Strong. Motivated. Empowering. These are just a few of the words that come to mind when we think of Hindaty Traore, our Girls Project Coordinator. Hindaty first joined our team as a volunteer intern, where her passion and drive was clearly evident in the work she did. After almost two years, she was hired as a staff member and since then, continues to dedicate herself to the Girls Project.
Looking Back & Looking Forward at Our Oldest School
Welcome to the village of N’Tentou, where Jackie Trujillo Middle School was opened in 2006. This school was Mali Rising Foundation’s very first school, so its construction was ground-breaking – both literally and figuratively. This summer we've been doing some improvements at the school, and looking back at the history of the school and the village.
Great People, Great Food, Great Cause: Celebrate at Soiree 2017
Drum Roll Please: 2018 Essay Contest Theme!
We at Mali Rising want to encourage young people in the United States to think critically yet compassionately about international development issues. The Make the Case for Caring Essay Contest is an annual forum for thoughtful high school thinkers to share their analysis on a different international development topic each year. Today we announce the contest theme for 2018...
Book Review: The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu
Since joining Mali Rising's staff, I've tried to read as many books written by Malians and/or about Mali as I can. Frankly, one doesn't find scads of them here in the U.S. But I'd been hearing about The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu for a while, and was excited to see a pretty main-stream book that was set in Mali getting some attention.
Bringing Education & Hope to Sebela's Kids
A Little Friday Fun With Food
I do love food, and I love cooking, and I really love dinner parties. So a few years back when I started this job one of the first things I did was invite a big group of friends over for a Mali feast. In this blog post, I'll share my recipes, but also some great food resources from around the web...
The Results Are In...
Partnering With Our Teachers To Improve Skills
Over the last several years, we've begun investing in our teachers. Why, you ask? Well, fundamentally teachers are what make a school a school...rather than a pole barn filled with screaming teenagers. A more nuanced answer though is that we had seen how little training and support were offered to our teachers, and how isolated they were in our small villages. One way we are supporting our teachers is through an annual 5-day professional training. But how do we know if that training is actually helping our teachers and hence our students?
Our Girls Rock! Evaluating the First Year of Our Girls Project
During the 16/17 school year, we launched our pilot Girls Project in three of our partner villages: Beneko, Simidji, and Kolimba. Our pilot goals are: to improve recruitment of girls to middle school, to retain more girls in school throughout middle school, and to make sure the girls see real results in terms of school success and life skills. We are delighted to share some great news from the Project's first year...
