Caravan To Class News

October 17, 2017

Dear friends,

Being very connected with the Sonoma County community for the past fifteen years, it has been hard to think of anything else but the devastating fires of this past week! Many in our community have literally lost everything. My wife and I am aim to do as much as we can to help those in need.

With our hearts very much with those in our community right now, it is tough to switch gears and talk about Caravan to Class. However, with today, October 17, being World Food Day, I do have some great news to report that will be of further help to the thousands of children and hundreds of mothers who benefit from Caravan to Class' programs in literacy in one of the world's most fascinating places; Timbuktu, Mali.

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March 1, 2017

Dear Dining for Women Members,

Having just returned from my annual trip to Timbuktu to see the Caravan to Class programs in action, including our DFW-funded Female Adult Literacy programs, I wanted to include you in the distribution of this trip note.

I personally observed the Female Adult Literacy program in action in three villages where Caravan to Class works near Timbuktu; the villages of Kabara Sans Fil, Kakondji, and Bantam. I can tell you personally that I was very impressed with both the attendance and the interaction of the women. Many of them said that it is the most enjoyable thing that they have ever participated in: spending 4 hours per day with other women in the village where they can forget about the challenges of daily life and just learn the basics of reading, writing and understanding their local language, whether Tamashek or Songhai.

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March 1, 2017

Dear friends,

I just returned from my annual trip to Timbuktu to see the Caravan to Class programs in action. While Caravan to Class is focused on literacy for Timbuktu, our BIG GOAL is nothing short of a Timbuktu Renaissance for this deserving and fabled place that can demonstrate its important cultural heritage of scholarship. 

After learning more about Timbuktu and Caravan to Class’ programs, I hope you will agree that this special place is worthy of our support! What follows is my trip note to donors.

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In a very competitive selection process, Caravan to Class has been selected as a featured grantee of Dining for Women (DFW) for 2017 for a Female Adult Literacy Program in 10 villages around the fabled Timbuktu. After a successful pilot Female Adult Literacy program in 2016, Caravan to Class—with the DFW grant—will expand the teaching of basic literacy in two native languages to 200 women in ten villages.

As related by Ms. Fadimata Mohammed, program attendee in the village of Tourari, “The program has changed our lives a lot. Most of us had no concept of reading and writing in our language. We have been given, by the foundation Caravan to Class, such a practical gift, but more importantly ideas in our minds about how we can improve ourselves.”

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