The US- and Mali-based staff spent two weeks in January together in the field in Mali. Our incredibly limited access to the internet did not allow us to post our blog updates from the field, so we are sharing them now from the zippy wi-fi of the U.S. Join us on the blog for the next few weeks for a daily update on the trip!

By Merritt Frey, Executive Director

Day 5 of our travels found us at full-strength as a team — the Mali Rising staff, Tim (Mali Rising supporter), Courtney (Mali Rising board member), and two great translator — Mady & Hawa. This was a long day with visits to two schools — Little Heroes Academy II in Tanima and Tim Gibson Middle School in Sebela.

Heading to Tanima

Tanima is home to the second school built by Sunshine Heroes Foundation — Little Heroes Academy II. This school is quite full, with 206 students filling its three classrooms this year. As a result, a huge crowd of students and teachers met us as we pulled up and we had a great time greeting the students and getting to know the teachers. Tim and Courtney headed off to conduct some student interviews (drawing a HUGE crowd of kids in the process) while I sat down for a meeting with the school committee and teachers. Hindaty, luckiest of all, talked with the girls of the school about their menstrual cycle and how to manage it.

Last year the students of Tanima did quite well on the national graduation exam, despite the long teacher strike. The school is also a strong performer when it comes to enrolling girls, with a nearly equal ratio of girls to boys last year. Among the needs we discussed at the school was a library (almost no schools in Mali have libraries!) and repairs to teacher housing. In addition, I noticed a need to prioritize the school for some maintenance work this summer…a regular issue in our older, mud-brick built schools.

Soccer in Sebela

After a quick lunch of sandwiches on the side of the dirt road (where we joined by a huge herd of cattle), we headed to Tim’s school — Tim Gibson Middle School. This school is only 2 years old, but already is proving itself to be a good performer, with 94% of students who took the graduation exam last year passing.

The school committee meeting revealed some very humble requests. First, they wold like some more chalk for use in the classrooms. Second, the school committee feels they would really benefit from some training in leadership, financial management and other topics. We love partners who want to learn! so both of those requests are now under review for action!

While I met with the school committee, Hindaty was delivering menstrual kits and education to the Sebela girls, who are in the early days of the Girls Project. Courtney and Tim did a few more interviews and generally made friends around the village, learning a lot about the local onion harvest which was hot right as we visited. To top it all off, we delivered a batch of much-needed textbooks — pleasing the teachers very much.

After the serious work was done, we got down to the more serious business — a girls’ soccer match against our school in Kolimba. Sebela is new to the Girls’ Project this year, whereas Kolimba was a pilot village so is an old-hand at soccer. Still, Sebela’s young women pulled off a rousing and decisive win with a 2-0 score. It was wonderful to watch these young women show the village just how strong and determined they are…I have never seen such dedicated dives into the rocky dirt to keep the ball in play!

We returned to Bamako late that night feeling good about where both schools are and committed to actions to keep our partnerships with village parents respectful and alive. This was a good day!