Lamine

I talked to Ibrahima recently about Grace School. Although he is disappointed in the end of year test scores, there are still great things happening. The building project is moving along nicely now. Plenty of rain has made a tremendous difference.

As important as the new building is to all of us however, it is the students that matter most. I asked him to tell me about one student of which he is especially proud. He told me about Lamine Konate.

Lamine is one of the few that passed the 9^th grade DEF exam this year. This means he will be able to move right into high school in the fall. He is excited to study science there, as his dream is to be an engineer.

Like many rural children lucky enough to attend school, he and his brother, who will be in third grade at Grace in the fall, don’t live with their parents. In this case they live with an uncle in Koro.

Ibrahima says that Lamine is very hardworking and disciplined. He even volunteered to wash the Malian flag. The flag gets very dusty and dirty so he washes it every other week. This is something he chose to do of his own accord and shows the energy and enthusiasm that is frankly not that unusual at Grace.  All students there take pride in their school. On Fridays they clean and sweep the yard and the street. Every day after school the boys wash the chalkboards and the girls sweep the classrooms.

We at Grace Missions are so proud of Lamine and all of the other wonderful children at the school. We are excited about the upcoming school year.  Please keep the children, Ibrahima, Rachel and the teachers in your prayers. Also please consider a one time or recurring gift so that we can continue to grow the school. This is important work.

Peace,

Brandon

Face-to Face Visit with Ibrahima

In the blazing heat it is hard to stay up with hydration. In April it is 108 degrees every day; dry, dusty, smoky, very little wind. There has been no rain since last fall. When I see patients in Mali for constipation or dizziness or headache it is really about the water. Nobody drinks enough. It is mango season now. The big yellow fruit literally covers the huge trees. They provide needed vitamins and fluids for the dehydrated, malnourished poor. The children of Dagabo village this trip often had a mango in their right hand. But even with this God given manna it is well known that the rains are two months away. The parched land, the cachectic livestock, and the impoverished people are barely hanging on at this point. Hundreds of miles to the northeast of Ouelessebougou and Dagabo, in Ibrahima Kodio's town of Koro, it is even hotter and drier. This area in the Dogon receives even less rain and is right on the edge of the Sahara. The construction of the new Grace Private School building on the land we purchased last year has stalled out due to lack of water. A large amount of water is needed to make the bricks. Hundreds have been made but we need hundreds more. It is cost prohibitive to bring a truck full of water from the Niger so the builders are dependent on wells, which are either drying up or private and inaccessible. Ibrahima had a team dig down further on an existing well but no water was found. He currently has people looking more widely and is confident that we will eventually find enough to begin again. Despite these problems, the rains will come and he has faith that the school will be complete for the new classes in the fall. The land will contain three classrooms housing the seventh, eighth and ninth grades. There will be three simple, private pit toilets nearby- one each for boys, girls, and teachers. The existing crumbling small building on the land will be converted into modest administrative offices. First through fourth grades will remain in the rented building that is currently in use. Every year a new grade is added- this will be the first year to have fourth grade. There are currently 22 children in ninth grade. This is the biggest class and getting closer to the goal of 30. Ibrahima said that several students transferred in the fall just to take ninth grade at Grace, hoping that will be enough to be able to pass the national test to get into high school. He says that there is a definite difference between these students and the ones that have attended for three years but he and the teachers are doing their best to prepare them for the exam.  Overall the children are doing well. Thanks to many friends like you they have schoolbooks for the first time. Something that no other school in Koro has. They have very good teachers and daily Bible instruction. They have pride and hope for the future. On May 15th, the school will have a Student's Day celebration. This was held two years ago and was a great success. Ibrahima hopes to make it an annual event. The kids will feast and dance and sing. Each class will have a role and showcase their talents in some way. There will be awards and speeches and special guests. It is a great way to showcase the school and to instill school spirit and pride.  The ripple effect of this tiny school in a remote town in a desperately poor country that is not even on most Westerner's radar is immense. The administrators and teachers and builders and security guard and all of the others that receive an income from the school- the children receiving the education- their families who benefit from the child's education and their burgeoning faith and dreams- and the wider community that will ultimately benefit from these well educated, enthusiastic young people- so many people are affected by the smallest donation, the humblest prayer, the tiniest amount of attention.  Despite lack of safe water, plentiful food, adequate health care, personal privacy, or political stability, Malians are some of the kindest, gentlest, most grateful people on the planet. They share and assist each other in a way that our culture lost long ago or maybe never had. They make due with very little through reuse and recycling; nothing is wasted.  By donating to Grace School you can be assured that all of the money is being used in a remarkably frugal manner. Ibrahima keeps receipts and reports on purchases and expenses to the penny. Although communication remains difficult, internet service remains virtually nonexistent in Koro. Ibrahima and I had a great meeting last week in Mali. These face-to-face meetings are best. Additionally he is able to report in by phone on a monthly basis. We are in need of more people or churches willing to give on a monthly basis. The budget will have to grow as the school grows. $50 or $100 a month - even $25 a month - or a one-time donation- every bit helps. Please email us at gracemissionsinc@gmail.com for more info about Mali, Grace School, or to find out how you can help. The picture was taken at Clinique Paix in Ouelessebougou, Mali. From left to right: Jackson, our head pharmacy tech; Isaac, one of our long time translators, an English teacher in Bamako, and father to twin 3 year old girls and an infant son; me; and Ibrahima in his role as lead translator and local organizer of our medical mission. Peace, Brandon

February update

Greetings from Koro,

The first month of the year has been full of good things as well as challenges.

The parents meeting with the teachers went very well. The parents have been grateful for the textbooks their kids got from the school. We urged them to oversee the use of those textbooks by the kids at home.

Teachers have succeeded in the government test, indeed three of them are quitting us because of success on the government test to go into public teaching. Many teachers quit the private teaching because of the pressure to get a good result while at the public school there is not much requirement of efficiency and results. As we give continuous training to our teachers to be better teachers, it is understandable that they easily pass the comparative test; anyway we will continue to train our teachers for better work as long as they are with us. 

New teachers are getting enrolled. We thank God for the quality of teachers we are getting and we pray that they be able to face the challenges.

Recent events in the world and specially Boko Haram in Nigeria and the“Charlie event” in France have changed how the kids react to the world view education courses. We are grateful that the kids understand the principle of Devil influencing people to make bad decision and act badly.

In some villages around us, January and February are the months of Quran study when some kids leave the classic school to go and study the Quran. For sure they come back and are behind the other students as they stop coming for about two months. Moussa Barry one of our students has done this many times. We can still see how behind he is and how difficult to get things done at school as he frequently asks to go out from class for religious duty.

Moussa’s Dad is an Imam (Muslim version of Pastor) and a specialist of founding and building Mosques. He testified to us through his brother that after he realized how behind Moussa was, he decided to bring him where there is better teaching. We pray that God help us to help better these kids like Moussa, returning from Quran School.

Please pray for the beginning of the school building project starting soon. We are now gathering sand and bricks.

Thanks to you all so much. You have been such a blessing to us and the people we serve here in Koro.

We pray that God returns to you the blessings as he promised.

Your friend Ibrahima.

Moussa Barry

Please consider a year end gift to Grace Missions. We can't do this without your help. Write a check and send to the address to the right or click on the PayPal button and pay by credit card. Thank you so much!

Merry Christmas from all at Grace Missions and Grace School!

#GivingTuesday and Beyond

Life goes on in Mali. It is the dry season so 100-degree heat and no rain expected until April or May.  Water and food are always in short supply. Ebola is a real concern even in Koro, far away from the capital where the few cases have occurred. And yet, life goes on. Just like life in the US really.  The challenges are different but stress and fear and sorrow are universal.

And yet, so are joy and community and laughter. At Grace school things seem to be taken in stride. Safe practices and practical information concerning Ebola are now taught in biology class at all levels. Rather than a hug and a handshake, people for now greet each other by crossing their hands on their chest. The 78 children are learning and thriving.  Their faith and trust in God is growing as well. Education and faith will carry them far as these children start local businesses, become community leaders and work to make their corner of the world a better place.

The partnership between Grace school and those in the US that care for these children is dependent on our prayers and financial donations. The new school will begin construction as soon as the land situation is finalized. Ibrahima continues to carefully negotiate, ensuring that we get the best location and enough land to eventually build the nine classrooms.  The money for the first phase of the school has been raised and set aside. The school still has monthly expenses however and your ongoing support is

needed. As we cover the monthly expenses any extra will be put into the building fund as we start to plan the second phase of construction.

Please remember Grace school on #GivingTuesday and throughout the Christmas season. You may donate by using the PayPal button on this blog site or by sending a check to Grace Missions.

Peace,

Brandon

November 15 School update

Greetings from Koro!

Thank you for your prayers. We have acknowledged that you are all praying for us.

Now is the season for the crops to come home. Many families go to their farms to harvest and take home on donkey carts everything they have been harvesting during the day. Tradition here recommends in this season, giving in secret some crops to those who haven’t been able to farm because of sickness or to the widows or orphans. Recently the government has taken this tradition to name the month of October, “the Month of Solidarity” to pay visits to the elders and some disadvantaged families in the city of Bamako.

In a situation of fear and suspicion from everywhere and everyone, what we had heard from so far is getting very near to us after deadly cases of Ebola in Mali these days.  So many daily practices and cultural behaviors that we share including drinking from the same cup, the communal city or village wells, friendly hand shake greetings, the chaotic overloaded public transportation, visiting patients, very disorganized and short handed health centers are all making it difficult to think of strict health preventions against this frightening deadly disease. In Mali Bamako is everywhere, in the sense of everyone goes there all of the time and every town depends somehow on Bamako for main business. So far everyone is Ebola free in Koro.  We are teaching safe practices and we are hoping to intensify it because of the emergency these times.

On November 7^th the school was highly shaken by the falling down of one student, Mariam Marico a 9^th grader, during class hours. The faith of all students and teachers has never been that challenged. I was in the high school. Rachel called for emergency, asking me to come right now. Students and teachers gathered around Mariam Mariko to pray and call divine healing on her.  Everyone student, Christian or not, at the school prayed loud in the name of Jesus Christ. Students urged the pastor to be called. With phone call we asked the local clinic to come and see the student and take her to the clinic. Many tests and analyses have shown that she suffers from heart disease. She stayed 4 days at the clinic and now she is doing better and is back to school. According to her parents she had this disease for many years now and used to fall down that way.

To request an equal treatment with teachers in the cities and advancement of the teachers who haven’t been upgraded since their enrollment from 2006, the local public school teachers went on strike for 72 hours and many courses were boycotted. The situation has calmed down now.

Students have many times complained because many fail their exams. The result for last year was alarming in the public high school of Koro as shown in this table:

Classes	Students	Passing		Repeating		Excluded
10th	377	138	36.60 %	141	37.40 %	98	26.00 %
11th	168	105	62.49 %	32	19.04 %	31	18.45%
12th	465	103	22.15 %	179	38.49 %	185	39.70%
Total	1010	344	34.05 %	352	35.04 %	314	31.08%

Those failures have many explanations including poor elementary and middle school studies, overcrowded classes sizes, lack of suitable place to stay in Koro during their high school. Most of the students have no light to read at night and books to read.

By the help of God we can count only two Grace former students among those who failed. Most of our former students are in the science classes where only the best were accepted. I could never be prouder of them. Let’s keep them in our prayers.

Recently there is a popular practice of sending the kids to Quran schools. For each kid sent to the Quran schools the parents will get 5kg of sugar during Ramadan, fasting month of the Muslim once a year. This seducing method is working well because of the poverty and blinding ignorance. Indeed 1kg of sugar costs 500 F cfa and this is about $1 US. In conclusion the lives of those children are sacrificed because of a gift of $5 a year.  

With a local Christian Organization named AEDM we had three nights campaign in some villages around Koro, to promote sending kids to school. The projector is the key as we project videos to teach the villagers about the benefit of schooling their kids.

Bible reading and prayers are well appreciated both by parents and students. We are thinking of changing the Bible version we are using now because of many questions the students ask as they read through. There is a simpler version, easier for beginners to understand, like the Good News version.

Please know that you all are real life saving support to us and that knowing that we have your support strengthens us for the challenges we face.

Thank you and God bless you!

Ibrahima