AMADOU: A PORTRAIT OF HOPE IN MALI

Education Cannot Wait-funded programmes, delivered by UNICEF, are improving access to quality education in Mali and helping displaced children like Amadou realize their dreams

By Education Cannot Wait

December 14^th, 2022

Based on a UNICEF original story ‘From a Temporary Learning Space to a formal school’

Fourteen-year-old Amadou sits at the front of the class, actively responding to the lesson that his teacher writes on the chalkboard. As playful voices echo off the walls of the bright room, Mr. Salifou asks his students for the correct way to write a past-tense sentence in French.

“Pick me! Pick me!” they shout, holding their blue notebooks into the air.

It’s a joyful scene, but Amadou’s journey has not been easy. For a young teenager, he’s witnessed horrific things. Armed men killed his uncle and forced his family to relocate 62 miles away from their village in Bandiagara to the town of Sévaré, in south-central Mali.

A crisis driven by political instability, insecurity, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic has left over five million children in need of urgent help in Mali.

Countries in crisis around the world face a global learning catastrophe. Amadou is just one of the 222 million crisis-affected children and adolescents worldwide without access to a safe, quality education.

But with investments from Education Cannot Wait (ECW) — the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises — UNICEF Mali is helping girls and boys like Amadou to return to the classroom.

Students in Amadou’s classroom raise their hands as they eagerly wait to be called on by their teacher. Photo © UNICEF/Keïta

AMADOU’S JOURNEY

For over three years, Amadou’s family was forced to move as a result of violence and unrest in the region.

They moved from one displacement camp to another, living in appalling conditions.

Amadou’s teenage years were marked by trauma. His family finally settled in Sarema, where Amadou’s dad works as a security guard at a local bank, making just enough to cover their basic living expenses and send the children to school.

This journey is all too familiar. Amadou’s story speaks for the over 400,000 internally displaced people in Mali, 64% of whom are children. The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the difficulties they face. And many children never return to schooling.

Amadou gets direct instruction from his teacher in Sarema, Mali. Photo © UNICEF/Keïta

ADVANCING SAFE AND PROTECTIVE EDUCATION

Along his journey, Amadou took classes for ten months at a temporary learning space in Socoura, then formally enrolled at the primary school in Sarema.

“When I grow up, I will be a deputy and my first priority will be the return of peace to Mali,” he says.

Amadou had to work hard to make up for lost time, but has a strong sense of hope. He wants to get his diploma in three years and is motivated by his dream of building a stronger, more peaceful nation.

In Sarema, Mali, young Amadou learns French grammar in school through an ECW-funded programme. Photo © UNICEF/Keïta

ECW IS STRENGTHENING THE EDUCATION SECTOR, PROVIDING FOR CHILDREN’S CRITICAL NEEDS AND BUILDING A PATHWAY TOWARD SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

As the nation builds back stronger from conflict and crises, teachers are receiving training to facilitate re-integration of children like Amadou. They are providing mental health services to help their students recover from the trauma of displacement, violence and other grave violations.

Amadou grins, holding his baby sister, who will also soon be enrolled at the school in Sarema. Eventually, he hopes to return to his home school and be reunited with his friends. But he’s grateful for the educational support he’s received in the meantime.

To help Amadou realize his full potential, ECW has launched the #222MillionDreams campaign ahead of the Fund’s High-Level Financing Conference (HLFC), which will take place in Geneva February 16-17, 2023. The Fund’s ambitious four-year strategy, the 2023-2026 Strategic Plan, is calling on world leaders, businesses, foundations, and high net-worth individuals to deliver on promises to provide at least $1.5 billion toward Sustainable Development Goal 4 — the right to an inclusive and equitable quality education.

Amadou and his family sit outside their new home in Sarema, Mali. Photo © UNICEF/Keïta

Button Label