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Caravan To Class News

MAY, 2022

Caravan to Class is pleased to announce the hiring of Ms. Sira Sangare as the new Assistant Program Director for our Bourse Jackie Scholarship Program. Sira was hired from an incredibly accomplished pool of female applicants in the various fields of Women’s Empowerment, Journalism, Linguistics, and Administration. It is all the more gratifying that Sira was selected as a Bourse Jackie applicant herself in 2018 and earned her diploma in Logistics and Transport Management from the Bamako Technical University (DUT). Sira is from Timbuktu, Mali, and graduated with her bachelor’s degree from BEYREY High school in Timbuktu. She was also selected and participated in the Africa Youth Leadership Program in the United States in 2016.

JANUIARY, 2022

Caravan to Class has just selected its third cohort of Bourse Jackie scholarship recipients. The Bourse Jackie scholarship is a very selected award given to female high school graduates from Timbuktu, Mali, for a 4-year scholarship to the public university in Bamako, the capital of Mali. The scholarship includes payment for tuition, books, room & board, and transportation. In addition, the scholarship provides for a 3-month intensive English study program in nearby Ghana. English language skills are fairly rare in Mali, and an important career differentiator. In addition, this year we have added computers for each of the scholarship recipients. This will allow them to be more efficient in their work and also to participate in Zoom forums, discussions, and study. We thank the So Hum Foundation for its generosity in setting up a dedicated fund to purchase computers for the scholarship recipients.

From a very competitive applicant pool, Caravan to Class selected 31 finalists who recently took an exam administered by Caravan to Class’ partner, the Timbuktu Ministry of Education. The finalists having the top five scores on this exam received a Bourse Jackie scholarship.

Caravan to Class is fundraising for the Takaigrout School, our 16th construction project since 2010

OCTOBER, 2021

Site of the future school in Takaigrout that Caravan to Class will build
Site of the future school in Takaigrout that Caravan to Class will build

The Takaigrout school construction and operational support project:

Caravan to Class will build our 16th school in the village of Takaigrout and provide operational support for three years. Operational support will include paying teachers’ salaries, providing basic nutrition for school lunches, and school supplies. In addition, Caravan to Class will provide school uniforms to all children and also implement our award-winning Female Adult Literacy program. The school will follow Malian standard instruction in French. The Timbuktu Ministry of Education will send a director, at their expense, to run the school and certify teachers for class instruction.

Make a donation now to Caravan to Class to help fund the Takaigrout school construction project.

FEBRUARY, 2021

Caravan to Class has just selected its second cohort of Bourse Jackie scholarship recipients. The Bourse Jackie scholarship is a very selected award given to female high school graduates from Timbuktu, Mali, for a 4-year scholarship to the public university in Bamako, the capital of Mali. The scholarship includes payment for tuition, books, room & board, and transportation. In addition, the scholarship provides for a 3-month intensive English program in nearby Ghana. English language skills are fairly rare in Mali, and an important career differentiator.

Group image of the 2021 Bourse Jackie scholarship recipients

From a very competitive applicant pool, Caravan to Class selected ten finalists who recently took an exam administered by Caravan to Class’ partner, the Timbuktu Ministry of Education. The top five scores on this exam received a Bourse Jackie scholarship. Read on to view the biographies of these recipients written in their own hand, demonstrating how worthy and deserving they are of this life-changing opportunity provided by Caravan to Class donors.

AUGUST 20, 2020

Dear friends,

I hope you are well during these challenging times.

When I first traveled in Mali in 2010, after having been to a good number of other African countries, I quickly fell in love with the country. I am not sure exactly what it was, but perhaps a combination of Mali's history, the allure of the desert in the northeast, the numerous cultures, the music, and most of all the engaging nature of the people that warm your heart everywhere you go.

Since then, Mali has seen its disproportionate share of problems and serious challenges which continue to plague the country. Thankfully, none of these challenges has prevented Caravan to Class from realizing our important work in education in one of Africa’s most historically important places, Timbuktu, Mali.

  1. “Bourse Jackie” Scholarship Recipients Opine on the Black Lives Matter Movement
  2. Caravan to Class is fundraising for the Dourgou School, our 15th construction project since 2010
  3. Caravan To Class Donor Letter, Mali - February 2020
  4. 2019 Year-end Thank You Letter

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Read the interview with CTC founder Barry Hoffner,  catch up with progress on literacy programs and Caravan-to-Class press releases.

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Drone footage of the Kokonji school newly-built by Caravan to Class in Mali