With so much bad news coming out of Mali these days, I thought it would be helpful to explore some brighter spots of news, history, and more from Mali. This is an eclectic tasting platter of some things I hope will take you beyond the depressing headlines to learn just a little more about a beautiful place and people. So for a little Friday fun, check out this small collection of videos…
Debating a New Education Policy: No Cheating
Child Begging: A Real Problem in Mali
By Adama Kone, Teacher Project Coordinator
Some people think the kids in big cities have an easier time that kids in our small partner villages, but that is not always the case. Take begging for example. Begging is one of the hardest things that authorities have been trying to address in Mali. Beggars in Mali are usually kids although now we see all ages involved.
Still, most beggars are young children and it is a risky business. The most common beggars are sets off twins because many people think that it is culturally right to turn your children into beggars if they are twins. Kids are sent out on busy roads to beg, risking accidents in the road or danger from strangers. Sometimes people even make their children look like twins and send them out begging!
Unfortunately, begging has recently taken on dramatic proportions to the point of becoming a real problem Malian society. This practice is well known because it happens in every single busy roads in Mali.
In my own neighborhood, I know Fousseyni and Awa who are 8-year-old twins. They spend every day begging in front of a mosque with their mother. The twins also walk long distances every day in order to beg in other neighborhoods. The twins told me that on their walks they meet students of their age who are attending school. Fousseyni said these kids seem so cheerful and carefree to him.
Their mother dropped her twins out of school so they could beg full-time. If they were enrolled, they would have been in 3rd grade. She explained to me that she did not have the correct paperwork to send the twins to school and their father did not support this in any case.
A band of young boys waits by the road to beg in Adama’s neighborhood.
In the long run, some children who grow up begging turn to crime because they grow out of the age to beg but have no education or skills for fall back on. That is the reason the government has been trying hard to stop the practice with no success. In fact, some times child beggars can make other kids drop out of school too by going out with them on streets and showing them how to make quick money begging rather than working in school.
I share this sad story to illustrate just one of the many pressures on young people in Mali to drop out of school and earn a living to help their family. This is part of what inspires me to do the work I do – when I see how hard kids have to strive to get an education, I want to do anything I can to help them.
Announcing Our New Podcast!
Welcoming Andrea Lewis to our Board
Volunteers make an organization like Mali Rising work, and no volunteers are more vital that the board of directors. In March, a new board member joined Mali Rising — Andrea Lewis. Andrea jumped in to our work feet first, and we are incredibly excited to have us join us. As a long-timer producer at CNN, Andrea brings a great background in communications and story-telling to Mali Rising. I asked her to share her responses to a few questions to help our supporters get to know her as she takes on leadership at Mali Rising…
Textbooks: Tools We Take for Granted
As one of my former professors —Pr Ibrahim Sagayar — said: “A teacher or a student without a textbook is like a soldier on the battlefield without a weapon”. Yet all too often in Mali, teachers and students are not armed with textbooks. I recently discussed this problem with two of our partner principals — the principal of Sue Chung Chiu Middle School of Simidji, Mr. Essai Mikoro and the principal of Little Heroes Academy I Middle School of Mana, Mlle. Djenebou Niama Coulibaly.
The News From Mali
History & Culture of One Mali Ethnic Group: the Soninké
In Mali, your ethnic group is a point of pride and connection. In our schools, we see students from a wide range of ethnic groups learning side-by-side – embracing their own history and culture while also enjoying the diversity of Mali. Today, I want to share the history of my ethnic group and a little of its culture, because I come from a very large Soninké family from Mali in the Kayes region.
Gratitude Is the Best Feeling
By Merritt Frey, Executive Director
Here in the United States, those who celebrate Thanksgiving are hopefully taking time out from turkey and football to contemplate gratitude. Here at Mali Rising, we are reminded nearly every day of how much we have to be grateful for and how that spirit can move around the world. Here are just a few of the reasons we are filled with thanks:
We are grateful for our donors, who make all of the work we do possible. We are particularly grateful for their generosity during our recent Gift of Education Giving Challenge, which will allow our schools to thrive this school year.
We are thankful for our volunteers, who help us do a lot with a little! Without the help of volunteers, or tiny staff could never tackle the important projects that help our students learn and feel supported.
We are full of respect for our teachers and principal, who work so hard to turn a building into a real school. They make the investments from our donors and volunteers turn into a real education.
We are grateful for our staff in Mali, who brave rough roads on a motorcycle and dusty meetings under mango trees to make sure our kids have what they need to learn.
We send our admiration to our students’ parents, who often have to decide between having some much needed help in the fields to bring in the crops or sending their child to school, and so often find a way to get their child to school.
And we send our largest appreciation to our students, who do the hard work in their classrooms everyday of turning a simple building and some textbooks into a better future for themselves and for all of us around the world.
We are so grateful that we can all come together — from a donor in Canada to a volunteer in the U.S. to a student in Mali — to build a better future for all of us. Thank you for all you do!
