Blog
Wow — it is hard to overstate how much we love our volunteers! They have been simply overwhelming us with support for our students in Mali, and we stand in awe. In just the last month, volunteers have created hundreds of sets of flashcards, written hundreds of notes of encouragement to students, created or donated hundreds of pieces for menstrual kits, and so much more. We want you to be part of this amazing group of people.
If you are in Salt Lake or surrounding areas, I hope you’ll join me and a group of great women (and supportive men) for a night of connection and service. We’re inviting members of our 50 Women Campaign and those who are interested in learning more about 50 Women and our Girls Project to come together to assemble menstrual kits for our girls while learning more about girls’ education.
The older generation tends to worry – or, let’s be honest, complain – about young people’s work ethic, energy, and even empathy. You can think of this as the “Kids today” cliché: “Kids today don’t think of others.” “Kids today don’t take initiative.” Etc., etc. Well Roshini Balan is proving just how cliché that thinking is.
For the second year in a row, the hard work of a group of volunteers here in the U.S. is making a big difference for our girls in Mali. In our remote villages, girls often have no access to materials to manage their periods. This means they stay home from school for a week each month -- just imagine missing 25% of school! Girls fall behind in classes, and sometimes that leads to dropping out altogether. Luckily, there is a lot of work going on these days to find simple solutions for managing periods in places like our villages.
Here at Mali Rising, we love Girl Scouts. Last year, we partnered with a troop based near our Utah office. We connected that troop with one of our Girls Groups at our school in Kolimba, Mali and the troop sent colorful, thoughtful letters of encouragement to the girls in Mali. At that troop meeting last year, we discussed various barriers to girls' education in Mali. One scout -- Skyler Dey -- took that discussion to heart. She decided to focus on a solution to one of those barriers -- a lack of supplies for managing girls' periods.
Internet services donated by XMission.
