Bintou Soumaoro, president of Les Filles Unies pour l’Education, has shared lots of news over the past weeks since the coup d’etat in Mali. Here are a few updates that have been translated from French. It’s clear our sister organization is forging ahead, regardless of the uncertainty and instability in Bamako, as well as in Timbuktu and other areas in northern Mali that have been taken over by rebels.

Our Girls Scholarship Program: Les Filles Unies plans to organize “un jour pour sensibilisation in Ouolodo.” This awareness day in the villages will be a community discussion about the importance and impact of children and sounds very smart! We are very concerned that so many teachers do not care about their students and education. Basic education is the most important opportunity a girl could ever have!

School Girls Unite’s visit to Capitol Hill last Wednesday was not an afternoon to miss. After President Obama proposed to cut the teeny, tiny amount the United States spends on international education by 28% in the upcoming fiscal year, School Girls Unite was once again quick on its feet! While half of us conquered the House of Representatives in a magnificent meeting with Congressman Chris Van Hollen, the rest of us argued our case to the legislative assistants of both our Maryland Senators at the Hart Senate Office Building. It was an exciting and productive afternoon for all!

Les Filles Unies pour l’Education du Mali visited some of the 60 girls in the villages of Ouolodo who receive School Girls Unite scholarships. Mariam (below) is the fifth girl to become a child bride, but she remains in school. Several other parents say they plan to delay marriage. The oldest girl we sponsor is Awa Coulibaly, who lost both her parents; her aunt and big sister, who married young and never went to school, have encouraged this motivated 8th grade student “to study well every night!”

Last Thursday, January 26, girls from Oakland Mills, Hammond, and my school, Harper’s Choice Middle School, went to the Howard County Board of Education to give an update about School Girls Unite and Day of the Girl. We talked about how we helped the campaign to get the United Nations to establish an international day and the recent change in the annual date from September 22 to October 11. I was very happy to be able to talk about my independent research project researching the legislative process to get a proclamation in Maryland for Day of the Girl. We also talked about each school’s effort in spreading awareness about Day of the Girl and thanked them for their support of SGU. After we were done and walking to leave the crowded room everyone was saying how good we were and complimenting us. Here is a photo taken after the meeting!

- Ally M.

It’s official! The United Nations declared October 11th to be the annual International Day of the Girl Child! This means that everywhere, October 11th can be not only a day of celebration for girls, but also a day of advocacy for girls’ rights and gender equality. You can learn more by visiting www.DayoftheGirl.org!

School Girls Unite is still going strong in the name of Education For All! This past Halloween, students from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Maryland and the Islamic Saudi Academy in Virginia descended on the Capitol to support universal education! Global Campaign for Education helped us out, and we had an awesome photo-shoot in front of the Capitol Reflecting Pool, with chains of signed pledges for Education For All, which spelled out “EDUCATION FOR ALL”! How cool!

And it gets better! The students then trekked over to the U.S. Department of State, and met with officials to discuss the importance of Education For All.

Our Mali Girls Scholarship Program is rolling thanks to the incredible energy of Les Filles Unies! Bintou plus the other dedicated volunteers, most of whom are in university or working,  spent a weekend buying and organizing school supplies for the 65 girls in a cluster of four rural villages who we sponsor.  Les Filles Unies traveled 1 ½ hours to distribute math, chemistry, geography, history and other books,  backpacks, “bics” (one blue and red ballpoint pen for each girl), composition books, and more.  This school year we are providing scholarships to:

one eighth grader
15 seventh graders
15 sixth graders
21 fifth graders
10 fourth graders
3 third graders
1 girl who is having to repeat second grade.

The UN recently released a report showing that huge disparities still exist for girls in education. Females still make up for two-thirds of the entire illiterate population. Two thirds! The next time you’re with friends, look at two of them, and think that out of the three of you, two of you wouldn’t be able to read this. The UN site also says “Arab and sub-Saharan African States face ‘serious’ gender disparities at the lower secondary level, and the problem gets worse at the upper secondary level in South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.” That means that even if a girl gets through the first grade, and even if a girls gets through the fifth grade, she still probably won’t be able to make it all the way through to the end of high school.

The forced child marriage issue hits close to home for School Girls Unite. Last year, one of the girls going to school with an SGU scholarship was married, at age 11! At the time, the leaders in Filles Unies persuaded her new husband to let her finish the 7th grade, but she has since had to drop out of school-- at her husband’s father’s orders. Unfortunately, this is the second girl to have been married amongst the 70 girls going to school with funds raised by School Girls Unite.

A School Girls Unite member, Naomi, won a t-shirt contest ran by the Day of the Girl! Her design was chosen by anonymous vote after ten designs were submitted, and she won by a landslide! Her design features the "female" symbol, inside which are words of empowerment! It was then printed on bright orange shirts, and given out for the Day of the Girl celebrations! You rock, Naomi!

Check out the winning design!