Whenever we go to Mali, we come back with hundreds...thousands...of great photos. This Friday, we thought we'd share a few of the more candid shots of life in Mali that show perhaps a bit more of what life is like outside of the schoolroom. We hope you'll see some of the beauty of real life in Mali.
A Taste of Mali Here at Home
Calling All Teachers: Classroom Connections
This school year Mali Rising has piloted a new project -- Classroom Connections -- and now we're ready to take it live to teachers and students around the country. We hope you'll join us! Classroom Connections is designed to educate students in the U.S. about students and culture in Mali and provide meaningful service projects for U.S. students to build relationships with their peers in Mali.
Volunteers Help Girls Stay in School
If you were absent for almost 20 percent of middle school, how do you think you would have done in class? For girls in Mali, this is a sad reality. Without any tools to manage their periods, girls end up staying home from school. Over the course of middle school, they can miss four and half months of school. To help, a great team of volunteers in Utah make menstrual kits for girls The kits are designed to last 3 years...exactly the time it takes to finish middle school! In December, we delivered more than 100 kits to our girls, and they were excited.
Celebrating a New School for Mali!
Make the Case for Caring Essay Contest Launch
Tell your favorite high school student about Mali Rising's new Make the Case for Caring Essay Contest. This contest asks students to build a creative, persuasive argument for engagement in a country like Mali -- far from students' homes and daily concerns. National winners of this essay contest receive cash awards and recognition. This year's essay topic: Why should an average person in the United States invest in educating children in a far-off country like Mali...what is in it for us?
Being a High School Student in Mali
This year, Mali Rising began providing scholarships to some of our most outstanding middle school graduates. These scholarships include a chance to attend vocational training or a chance to go on to high school. We asked our current Communications Intern, Salifou, to describe what high school is like for a young Malian.
A New School for Mali!
A Mali Student Comes to the U.S.
By Salifou Fofana, Mali Rising Intern
Do you believe in destiny?
If your answer to this question is yes, I can only say that you are right. And if your answer to this question is no, it is okay. I used to believe just like you that destiny was just a product of our imagination. Yes, I do believe in destiny, I believe wherever we are, is where God wants us to be. At least I believe that being in the United States, right now, at this moment writing this post was the result of my destiny.
When I finished high school, I had never thought about coming to study in the United States. The reasons are many, but the number one reason is that I hated English, and I never thought I would, one day, be able to communicate in English nor even write a post like this. The other reason is that I dreamed about going to school in France because I had some of my best friends going to school there, and also, I had visited there a couple of times and loved it. Because I had been in there and speak French, I thought it would be easier for me to apply for the visa, get it, and go to school there. This is when I have found myself forced to believe in destiny because I wasn’t even thinking about the United States.
As I was applying for the schools in France I encountered some difficulties, but because I am not the type of person to give up, I kept applying to schools until I got accepted to one of the universities in Paris. I was happy and couldn’t wait to go until the French embassy told me that I couldn’t apply for the student visa the same year because I had applied to both public and private universities. This discouraged me because I didn’t want to waste another year after graduating from high school. My aunt then proposed that I go to the United States for school. When I started the process everything went smoothly. The University I applied to in Philadelphia accepted me, and when I applied for the visa the embassy handed me the visa quickly.
A new chapter of my life had begun, a chapter I am thankful for because I believe it to be the best thing to have ever happen to me. Soon, I realized that coming to the US was the best thing for me, opening a lot of doors and opportunities for me. Going to school in the US, especially in Utah, helped me gain many relations with amazing people, and helped me to have a different perspective on life. As a political science student, with an emphasis on international affairs, I learned the history of the development of the US, and how they dealt with the corruption issues, and how foreign politic works. My plan is to apply all those things that I have learned here and apply them in my country in order to reduce the excessive corruption that’s a huge handicap to the development of Mali. I would also like to participate in improving the education system, as I believe is unfair to children in non-urban areas.
Inspiration Scholars: Inspiring Students & Inspiring Us
By Merritt Frey, Executive Director
Thanks to the generosity of our donors (that's you!), this year we've launched a brand new project designed to inspire our students in Mali to dream big and continue their education.
The Inspiration Scholars Project helps outstanding Mali Rising students who graduate the 9th grade go on to high school or vocational training. For our first year, we kept it simple and offered scholarships for high school or for nursing school. Nursing school options included a one-year nursing assistant program or a three-year full nursing program. Either option provides a good quality living for graduates.
Students were nominated by their principals. A committee then selected our Inspiration Scholars based on their need, their likelihood to give back to Mali, and their academic results.
This project continues themes we always apply to our work. First, it works with the dreams and aspirations of our students...it is about what they want for their futures. Second, it provides quality education in Mali for Malians, investing in the institutions of Mali in addition to individuals. Lastly, it focuses on futures that will help our students but also help Mali as a whole by providing scholarships to students for careers that give back to Mali.
We'll be profiling our Inspiration Scholars for the next few weeks. Right now, you can meet Mariam who is off to nursing school and Djanaby, who is tackling high school in the "big" town of Ouelessebougou.
Mariam is off to nursing school thanks to Mali Rising's generous donors.
