Support Literacy Workshops

“Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope…Especially for girls and women, it is an agent of family health and nutrition.”

- Kofi Annan

Literacy Workshops

We work with our 12 partner schools to host literacy workshops that provide increased education in the native language of Bambara. In 2018, enrollment expanded to not only include adults, but also individuals ages 12 and older. This accommodation allows more youth and young mothers to benefit from formal education opportunities.

Ouelessebougou Alliance provides teacher training, supplies, and a stipend for each literacy teacher. The village takes responsibility for the management of classes and school facilities, and the teachers instruct students on basic reading, writing and mathematics skills in Bambara. This is what makes our program a partnership between us and the villages we work in.

The majority of our Literacy Workshop attendees are teenage girls, young mothers, and women. We are proud of the progress our villages have made over the years to increase the number of literate women in their communities. Literacy is key to escaping poverty by improving their economic opportunities and empowering individuals to make healthier decisions.

Since the 1990’s, over 5,000 women and men have benefitted from our literacy programs throughout the region of Ouelessebougou.

Impact

Why are Literacy Workshops important in Mali?

In 2020, the Mali literacy rate of individuals ages 15 and older was about 31%.

Over half of Mali’s young people age 15 – 24 are not literate. Although literacy has improved since we started our education programs in 1993, too many villagers in rural Ouelessebougou do not continue their education past the 5th grade. Household poverty, child marriage or labor, and a lack of access to formal education are all factors driving the high drop out and out-of-school rate.

We provide literacy courses for over 300 individuals ages 12 and older, the majority who are young mothers and women.

  • Oumou Samake

    Oumou Samake

    Oumou Samake lives in the Village of Fadiobougou and is the class one adult literacy teacher. After moving to Fadiobougou 20 years ago with her husband, she began taking literacy classes through Ouelessebougou alliance. She worked hard to master reading and writing. These skills presented her with the opportunity to become the adult literacy teacher herself. Now, she has been teaching the Ouelessebougou Alliance literacy classes for the past 10 years.

    Oumou is so grateful for the opportunity to read and write. In the past, she couldn’t understand when the doctor would hand her the written prescription with medicine or salve to apply for herself or her children. Now she is able to read directions on prescriptions for her and her family. Literacy classes are helping to build the future of Mali and Oumou wants to do everything she can to be a part of the movement.