During the summer vacations in Mali, teachers took the opportunity to meet and discuss current events in the country. The biggest topic of discussion? A sudden policy change that resulted in many students failing the national exams…because they were no longer allowed to cheat.
I passed my graduation exam thanks to the Girls' Project!
Getting the Second Chance We All Deserve
Can $10 Change The World? Why Yes!
By Hindaty Traore, Girls Project Coordinator
Enriette’s life was changed through a $10 donation…that’s all it takes for a girls’ school fees!
The Girls' Project has been a huge help for girls in the eight villages where we currently run the project. This is the story of one of our girls at Frances W. Burton Middle School in the village of Tamala — Enriette Coulibaly.
Enriette is 16 years old and was in the 9th grade this last school year. She is fatherless and lived with her mother, in a village with no middle school. Enriette’s village was a 6 kilometre walk away from our school in Tamala. Her mother couldn't afford a bicycle for Enriette to travel to Tamala's middle school.
So, her mother sent Enriette to a friend of her late husband's in Tamala. Her father's friend paid Enriette’s school fees for two years because her mother could not afford it. But last year the man told Enriette to look for someone to pay for her studies because he too could no longer pay both her school fees and those of his own children.
Enriette had no choice but to quit school to come and go work as a servant in Bamako. But when Mali Rising’s Girls Project announced that we would pay the expenses of all the girls in the middle school — with help from our generous 50 Women Campaign donors — she decided to stay in school. At first, Enriette didn’t believe it was really true that her fees would be paid because this was the year that the project started in Tamala. Last fall when we paid the first installment of her school fees Enriette realized that it was really true and she was reassured.
Now Enriette plans to pass her graduation exam and show that the support really was worth it! Enriette is a wonderful example of how the very modest investment of $10 for a girl’s school fees can change a life, forever!
Better Late Than Never -- Back to School for 9th Grade
Sebela is a small but prosperous village outside of Bamako and it is home to Tim Gibson Middle School. Just like anywhere in Mali, the people of Sebela have been very concerned about their children’s future because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the outbreak of the virus in Mali in mid-March, the school has been closed. Many students were worried about the school year and were almost hopeless. Recently, the government decided to reopen school only for students in the 9th grade, so that these students can prepare for their graduation exams this summer. The schools re-opened on June 2. Mamadou Sidibe is one of those students who are thrilled to be back in school for a few months. He thinks it is late in the year, but students need to learn all the time no matter when. So better late than never! Mamadou is determined to hit his goal for the year, which is to pass his DEF (national exam).
