Today was one of the most exciting "work" days of my time here in Mali.

1. I didn't have just bread for breakfast! I had meat, onions, tomatoes and fries in a sandwich!
2. Yayi, her father, ex-bf and her host brother came to visit and give me some Laughing Cow Cheese!
3. I went to the High School and I proposed my first idea of change, in French and it was well received!

I'll expand on number 3. During my time at the high school, I have learned that the students have a choice on which subjects they wish to focus on. There is a Literature focus, Human Sciences, Mathematics and Biology focus. Because I focused on the sciences, I sat in on a biology class today and there were only five students in class. I asked the teacher, what the total number of students are in the class, and he said, eight. I wasn't surprised because from what I've seen and heard, the students don't have very good study skills and they can't express themselves very well in French. So, how can they understand and express complicated sciences in French? This is what teachers have said to me and it's very disheartening to see such a low number of students in the sciences.

So, after class, I asked the biology teacher and the administrator, "Why are there so few in the math and science classes? How many students were in the classes last year? How many of those passed the Bacculaurate (BAC)? Do they know why the others did not pass? Have they asked those, in the sciences, what motivated them to choose these courses?" And they responded that the maths and sciences are difficult and the students want to pass the BAC, so they choose the easier subjects. They said that there were 10 biology students last year, and only five of them passed. And they stated that the reason some have chosen math or science and stuck with it is because they know someone in those fields or their teachers have told them about "Doctors Without Borders" or other NGO programs.

After hearing out their reasons, I asked them what they would think about having health, law, engineering and education professionals coming to talk to the students about the paths that they took to become successful. I told them about my school experience and how having successful people in their respective fields come and talk about their work, helped motivate me and others to work hard in school. The administrator had never heard of such a thing ever being done in Mali. He thought that it was a very good idea and he would like to see it happen!

I already know Moussa, the pharmacist, would be down and maybe we could start a summer mentorship program with professionals here in my town or others nearby! I'm really excited to see what the elementary and middle schools think about my idea.