Mali: Helping Girls Stay
in School
Before the Ambassadors' Girls'
Scholarship Program (AGSP),
11-year-old Badji Traoré was
following in the footsteps
of her older sister. Badji
explains, "My older
sister went to school through
sixth grade, but then dropped
out because she was not encouraged
by our parents." After
the fourth grade, Badji dropped
out of school because she
had too many responsibilities
at home which left her with
little time to study. She
would often help her mother
sell small condiments door-to-door
or at the market. Badji cooked
and did the laundry, which
sometimes meant she had to
go to the fields to look
for firewood. At the time
Badji only had two textbooks
at home math—reading
and math—which she
shared with her brother.
Living in a rural village
without electricity meant
that Badji had to go to a
friend's house to study because
her family only owned one
lamp for everyone's use.
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"I knew that as a beneficiary, I would receive all the materials necessary to improve my studying conditions," says Badji, an AGSP scholar.
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Today, Badji is in the sixth
grade at the Sidi Mahmoud
School in Timbuktu, Mali.
This is her second year as
an AGSP scholar. Badji's
school was one of 118 schools
in Mali selected by the community
to participate in the AGSP.
The program has provided
her with books, notebooks,
school uniforms, geometry
supplies, pens, a slate,
and a school bag. She also
participates in remedial
classes and study groups
designed specifically for
AGSP scholars. When asked
how she feels about the AGSP,
Badji says, "when I
learned that I was at a school
benefiting from the AGSP,
I was very happy. I knew
that as an AGSP scholar,
I would have all the materials
necessary to improve my study
conditions."
"It is because of the
scholarship that I was one
of the top three students
in my class both last year
and this year," Badji
says. At home, she now has
more time to study because
an AGSP partner NGO staff
member spoke to her mother
on the importance of balancing
chores and school work. Local
women who have completed
their schooling have also
visited Badji's school to
encourage the girls to study
and to stay in school. "Both
in school and at home, people
appreciate me because they
see the efforts I put into
school," Badji says. "I
will take the seventh grade
entrance exam at the end
of this school year. I will
do all I can to pass the
exam because staying in school
is my dream. When I grow
up, I want to become a doctor
so that I can save many people's
lives."
To date, over 14,000 scholarships
have been awarded to girls
throughout Northern Mali.
The Ambassadors' Girls' Scholarship
Program
Through schooling, children are equipped
with knowledge skills that improve
the quality of their lives. Skills
such as reading and working with
numbers, as well as accurate information
on health and science, provide opportunities
to students that would otherwise
not exist. Unfortunately, in many
African communities, access to primary
and secondary schools is restricted
for young girls due to social, cultural,
and financial constraints.
One component of the U.S. President's
African Education Initiative (AEI)
is the Ambassadors Girls Scholarship
Program (AGSP). Funded through the
U.S. Agency for International Development,
AGSP is being implemented throughout
sub-Saharan Africa from 2004 - 2008.
World Education manages the program
in 12 West African countries in collaboration
with local NGOs. The AEI-AGSP supports
80,000 girls across the continent
each year (30,000 in West Africa
alone) who are economically disadvantaged,
handicapped, orphaned and/or affected
or infected by HIV and AIDS each
year in the form of scholarships
and mentoring. Many of the beneficiaries
would otherwise be out of school
or are at risk of dropping out. The
girls are sponsored over a period
of 4-5 years, through mostly primary
and some junior secondary schooling.
In addition, each girl enrolled in
the scholarship program is mentored
and encouraged in her educational
pursuits while participating in activities
that will focus on HIV mitigation
and prevention, and community participation
and democracy.
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