How We Work to Remove Barriers of Education – Volume 1, Episode 6: Caravan to Class
The newest episode is now available where we dig deeper into the impact we have been able to make through our grant award program. This episode brings to light the immense need to help uplift girls and women through education in Timbuktu, Mali. In 2015, the Circle of Sisterhood funded a $5,000 grant award to help launch a Female Adult Literacy and Empowerment Program, and then in 2019, another $5,000 grant award was awarded to help refurbish a school, build latrines, and provide essential operational support. Tune in to learn more and subscribe now!
About Caravan to Class
The mission of Caravan to Class (CTC) is to bring literacy to children in villages around the fabled and historic city of Timbuktu, Mali. CTC approaches its work holistically, targeting communities that have lacked any formal education, building schools and supporting their operations for three years to ensure their sustainability. CTC cannot reach its long-term goal unless the mothers of the children that attend its schools prioritize the importance of education. Parental – and especially maternal – literacy has a significant impact on the literacy acquisition of children, and a primary issue in these communities is that women have no formal schooling, with literacy rates close to zero and a culture that does not prioritize education. Our $5,000 grant in 2015 funded the launch of a Female Adult Literacy and Empowerment Program for 200 women. Through building a school in a village and supporting its operations, getting the community involved in a holistic way and providing specific literacy skills to mothers, CTC creates sustainable long-term change in the prioritization of education in the villages it serves.
In 2019, Caravan to Class was awarded $5,000 to rehabilitate a school in Bokoi-Koiria, build latrines and provide essential operational support. The degradation of the building and a lack of latrines are large barriers to open access to school, particularly for girls. CTC’s operational support will include funding two additional teachers’ salaries and providing basic nutrition, school supplies and school uniforms. The grant will also fund a Female Adult Literacy program in Bokoi-Koiria to teach basic literacy to 20 mothers so they can not only know the joys of literacy themselves, but be strong advocates for their girls’ education.
Read more about this wonderful organization on our blog.