By Hindaty Traore, Girls Project Coordinator
As we shared on the blog last month, this year we are training six Girl Leaders to take over the Girls Project in our original three pilot villages. We hope this will make the project more sustainable and encourage local leadership. The Girl Leaders had their first trainings in October, and then all went to meet the Girls Groups they will lead this year in their villages.
What follows is an account of one of our Girl Leaders, Bahiya Koné. Bahiya discusses her training and her first meeting with the girls of Beneko. Bahiya herself participated in the Girls Project when she was in grade 9 at Beneko, so she was a perfect candidate for a Girl Leader!
From Bahiya:
“My name is Bahiya Koné, I'm 21 years old. I study accounting at Baya Diakité center of Senou. I'm doing the second year this year. I chose accounting in order to be a very good accountant at the service of my country. This will allow me to know the amount of entry and exit of the country's money. I like doing this work to fight corruption in Mali because there are people who steal a lot, especially some government ministers. Corruption delays the advancement of a country. By doing this function, I could help my parents and my village with money management.
I am married. Although I'm married, that did not stop or discourage me from continuing my studies because I want to succeed one day. Marriage is not an obstacle to study. It is only necessary to be in agreement with your husband.
I did my first cycle and part of the second cycle in Cameroon. I even had the BPC which is the equivalent of the DEF [the national graduation exam in Mali]. My father sent me here to Mali to be with my grandmother. I wanted to enroll in a high school in Mali but unfortunately I did not have a certificate of the BPC because in Cameroon they do not deliver a diploma. So I had this problem that prevented me from going to high school.
The principal of Beneko wanted me to run as a free candidate for the national graduation exam in Mali, but I knew that if I did it as a free candidate my parents would not be able to pay for my studies later. I omitted an entire year like that. It was when I was fed up and started to get discouraged that Girl Project came to Beneko. It helped me a lot. I followed all the meetings and activities of the project but I would never have imagined that I could or would do this work one day.
After the first training session for the Girl Leaders, I went to Beneko for my first meeting with the Girl Group. It was the first time I was in front of so many people to talk mostly with girls just like me. It was really great. More than 80 girls were present only to listen to me. I taught the lesson and they asked me questions. It's as if I dreamed I could not believe it because it was so beautiful.
This first training allowed me to build my self-confidence, overcome fear in myself, develop leadership skills, and many other things I do not know. It will also help me to help my young sisters continue school and together we will build our village. I hope that our sisters study well to become like us or even better than us because the development of our village depends on it. If all Beneko girls are educated, they and the entire population will benefit.
I thank you for everything.”
