KONOSSO VILLAGE

Konosso suffered greatly in the 2006 famine caused by locus plagues that decimated West Africa. The community, mayor and chief of Konosso value the importance of education and are motivated to continue to support educating their community. The Mayor is also driving gender equality in the school.   Before the Mali Initiative got involved, the school consisted of two small mud rooms for 90 children. There were no chairs or tables, books, pens and the highest education level of the teachers was a grade 4 pass.   The MI raised enough funds to support the construction of two classrooms to replace the mud rooms and the community have committed to partnering the construction of the classrooms to ensure this goal is achieved.   The school board has also been re-elected to manage the fees collected from the parents which pays the 3 teachers wages. This has been successful over the past 4 months.   The community also wanted to find another way to support the school financially. The community donated 6 hectares of rice cultivating land as financial support for the school. The funds generated from the sales of this rice is banked as back up security for the school incase families fall behind on their payments.   Progress so far:

• Community built 2 Mud rooms in 1998
• These have now been replaced by 2 new concrete classrooms
• Community, mayor, and chief all value education
• Mayor pushing for gender equality in the school
• Australian fundraising has enough for the construction of two classrooms to replace the mud.
• Willingness of the community to partner to achieve
• Re elected the school board and now managing fees collected from parents to pay the three teachers. Have done so for 4 months
• Planted rice field as sustainable income for the school as back up when parents cant pay fees.

To continue to support the school in Konosso over the next 2 years, teachers will be trained in March, September & December 2009 by World Bank educated local trainers. Materials will be supplied to the students. The community will also be supplied with materials to construct tables and chairs for the new classrooms. By 2010 the MI aims to support the community by providing an opportunity for the community to create revenue by hosting tourism trips to the village. Future Strategy:   2009:

• 3 Teacher Trainings (March, September, Dec)
• Materials and supplies for the school (textbooks)
• Construct tables and chairs for new classrooms

  2010: 

•  Income from responsible tourism trips visiting the village· 
• Increase materials and supplies for school