Women of Yacolidabouo

WOMEN
If we thought men were challenging, women were the most mysterious. A meeting with the women association of the village called OUYINE ASSOUAGNE was scheduled in the misdt of our stay. We should add that the women association include young and older women as opposed to men who segregate the elders and the young men.
The first meeting was energetic, how women are able communicate and work together. They arrived on time and in great numbers for our kick off meeting. The president was in attendance as well as the vice president, the secretary and they even thought about bringing their own translator. Not all women were fluent in French so they made sure to bring someone from the association who would handle any communication issues.
We spoke about their children and our assessment that they are not too disciplined at school, how they need to be involved in their children schooling and participate in Parent-Teacher meetings. This topic was a little challenging because we did not want to appear telling them how to raise their children, rather initiate a conversation and exchange of ideas on how to better structure children lives before and after class.
The subject of raising children is still developing and we expect to create children workshops/discussions for our next mission in 2011 with Mr. Jean Marc Bernard, Education Consultant.
Another subject discussed was women independence. The ladies shared with us that they need to find first an activity that will allow them not to rely financially on their husbands and second a way to loan each other money, in other words a microfinancing system among them.
We liked the idea which could become an amazing project to create an association, develop an activity and teach them how to manage it all. We created a partnership with MZK MANAGEMENT (MZK-MD), a reputable local organization that manages such projects pro bono.
So far, only $300 has been raised to establish the association but much more is needed in order to start their activities.

Recap on the Children of Yaclidabouo

We worked with the substitute teacher and the children of the only pre-school in the region. Substitute teachers from the village with no educational background had to fill in the gap for an assigned teacher. In the Ivory Coast, the public education system will allow a teacher to rotate to pre-schools if they have the basic environment for the children.
In Yacolidabouo, the classroom has four walls, no doors and a roof with a hole in the ground for bathroom breaks.
Not all children in the eligible age bracket attend pre-school because there is an expense that parents are not ready to take. Those who enroll their children understand the benefit of enrolling their children in the classrom early and see the benefit as the child goes further in his/her eductation.
In 2009 we raised $200 in cash and $500 worth of school supplies, soaps and toilet paper for Yacolidabouo pre-school.
We also recorded the names of all children to follow their achivement in the village school system so that parents will understand the benefit of their children attending pre-school which we hope will push them to develop a better family budget.