school access

The Mindful Bunch School in Kafara Nears Completion

by Merritt Frey, Executive Director

Thanks to a generous group of friends who wanted to celebrate their friend Ilias’s move to a new country, a new school is nearly finished in Kafara, Mali.

The group has decided to name the school The Mindful Bunch Middle School. Where did that quirky name come from? It references a Kiva loan group (if you don’t know about Kiva, check them out!) the friends participate in together, honoring the school as a continuation of their joint legacy of giving.

On October 27, Ilias will join us for the ceremonial opening of The Mindful Bunch Middle School in Kafara. Watch this blog for fun stories from the party, or follow us on social media for even more images and video from the fun.

What's In a Name? School-to-School Connections!

This summer, we finalized fundraising for Mali Rising school #23 in the little village of Sankama. This was truly a group effort, with donations from high school students, walkers, the Trujillo family, our Builders Society, support from the Pete and Arline Harman Trust, and many others. Now a school is nearly complete in Sankama, and we’re happy to announce the winner of naming rights for the school!

School Donors Make Mothers Happy

Here at Mali Rising we often feature the students who benefit from our supporters’ generosity. Of course, many other benefit from a new school and the education it brings. So in this post we share some thoughts from a mother in the village where we are currently building our 23rd school, Kafara. Here are excerpts of what Sali had to say about the arrival of a new school for her children…

Meet Issa, One of Mali Rising's Newest Students

Last week we announced some great news -- a surprise gift to help us build our 23rd school! It will be located in the village of Kafara, where the children and parents alike are celebrating. Today I wanted to share just one story of a student who will benefit from the new school, Issa. Issa may look more serious than your typical 9th grader but...well, frankly he probably is a bit more serious than your typical 9th grader.

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Diving Beneath the Data

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I love working with the data because it shows us where we’re at, where we’ve been, and where we’re going. It’s exciting to track our progress over multiple years, to dig into whether we’re improving or not and why. But as much as data is able to tell us, there is a lot that it can’t tell us, and a lot that is misleading with careful review. 

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How Far Would You Go? How About 391 Miles?

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Mali Rising's first-ever virtual walking challenge -- Miles for Mali -- is in the books! This May, thirty-three volunteers walked more than 2,400 miles to raise $2,100 to build a new school for the kids of Sankama, Mali. We had a great time with our volunteer walkers, and everyone did a great job. However, one walker really stood out -- Phoebe Mathew from Holland, Pennsylvania. Why did she stand out you ask?

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On the Road from Zela to Beneko

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Just 10 days remain for participants in our Miles to Mali challenge! So far, walkers have covered 1,223 miles and raised more than $1,600 to raise funds for our next school. Why do they do it? To help girls like those our staff meet up with on the road to school last week. We found two groups of girls making their way from the small hamlet of Zela to the village of Beneko, home to our Cliff and Nita Bailey Middle School.  Each day, the girls traverse more than 4 miles each way with the goal of improving their lives at school.

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