Over the school break this summer, Mali Rising has been busy building two new schools for the children of Mali. I took the lead in overseeing construction at one of those schools. This middle school is in the village of Sondougouba Coro. Over the summer I visited many times so that I could check up on the quality of construction and make sure we built a safe school. On my visits, I met Kadia D., a young woman who attended primary school in the village but had to make a long walk to another village for middle school once she started seventh grade. Kadia told me about her experience…
What a New School Means
Over this summer break, Mali Rising Foundation was busy building two new schools that will help more than 300 children change their lives through education. I helped coordinate construction of one of the schools in the village of Kainsiga. During my visits to check up on construction, I often got to chat with future students and their parents. One child I spoke with was 13-year-old Aboubacar.
Parents Speak Up for Schools
A New School for Mali!
Could You Learn in a Classroom with 100 Students?
Imagine a classroom crammed with 100 or more teenagers. Really picture it in your mind. Three or four students sit at desks designed to hold two kids. The room created to hold 20 or 25 desks holds 30 or 35. There are not enough textbooks to go around. Students near the back can’t see the board over the heads of all the other students. The noise level, even when the students are calm, is disruptive…and when the kids get loud – well, no one is learning.
This is a typical situation in Mali’s schools and is the current situation in Mali Rising’s Leon W. Pete Harman Middle School in Tentoubougou. Until everything is changed thanks to a new Mali Rising village school.
Quick Update On Our Newest School
A New School Rises
Is there anything more exciting than seeing a new school take shape? I’m a little bit biased, but I say no. That’s why I’m so pleased to share a short update from our school #26. This school is located in the town of Tentoubougou, quite near another of our schools which is currently over-crowded. We are hoping this school will relieve crowding at the existing Leon W. Peter Harman Middle School.
