Teen Peer Education in Mali

During our recent trip to Bamako, we met with Souleymane Dolo, of Groupe Pivot, and he explained how peer education traditionally works in Mali. 

While there are many official structures and organizations in Mali, there are also unofficial organizations that are deeply ingrained in the social fabric. “Tontines” are groups of women who meet daily and collect money to buy and sell merchandise or take turns giving each other loans. “Grains” are evening gatherings of neighbors that are formed by shared interests. Both “grains” and “tontines” are naturally self-organized by age and gender, making them the perfect location to introduce peer education that touches on topics of sexual and reproductive health.

Our teen peer educators wll be fully trained according to the national protocol for teen peer education. They must be well versed in providing advice, and they must be fully trained in confidentiality because they will hear about everyone’s private issues. Socrates, a professional peer educator will train our teen educators to engage in each session little by little, until they are ready to take over.  

Peer educators can integrate into the social groups of the "tontines" and "grains" (which are already organized according to age and sex) to talk about the themes they have been trained in. People can ask personal questions (because they are already among their intimite friends), and they can request a certain theme that the peer educator will prepare for the next session.

By learning how to develop our program in accordance with Malian methods for peer education, we can assure the highest level of success. 

Please join us in our efforts to increase teen peer education in Bamako. Adolescence are a very at-risk sector of the population, and your donation will help improve the quality of their lives.

Many thanks,

Links:

• Check out our Teen Peer Education page on our website