Want to help educate the children of Tongo-Tongo?

A month and a half ago, I was sitting in my courtyard in Douentza with the elementary school director from Tongo-Tongo. He had to come to town for some official business and just dropped by to say hi. Our conversation turned to the state of education in Mali, which is, in a word, dismal. Schools were only opened in every village as little as ten years ago. If I had been born in Mali, I would not have received even an elementary school education if my parents didn’t have the means to send me to a big town. Even now to get a school or any needed supplies, you have to make a demand to the government that will probably be turned down three, four, fives times, if it’s even accepted at all.

That’s how Tongo-Tongo got its elementary school. M. le Maire proposed the school and was turned down five times before the government agreed to build it. And now the school director has beseeched the government as well, this time for a solar panel, since the school has no electricity. Needless to say, he was turned down.

This got me thinking: if I could give the village this solar panel for their school as a final thank you for all they have done for me, that would not only show my appreciation but would also help their children succeed, the only way the village will begin to pull itself out of poverty. Rather than give a few people a watch or a small monetary donation, I think it would be much better to give a gift that can help the village as a whole, especially its children.

However, I can’t accomplish this on my own. From my research, it seems that a good solar panel (that can power not only lights but fans and TVs and other equipment) costs anywhere between 500-1000 US dollars. My budget is only about $200. I’m not normally one to do this, but I am looking to see if anyone would be able to make a donation to help me get this solar panel for Tongo-Tongo’s elementary school.

My goal is $1000, which will cover the cost of a good solar panel and the transportation costs (almost $200) to get it there. Solar panels are widely used in Mali, and with great success. There’s certainly no shortage of sun. Cloudy days usually only occur during the rainy season, and no classes meet then anyway so the kids can work the fields. Aside from the start-up capital needed to purchase the panel, there are no costs of running it afterward (assuming no major repairs are needed, and I’ve never heard of anything of the sort). They are readily available, even in Douentza, though I will make my purchase in Sevare, where there is a wider selection and lower prices.

So what will this do for the kids? Look at these pictures. The kids who aren’t immediately next to the windows are studying in terrible lighting. And in the evenings, the teachers are preparing by flashlight or lamplight in the dirt room next to mine. In April and May, still school months, temperatures are consistently above 100 degrees, and the students are sitting in a concrete room with 100 other kids. Even simple fans to move around the air, I have to believe that the children would learn better. Currently the school doesn’t even have an overhead projector because there’s no electricity. Their materials are limited to a blackboard and battery-operated radios.

Do these solar panels really have the power for more than lights? Well, I don’t have official statistics, but my co-worker Kirill lived and worked in a guest house in Songho, whose lights, electricity, fans, refrigerators, and air conditioning were all powered by solar energy. Solar panels could meet all of an elementary school’s needs.

This village has done so much for me, housing me for free, sharing their time and language with me, showing me nothing but kindness. Rather than leaving money or small individual gifts that are quickly unaccounted for or frittered away, I believe this solar panel has to potential to benefit the village in the long term. Even small contributions can help. So if you want to help out (and please don’t feel obligated to), let me know, and I’ll tell you what to do next. I’ll probably have my parents collect the funds and wire me the sum all at once.

If you have any suggestions or ideas, please let me know. I have next to no experience fund raising, and I don’t mean to turn my blog into a request for money, but I was really taken with this idea. Check out the photos of the village (I know the middle school looks even worse, but that is way out of my budget), send me ideas, and let me know if you’re willing to help. Thanks in advance!