Here you will find an archive of each month of your Youth Ambassador year. Have something we should add? Let us know!
DECEMBER
Get Thinking Video:
This month’s video focused on options for Project 2.
Did You Know?
We have talked about some barriers to education in Mali, but I thought I’d share a few other worldwide barriers as food for thought as you talk with others about the Speech Up! prompt. Here are just a few to education barriers that harm learning even when kids can physically get to a school – 1) classroom materials are scarce or non-existent (for example, “In Cameroon, there are 11 primary school students for every reading textbook and 13 for every mathematics textbook in second grade.” (Global Citizen)) 2) teacher shortages in many countries (including Mali) mean schools either don’t have teachers or have untrained teachers (right now, two of our schools are without French teachers….pretty important!), 3) many children face serious hunger and nutrition issues, which limits their ability to concentrate & learn (our kids often don’t have breakfast before school and may wait until nighttime for the evening meal), and 4) many schools do not have basic services like water or latrines – for example, in Chad only 1 in 4 schools have a toilet (Global Citizen). (Don’t worry, we make sure our schools have plenty of toilets!!)
How Would You Feel?
Happy last day of 2020! Here's your December how would you feel, looking forward to your responses.
As we discussed during our call with Adama last week, students in Mali experience less than ideal circumstances including over crowded classrooms, limited resources and long walks to and from school. They are also required to pass the National DEF exam in order to advance from middle school to high school. How would you feel if you were a student in Mali facing this situation? Would you feel panicked and anxious or would you feel motivated by the challenge? And contemplating the outcome - if you passed the exam, what effect might that have on you as a student moving forward? If you were not successful, how would that effect you as a student repeating a year of middle school - would this be discouraging to you as a student or do you think it would motivate you?
Wishing you all a happy new year.
Other:
November
Get Thinking Video:
This month our Teacher Project Coordinator, Adama, talks about what it is like to be a middle school student in Mali. Watch this short video and see if it inspires more questions that you can ask Adama because he will be our guest speaker in December: https://youtu.be/adgVUNwluZQ
Did You Know?
Did you know that Mali only achieved independence from France in 1960? That isn’t so long ago! The US has been independent for 244 years…Mali for only 60. (The earlier Mali Empire was not the same as modern Mali.) The legacy of French colonialism lives on in small ways (many baguettes!) and large (French is still the official language of government, business, and education). The fallout from colonialism is deeply related to many of the problems Mali faces today, and creates challenges in everything from governing to education to the economy.
How Would You Feel?
Good morning! I hope you all had a fabulous thanksgiving break.
During our November video briefing, Adama shared a list of tools available to students in their classrooms in Mali which consisted of tables, chairs, rulers, compasses and a limited supply of books. How would you feel if you found yourself in this situation? How would your education experience be altered if you had to share a text book with a group of 10 (or more) students? Can you think of any positives that this scenario might afford?
After you have a few minutes to ponder this, Please share your thoughts here.
Thanks! Katie (A lively GroupMe discussion followed…)
Other Resources
PROJECT 1 DISCUSSION: On our November call, we discussed a plan to simplify our approach to Project. In a nutshell, please select at least 2 of the tactics from this list (or add your own and let us know) that you commit to do yourself. If you want to work with others, let us know which tactics you are tackling and we will put you in touch with other Ambassadors working on the same tactics. (Or just post to GroupMe to reach all Ambassadors!) Below are some resources you can use, or feel free to create you own:
Social media imagery we are using: example 1, example 2, example 3, example 4, example 5. Note: if you use these, be sure to add your own text to your post to draw attention and link to the contest: https://bit.ly/37MyY9M (this is the short-form link).
Of course, the Speech Up! webpage.
Tools for teachers (in case you are trying the tactic about getting a teacher to require the contest or offer extra credit)
Short report on progress due date: December 19. (Scroll down for form)
OPTIONAL GRATITUDE REFLECTION: Katie described your first, but optional, Reflection. In this Reflection, we ask you to make a short (1 to 2 minute) video of yourself sharing something or some things you are grateful for. We will share these with students in Mali and they will record reflections to share with you. Due date: November 25. Tools to help:
October
Get Thinking Videos:
Did You Know?
Mali Rising focuses on providing middle school education (7-9th grades) in rural, remote villages. In Mali, only 27% of kids will complete middle school – 23% of girls and 33% of boys. What does that mean? Of the 18 Youth Ambassadors this year, 13 of you would have had to drop out of school in middle school and so only 5 of you would have made it to high school. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Sustainable Development Goals (2018 numbers for Mali). Learn more at: http://data.uis.unesco.org/
How Would You Feel?
Merritt sent a “Did You Know” earlier this month which stated that, according to UNESCO, only 27% of students in Mali finish middle school. Applying this metric to our program, of the 17 youth ambassadors this year, 12 of you would not continue onto high school.With this in mind, we randomly selected 5 of you to represent the population of Youth Ambassadors who would continue onto high school given these stats. And the winners are……
Tenin
Kate Y
Katelyn
Sukie
Paul
This brings us to our first “How Would You Feel” of the year. To those of you who do not appear on the list, how would you feel knowing that your education stops with middle school? What opportunities would you likely have to forfeit due to the lack of education? What do you think your daily life might look like?
For those of you who do continue onto high school, how would you feel about the opportunities likely afforded to you with your higher level of education? How would you feel knowing 73% of your peers won’t have the same opportunities that you have? Would this have an effect on your efforts in school?
After you have had some time to think this over, please share your thoughts in this GroupMe text chain -- you can send a few sentences in a text, record a short video, make art...whatever you like!
