A few weeks back, we launched our Back-to-School Safe Campaign for our kids in Mali. With your help, we will raise $3,000 to provide the tools and training our kids and teachers need to stay safe in Mali, where online learning just is not an option. We are 20% of the way to our goal but there’s still a long way to go! We are grateful to everyone who has donated so far, and hope more of you will be able to get involved. We know times are tough for many of us, but for those who can give you can really make a difference for some great kids with as little as $25.
Celebrating A Pending Wedding in Mali
Prevention is Better Than a Cure
Mali Kids Go Door-to-Door Too, But Not for Halloween!
Tradition means a lot to the Malian people! We deeply love our traditions, and many things are passed on from generation to generation such as long greetings, handshakes, and blessings. One of these traditional things that children learn very early is giving and receiving blessings during two annual feasts, Tabaski and Ramadan. Tabaski was just celebrated a the end of July, and even in the time of COVID-19, our traditions continued.
Are You A Curious High School Student Looking to Make a Difference?
A Coup in Mali and What it Means for Students
You may have heard some concerning news out of Mali this week. Earlier in the week, Mali’s military took the nation’s President and other officials into custody. Within hours, the President resigned and turned power over to the military. The situation is still evolving rapidly, with players from around the region and world weighing in on Mali’s future. Military leaders have vowed to hold new elections soon.
Be Part of Our Back-to-School Safe Campaign
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?
Inspiration Scholarships Changing Lives
Students who receive Mali Rising Inspiration Scholarships tell many stories about the impact on their lives. From 2016 until today, more than 50 girls and boys have been able to study thanks to these scholarships.
After 9th grade in Mali, the government chooses the course of study for most students, including our graduates. However, the government does not ever direct any student with to a health school such as a nursing program directly after 9th grade, although these schools privately admit students at this level. According to our students who study in the field of health, only students sponsored by Mali Rising’s Inspiration Scholarships have the chance to continue their studies in health after graduating middle school.
Making the Best of Working for our Students From Home
Can $10 Change The World? Why Yes!
By Hindaty Traore, Girls Project Coordinator
Enriette’s life was changed through a $10 donation…that’s all it takes for a girls’ school fees!
The Girls' Project has been a huge help for girls in the eight villages where we currently run the project. This is the story of one of our girls at Frances W. Burton Middle School in the village of Tamala — Enriette Coulibaly.
Enriette is 16 years old and was in the 9th grade this last school year. She is fatherless and lived with her mother, in a village with no middle school. Enriette’s village was a 6 kilometre walk away from our school in Tamala. Her mother couldn't afford a bicycle for Enriette to travel to Tamala's middle school.
So, her mother sent Enriette to a friend of her late husband's in Tamala. Her father's friend paid Enriette’s school fees for two years because her mother could not afford it. But last year the man told Enriette to look for someone to pay for her studies because he too could no longer pay both her school fees and those of his own children.
Enriette had no choice but to quit school to come and go work as a servant in Bamako. But when Mali Rising’s Girls Project announced that we would pay the expenses of all the girls in the middle school — with help from our generous 50 Women Campaign donors — she decided to stay in school. At first, Enriette didn’t believe it was really true that her fees would be paid because this was the year that the project started in Tamala. Last fall when we paid the first installment of her school fees Enriette realized that it was really true and she was reassured.
Now Enriette plans to pass her graduation exam and show that the support really was worth it! Enriette is a wonderful example of how the very modest investment of $10 for a girl’s school fees can change a life, forever!
