MIDDLE
SCHOOLS

3-room Middle Schools fit 150 students in the 7th-9th grades.Built within the village close to home for rural students

WATER
PROGRAM

Solar-Powered Water pumps storing water in towers for the whole community to have easy access to clean pumped water

TRACTORS
& TRUCKS

Perpetual Tractor Fund leases tractors/trucks to villagers. Increased yields and lending allows them to own after 5 years.

TEACHER
HOUSING

Teachers are hesitant to teach in rural Mali. Providing housing allows us to attract the nation’s best teachers.

SOLAR
POWER

Solar panels bring light to our villages allowing night classes and after-hours homework improving opportunities

TEXT
BOOKS

Instead of sharing one book and copying lengthy notes off a chalk board students can read directly from their own textbook.

Current Projects

Karagouan Vllage

Villages of Zekoun, Moro Moro & Siemen

Community of Mopti

Ouelessebougou City

Siemen Village

Water Well Drilling Rig

Current Project Details

Fifth BYAW Academy and teacher housing in Karagouan

Donor: Building Youth Around the World Foundation

Demonstrating yet another commitment to educating tomorrow’s youth, Building Youth Around the World has donated the funds to build a 3-classroom primary school and three building teachers housing in the village of Karagouan.

This will be the fifth BYAW Academy. The first academy is in the village of Ferekoroba and thanks to multiple investments by BYAW, the village now houses teachers quarters and a electricity generating playground. The second academy is the village of Fanterela which also now houses a teachers housing and electricity producing playground. The third academy is in the distant rural community of Dovong. BYAW also renovated and rebuilt the middle school in Marako. The fourth academy, completed in December 2019, is in Ouelessebougou city to combat overcrowding in surrounding schools in the city.

Teacher housings in Zekoun, Moro Moro and Siemen

Donor: Coates Family

Quality teachers ensure a quality education. In Mali’s rural villages, it is difficult to keep qualified teachers in villages.

A lack of quality housing also discourages teachers from wanting to teach in rural areas as they have no place to house their families. A teachers housing allows quality teachers to be attracted and provides for long-term stability for the teachers and also the students they teach.

Thanks to a kind donation from the Coates family, we will be constructed three teacher housing areas in the villages of Moro Moro, Siemen and Zekoun, where we already have built schools. Each teacher housing will have three separate homes. Each home will have two bedrooms and a living room so that a teacher can house his family during his stay in the village.

Food for Mopti

Donor: Matthew McConaughey and JK Livin

The community of Mopti has been devastated by natural disasters, fighting and insecurity. Many families have been displaced and severely impacted by food shortages.

We received a second generous donation of $110,000 dollars to continue a food security project over the 7 months from August 2020 to February 2021 that will provide 100 different families each month much needed food in the staples of rice, millet, oil, corn and milk. This project will be carried out in collaboration with a local Malian association Humanitarian Action for Development.

This project has been in place since January 2020 and this is the second donation that Matthew and JK Livin have made to ensure the success of this project in meeting the needs of the people of Mopti.

Textbooks for Ouelessebougou

Donor: Private Donor

Textbooks are an essential part of our rural schools in Mali. No textbooks in a classroom means that the teacher is subjected to copying text on a blackboard and have the students use class time to copy those notes. No active learning happens. By providing textbooks to the education committee of the school, we ensure that year after year, students can use these textbooks as references and use class time as active learning.

A kind donation from a private donor will allow us to equip our latest school, The Karl and Erika Academy of Ouelessebougou, with textbooks. This middle school has alleviated the severe overcrowding in the fast growing city of Ouelessebougou. Textbooks will help alleviate the learning challenges further.

Coates family Primary School

Donor: Coates Family

We thank the Coates family for its continued commitment to education and for funding its third school in Mali. The two previous middle schools are in Falla II and Moro Moro, both distant rural villages in the community of Sikasso.

The village for the third school will be Siemen. Siemen is a rural village that is in desperate need for a primary school. The village had already built a 3 classroom primary school that is now overcrowded. To combat the overcrowding they have been skipping registrations to every other year. This however has left many students unable to be start school in a timely manner leading to them losing a year.

This new school will resolve this issue and help boys and girls get a quality education in their own village.

Water Well Drilling Rig

Donor: JP’s Peace, Love and Happiness Foundation

In Mali, access to clean water is difficult due to the country’s uneven geographic distribution of water resources. The climate is unpredictable, with variations between heavy rainfall and extreme drought.

For the past two years, we have been digging boreholes and installing solar water pumps to bring clean water to villages. The Peace, Love and Happiness foundation has invested in four such water pump installations in the communities of Ouélessébougou, Dioila, Sanankoro and N’tentou. A significant cost of the systems is the rental of a drilling rig mounted on a truck to dig the deep wells.

A generous grant from JP’s Peace, Love and Happiness Foundation will allow us to purchase our own drilling rig making it possible to dig multiple wells and install solar pumps at a greatly reduced cost.

Completed Projects

2020 Completed Projects

Peace Love and Happiness Foundation brings four new solar water systems

Date Completed: 2020

Partners: JP’s Peace Love and Happiness foundation

Project Description/Impact: Thanks to a generous donation from Paul Mitchell Haircare Family and JP’s Peace, Love, and Happiness Foundation, Empower Mali was able to bring clean drinking water to four different communities in rural Mali.

The drilling of wells equipped with solar generated pumps brings water to the rural villagers of Mali. Each kit includes solar panels, electric pump, an elevated reservoir, and sufficient piping to make the water accessible for the villagers.

We installed four solar powered water pumps and tanks in the communities of:

Ouélessébougou
Well Depth: 360 ft
People Served :3800
Flow Rate :1057 gal/hr

Dioila
Well Depth :393 ft
People Served :2600
Flow Rate :951 gal/hr

Sanankoro
Well Depth :328 ft
People Served :1700
Flow Rate :800 gal/hr

N’tentou
Well Depth:360 ft
People Served:2300
Flow Rate : 1057 gal/hr

The Karl and Erika Michel Academy of Ouelessebougou is Completed

Date Completed: 2020

Partners: Building Youth Around the World, Michel Family

Project Description/Impact:

Thanks to a generous grant from the Michel Family and the Building Youth Around the World foundation, Empower Mali has completed construction of a three classroom middle school in the community of Ouelessebougou. Ouelessebougou is a fast growing city and schools are overcrowded. The new school will bring relief to the community and help increase enrollment of students in 7th, 8th and 9th grades from Ouelessebougou and the surrounding villages.

This is Building Youth Around the World’s fifth school in Mali. They have also built three teacher housings, installed two electricity generating playgrounds and sponsored a student from Mali to attend high school in the United States. In partnership with Building Youth Around the world, we are also building a primary school and teachers housing in the village of Karagouan which is in the Sikasso region of Mali.

Feeding Families in Mopti

Date Completed: 2020

Partners: Matthew McConaughey

Project Description/Impact:

Mali is already one of the poorest countries in the world. Insecurity and violence in the last few years has led to many families in the Mopti region struggling to get by. A generous $100,000 grant from Matthew McConaughey has allowed the Empower Mali family to serve 100 families every month for 7 months from January to July 2020.

In July 2020, Matthew reaffirmed his commitment to serve more families for 7 more months with another generous $100,000 donation.

Completion of the teachers housing for Nurturing Nations Ghana Orphanage

Date Completed: 2020

Partners: Building Youth Around the World, Nurturing Nations

Project Description/Impact:

This year we lent our construction expertise and partnered with the Building Youth Around the World Foundation to build a teacher housing for the Nurturing Nations orphanage in Kofi Kwei. The orphanage already has a School and Safe House which provide a safe place for children of all abilities and economic backgrounds from the area to learn and grow.

A lack of quality housing discourages teachers from wanting to teach in rural areas as they have no place to house their families. A teachers housing allows quality teachers to be attracted and provides for long-term stability for the teachers and also the students they teach.

Empower Mali partnered with Building Youth Around the World to make the teacher housing a reality and to allow the orphanage in Kofi Kwei to keep quality teachers onsite.

A new Tractor for the community of N'Tentou

Date Completed: 2020

Partners: Empower Mali

Project Description/Impact:

As part of the Perpetual Tractor program, enough money was paid back by the villages, which already have our tractors, to buy one new tractor for the community of N’Tentou!!

The Empower Mali tractors food security initiative will allow farmers to modernize their business and help increase production of staples like cotton, sorghum, millet, maize, and rice. A massive increase in productivity and output will make a decisive improvement in production, employment and increase rural incomes.

The JP DeJoria Academy of Moro Moro is Inaugurated

Date Completed: 2020

Partners: JP’s Peace Love and Happiness Academy of Moro Moro

Project Description/Impact:

The JP Dejoria Academy of Moro Moro in the city of Madina in the region of Kayes was inaugurated!! The school consists of three classrooms, a director’s office and two blocks of three latrines, one for girls and one for boys. This school serves the 7th, 8th and 9th grade students in the village who otherwise would risk a 5km, 4 times a day walk in blazing sun, storms and torrential rains, and possible kidnappings for ritual sacrifices.

The inauguration was attended by the entire village and community leaders. The Indian Ambassador to Mali was a special guest. Namory Coulibaly, a representative of the association of young nationals of Moro-Moro in Bamako, stated that “this school relieves the children in the second cycle. Our children are suffering a lot because of the lack of classes. But today, thanks to Empower Mali, we have just inaugurated three rooms in a kit of 3 equipped classrooms, 6 latrines, an office of the Director, and a home for current teachers. This is a relief that marks the hope, a hope that will remain etched in the memories of the people of Moro Moro

This middle school was completed in 2019 but due to COVID19, its inauguration was delayed. Despite it not being inaugurated, Empower Mali worked with local leaders to ensure the school start being used as soon as possible to alleviate the suffering of the children and their parents.

A tractor for Sikasso

Date Completed: 2020

Partners: The Watkins Family and Gerber Construction

Project Description/Impact:

A kind $20,000 donation from the Watkins family added to a donation from Gerber construction allowed Empower Mali to partner with yet another community in Sikasso town to provide a tractor.

The tractor is part of the Perpetual Tractor program. Villages are able to pay off the $25,000 tractors over a period of 5 years and then they own them outright. These communities have implemented large scale farming. They have been able to increase their farmland thereby also increasing yields.

The William Cecil Carr Academy of Zekoun is Completed

Date Completed: 2020

Partners: Coates Family

Project Description/Impact:

We have finished construction on a middle school in the village of Zekoun. Zekoun in the Commune of Misseni, is close to the Ivory Coast border. The village with a population of 500 families is in dire need of a middle school.

Due to COVID restrictions, the Inauguration will happen at a later date but we have worked directly with local authorities to provide teachers so the school can start being used immediately for the community’s benefit.

New Solar water Pump for N’Godonina

Date Completed: 2020

Partners: Sorenson Legacy Foundation

Project Description/Impact:

Thanks to a generous grant from the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, Empower Mali was able to bring clean water to the village of N’Godonina in the Bougouni region. We used a modern highly effective borehole that was able to dig a 360ft well. We also installed an electric pump and an elevated reservoir which stores the water and keeps it safe from contamination

The water system has been a lifesaver for the 3800 residents of N’Godonina and has been able to provide a steady supply of clean water for families, livestock and crops.

Empower Mali also worked directly with the water committee in the village and brought in our own experts to conduct a training session on hygiene and sanitation around the tap and water treatment and clean storage techniques.

2019 Completed Projects

The Val and Jeanne Christensen Building Youth Around the World Academy of Dovong

Date Completed: 2019

Partners: Building Youth Around the World, Jeanne and Val Christensen

Project Description/Impact: The Val and Jeanne Christensen Building Youth Around the World Academy of DOVONG and teachers housing was dedicated. The school will host 150 students from Dovong and surrounding villages that attend grades 7-9.

The village with a population of 3360 is in dire need of the school because currently their primary school building houses two class grades per room. Grade 1/2, 3/4 and 5/6 are together. The new school will be a 3-classroom primary school to accommodate 170 children (92 boys and 78 girls).

The school comes fully equipped with desks, a director office and separate toilets for girls and boys. The teachers housing has three separate two room buildings that will serve the teachers and director and their families.

Thank you to the Val and Jeanne Christensen family and the Building Youth Around the World foundation!!!

Textbooks for every student at the Micah Shea Academy of Dongorona

Date Completed: 2019

Partners: Nelson Family

Project Description/Impact:

Thanks to a generous grant from the Nelson foundation, Empower Mali donated textbooks to the Micah Shea Academy of Dongorona. The books will allow each pupil to have his own textbook. The books will be in the care of the education committee of Dongorona and be used for many years.

Solar Lamps for rural Mali

Date Completed: 2019

Partners: Grant McAfee

Project Description/Impact:

Several Villages in the commune of Ouélessébougou received solar lamps and soccer balls. The villages of Marako, Dongorona, Beneko and Kolena each benefited from 45 to 50 solar lamps and Five soccer balls.

These donations were sponsored by Boyd Grant McAfee, a 15-year-old high school student who raised funds for this project. These donations will be used to improve the living environment of several hundred students and their families.

The JP DeJoria Academy of Moro Moro is completed

Date Completed: 2019

Partners: JP’s Peace, Love & Happiness Foundation

Project Description/Impact:

The JP Dejoria Academy of Moro Moro in the city of Madina in the region of Kayes is finished!! The school consists of three classrooms, a director’s office and two blocks of three latrines, one for girls and one for boys

Groundbreaking of the Middle School of Zekoun

Date Completed: 2019

Partners: Coates Family

Project Description/Impact:

We broke ground on our newest middle school in the village of Zekoun. Zekoun in the Commune of Misseni, is close to the Ivory Coast border. The village with a population of 500 families is in dire need of a middle school.
The chief of the village Issa Cisse, the women, the youth and the notables who participated in the ceremony expressed their joy to Empower Mali.
We thank the Coates family for their investment in children on Zekoun !!

Graduation of first Malian student in the San Francisco de Asis Agricultural school of Paraguay

Date Completed: 2019

Partners: San Francisco de Asis Agricultural school of Paraguay

Project Description/Impact:

We ended 2019 by celebrating the graduation of Diakaridia (Pronounced Ja-Ka-Ree-Ja, we call him JaJa) from the San Francisco de Asis Agricultural school. Jaja was abandoned by his mother when he was just a small boy. Soon after, his father passed away leaving him an orphan at the young age of 7 years.
We congratulate Jaja on his graduation with his double Technical Degree in Agriculture and Hospitality and Tourism.

He is now back in Mali raising money to start his own chicken farm. His farm will create jobs and also provide an additional source of food for the community

2018 Completed Projects

JP DeJoria Academy is completed in Banko

Date Completed: 2018

Partners: Peace, Love and Happiness

Project Description/Impact: The JP DEJORIA Academy of Banko Koumantou is finished. The school will host 150 students from Banko Koumantou and surrounding villages that attend grades 7-9. The school comes fully equipped with desks, a director office and separate toilets for girls and boys.

Thank you to the Peace Love and Happiness foundation for continuing to invest in the projects that will make access to education a reality for our children in Koumantou Banko, Mali

Solar Lamps for Marako, Dongorona, Beneko and Kolena

Date Completed: 2018

Partners: Boyd Grant McAfee

Project Description/Impact:

The villages of Marako, Dongorona, Beneko and Kolena each benefited from 45 to 50 solar lamps and five soccer balls.

We thank Boyd Grant McAfee and his family for their commitment to serving the children of Mali!!

A Electricity producing Playground in the village of Fanterila

Date: 2018

Partners: Building Youth Around the World Foundation (BYAW)

Project Description/Impact:

The Building Youth Around the World Academy of Fanterila now has an electricity producing playground.

The villagers will also have access to 40 merry-go-round powered lanterns for use at night in their homes at night for study and other needs.

Solar water pumps for Ouelessebougou City , Bougouni and Baguineda

Date:2018

Partners: Watkins Family

Project Description/Impact: With the help of the Watkins Family, we brought three Solar water pumps in Ouelessebougou City , Bougouni and Baguineda.

2017 Completed Projects

A new tractor for the village of Beneko!

Date Completed: 2017

Partners: Watkins Family

Project Description/Impact: A new tractor for the village of Beneko! As part of the Food Security program, the tractor will enable mechanization and faster, greater
turnover of crops that can be harvested and sold. We thank the Watkins family for investing in Beneko’s food security for the future.

Dedication of the Micah Shea Watkins Academy of Dongorona

Date Completed: 2017

Partners: Watkins Family

Project Description/Impact:

The Micah Shea Academy of Dongorona now has a teachers housing in the village providing a good quality housing situation for teachers sent by the government. This encourages well trained teachers to remain in the village.

A teachers Housing in the village of Fanterila

Date: 2017

Partners: Building Youth Around the World Foundation (BYAW)

Project Description/Impact:

The Building Youth Around the World Academy of Fanterila now has a teachers housing providing a stable home for teachers and their families. Most times these teachers are well trained and sent by the government but do not stay for lack of good housing in the village.

Rebuilding the Marako Academy

Date:2017

Partners: Building Youth Around the World, Individual Donors

Project Description/Impact: Last year, during the night, a truck damaged one classroom on the Marako middle school.

Thanks to generous individual donors and a $3500 donation from BYAW we were able to rebuild the Marako middle school classroom.

2016 Completed Projects

Second Building Youth Around the World Academy is completed in Fanterila

Date Completed:November, 2016

Partners: Building Youth Around the World, Malian Government (provides teachers)

Project Description/Impact: Project Description/Impact: We partnered with Building Youth Around the World to build a three classroom middle school in the village of Fanterila, a village in the Commune of N’kourala, in Sikasso, Mali. The Building Youth Around the World Academy of Fanterila is the second of its kind in Mali

Dedication of the Micah Shea Watkins Academy of Dongorona

Date Completed: August, 2016

Partners: Watkins Family, Malian Government (provides teachers)

Project Description/Impact:

On August 6th, 2016, the village of Dongorona celebrated the dedication of the Micah Shea Watkins Academy of Dongorona.

The rural village of Dongorona is situated in the community of Oueléssébougou, Mali. With a population of 1300 households, there are 260 children currently attending primary and middle school. Currently 60 children will walk the 12 miles each day to attend the neighboring middle school in Simidji. The road they walk is a main road which is continuously busy with many buses/cars/trucks traveling dangerously fast. Many parents in the village have withdrawn their girls because of fear of having them walk that long distance alone. A school in the village will give these girls an equal chance at an education and prevent early marriages. The village is committed to the completion and future upkeep of the middle school.

With the donated funds, Empower Mali built a fully equipped three classroom middle school housing grades 7-9, a director’s office, a store room and 6 latrines ( 3 boys and 3 girls).

First Malian recipient of a three year scholarship to Fundación Paraguaya’s Agricultural School.

Date: May 2016

Partners: Individual donors, Fundación Paraguaya

Project Description/Impact:

Diakaridia Samake is the first Malian recipient of a three year scholarship to Fundación Paraguaya’s Agricultural School.

Diakaridia was abandoned by his mother when he was just a small boy. Soon after his father passed away leaving him an orphan at the young age of 7 years. He is a young 18-year old from Ouelessebougou. This scholarship could change his life. On completion, he will return to his village of Ouelessebougou.

Individual donors of the foundation helped raise the cost of the airplane ticket and room and board expenses to cover Diakaridia’s cost in Paraguay.

Fundación Paraguaya is a foundation run by Martin Burt who is also a BYU Graduate. He has offered these scholarships to young boys/girls from Mali between the age of 15-20. The foundation runs a rural high school, which is 45 minutes away from the capital city of Asuncion. At the school the students will be inducted into a special program where they will learn agricultural skills and competencies, as well as Spanish language. They will be able to have full use of the onsite library and internet services, and special care will be given for their attention and well-being. Upon graduation, these students will be highly trained agricultural technicians who will be able to share and implement the lessons and skills learned in their native Mali.

A basketball court for a middle school in Daoudabougou, Mali.

Date:April 2016

Partners: Mike Clayton, KSL, and Hoops ASL

Project Description/Impact: In April 2016, a group of basketball players, doctors partnered with Empower Mali to host a game between Malian basketball players and players from Utah. During this time, they also installed and constructed a basketball court for a middle school in Daoudabougou, Mali.

2015 Completed Projects

Successful installation of the first electricity generating playground in Ferekoroba

Date Completed:November, 2015

Partners: Building Youth Around the World

Project Description/Impact: We partnered with Building Youth Around the World to install an electricity generating playground in the village of Ferekoroba. The electricity generated by the playground will be used to light up the school. As part of the project, there were also 40 solar lanterns given to the middle school so students can study at night.

The Eloise DeJoria Academy of Katele

Date Completed: April, 2015

Partners: Peace Love Happiness Foundation, Peery Family and Private donors, Malian Government (provides teachers)

Project Description/Impact: We are grateful for a kind $30,000 donation from the DeJoria family, $16,000 from the Peery Family and $4000 from individual donors to build a 3-classroom middle school in the rural village of Katele. In this village, only a primary school was built by the government, so many children, especially girls, would drop out of school. The school when completed will house grades 7,8 and 9. The building will also include a headmasters office and 6 latrines ( 3 for boys, 3 for girls). Students of middle school age from Katele and surrounding villages will soon for the first time have the opportunity to study in their own village. Not only will the literacy level of the village rise, but it will allow the school building to be used for other community needs like adult literacy classes.

Sylvia D. Coates Academy of FALLA and teachers housing

Date Completed:November 2015

Partners: Private donor, Individual donors, Malian Government (provides teachers)

Project Description/Impact: The Falla project was a big project. It included the completion of construction of three classroom middle school, six latrines, a directors office, a computer room and also a separate teachers housing for the directors/teachers. This school is unique in that it offers an integrated computer room. Basic tablet/computer literacy will open doors for these children encouraging them to think greater than their classroom doors.

Micah Shea Watkins Academy of Dongorona, Mali

Partners: Watkins family, Government (provides teachers)

Project Description/Impact: In 2015, the Watkins Family of Alpine, Utah donated $60,000.00 to build a fully equipped 3-classroom middle school, administration building and 6 latrines in the village of Dongorona, Mali.

Due to a lack of a middle school middle school aged children would travel 3-7 miles, 4 times a day to attend school in the neighboring villages. This was causing a drop in enrollment rates especially for girls, who were kept back by parents in fear of long dusty roads and possible dangers of the long journey. The school will serve up to 150 students from Dongorona and the surrounding villages.

Students in Dongorona started using the middle school in February 2016.

Donation of two tractors to Garalo and San

Date Completed: August 2015

Project Description/Impact: As part of the Food Security Initiative, Empower Mali partnered with a private investor and also the Watkins family to donate two tractors to the villages of San and Garalo.

2014 Completed Projects

Four Malian students receive an 8-month ESL scholarship at Nomen Global, Utah

Date Completed:December, 2014

Partners: Nomen Global Language Center, Utah, Malian Ministry of Education

Project Description/Impact: We partnered with the Nomen Global Language Centers in Provo, Utah and the Ministry of Education in Mali to send four Malian students on a full 8-month scholarship to the US. The four students are Dramane Bagayoko, Odette Togola, Fatoumata Sow and Mamadou Tounkara. Once the students complete the 8 month study course, they will enroll in Universities in the US to further their education.

Teachers Housing for the Building Youth Around the World Academy, Ferekoroba

Date Completed:October, 2014

Partners: Building Youth Around the World Foundation, Community of Ferekoroba

Project Description/Impact:One of the issues that adds difficulties to a village receiving trained and effective teachers is being able to retain them. In many cases, when the government assigns teachers to rural areas, it falls upon the teachers to make housing arrangements. Where teachers cannot live near the school, they are likely to spend a lot of time traveling, often to the detriment of their school work. Most teachers will request transfers out of these areas leaving schools without trained teachers. Once trained teachers leave, the villagers resort to untrained and not as well educated individuals teaching. BYAW seeing such a need in the village of Ferekoroba has offered to build a 3-room housing for the teachers/headmaster of the Building Youth Around the World Academy of Ferekoroba.

Donated Tablets to Schools in Kalabancoura

Date Completed: February-December, 2014

Partners: Sorenson Legacy Foundation

Project Description/Impact: In Mali, many adults, let alone children will never touch a computer until they are much older and in college. Many children miss a key learning window in which they can master computer literacy. Thanks to a generous grant by the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, Empower Mali is putting tablets in the hands of young children in Mali. Trained administrators provide hands on learning on tablets to children. The children love this new experience of experimenting with applications and especially the power of the internet. They are raring to learn a fresh skill that will better prepare them for the future.

Basic tablet/computer literacy will open doors for these children encouraging them to think greater than their classroom doors. We donated tablets to schools in the Kalabancoura middle schools in Bamako, Mali.

Building Youth Around the World Academy of Ferekoroba, Mali

Dedication Date: April 19, 2014

Partners: Building Youth Around the World Foundation, Community of Ferekoroba, Government (provides teachers)

Project Description/Impact: In October 2013, Building Youth Around the World Foundation donated $50,000.00 to build a fully equipped 3-classroom middle school, administration building and 6 latrines in the village of Ferekoroba, Mali.

Students in Ferekoroba started using the middle school in October 2014. As part of the school opening, Empower Mali dedicated textbooks to the school committee for all students attending the school.

Donation of School Kits, Hygiene and Dental Kits

Date Completed: January to December, 2014

Project Description/Impact: We donated almost 500 school and hygiene kits in the distant villages in Ouélessébougou to mark the start of school. Many of the children and families in this area do not have these basic supplies.

2013 Completed Projects

Strengthening Local Government

Dates: April 15-22, 2013

Partners: Utah League of Cities and Towns, the Association of Mayors in Mali

Project Description/Impact:Empower Mali co-sponsered a 5-day governance summit in Utah and New York involving Malian mayors, city managers and councilors serving in local government in Mali.
The Malian delegation visited different city buildings, police and fire station facilities, waste management and water management sites. Also meetings with key city leaders in Utah and NYC allowed the group from Mali to gain an understanding of how things work in a different environment.
The delegation members hail from 5 of the 8 regions in Mali, even war torn Tombouctou. We thank all the different individuals and organizations that made this summit possible.

The purpose of the summit was to share skills for efficient governmental leadership that the Malian delegation can then apply in projects within their communities. Key contact information was exchanged to allow communication to continue after the Malian delegation left. Also all participants expressed their amazement at the processes they saw and hoped to one day implement them in their own communities.

Jeune-Voluntariat-Citoyenne Program ( Youth-Volunteer-Citizenship)

Dates: April 01-June 30, 2013 (1 trimester)

Partners: INFTS ( School of Social Work, Mali), Teachers, Parents, Students

Project Description/Impact:Empower Mali partnered with 30 students from the school of Social work (INFTS) in Bamako, Mali. The goal of the project was to send volunteers to help teachers and students in 16 elementary and middle schools during the day or after school as the need arose. These students not only acted as substitutes but more importantly provided extra aide in any subject ( English, Math, Physics, Chemistry, Teacher Training, Biology etc) the students needed help in. In some schools, there were so many students, that the children would be divided into groups with one group attending school only part of the day followed by the other group. Our volunteers also helped in government centers which helped children with learning disabilities so that they could join regular classes. Most students volunteered every day except weekends during which they would have a collective meeting to assess their successes/failures and share lessons learnt.

In every classroom we visited that our volunteers taught, the students seemed eager to show of their skills. Talking with principals, the one common trend they observed was a general increase in the understanding and hence the grades of the students. In each instance, the principal urged the program to begin from the start of school ( October) so that students would have the benefit of the extra aide for the entire year. There was an impact on our volunteers too. This experience taught them how to react and work in a live environment and how to adapt themselves to the students needs.

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

WATER PROGRAM

TRACTORS & TRUCKS

TEACHER HOUSING

SOLAR POWER

TEXT BOOKS

Current Projects

Karagouan Vllage

Villages of Zekoun, Moro Moro & Siemen

Community of Mopti

Ouelessebougou City

Siemen Village

Water Well Drilling Rig

Current Project Details

Fifth BYAW Academy and teacher housing in Karagouan

Teacher housings in Zekoun, Moro Moro and Siemen

Food for Mopti

Textbooks for Ouelessebougou

Coates family Primary School

Water Well Drilling Rig

Completed Projects

2020 Completed Projects

Peace Love and Happiness Foundation brings four new solar water systems

The Karl and Erika Michel Academy of Ouelessebougou is Completed

Feeding Families in Mopti

Completion of the teachers housing for Nurturing Nations Ghana Orphanage

A new Tractor for the community of N'Tentou

The JP DeJoria Academy of Moro Moro is Inaugurated

A tractor for Sikasso

The William Cecil Carr Academy of Zekoun is Completed

New Solar water Pump for N’Godonina

2019 Completed Projects

The Val and Jeanne Christensen Building Youth Around the World Academy of Dovong

Textbooks for every student at the Micah Shea Academy of Dongorona

Solar Lamps for rural Mali

The JP DeJoria Academy of Moro Moro is completed

Groundbreaking of the Middle School of Zekoun

Graduation of first Malian student in the San Francisco de Asis Agricultural school of Paraguay

2018 Completed Projects

JP DeJoria Academy is completed in Banko

Solar Lamps for Marako, Dongorona, Beneko and Kolena

A Electricity producing Playground in the village of Fanterila

Solar water pumps for Ouelessebougou City , Bougouni and Baguineda

2017 Completed Projects

A new tractor for the village of Beneko!

Dedication of the Micah Shea Watkins Academy of Dongorona

A teachers Housing in the village of Fanterila

Rebuilding the Marako Academy

2016 Completed Projects

Second Building Youth Around the World Academy is completed in Fanterila

Dedication of the Micah Shea Watkins Academy of Dongorona

First Malian recipient of a three year scholarship to Fundación Paraguaya’s Agricultural School.

A basketball court for a middle school in Daoudabougou, Mali.

2015 Completed Projects

Successful installation of the first electricity generating playground in Ferekoroba

The Eloise DeJoria Academy of Katele

Sylvia D. Coates Academy of FALLA and teachers housing

Micah Shea Watkins Academy of Dongorona, Mali

Donation of two tractors to Garalo and San

2014 Completed Projects

Four Malian students receive an 8-month ESL scholarship at Nomen Global, Utah

Teachers Housing for the Building Youth Around the World Academy, Ferekoroba

Donated Tablets to Schools in Kalabancoura

Building Youth Around the World Academy of Ferekoroba, Mali

Donation of School Kits, Hygiene and Dental Kits

2013 Completed Projects

Strengthening Local Government

Jeune-Voluntariat-Citoyenne Program ( Youth-Volunteer-Citizenship)

MIDDLE
SCHOOLS

WATER
PROGRAM

TRACTORS
& TRUCKS

TEACHER
HOUSING

SOLAR
POWER

TEXT
BOOKS