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Great Girls Read Gives a Huge Lift

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In Mali, all too often we find that students who diligently attend school still cannot read. Based on my own personal observations, I would estimate that around 80% of middle school students are not able to read a sentence correctly in French and 85% of elementary students are not able read aloud a simple sentence like “My school is pretty.”

Through the Girls’ Project’s Great Girls Read campaign, I am focused on changing this dynamic for our girls. I am particularly passionate about focusing on reading with our elementary school girls, because if they can learn reading young it will set them way ahead in middle school!

One Teacher Finds a Secret

This month, we wrapped up our Intensive Teacher Trainings for the school year. These sessions allow us to provide about half of our teachers with two, tailor-made trainings over the year, along with 3 Teacher Peer Meetings. At our last meeting, I spoke with Amadou Doro, a math teacher, about the biggest new ideas he took away from his time in our Intensive Teacher Trainings. Here’s what he had to say…

Explore the Four Ms of Mali

These days, when we hear about Mali in the news it tends to be a bit of a downer. We read about jihadist attacks or military coups, or perhaps a sad story about someone who has been displaced and is deeply struggling to get by. These stories are true, but it is important to remember that Mali is still a place of culture, beauty, and good people. If you need a quick hit of that more positive angle, explore Discover Malian Culture: The 4 Marvelous Ms by Google.

Boys Speak Out for Girls

Girls’ education is a challenging subject everywhere in Mali. But it is especially problematic in rural areas, like those where our schools are located. Many parents in Mali do not think that a girl’s education is as valuable as a boy’s. Parents’ attitudes towards girls’ education are also passed down to their sons. As a step toward breaking that cycle, we host discussions with boys at our schools about girls’ education as a human right and as an issue that improves everyone’s future — boys, girls, families, and communities.

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Mother Teaching Assistants Make a Difference

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Sue Taylor Middle School in the remote village of Diorila has long had a problem – too few teachers for the number of students. Imagine a school with 90 middle school students, and one teacher! Mali Rising Foundation decided we needed to work with the village to address this problem.

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Chatting Around a Dish With the Girls' Project Girls

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As part of the Girls’ Project work, each spring we organize a session on eating and cooking healthy, local foods. This session includes preparation of a group meal with the girls. But the session is not only about food – cooking and eating together gives us a great, informal way to talk and share. While we wait for the meal to cook, we share stories around the table. Each girl tells a story that marked her, and shares her dreams and her goals. This is a very important activity that allows girls to confide and share their experiences.

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Discussing Gender Violence: Boys & Girls

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As we work to help girls succeed in school, we know a good relationship between girls and boys is very important for the success of girls. In Mali, school-based violence is a large-scale problem with harmful consequences for girls, but also for society as a whole. The violence suffered by girls affects their learning, their physical and mental health, their personality and their future. That’s why February’s theme for the Girls’ Project meetings was Stopping School-based Violence.

Why Chalkboard Art Matters

As we start to get closer to the end of the school year, I’ve been talking with our teachers about the Chalkboard Art Contest. This is a chance for teachers to show off how they use the primary teaching tool in a Mali classroom — the chalkboard. Our teachers create beautiful maps, diagrams, and more to help students learn. I asked one of our teachers, Mr. Mariko, to share his thoughts on the contest and the value of chalkboard art.

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