Blog — Mali Rising Foundation

Banko

A New School for Sanata to Help Her Achieve Her Dreams!

Over this week, we are continuing to share stories from our newest school — Christiana Norris Middle School in the village of Banko. The second student interview story which we share today is from a young woman, Sanata, who dreams of wearing a doctor’s white coat as a result of her studies!

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A New Principal for a New School

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During a recent visit to our new school in Banko, I got to talk with the new principal for the brand new school. The principal is Mr. Mahamadou Diallo. He is thirty-four years old and the father of two children. Mr. Diallo as a principal is new to the village of Banko, but he has been a principal at another school for about five years. In fact, Mr. Diallo started his teaching career years ago far north (about 260 kilometers!) of Bamako. In addition to being principal, Mr. Diallo teaches French in all the three grades in Christiana Norris Middle School of Banko.

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Celebrating a New School for the Children of Banko!

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We are overjoyed that the new middle school for the children of Banko — Christiana Norris Middle School — is now open in Mali and serving kids. Alas, for now we cannot do the typical ceremonial opening with the Norris Family, who generously sponsored the school. Instead, our staff brought a video from the Norris Family to share with the students and interviewed students, staff, and parents about the new school. Over the next week, I’ll be sharing stories and interviews from that trip. The first interview story today is from a young man, Bakary, who was able to return home to his family now that the village has a school for him!

Always Learning: Building Our Schools Better

All children have the right to an education, but some children around the world still do not receive an education due to the poverty of their parents and their countries. The Malian government is unable to correct this lack, leaving millions of children without access to an education. One of the reasons I love working for Mali Rising Foundation is that we are doing our part to make a difference on this enormous problem. Since 2004, we have worked to provide children with access to safe conditions for learning. Although we have a long record of accomplishment of good school construction, we are always learning and adapting. This year, we made some quite large changes to our own construction model.