Caravan To Class News

This interview with Caravan To Class founder Barry Hoffner was conducted by Alix Wall for JWeekly.com. Barry discusses his journey to Mali in 2010, and how that experience built into a passion to become involved in supporting education for the children there.

Dear Friends of Caravan to Class,

Greetings from Timbuktu where I feel fortunate to be able to return. Much has happened here since my last trip in late March 2012, when, only days after I left the town fell to a very militant group named Ansar Dine, closely linked to Al Qaida. Today, a little more than one year after the French intervened militarily, the residents in Timbuktu are still trying to restore their lives and refugees are still returning to their villages.

Dear Friends of Caravan to Class,

We are mid-way through 2013 and it is quite unbelievable where Caravan to Class is today compared to the beginning of 2013. I wanted to send an update on the positive political developments that have unfolded in the past week. While many uncertainties remain, regarding the peace agreement signed between the Tuareg leadership and the Malian State, and skeptics (understandably) abound, Caravan to Class believes that we are in as good a place to pursue our mission of Bringing Literacy to Villages in Timbuktu as we have ever been.

Dear friends,

First, I again thank you so much for your interest in and support for Caravan to Class and our mission of bringing literacy to the children of the one of the world's most illiterate areas, the Sahara Desert region of West Africa.

I would also like to apologize for the length of time since my last update. Ironically on April Fool's Day—just ten days after I departed Timbuktu, this fabled city was the last in Northern Mali to fall to the Islamic militants of Ansar Dine, a group linked to Al Qaeda. I was in Mali to see the progress of our schools, the new school we built in the village of Mora and to visit the additional schools that Caravan to Class was about to take responsibility for. On this trip, I was very inspired by the learning taking place in many of schools in the villages around Timbuktu and at the only Deaf School  in Northern Mali, all funded by Caravan to Class. In fact, on this trip Mr. Male Dioum joined Caravan to Class to sharpen our educational focus on literacy measurement and improvement.