Here is another of the enterprises the blind students help with at the Bamako Blind School. They weave mop towels used for cleaning. Sadly, today no one was working today–partly because they were away and we’re at the end of the school year right now, and partly because there is not enough money to pay them.
The students spin the cotton into thread, then use it to weave the towels. This is the spinning room.
There are 4 rooms for the spinning and weaving, but 2 are closed now because of the funding problems.
Educate the blind to live independently.
Here are some of the weaving machines. There were several in each room.
There is one more enterprise they didn’t show us today. They also have students making bench desks for classrooms. Oh, wouldn’t it be wonderful if every student had a job and could earn their keep. I love the things we saw and learned here today. These are good people helping good people. My heart goes out to them. I hope we will be able to help in some way in the future.
I found this chalk-making enterprise at the Blind School fascinating. I’ve never seen chalk made before. There are blind students who work here. Some are former students. They are hired to work and the boxes of chalk sticks are sold to government schools. The workers here make about 600 boxes of chalk a day.
This is the machine with the molds for making the chalk:
The chalk is made out of Plaster of Paris mixed with water.
The chalk is put on these trays then spread out in another room to dry.
In this room, the students count and box up the chalk. Fascinating process!
I will never forget what we saw today as we visited the Blind School in Bamako. It was an island of hope, but also a campus with great needs. Our purpose in going was to determine if this might be a place for a future LDS Charities proposal and project. We wish we had time to see a project all the way through here. Today we just gathered information and assessed the needs.
Our friend, Francois joined us as we toured the school.
We met first with the director, Hadji Barry and his administrators, to learn about the school. In 1973 the school began with 6 students. Today there are about 260 blind students here and 2 other campuses with 20 students each in other cities.
Since 2017, with the help of USAID, the classrooms have been integrated in every grade with seeing students studying alongside blind students. This helps with their integration into society after graduation.
We spent the morning touring the campus. I will show you what we saw.
Here is the mosque for the students with a place to wash before entering.
There is a Primary school building and a Secondary school building. The Primary school has 133 students and Secondary has 63 who are blind. There are 252 total in Primary (which includes the kids who can see) and at least double the number in the Secondary. The high school had 80 blind, 265 seeing = 345 total students.
The blind students pay 30,000 for a year’s tuition ($55). If they can’t pay, they aren’t turned away. The seeing kids pay 90,000 and live at home. The blind students eat and sleep at the school.
It was amazing to watch these students of all ages learning to read Braille.
Here we met with the Secondary School teachers and they explained to us more about their work to integrate the students.
Here is a sports field for the students.
These are some of the Secondary Class students. Many can see and they help those who are blind. The teachers were proud to report that the top students in the classes are usually blind.
Ramps have been installed for most of the classrooms to make it safer for the students to navigate.
There were also adults here learning Braille.
Here’s a row of bathrooms. None of the toilets work. Someone installed sit down toilets and tanks. That plumbing is always a problem here.
Here are the sinks and showers behind the toilets. These are used.
You can see the terrain is always tricky here. Nothing is smooth or flat. There are rocks and now puddles everywhere. Some ramps and some cement walkways have been added to make navigating a bit easier. It’s still not easy.
We visited the girls’ dorm where 75 girls sleep on 38 beds. It was heartbreaking to see the conditions here. The roof is bad and the ceiling was leaking all over the place. The mattresses were horrible. Many girls sleep on the floor because there aren’t enough beds.
Because so much water leaks in from the roof, everything was wet, including the bedding and all of their clothing. There are no wardrobes or closets or places for the girls to keep their belongings safe or dry.
Outside the dorm, clothing was hanging dry.
Here is the bathroom for the girls’ dorm (there is one toilet inside for night use only).
This is the boy’s dormitory. Here there are 112 boys sleeping in 58 beds.
The ceiling here was dry, thank goodness, but the need for beds and mattresses was just as great.
Between the dorms is an open area where the students can relax and socialize.
The older classroom buildings are no longer used.
The pavilion at the far end of the campus is used for play and games.
These boys were playing a type of soccer (by sound). One of the boys has partial sight (glaucoma). He can see some in daylight and nothing in the dark.
Next we visited the cafeteria and met the kind volunteers who help prepare the food.
This woman was cleaning the rice and removing the dirt and sticks.
The kitchen area:
The cafeteria was inside. The roof here was also leaking everywhere. The whole room was wet.
Lunch was ready to serve.
Here are the bowls and cups used for every meal.
There was a kitchen next to the cafeteria, but nothing in it worked. No water and no stove and you can see the ceiling is also in trouble. All the cooking was done outside.
Here is the health clinic. Someone is on duty here all day. This lovely matron told me the most common problems see sees are foot and leg injuries (from falling down or bumping into things) and malaria.
These are her medical supplies.
And this is the treatment room.
Here is the beautiful school garden.
Next we went into the High School campus. Here there are 80 blind students and 265 seeing students = 345 total in grades 10-12.
This is the good principal.
It was rather thrilling to see these students learning. It’s hard to imagine what they’ve overcome in their lives to be here doing this.
After visiting all of these places, we got to meet the man who works in an office creating the Braille materials. USAID provided modern transcription technology that enables the computer software to transcribe text to braille and print it. He showed us how it’s done by typing words into a computer.
I wonder if this is the old technology!
Next we visited the building where the students are paid to work by making chalk, mop towels and bench desks which are sold to help support themselves and the school.
You’ll have to visit the next post to see those very interesting enterprises!
We were happy to have another contract signed today for the Ngaele School project. Today we met with Toure, who will be working on the school garden part of the project. There will also be a water project and new school latrines installed.
Then John met with Ibrahima, our Elders Quorum President. They are working on the ministering assignments. Bit by bit, piece by piece, things are coming together here. It feels good.
Our visit today to Diatoula was to gather more information and to show another contractor on the school project as we gather bids. We are hoping to get this project underway before we leave.
Here is our good church member, Julien Kieta in his 5th grade classroom.
While the men and contractors studied the structures at the school, I took a wander in the village. Here are a few photos of things I saw there.
I stood for some time watching this grandma navigate her way home with a load of firewood on her head, followed by a granddaughter. This woman is probably about my age. Oh, the stories she might tell!
Chicken coops:
This is how latrines empty–out a hole in the back.
A child’s hand with henna:
A room full of onions:
Firewood and a well.
A radio played music in this compound. Not sure what it was plugged into. Maybe a battery.
Here was a little shop in the village behind the market place.
I also took a walk out into the bush. I’ve never seen it so green here. The undergrowth is thick. The ground was wet. I enjoyed the sounds of the bugs and cicadas and the majesty of these grand trees.
My good friend, Djiba sent me these photos this week of the refugee camp just outside of Ouelessebougou where we’ve partnered with LDS Charities to drill 3 wells, one on each side of the camp (a few miles apart) and one in the host village where the refugees (internally displaced persons) were welcomed.
What a thrill it is to see these children pumping clean safe water! And what a blessing this will be for so many families. I am so grateful to be associated with people who care and people who help. This is the most beautiful thing ever.
This morning we had another COVID test, to prepare for our trip to Accra in a few days. Our friend, Sidibe, who works with the Ministry of Health helps us with our tests every time we travel. He has also helped to connect us to others in the ministry. We are working on finding a way for LDS Charities to help with the Malian programs for helping with COVID here. Today’s meeting was excellent.
Mali has a plan with 4 strategies: Prevention, Surveillance, Diagnostics and Communications. The Church is always interesting in helping, especially with these national priorities and programs.
Covid in Mali is still a bit of a mystery. Some wear masks. Most don’t. Some vaccinations are becoming available, but most people aren’t interested. There seems to be a feeling that Mali (and much of West Africa) simply has not been affected by Covid. Having had Covid here, John and I know the virus can and will find you, even if you are very careful.
So far, there have only been 14,428 Covid cases reported in Mali, with 525 deaths. Those numbers are low. Surely many go unrecorded (like ours) and many people simply aren’t tested. We really have no idea how bad it is here. We worry that if it gets worse, it could be really bad, like in other parts of the world with similar living conditions.
Here are a few random photos from today’s drive across a very busy Bamako. The rains last night filled the streets with water. It’s a little tricky for all of the outdoor vendors, like these furniture stores:
The gutters, ditches and drains were full and overflowing after just one night of rain. What will happen during the raining season when it rains every day??
A shoe store:
Most of the vendors simply cover their shops (or carts) with tarp when it rains.
Grinding machines for sale:
Garbage dumpsters:
Banana vendors on a street where the traffic is too busy to stop.
Nice paint job:
This afternoon we stopped by the church where Sis Kariadiatou had her baptismal interview. We are so happy and excited for her!
We spent our afternoon in Diatoula visiting the school there. We have about 22 members of the church living in this village, about a 45 minute walk on donkey cart paths from the chicken farm in Mountougoula.
The school in Diatoula serves 460 children in both primary and secondary grades. There are 3 classroom buildings. We came today to see the condition of the school and of those classroom buildings, to see if we might prepare a proposal to LDS Charities to give some aid to help.
It was a beautiful day after some rain in the night. The roads were terrible, but the sky was incredible. After turning off the main paved road, we traveled for about an hour on roads that were a bit challenging. At times we had to drive into fields to avoid the water.
Pres Sekou came with us. When we finally arrived in Diatoula, we were greeted by Julien Keita, one of our faithful members there. He’s a teacher at this school. Quickly, others gathered including the assistant village chief, the Director of the school, some of the teachers, and lots of the delightful children.
The first building holds the 3 youngest grades. These mudbrick classrooms were built by the village in 2001. The building needs to be repaired or replaced (a huge job). We probably won’t have enough funding to do all that needs to be done here, but we’ll see what parts we can help with.
The floors are also in pretty bad shape.
The schools here use chalkboards, inside and out, for teaching and learning.
The second primary building had 4th, 5th and 6th grades. It was built in 2007. It’s also quite old, but made of cement block, so it’s holding up better, although there were cracks in some of the walls and leaks in the roof.
Next we were shown the school well and pump. It hasn’t been working for some time now, so there is no water on the school grounds for the children.
The Director showed us his office. He has a small room to keep the school supplies in.
These are the supplies for the primary school children in this school. That’s it. It’s amazing to see how well the teachers do with so little.
The younger children were out of school early today, but the last building with the older children was full of students.
This school for 460 students plus teachers has one latrine with 2 sides, one with a hole.
The toilet drains out a hole in the back. The solid waste goes down the hole.
These women were under a tree near the school yard shelling peanuts.
And drying corn.
The maternity clinic is near the school. I’ll write more about that in my next post. There is a working well and pump at the clinic. This is where the school children must go to get water.
There is also a well (uncovered) by the clinic.
A herd of cattle wandered by while we were near the school.
There was a lot to talk about here, at this school. You can tell the villagers take good care of the school grounds and they are proud of their children. I will post picture of these beautiful children next.
We had a good long discussion with these school and village leaders about the needs and the resources and how we can work together to help.
The assistant village chief:
This is Julien Keita and his daughter, Eva Marie, faithful church members.
I LOVE the village of Diatoula. We hope that in the future we will have another pair of missionaries to teach the people here. There is such a peaceful good feeling in this village, so far away. I am feeling sad that we won’t be here to see how things unfold as goodness spreads.
Stopping for bananas on the way back to Bamako:
Navigating the roads was a little tricky in places, but we made it through.
Meanwhile, today our Ouelessebougou Days for Girls team taught more girls about how to manage their feminine hygiene. Teningnini is our Enterprise leader and she does a fantastic job.
These girls are so beautiful. And their lives have just changed for the better!
Thanks to Djiba Soumaoro for sending these photos.
This is the Enterprise in Ouelessebougou where the ladies sew the kits.
Sometimes we’re called on to help provide some relief or aid to our members here. This week we did a bit of shopping with our Relief Society President to help some in need.
Staples here include rice, oil, tomato paste, dry milk, sugar and pasta.
These boys with their begging cans were waiting for us to come out of the store. They’re hungry too.
Another shop we visited in our neighborhood.
We also did some visiting this week in Bankoni. As MLS (Member Leader Support) missionaries, our main job is to work with the members and strengthen them in any way we can.
As we drive through neighborhoods and villages, I watch the world go by. It’s a tired, dirty world, that longs for relief, for aid, for opportunity. Oh, I wish we could do more.
There is also bounty here, the gift of fruit. A bright spot in a dusty world.
Our Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan East and Bamako, Mali Mission 