Project Manager
Sometimes, a little role modeling can go a long way! That’s why as part of our Girls’ Project we bring successful career women to talk with our participants each year. This year, five powerful women inspired our girls with dreams of futures where they can make a difference.
A career speaker holds the girls’ attention with advice and inspiration for their future.
This year we brought five women representing a variety of possible career tracks: a pharmacist, a court clerk, a pediatrician, a nurse, and a secretary.
Fatoumata, 8th grader, now dreams of becoming a pediatrician so she can save children like her young cousin who died of malaria.
Fatoumata T., aged 13, is one of our 8th grade students at the Little Heroes Academy I school in Mana. She loves all subjects, but she has a real preference for biology. Fatoumata says, “The pediatrician who came to meet wit us said that, to be a pediatrician, you must be interested in this subject and in all scientific subjects.” This made Fatoumata feel like she’s a natural for the career!
Fatoumata likes the pediatric profession because they treat children. She thinks that taking care of children is important because they are very small and they really need someone to take care of them.
“I want to be a doctor, or more precisely a pediatrician, to treat children because they are the future. Through our meeting with the pediatrician, I understood that there is such a thing as a doctor only for children who is a pediatrician. I did not know there was such a thing!” said Fatoumata. “ Last year, I lost a cousin at the age of 3 to malaria and I would like to avoid this kind of case.”
At a different school -- Ben Dixon Elementary School – we did a simulation with the girls to better explain the role of a court clerk. We had a judge, two lawyers with their clients and a clerk. Each of the girls played their role. They put themselves in the shoes of each of these different functions.
“I have always loved everything that is right. I never imagined that a woman could be a judge. I thought this was just about men …I am sure that this is the job that I want to pursue in the future,” Mariam declared.
This inspired one student, Mariam D. aged 10, to become interested in the functions of the judge. She told me that when she becomes a judge, she would like to take charge of their village's cases concerning a land matter. This is because she has often heard about this matter from adults.
Mariam is in 6th grade and is very intelligent. This is evident through her participation and grades in class.
“I really like everything that concerns justice through the clerk's explanations. So I would like to be a judge and I would have a clerk like our guest to assist me. Before the arrival of the clerk, I was completely unaware of this magnificent work,” explained Mariam.
“I have always loved everything that is right. I never imagined that a woman could be a judge. I thought this was just about men. After discovering the jobs of the clerk and that of the judge with the explanations of the clerk, I am sure that this is the job that I want to pursue in the future,” Mariam declared.
As you can tell, connecting our village girls with these examples of professional women is very important. Just seeing women who are in these roles breaks stereotypes that often tell girls these functions can only be done by men.
For girls who were already dreaming of jobs like these, they got to talk with a real life example of the future they dream of. For girls who thought their futures were limited, the role models opened up a world of possibilities they didn’t even know existed. For me, I loved watching as the girls’ worlds expanded and they let themselves imagine something entirely new!
