Without teachers and textbooks, is a school really a school? It certainly isn’t an easy place to learn without those two things. Recently, I had a chance to talk with one of our teachers – Mr. Chio Coulibaly of Nieta Kalanso Middle School in Kolimba – about what a difference textbooks have made for him and his students.
One Teacher Learns, to Help Him Better Teach
We recently hosted an English Teacher Peer Meting gathering teachers from six of our partner schools. Mali Rising’s Teacher Peer Meetings allow teachers to gather and help each other build their skills. In Mali, teachers rarely come together and have discussions on how improve their own teaching skills, all the six teachers who attended this recent meeting were very excited to join together. Mr. Sio Coulibaly was one of the participating teachers. He was particularly helpful to his peers, peppering them with questions and or providing helpful answers.
The Dreams of Oumou
Oumou Sidibé is one of our Girls Project students in Kolimba. She is 16 years old and lives in Kolimba with her parents. She is in the 9th grade in Nièta Kalanso Middle School. Oumou repeated the 6th grade because of an illness, but despite this setback she did not drop out of school. Oumou loves school because she would like to have a job and to be able to earn a living. This would allow her to help her parents and her village. Read more….
Making the Girls Project Sustainable...Meet our Girl Leaders!
We love our Girls Project, which strives to recruit more girls into school and retain them there so they have the skills to build the lives they dream off. The Project has been very successful in its initial three pilot villages. We worked in those villages in pilot mode for three years, but are now working with those villages to have them take on the Project in a sustainable way (this will allow us take the Project to five new villages!). As part of that sustainability strategy, we are developing Girl Leaders for each of the pilot villages. These young women are now high school students, but they will be working in the villages to run the Girls Groups and other Project elements. We think they will also serve as great role models for sticking with school.
Mothers' Loan Fund Means Sustainable Girls' Education
Checking In On Our Girls In Mali
When I talk with anyone about our work, the project that people most connect with is our Girls Project. Men and women, people from the U.S. or people from Mali, younger or older -- everyone gets excited about making sure girls get an equal education. So I try to be sure to do a periodic update on our girls progress under the Girls Project. I know you're rooting for our girls, so here's the latest news from our Girls Project Coordinator, Hindaty.
Aminata's School Success Means a Better Future for Her Baby Boy
Utah Girl Scouts Supporting Mali's Girl Students
Back in April, I had the pleasure of meeting with a great Girl Scout troop here in Salt Lake City. We talked about girls' education in Mali -- the challenges and the benefits. The Scouts wrote letters of encouragement to girl students participating in Mali Rising's Girls Project in the tiny village of Kolimba. The basic goal? To simply let our girls know that as they struggled to get to school each day, someone far away was rooting for them. I think the photos I received from the letter delivery in Kolimba speak to how thoroughly the Girls Scouts achieved their goal! Check them out...
