I have been doing a lot of thinking about what we have accomplished in the project this year and all that we hope to do in the year to come, but those thoughts are not yet quite formulated enough for the blog...stay tuned.
The best news at the library this week is that we are finally on the electric grid! This is especially fantastic given that our first donated computers are arriving next week.
The library itself was quiet this week with the kids on break, but we still saw at least 10 students a day coming in to read and draw. We are starting to see kids from more and more schools, including a whole table of boys who came in this week from one of the local Koranic schools. They sing when reading out loud, a skill they learn while memorizing the Koran, which sounds really cool even if it does not improve their reading comprehension.
We tried to take advantage of the quiet week to do some administrative tasks, but ran up against some of the complexities of dealing with various layers of the Malian bureaucracy. We try to deal with the ensuing frustration with patience, and by chalking it up to a learning experience. The next time we need to get something out of customs without paying exorbitant fees we will be ready.
Finally, just to remind you we work with real children and young people who face complex challenges, yesterday we received food at the library because one of our 9th grade students was getting married. We have many students in the 9th grade who are 18 or older, but this girl is not one of them. Education is a tool that can help Malian girls achieve greater equality in their relationships and more control over their lives and those of their future children. We hope that this marriage will not put a halt to our student's education, but the outlook is not good.
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