Mountougoula, Mali (AP) – For 18-year-old Marian Aminata Doumbia, the “Shifin ni Tagne” project was the dream path of her life. The phrase “our future” in the country’s major local languages refers to an annual program aimed at teaching about 20,000 young Marians to read and write in a local language.
We supported $25 million in funding from US International Development Organizationor USAID, for over five years, the project was shut down following the Trump administration’s decision Reduce 90% of agency Foreign aid.
“The joy I felt when I was selected for this project has been replaced by sadness,” said Dumbia, Bamako, Mali’s capital.
She wanted to use the empowerment program to train as a pastry chef.
“I have no hope of realizing my dreams (again),” Dumbia said.
Poverty and illiteracy
Dumbia is among thousands of people. In Mari, Countries with high levels of poverty and anxiety and at least 70% of the population of 22 million have had no opportunity to learn to read and write, according to Sylla Fatoumata Cissé, director of a government agency focusing on informal education and Japanese language in Mali.
The cuts in USAID funding also came when other development partners in Mali in Europe retracted support in the aftermath of the 2021 coup, leading current military junta, Assimi Gaita, to power.
The road to empowerment
For many, literacy projects were the only path to literacy and empowerment.
Once you have read and written, the program’s beneficiaries will proceed to the next stage. This includes mastering professional skills such as headdressing, carpentry, sewing, welding and pastry manufacturing, according to Modibo Sisoko, literacy supervisor of the Maria Survival Association of Sahelnon Profit, who was involved in the “Sifin NI Tagn” project.
These skills allow financially disadvantaged people to create jobs for themselves, earn a living, and support their families, Sisoko said.
Local Language vs French
“The teaching of the mother tongue allows for rapid movement to mass literacy among the population,” says Isiaka Baro, a professor and researcher of native language at Bamako University in Mali.
Meanwhile, he added, “Only 30% of the population is educated in French.”
USAID’s involvement in Mali has made it a major development partner in the government. The sudden end of that support came not only in literacy programs, but also in other programs designed to increase adult education and expand literacy projects to public schools.
Gaussdavo School, located in Bamako, the capital of Marian, is one of 1,000 schools that benefited from native language education thanks to funding from USAID.
Teachers trained for the program last year continue to teach, but the program’s oversight and evaluation aspects have been withdrawn.
Amadi BA, a counselor at the pedagogical animation center who handles Bamako’s schools, said the cuts in funding were “a huge shock for us.”
In a country where local language education relies on funding from Mali’s development partners with little or no help from the government, concerns go beyond the immediate impact on children’s education.
In 2023, the Mali military government decided to make the country’s indigenous tongues an official language instead of French, which became the “language of working”. Official documents containing the constitution, mining codes and other texts have since been translated into Japanese.
The USAID Cut “is certainly having a negative impact on the development of native language education, especially since coming mid-grade,” Cise said.
“I didn’t even have the time to think about mechanisms that would mitigate the blow,” she added.
Training improves your farm business
That continued, but the program was beneficial to many people in many ways.
Oumu Traoré, the mother of two who raises onions and eggplants for a living, recalled how training improved her farming business, particularly when priced her products in the Mount Goula district of Bamako.
“I learned to calculate the weight of onions and keep an account in my native language, so I started selling my onions myself,” Trore said.
Turn to Russia
The 2021 coup d’etat cut ties with the West, including the US, before turning the country into Russia as a key ally.
Some experts say the withdrawal of US aid may open doors for rivals like Russia, where mercers were accused. Human rights abuse and extrajudicial killing Some say in this country, USAID left a hole that was too big to be filled by others.
“It’s difficult to find a taker for the project left behind by USAID,” said Fatimata Toure, development specialist and director of the Citizens Group in Mali.
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