Ouelessebougou Alliance

Sign-up to join our Sister School Program!

2010-05-07T14:04:00.000-07:00

Thank you to the 2009-2010 Utah and Mali schools that participated in our Sister School Program!

For those of you who are interested in signing your school up for our Sister School Service-Learning Program for 2010-2011, please call 801-983-6254 or email Laurie at laurie@lifteachother.org to get more information and to sign your school up!

2010-02-08T17:12:00.000-08:00

This is the Ouelessebougou Sister School Site.

Here is where you can learn about your friends in Mali, Africa.

To the right you will see your school name next to the name of your sister school. You can click on your sister school to learn about the students in your sister village. Feel free to check out the other villages to learn even more about the students in Mali. =>

Remember this is YOUR site so if you have any questions that you want answered about Mali, Village Life, Africa or your new friends go ahead and leave a comment and we will answer all the questions in a Q and A blog post.

What are you waiting for? Start clicking!

WELCOME

2010-02-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

WELCOME BAMAKONI

THANK YOU!!!

2010-02-06T11:43:00.000-08:00

Thank you for sending books to the school.

The children can now practice reading them.

The villages do not have many books and these will be used to help the students to improve their reading skills.

We just wanted to say Thank You and we hope you enjoy our drawings.

About Bamakoni

2010-02-05T11:33:00.000-08:00

"Bama" means Crocodile and "Koni" means Little River. So Bamakoni means a crocodile in a little river.

There are grades 1st-6th at the school and there are 6 teachers that work there. Here is one of them.

This is what the outside of the school looks like. You can see the village in the background

This is our courtyard where we have our countries flag. Do you have a flag at your school as well? The big pile of rocks and sand that you see in the background is to make some new buildings for our school.

Here Are Some of the Students in Bamakoni!!

2010-02-04T11:10:00.000-08:00

Hello my name is Yaya Samake and I am 11 years old. I only have 1 little sister and no brothers. Also my favorite color is white.

Some of my favorite things to do is play soccer with my friends, and learn math. I don't like grammar and when I grow up I want to be a solider in the military.

I wake up each morning at 6am and for breakfast I eat porridge. When I get home from school I have to take care of our pet cows in the field.

Hello my name is Safiatou Kone and I live in Bamakoni. I have 2 sisters and 2 brothers. I am 12 years old and my favorite color is red.

I like to learn math but I do not like taking tests. My favorite game to play are bird games with my friends. When I grow up I want to be a tailor (seamstress).

I get up each day between 5 am and 6 am and I eat porridge for breakfast. One of my chores is to do the laundry. I have some cows at home as pets that I take care of.

Little Bird Pet

2010-02-03T11:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a little boy in Bamakoni how keeps his pet in a very close place...IN HIS POCKET. Watch the below video to see what what we mean.

Can you tell what kind of pet is in his pocket? It is a little BIRD!

**Don't worry the bird was alive and didn't get hurt**

Games!!!

2010-02-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

Here some of our American friends teach us a game called London Bridge. I think we got the hang of it. Have you ever played London Bridge with your family?

After they showed us a game, we showed them a game we like to play.

This another dance that our American friends showed us. Can you tell what dance we are doing? It is called the Chicken Dance? Have you ever done the Chicken Dance?

WELCOME

2010-02-01T20:34:00.000-08:00

WELCOME FADIOBOUGOU

Women Pounding Millet

2010-01-31T17:41:00.000-08:00

Les femmes pilent le mil

Each day the women in the villages will gather and pound Millet (a grain or corn like substance). They will pound the Millet for about 4 hours each day to make different types of food for their family such as porridge. In this video you can see that the women will help pound the Millet together in rhythm. Many times they will sing and talk while doing this.

Can you see when the women throw their stick in the air and clap?

Why do you think they like to pound Millet together? Do you think it passes the time faster? What do you do to pass the time faster?

Chaque jour, les femmes dans les villages se réunissent pour piler le mil (semblable au grain ou le maïs). Elles pilent le mil pendant environ 4 heures chaque jour pour faire différents types de nourriture pour leur famille, par exemple la bouillie. Dans cette vidéo, vous pouvez voir que les femmes pilent le mil avec un rythme. Souvent, ils chantent et parlent quand elles pilent le mil.

Pouvez-vous voir les femmes jettent leur bâton en l'air et tapent les mains?

Pourquoi pensez-vous qu'ils aiment piler le mil ensemble? Pensez-vous qu'il passe le temps plus vite? Que faites-vous pour passer le temps plus vite?

Classroom Tasks

2010-01-30T17:34:00.000-08:00

We have different tasks to do in our classroom.

One of the chores that we do is sweep out our classroom at the end of the day. Here is a video of one of our students sweeping out her classroom.

Do you have any classroom tasks that you perform?

Our School.

2010-01-29T17:14:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures around our school.

When our classes are larger we will have about 4 small children sitting at each desk.

This is our teachers desk at the front of the classroom. What does your teachers desk look like?

These are some pictures of our chalkboards. The first one is the general attendance of the day as well as other information. We value our education and so we rarely have any students absent. Can you read the other information on the board?

This board shows us learning about measurements.

This is the outside of our school.

And this is where we love to spend most of our time....THE SOCCER FIELD!!!

Thanks for looking around our school with us.

THANK YOU!!!

2010-01-28T17:03:00.000-08:00

4th Graders

We got the book you sent us and we wanted to thank you.

6th Grade

We are going to practice our reading and French from this book. We can share it in all of the different grade levels.

Thank you again. Hope you enjoyed our drawings.

Lets Meet Some of the Children in Fadiobougou!!!!

2010-01-27T15:04:00.000-08:00

Relevons quelques-uns des enfants de Fadiobougou!!

My name is Doussou Samake, I am 12 years old and in 6th grade.

Moussa Samake is my cousin. I have 2 brothers and 1 sister. We have pet cows.

I also get up at 7am to get ready for school and I eat porridge for breakfast. As my chore, each day I have to draw water from the well.

My favorite subject in school is grammer and after school I like to jump rope with my friends. My least favorite subjects are spelling and French.

When I grow up I want to be a judge in a court house.

I am the only child in my family going to school because everyone else is working on our family farm.

Je m'appelle Doussou Samake, j'ai 12 ans et je suis dans le 6e.

Moussa Samaké est mon cousin. J'ai 2 frères et 1 sœur. Nous avons des vaches.

Je me lève à 7h pour se préparer pour l'école et je mange la bouillie. Comme ma tâche, chaque jour je dois chercher de l'eau du puits.

Ma matière préférée à l'école est la grammaire et après l'école, j'aime sauter à la corde avec mes amis. Les sujets que je n'aime pas beaucoup qui sont les orthographe et de français.

Quand je serai grand, je veux devenir juge dans un tribunal.

Je suis le seul enfant de ma famille qui va à l'école parce que les autres, ils travaillent sur notre ferme familiale.

Lets Meet Some of the Children in Fadiobougou!!!!

2010-01-27T14:57:00.000-08:00

Relevons quelques-uns des enfants de Fadiobougou!!

Hi, my name is Moussa Samake and I am 14 years old. I go to school and my favorite subject is math.

I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters and we have pet goats.

I wake up each morning at 7 am and eat rice for breakfast. One of my chores is to draw water from the well for my family.

After school I like to play soccer with my friends.

My favorite color is yellow, just like my shirt.

Salut, mon nom est Moussa Samaké et j'ai 14 ans. Je vais à l'école et ma matière préférée est les mathématiques.

J'ai 2 frères et 2 soeurs et nous avons des chèvres.

Je me réveille chaque matin à 7 heures et je mange du riz pour le petit déjeuner. Une de mes tâches est de tirer l'eau du puits pour ma famille.

Après l'école, j'aime jouer au soccer avec mes amis.

Ma couleur préférée est jaune, comme ma chemise.

WELCOME

2010-01-26T20:36:00.000-08:00

WELCOME SOLO

Lets Meet Some of the Children in SOLO!!

2010-01-25T16:51:00.000-08:00

Hi my name is Drissa Bagoyogo and I live in a village called Solo. I am 12 years old and I have a younger brother. My favorite color is yellow and my favorite sport is soccer.

In school I like to learn math, although I don't like division very much. School is important to help me get a job and I like it because I know how to read.

I have some pet sheep and my chores include getting water each morning for my family to use throughout the day.

I get up at 7 am each day and eat porridge for breakfast before I go to school.

When I grow up I want to be a professional soccer player.

Something I want to say to my friends in Utah is "bonjour" or hello.

2010-01-25T14:27:00.000-08:00

My name is Kadiatou Diakite and I am 12 years old. I get up at 7 am, drink coffee for breakfast, and help pound Millet with my mother.

I have 2 brothers and 1 sister and my favorite thing to do is play with dolls.

My favorite subject is math but I don't like division. My favorite color is red, I have a pet cow and when I grow up I want to be a doctor.

Our School.

2010-01-24T17:53:00.000-08:00

This is the outside of our school.

This is a classroom that we made of large wood posts and weaved walls. We had to make our new classroom because we needed more room for our students. This is where the 1st graders learn.

This is the 2nd classroom that we have made. This is where our kindergartners meet for class. Unfortunately when the rainy season comes we will need to find another place to learn if the rain washes these classrooms away.

This is what the inside of our building classrooms look like. These are also some of our students.

The Chicken Dance

2010-01-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

This is Laura. She is from Park City, Utah. She came and gave us a presentation about America just like how some of you had a presentation about Mali.
After her presentation about your lives she decided to teach us the Chicken Dance.

I think we are starting to get the hang of it. Now you have seen some of our songs, games and dances and we have learned some of yours.

Lets Play Some Games!!

2010-01-22T11:25:00.000-08:00

In Solo we love to dance, sing and play all different types of games. Our school has a large soccer field that we all LOVE to play on.

Here are some games and song that you may not recognize.

We play this game by squatting down and trying to hit the other persons hand and make them fall over. Sometimes we have to jump to keep our balance.

In this song we all sing and clap. As the song keeps going we start to clap and sing faster. Can you see our teachers dancing?

In this song we also jump around in a circle. Here are two girls showing how it goes but many children can join if they want to.

What are some songs, games and dances do you like to play?

WELCOME

2010-01-21T20:48:00.000-08:00

WELCOME TO DIALOKORA-KELEYA

About DK.

2010-01-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

DK stands for Dialokora-Keleya. Dialokoro-Keleya are two different villages and they share the same school.

The two villages are very different and don't always get along, but they have put aside their differences for the school and education.

The school has about 300 students from grades 1st to 6th.

These are some of our classmates (3rd grade). The little girl on the left is albino. That means she is born where her skin and hair have very little color in them, but other than that she is the same like us.

These are some of the villagers, and teachers in the education committee. Our principal is the man all the way to the right on the first row. He is wearing a shirt made of Mud Cloth. Mud Cloth is fabric that is dyed with mud and dried.
They are also standing on a pile of grave that our village has gathered to help make our new school building.

Our School.

2010-01-19T08:30:00.000-08:00

This is our chalkboard that we use each day. You can see the alphabet on the right side of the board. What is on your board in your classroom.

Unfortunately one of our classroom has a crack in the wall and will no longer be in use in a few years. We need to replace it before the rainy season comes and causes more damage. We replace our buildings by collecting materials and donations from non profit organizations.

This is picture of another one of our classrooms. Our walls are a bight blue and we have about 5 windows for light because we don't have electricity. About 4 students sit in each desk.

This is a picture of our principal (right) and Djeba, who works for the alliance in the education department.

This is the outside of our school. We have 3 buildings with 2 classrooms in each. Can you see our flagpole?

We have a map of Africa painted on the side of our building.
Do you know where Mali is? (Hint: it is dark green)

We even have a map of North America.

This is our battery powered clock that helps us to tell time.

Thanks for looking around our school.

Games!!

2010-01-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

Here is a game that all children love to play in DK.

It is called the Mirror game. There are two people and the first one moves there hand in directions and the second person tries to follow the direction with their body.

The students line up in the soccer field to play some relay races.

They use little colored balls and cans to do the relay races.

Have you ever played a relay race? What did you use?

Lets Meet Some of the Children in the DK!!!

2010-01-17T08:38:00.000-08:00

My name is Daouda Bagayoko and I am 11 years old. I have 1 brother and my favorite color is white. I have cows as pets and my job is to herd the animals each day.

I get up at 6 am for school each day and I drink coffee for breakfast. My favorite subject in school is grammar but I don't like math very much.

I like to play soccer with my friends and when I grow up I want to be in the military.

Come visit us sometime.

Hello my name is Tongo Kante and I am 10 years old. I have 3 brothers and 3 sisters.

I get up at 7 am to go to school and I eat porridge for breakfast. I love to read and my favorite color is blue. I don't like to write, however.

When I'm not at school I have to do laundry as my chore and I play clap/hand games with my friends. We have some goats and sheep at my house too.

When I grow up I want to be a teacher.

Come visit me!

WELCOME

2010-01-16T20:44:00.000-08:00

WELCOME TO SENA

Our School.

2010-01-15T20:41:00.000-08:00

This is the outside view of our school. We have large windows in each classroom to let in light because we don't have electric lights.

This is an inside view of our classroom. We sit at large wooden desks that we share with other students. Our walls are also an turquoise color. What color are you classroom walls?

We have a flagpole in the front of our school. Our country's flag colors are red, green and yellow. Do you have a flagpole at your school? What colors are in our flag?

This is the our other school building that we have. This is where the older grade levels meet.

We have 3 teachers at our school named Korotoumou Dembele, Sidy Kiabou and Amadou Foumba. This is a picture of one of them.

This is us all lined up for our assembly with our American friends.

Thanks for taking a look around our school.

About Sena

2010-01-14T21:35:00.000-08:00

Sena is the furthest of the villages that the Ouelessebougou Alliance works with. It is about 2 hours off the main road. The road to Sena is made of dirt and is very uneven because during the rainy season the road washes away.

Sena had the oldest man in the region living in their village. Unfortunately he died a few months ago.

Most importantly Sena is known for having very friendly people.

Lets Meet Some of the Children in Sena!!!

2010-01-13T20:38:00.000-08:00

Hi my name is Djibril Foumba and I am 12 years old. I have two brothers and two sisters and my favorite color is white. My family own some sheep too.

I get up at 6 am each morning and I eat rice for breakfast. At school my favorite subject is grammar but I don't like division very much.

After school I have to help my family make bricks out of mud. I also like to spin pen caps kinda like a top.

When I grow up I want to be a doctor.

Hello my name is Fatoumata Traore and I am 12 years old. I have 6 brothers and 3 sisters and my favorite color is red. We own some cows.

I get up at 6 am each morning and I eat rice for breakfast. At school I like grammar but I don't like spelling.

I like to play dolls with my friends but only after I'm done sweeping out the courtyard.

When I grow up I want to be a teacher. I just want to tell you all "Bonjour".

THANK YOU!!!

2010-01-12T20:32:00.000-08:00

We got your Octopuses and we love them. Most of us have not seen one before so thank you for sharing this new animal with us.

The books you gave us are great and will help us to practice our reading. The pictures on them are very fun and interesting to look at.

The pencils are also a great resource that will help us to write short stories, do math problems, or whatever is needed.

WELCOME

2010-01-11T20:43:00.000-08:00

WELCOME DJEMENE

About Djemene

2010-01-10T12:30:00.000-08:00

Djemene is known for practicing traditional medicine. People from neiboring villages will come to get their broken or sprained bones fixed.

They have 4 teachers working at their school named Mody Sissoko, Famoussa Bagayoko, Modibo Bah, and Fanto Samake

The school is 1st-6th grades but only 4 classrooms which means that 1st and 2nd are together (80 kids) and 3rd and 4th are together too (70 kids).

Djemene is about 6 km off of a paved road and our first classrooms were built in 1995.

Our School.

2010-01-09T10:44:00.000-08:00

This is the outside of our school. We have large windows in each classroom to let in light because we don't have electricity.

This is our school bell, our teachers ring it when it is time to tell us when class begins and ends.
Does your school have a bell?

This is our schedule each day, so we know what we will be learning. Do you have a schedule that you use in your classroom?

These are some of the things we use at school. There is a measure stick, some chalk and an eraser.

At recess we like to all play soccer together. What do you like to play at recess?

This is our 6th grade teacher, he teaching us about grammar right now.

These are students in our 3rd and 4th grade levels.

This is our 1st and 2nd grade class.

Thanks for looking around our school.

THANK YOU!!!

2010-01-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

We got the books you sent us and just wanted to say Thank You.

We don't have many books in our school so these will help us be able to practice our reading skills.

We hope you like the pictures we have drawn for you.

Thanks again!!!

Lets Meet Some of the Children in Djemene!!!

2010-01-07T21:48:00.000-08:00

Hello my name is Nakaba Dumbia and I am 18 years old. I have 4 brothers and no sisters and my favorite color is red.
I get up at 6 am and I eat rice for breakfast. I like math in school and I don't have a least favorite subject, I like them all.
After school I like to play with dolls. Each day I have to pull water from the well and do laundry.
When I grow up I want to be a farmer.
I just wanted to say that I love you all very much.

Hi, my name is Moussa Samake and I am 10 years old. I have 1 brother and 1 sister and my favorite color is black.
I get up at 6 am each morning and I eat rice for breakfast. In school my favorite subject is grammar but I don't like math very much.
After school I like to play soccer with my friends and I have to watch my little brother.
When I grow up I want to be a farmer.
I just wanted to tell you all "Merci".

WELCOME

2010-01-06T20:33:00.000-08:00

WELCOME TO FAMANA

Making Shea Butter

2010-01-05T12:10:00.000-08:00

In our village the women make lots of Shea Butter.

First we gather the nuts, wash them, let them out to dry, and then roast them in these big kilns. This is a picture of them roasting.

The women in our village then will work the butter for a few hours each day. Soon the oil and butter will separate and after some more proccesses the butter will turn white and sold in markets in big balls.

This little girl shows how the women turn the butter over and over again for a few hours.
We use Shea Butter for our skin, cooking, and water proofing different things.

Do you know of things that Shea Butter is used in?

About Famana

2010-01-04T20:02:00.000-08:00

We usually ride our bikes around the village. We take our brothers and sisters on the back of them too.

There is a bike repair shop in our village.

This is our Chief. You can tell because he wears mostly white. Our chief is also blind in one of his eyes, and we love and respect him very much.

This is a tree that many of our elders sit under and discuss things about our village. You can see our main road in the back round.

This is our mosque, this is where we worship. Then men have a special door and so do the women. The men in our village usually pray at least 3 times a day.

This is one of our wells we made ourselves for out compound. A compound is where a family lives, sometimes they include extended family. After a few rainy seasons we will need to dig another one.

Our School.

2010-01-03T19:20:00.000-08:00

These are our chalkboard that we use each day. These ones help us keep attendance in our classes.

This is our teacher Osman. He teaches 5th grade at our school.

This is our teacher in our first grade class. She is very patient with us when she helps us to learn.

This is where our kindergartners meet. We have a gate to keep them from getting lost or running into the near by road. Their parents drop them off and pick them up here.

Our favorite game to play is soccer. We love to play soccer at break time.

Thanks for looking around our school.

THANK YOU!!!

2010-01-02T18:17:00.000-08:00

Thank you for the books that you sent to us.

We will enjoy reading about your lives in America.

Also reading the books will help us to practice our literary skills and French.

We hope you like the drawings that we drew for you.

Kindergartner

2010-01-01T11:35:00.000-08:00

In Famana we have a class just for Kindergartners. In our kindergarten class they wear bright green smocks so that if one of them wanders off we can still be able to find them. In kindergarten they learn to sing, dance and learn basic tasks, such as counting and chores.

This little girl stood up and sang us a song all by herself. She did a great job.

What songs do your little Kindergartners sing?

Lets Meet Some of the Children in FAMANA!!!

This is the outside of our school. We have large windows to let light in because we don't have electric lights.

This is the inside of one of our classrooms.

This is the the sign to our first grade class.

This is the inside of one of our "hangers".

This is our blackboard that we use. We are learning our vowels.

This is our school bell that the teachers ring to tell us when school is starting and ending. Do you have a bell?

Thank you for looking around our school.

Lets Meet Some of the Children in Neneko!!!!

2009-12-10T20:14:00.000-08:00

Hi my name is Adboulaye Doumbia and I am 8 years old. I have 4 brothers and 2 sisters and my favorite color is red. We have some pet cows.
I get up at 6 am each morning and eat porridge for breakfast. In school I like to add but I don't like to multiply.
After school I have to water the plants and when I'm done with that I get to play cars with my friends.
When I grow up I want to be a teacher.

Hello my name is Marietou Doumbia and 12 years old. I have 4 brothers and 1 sister and my favorite color is yellow. We have pet sheep.
I wake up at 6 every morning and have porridge for breakfast. My favorite subject in school is reading but I don't like math.
After school I have to help with laundry and after I'm done I get to play with cars.
When I grow up I want to be a teacher.

2009-07-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Ouelessebougou Alliance Blog, where we hope you will find interesting and in depth information about the villages in Mali, West Africa where we work and the people that we work with in the villages.