Imagine having your child's promising future vanish by the time she reaches her tenth birthday. In the African country of Mali, that's the situation faced by many children like Mariama Tangara. Fortunately, World Vision is helping to change that.
Ten-year-old Mariama is an eager student who has been given a second chance. She has learned to read and write and gained valuable math skills at her school in the village of Dacoumana in southeastern Mali. Mariama's education, and that of the 32 other students in her class, might never have happened had it not been for this alternative education program sponsored by World Vision.
In Mali, thousands of school-aged children are denied their right to education. Several factors combine to make an education inaccessible for these children, including:
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an underfunded education system;
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a limited number of school buildings;
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a system in which children can register for school only when they are seven or eight years old; and
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a number of schools which only accept new enrolments once every two years.
"If a child is not registered in school by age eight, there is almost no opportunity for that child to go to school again," explains Rokiatou Dembélé, the World Vision staff member in charge of literacy programs in the Bani Valley region of Mali.
Alternative Education
To meet the needs of hundreds of children like Mariama, who don't have access to formal education, World Vision partners with local communities to develop literacy centres.
At these alternative education centres, children learn basic literacy and math skills. In some cases, children from the centres can get caught up enough to join regular schools and further their education.
In addition to helping children, the centres provide basic reading and writing skills to women. Mariama's mother, Ami, learned to read and write at the same school Mariama attends.
"If you can't read or write, you are in complete darkness," Ami says. "The centre provided a light for me."
How World Vision Is Helping
Last year, World Vision constructed 29 literacy centres and 59 school classrooms in Mali. In total, nearly 7,500 people in Mali benefited from World Vision's literacy programs.
Mariama's father, Moussa, is proud of his daughter's achievements. He says the literacy centre "has given our daughter a better chance at her future."
