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Gender and Development Camp Completion Report |
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| Project Director |
Mary (Christy) Gillmore, Peace Corps Volunteer |
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Project Number |
Total Cost (US$) |
Location |
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Kamona, Mali (San) |
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Project Description
A Gender and Development camp took place in Kamona and was completed successfully, having an impact on a large amount of girls attending middle school. Despite having a few setbacks and having to deviate from the original schedule, the project turned out very well and had a positive impact.
Originally, the teachers of the middle school were going to help with the project, by holding an essay contest, helping with trainings on the importance of Moringa trees, and gathering the schoolchildren together for the event, which included having a girls' soccer game. They seemed motivated to do the project, and never mentioned wanting to be paid for what they considered supplemental work. I had set up a day to give the teachers a training on the Moringa tree which I had wanted them to then go and give to their students, to be followed by a mass tree planting around the school by the children. However, at the meeting before we started discussing the Moringa tree, they produced a "budget" that asked for around 80,000 cfa to be given to them since the event was supplemental to their normal work. I explained that I had already received funding from African Sky with a specific budget, and that payment for them was not included. I also explained that the project was to help their students, and I was passing out free information and trees, not to mention giving them a party to celebrate education in Mali. The teachers were firm in their request and refused to help with the project if they were not paid.
Though discouraged, I discussed the possibility of still doing the project with other members of the village. Many of the women from the women's association and several well-respected men were excited about the project, and helped me set everything up. We got approval from the two chiefs of the village, the men of the community held a meeting and talked with the teachers about it to see if they would still approve of the project even though they weren't participating. Everyone agreed the project would be beneficial to Kamona.
Community members and I worked for several weeks planning what we decided would be a one day event. The village doctor, who is well-known and respected within the community, allowed us to hold part of the event at his office, in a central location. The midwife also allowed us to do some of the sessions at the maternity. We contacted two guest speakers to come, who came the day before and left the day after the event.
The event took place on March 26, 2008 and the schedule of events was as follows:
8:00-10:00 a.m: Middle school girls gathered together, began by making shea butter soap. Members of women's association attended to train the girls how to make the soap. Also there were several PCV's and the two guest speakers.
10:00-11:00 a.m: PCV gave training on Moringa olifeira- importance of it in women's and children's health and nutrition, and how to plant and take care of the trees. Seeds and plastic pots were handed out to all of the girls (and women who were also attending).
11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m: Session on girls' and women's health. Topics such as birth control and child nutrition were discussed, complete with examples and animations (i.e. packets of birth control pills and condoms were passed around). Many of the girls knew nothing about the topics discussed. There was time given for the girls to ask any question they wanted, and only Peace Corps Volunteers, the guest speakers, and the girls were allowed to attend to obtain confidentiality and promote openness.
1:00 -2:30p.m: Lunch served to all participants.
2:30-4:30 p.m: Discussion of the importance of women's education. Guest speakers discussed their backgrounds and how they obtained their high standing jobs (Director and member of a Segou artisan's association). The speakers provided statistics on the number of women in Mali with high standing or powerful positions. Girls exchanged ideas on the importance of staying in school and how to overcome obstacles that prevent women in Mali from being successful.
4:30-7 p.m: Dance party. Professional drummers from nearby village played music and sang while people from all over the village came to listen and dance. Several times throughout the party various people spoke on the microphone about the importance of girls' education and equality.
Additionally, the PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) painted two wall maps of Africa: one in the primary school and one in the secondary school. There were unused funds so the PCV spoke with the director of the primary school to discuss the school's greatest needs (I had wanted to give something to the primary school since most of the project had been with the secondary school) and he expressed that he needed basic medicines for the schoolchildren, such as Paracetamol and ear ache medicine, since many of the children's parents were unable or unwilling to treat their minor sicknesses. The director has been trained on basic first aid. A few school materials were also given.
Project Impact
The project had a positive impact. 25 middle school girls and 10 women from women's association attended the soap making session. Around 35 girls came to the Moringa training along with the same 10 women. There were around 45 girls who attended the health session and the same amount for the education session. Also, many other villagers gathered around to listen to the last session on women's education, and hundreds attended the party, where they were able to hear the message about the importance of girls' education and equality (there was a big sign placed in the area about the subject in Bambara). There are around 170 students in the middle school, 500 in the primary school, all benefiting from being able to look at a large accurate map of Africa. Also, the students in the primary school will benefit greatly from the medicines supplied for them.
Project Budget | | | |
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Items | Units | Cost / Unit (CFA) | Total (CFA) |
White Cloth for Banner |
10 meters |
400 |
4000 |
Paint for mural |
4 buckets |
2500 |
10000 |
Food |
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Rice |
50 kilos |
315 |
15850 |
Meat |
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3750 |
Condiments |
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6950 |
Drinks (Made from powder mixes) |
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1575 |
Guest speaker costs |
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Transport from Segou (r/t) |
2 people |
3000 |
6000 |
Gas for motorcycle from Bla to Kamona |
2 people |
1000 |
2000 |
Stipend for 3 days |
2 people |
12000 |
24000 |
Soap making materials |
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Peanut oil, Barika tigi, flour |
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4525 |
Shea oil, additional peanut oil |
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6250 |
Misc. |
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Moringa oleifera seeds |
1 bag |
3000 |
3000 |
Plastic planting pots |
100 |
20 |
2000 |
Fees for professional drummers for party |
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11000 |
Notebooks and pens for the event participants |
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5275 |
Extra/unused funds |
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Medicines for schoolchildren (Paracetamol, Cotrimoxale, Alcohol, Cotton, Gentamicin) |
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23825 |
School supplies (Notebooks, chalk, pencils, pens) |
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14000 |
Total |
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152400 |
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