Our class enables students to sell their art in the markets of Bamako, creating self-sustaining jobs for children who would otherwise be begging for money. During the duration of the course, children come to the Mali Association of Culture and Hope every day, where, in addition to art lessons, they receive breakfast, lunch, and enough money to travel home or a bed within our building.
Three times a year, we ask the authorities in Bamako for 15 homeless and troubled children to come participate in a 90 day class in Bogolan art. We especially look for children in the greatest need of assistance; if they bring friends along, we always keep our doors open regardless of our funding, because we must help those who have been rejected by the rest of society.
After completing the course, children receive their certificates and are encouraged to further pursue their artistic aspirations. In some cases, graduates of our course gain enough self-confidence to re-enter the school system, which is extremely rare amongst Bamako’s lower classes. If children want to return to school, we offer financial assistance that enables them to fulfill that dream. Alumni often come to us for lunch, go back to school for the afternoon, and later return to help with our activities. They often help younger students with their art, forming bonds that display the potential for a brighter future for all of Bamako’s youth. Other students have returned to their villages, bringing with them their Bogolan art skills, which have led to self-sustaining careers. Recently, one of our alumni sold enough art to open his own restaurant!
Although we mainly work with children, we have also worked with young offenders, both in Mali and in the UK, as well as the elderly, with women’s groups in the Djikozoni area in Bamako, with ‘handicapped’ people and groups of very sick children from the villages. There’s a lovely footprint bogolan sheet that Awa, Kader’s wife, did with some children who had Noma, a devastating gangrene disease that affects young children living in extreme poverty. The local hospital consultant contacted the Association when a large group of children were being treated at the hospital, and we worked with the children to make a beautiful piece of bogolan art!
