It's strange...

...Living in Bamako as an Education Peace Corps Volunteer. My life is certainly far different than any other volunteer's in country right now. That's not necessarily bad, it's simply fact.

I'm unable to travel, to take "vacations" as it were. I don't mind that. Not really. However, when we're on strike, it'd be nice to see other parts of Mali. But it's not possible.

Currently, we are, in fact, on strike. This time around, it's on the part of the students. There are too many students and not enough teachers. The ministry won't authorize the teachers to teach additional classes because there's simply not the money to do it. It's a hard fact, but it is, in fact, a fact.

It causes frustrations across the board. The teachers want to do more, but their hands are tied. The students want to learn, but they don't have teachers. So, the only thing that can happen, does. The students strike.

We successfully taught for 4 weeks. We've since not been teaching for 2 weeks due to strikes. There is another meeting on Monday to see if the strike will continue or not. Hopefully, it'll come to an end, but in all honesty, even I have to admit that I'm stretching for that hope.

Prior to the 4 weeks of classes we did have, there were strikes that had prevented the fall term to start. Yes, the fall semester for 2008 began in January 2009. This isn't an uncommon phenomenon for higher education in West Africa. There's a lack of funding. There's a lack of teachers. There's a lack of absolutely everything. Except students.

In Bamako, there are over 16,000 incoming freshmen this year. That's nearly 10,000 more than expected. It's also a number that's only going to get worse as the years go by. I read an article the other day that said that in 2005, there were 400,000 students enrolled in West African francophone universities. That number is expected to be over 2,000,000 by 2015. That's right. Ten years for such an increase in the student population. With that number in mind, it's important to keep in mind that U of Bamako does not expect to have a significant increase in teachers within that time (if any at all).

Long story short, it's a bad, bad situation for everyone involved. Beyond the impact at the university, I worry about the impact on my fellow Peace Corps university teacher, Tiffany. She has a fiancé back in the US, a Master's in education that she could be using to teach in places that could be currently needing her abilities and yet she's currently here doing absolutely nothing. I wouldn't blame her for leaving (if she decided to do so) in order to return to the US and be productive. How could I? At least there, she could feel fulfilled in some way by doing good in the world.

The latter issue rings further true as I hear the rumblings of what is possible for this year. It could become a "White Year." Meaning, the school year could be canceled all together. In order for a school year to be valid, the students must meet for at least 25 weeks. Otherwise, the year is forfeit and we wait for the next school year. We are currently coming very close to that deadline. Then what happens? It's the students who miss out more than anyone else. They're the ones who absolutely do not receive the education that they so desperately need to receive during that time. Teachers won't be paid. It's really a lose-lose situation for everyone. The ministry, while maintaining a little bit of additional funds, lose out on having their own citizens educated. It really only continues the cycle that's already in place. A cycle that we desperately need to move beyond.

In the meantime, my hands are entirely tied. I teach at a center one day/week, which gives me at least something to do while the strike persists, but I can really do nothing else. I cannot commit to other tasks because the school year could resume at any moment--preventing me from fulfilling those obligations. I cannot travel because, again, the school year could resume at a moment's notice. And we have to be ready to start teaching again at that moment.

With all of that said, I am still presently optimistic. I have to remain so. The term will begin again. I'll be able to once again teach the classes that I had grown to love teaching for the 4 weeks that I'd been able to teach. And the semester will continue to an end in which the students feel enriched and satisfied. It'll be difficult for us to get there, but I do still believe that we will, in fact, get there.