by: Clare Sweeney
Help us reach $5,000 to build a kindergarten on Mali Island.
The Mali District School is in need of a new kindergarten building for children ages 3-5. The current building used for kindergarteners is not structurally sound and is at a high risk of collapsing at any time. The school serves three remote villages with approximately 60 children enrolled, ranging from K-8. Villagers live a sustenance based lifestyle, fishing and growing their food. The primary source of income is fishing, but this way of life is no longer sustainable, due to issues like poaching, over fishing, and changes in the climate. For this reason, education for their children is of utmost importance to the families in Mali.
This fundraising initiative is extra special because, like our mission states, BTG is a partner with the Mali tribe, so we are working side-by-side with the tribe members to make a safe school building a reality for the Mali children. Members of the Mali tribe are already fundraising for this project and they will be responsible for contributing the sweat equity of constructing the building. Your contributions are not a handout, but rather will be used to empower and involve local peoples in improving the conditions of the school for young children.
If these funds are not raised and a new kindergarten building is not built, more and more families will be forced to move away from the island to the mainland, where the cost of living is high and jobs are limited. The Mali tribe would prefer to provide quality and safe education for their children on their native land. The tangible outcomes of this project are an increased standard of education, lower cost of living for Mali families, investment into the community and the futures of Mali children, and overall safer learning conditions for Mali children.
Take it from a teacher.
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