Dédé Fund

During the summer of 2008 Hands Across the Nations provided art classes for the children of Mana in Mali, West Africa. It was a great success and we had as much pleasure as they did. During those sessions and in discussions with the school director, Béré Traoré, the seed for an education fund was planted.

Later that year Dr. Michelle Letarte established the Dédé Fund. The fund is in memory of her mother, a pediatric nurse who married a school teacher and raised nine children, providing each of them with the best education possible.

Through the generous support of many donors we have been able to provide salaries for two additional teachers for the public school in Mana. They are now entering their fourth year of teaching. We also provided extra money for purchasing necessary school books in the children's native language, Bambara.

As we continue to staff the school with qualified teachers we will also be starting some new programs in 2012. One such initiative is a series of bursaries, one for the top student in each of the eight grades within the school. These bursaries will cover the academic fees for the year and some school supplies. We are also currently in the process of setting up evening classes for the women in the village as many are illiterate. This is a project dear to many of our donors and the community is eager to see it happen. We will start with a pilot project and will have a qualified woman teaching the rudiments of writing, reading and math. We will also provide information sessions on topics such as health and hygiene, child care and environmental protection.