A pair of teachers and their students from Mali and China are working online with us to co-develop one of our resources for African teachers who are interested in inspiring girls to pursue careers in technology. Below you will see the bio of the teacher in Mali, the bio of our Field Associate in Mali, the bio of the teacher in China, the bio of our business tech woman for this pairing, and a summary of WCE’s work in Mali.
Oumar Traore is an English teacher for iEARN-Mali in Bamako and a professional translator. He has been teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in high school in Mali for more than 10 years. This lovely experience of teaching brought him to 6 different high schools where he met students from different cultural background and shared with them knowledge. Thus, this helped him to learn much about students. He loves knowledge sharing. In addition to teaching English as a Foreign Language, he pursued training in translation studies where he earned a Masters’ Degree. He already has 3 years of experience in carrying out translation services for organizations and individuals. His main translation directions are English-French and French-English. He also translates from Bamanankan into French or English or vice-versa. He feels that translating is a very nice job because it permits you to carry messages through languages and cultures, thus, making you in contact with different languages and cultures. His main interests are teaching and translating since both expose you to different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Therefore, you are always learning or discovering new things. As he is very curious and always available to discover and learn new things and share his experience, he and his students are happy to be paired in the Inspire Girls pilot with a high school teacher and students in the Shenzhen College of International Education.
Diane Anthony is a computer science teacher at an International High School in China – Shenzhen College of International Education (Website: www.alevel.com.cn). The language of instruction at her school is English-language so all of the students speak English. Since 1992, she has taught in Guyana, Turks and Caicos, Colombia and the Cayman Islands. Diane is a Development Officer for Guyana for World Computer Exchange. She holds a BSc in Computer Science, a Graduate Diploma in Education-Administration from the University of Guyana and a Masters in Teaching, Curriculum and Instruction the University of Phoenix and an MBA from Columbia Southern University.
Fabiola Maurice is our business women mentor for this pairing. She is a Computer Engineer from Mexico, were she worked for a couple Computer retailers providing technical support to users, after that she joined EF to study abroad and moved to the US, where she learned English for 3 years. She ended up staying in the US and through Boston Cares she got involved into the world of Non-Profit organizations, and learned about the importance of giving back to the world. Eventually she became a Red Cross volunteer for 3 years helping at their food pantry, and volunteered for the WCE for a brief period. Currently she works online for The Guardian Project, a Non- Profit organization that develops free mobile apps to help users to protect their personal data from intrusion, interception and monitoring. One of her main roles at The Guardian Project is to conduct research in Spanish speaking countries to find the user’s main needs and concerns, which helps developers to create Applications that are helpful and safe for user.
Sounkalo Dembele: WCE Field Associate in Mali. He represents WCE in Mali and is moving toward developing a WCE Chapter in Bamako where they offer repair warranties on computers WCE ships to Mali. He is Site Manager for the WCE Inspire Girls pilot in Mali and a member of the Inspire Girls Team guiding the project. As part of this, iEARN-Mali is also co-developing one of their multi-country online student learning projects around Inspire Girls with other recipient iEARN affiliates in Ghana, Liberia, and Zambia. He has been the Country Coordinator for iEARN-Mali since 2003 where he has managed the Kennedy-Lugar YES student exchange program in Mali for the past 10 years and manages other grants with USAID and the US Embassy. He came to know about WCE at one of iEARN’s international conferences. He is the president and founder of NGO SchoolNetMali Mokoya juru an NGO with the main objective of the use of ICT in School systems. He has been a teacher for over 20 years teaching language classes including English and Nko, Bambara, and basic computer science. He is a mentor in using computer as a tool of teaching and learning. Sounkalo is a passionate Educator and community organizer. He believes the most important role of a teacher is to facilitate access to knowledge through different methods including the use of media and technology. He sees media introducing students to the digital world of information and learning – they are excited to learn when they are also having fun – which makes computers essential in the classroom. He earned his Master’s degree in English from Ecole Normale Superieure.
WCE Context in Mali: World Computer Exchange has begun planning for our 4th computer shipment to Bamako. Our computers are preloaded with French versions of Linux Xubuntu operating system (more resistant to viruses than Windows), Libre/Office suite (can be saved in Word), Edubuntu, Khan Academy and our content pack of education, health, agriculture, environment, and technology content for offline use. WCE is seeking a Corporate Sponsor to match the donations from our Partners to help in covering the costs for our upcoming shipment. WCE is now recruiting future recipients from among our 35 interested groups in Mali. WCE looks forward to the return of Peace Corps Volunteers to Mali so that we can provide computers to schools that they assist like we have in 17 other countries. WCE is pleased to be Partners with the Mali affiliate of VSA International working with the disabled. Previously: WCE has sent three shipments totaling 467 refurbished computers to 56 schools and centres connecting 39,550 youth over the years. USAID funded the first shipment. The second shipment resulted when a Rotarian drove a limo to from California to Bamako raising $4,000 along the way and then WCE auctioned it off in Bamako that was then matched by Rotary Club Bamako Ouest, the Mali District Rotary, the West Africa District Rotary, Rotary Club of Baytown in Texas, the Texas District, and finally by Rotary International resulting in a total of $40,000! The Rotarians delivered and helped install the computers in the schools in many parts of Mali. One of the recipient groups was iEARN-Mali – they have agreed to work with WCE going forward and providing training to teachers in recipient schools. Inspire Girls: Mali is one of five pilot countries of this WCE project. The pilot has pairs of teachers and their students from each pilot country and from the USA co-developing and field testing 5 resources for African teachers who are interested in inspiring girls to pursue careers in technology. WCE is allied with the iEARN country affiliate (that is also headed by our Field Associate), which helps train teachers who are new to the internet and involves them in online experiential learning projects. After the resources are ready, they will be widely disseminated through WCE’s network in 78 developing countries. The two initial teachers are being selected by Sounkalo Dembele, the iEARN-Mali Country Coordinator and the WCE Field Associate. The iEARN-Mali letter of commitment is available. WCE Development Officers for Mali: Sekou Mamadou Barry, Mark Sinclair, Gilbert Corniglion and Steven Cayford. WCE Regional Manager for West Africa: Jude Dela-Moses. WCE Field Associate in Mali: Sounkalo Dembele. (last updated: October 2017)
