As a new school year looms in the COVID-19 era, we are all worried about sending our kids back to school. This just isn’t the normal back-to-school feeling, is it? As you may imagine, we’re worried about sending our kids in Mali back to school too. I know you have a lot on your mind these days, but if you are able to spare a thought for Mali’s kids too, would you consider donating to our Back-to-School Safe Campaign?
Feeling Good With Mali Rising Workbooks
Tim Gibson Middle School in Sebela has been a blessing for the people of Sebela. However, the 7th and 8th grade students have not been in school for a while, due to a teachers’ strike this spring and then a school closure as a result of the pandemic. Although the 9th graders are back in school studying for their graduation exam, the 7th and 8th students are still waiting on the government to allow them to get back to school too. The students love each other because they feel they are all joined together in one school. They are looking forward to going back to school and being with their teachers. Read what one student of Tim Gibson Middle School thinks of our workbook strategy to keep students engaged with learning during COVID-19 closures…
Success in Our First Workbook Pilot
By Merritt Frey, Executive Director
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a new strategy we are piloting. This strategy is designed to help our students, who have been out of the classroom since March (and missed several earlier months due to teacher strikes) stay connected with school and practice some core language skills from home.
The idea is basic — there is no online learning option in Mali’s rural villages! Instead, we sent home workbooks with 7th and 8th grade students at Tim Gibson Middle School in Sebela. If students completed the workbook they would receive soap for their families; top scoring students would receive bags of rice to share with their family.
We are really pleased with the test run’s completion rate, with 62% of the kids returning completed workbooks. We were also pleased with the results, with the top scorers scoring 14 or 15 out of 20 points. We were less pleased with the average — 9 out of 20 points — but that just goes to show how much the students need to practice!
Perhaps more importantly, the students seemed to have fun with the workbooks and appreciated their small prizes. We are currently testing this idea in a second village, and hope to roll out an improved version in more villages in September.
We provided the workbooks to our 7th and 8th grade students because the 9th graders are currently back in school, studying for their graduation exam. Here we see the 9th graders of Sebela studiously focused on a chemistry lesson.
Volunteer Spotlight: Girls Project Volunteer Fatoumata!
Mariam Dreams of Being an Eye Doctor
By Hindaty Traore, Girls Project Coordinator
Hindaty had a chance to talk with one of our Girls Project participants and recorded her thoughts in her own words. Mariam attends Mali Rising’s Tim Gibson Middle School in the village of Sebela. This school just began participating in the Girls Project in the 19/20 school year. Here’s what Mariam had to say:
I am called Mariam Sangaré. I am 14 years old. I am from a village (Massakoni), 2 km away from our school in Sebela. I wake up at 6 am to do my household work then I go to school. I leave my village, Massakoni, at 7:00 am and arrive at school at 7:45 am in Sebela.
Before the middle school in Sebela was builit our older brothers and sisters walked 4 kilometres to go to Kokoun, where there was a middle school. When I graduated from the primary school to the 7th grade, we had an informal middle school in Sebela but it was built in mud and the roof was made with straw. We had to clean the classrooms every day because the donkeys spent the night in them. When it rained, we had to leave the school for home because the roof of straw would leak terrible. Sometimes there were snakes in our classroom! Today, thanks to the very beautiful classrooms built by Mali Rising, we can study in the best conditions near our own village.
I like science subjects like math, biology, physics, chemistry, and English too. History and geography are very difficult for me and they are hard to memorize. I like science because I would like to be an eye doctor. Many people have eye problems and the eyes have a very important role in one's life, so I think this would be a good and important career.
As soon as I can afford it, I will build schools and health centers for my village because thanks to the school I was able to study and it made me able to become a doctor.
I am just a little bit concerned because this year has not been a successful one due to the teachers' strike and the outbreak of COVID-19. Otherwise I have had good grades at the beginning.
Learn more about Tim Gibson Middle School. Learn more about the Girls Project.
Missing School in the Time of COVID-19
Ousmane Samaké is a 7th grader in The Mindful Bunch Middle school in the village of Kafara. He is 15 years old and says he misses his classmates so much. Ousmane has not been in school for months because of teacher’s strike in Mali followed by the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the whole world. Read more about Ousmane…
What Soccer Means For One Girl
As part of our successful Girls Project, Mali Rising sets up girls soccer teams and coordinates competitions between schools. Sports participation has been shown to increase enrollment and retention in school, which are both key goals of the Girls Project. In addition, soccer is just plain fun and helps our girls build their leadership and team skills! In this blog post, a girl from Kolimba’s team shares her experiences from a soccer game against the girls of Sebela. This match was held earlier this year, before COVID-19 shut down schools and group events like soccer matches. Fatoumata Doumbia is 15 years old and in 8th grade in Nièta Kalanso Middle School in Kolimba. She talks about their experience related to their soccer game in with girls from Tim Gibson Middle School in Sebela….
Avoiding the COVID-19 Slide?
Here in the U.S., parents and teachers often worry about the “summer slide” — a dip in students’ academic skills caused by summertime disengagement from learning. In Mali this year, we are triple-y concerned about a slide — students missed months of school from a teacher strike followed by a several month closure for COVID-19, followed by summer break. What to do to help kids stay connected to learning!? Given the reality that our students have no books in their homes and absolutely no access to online learning, we are going old school!
Better Late Than Never -- Back to School for 9th Grade
Sebela is a small but prosperous village outside of Bamako and it is home to Tim Gibson Middle School. Just like anywhere in Mali, the people of Sebela have been very concerned about their children’s future because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the outbreak of the virus in Mali in mid-March, the school has been closed. Many students were worried about the school year and were almost hopeless. Recently, the government decided to reopen school only for students in the 9th grade, so that these students can prepare for their graduation exams this summer. The schools re-opened on June 2. Mamadou Sidibe is one of those students who are thrilled to be back in school for a few months. He thinks it is late in the year, but students need to learn all the time no matter when. So better late than never! Mamadou is determined to hit his goal for the year, which is to pass his DEF (national exam).
