alumna Sarah Smilkstein ’11 recently celebrated the opening of a community education center she worked tirelessly to establish in an impoverished neighborhood in Mali. Smilkstein won a $10,000 grant for her project in the Niamakoro neighborhood of Bamako, Mali.
“Possibly my favorite moment of the week came in the afternoon when one little girl, Aminata, who is clearly the class ring leader, showed up at the library door with 20 more first-graders behind her and declared, 芒鈧淎n na na liburu kalan,’ which translates to, 芒鈧淲e have come to read the books,'” Smilkstein, 22, 聽wrote last week .
A 61传媒 summa cum laude graduate, Smilkstein majored in politics/international relations and French before leaving the United States earlier this year for the African continent. She was selected for the Padelford French Award, which is given annually to a 61传媒senior who has distinguished herself in French studies. Mali’s official language is French.
Smilkstein said she originally considered going to Madagascar, but after researching how women are treated in Mali, she decided to go there instead. recently rated Mali as the fifth worst country in the world to be a woman.
“Poverty, desperation and, above all, ignorance, fuel the hate and destruction of groups like Al Qaeda and pull at the fissures of Malian society. Education has the power to combat these evils,” wrote Smilkstein in her . Smilkstein worked closely with community leaders to build enough local support for the education center.