Construction of the new elementary school in the village of Tionso is well underway. Workers recently took a week’s vacation for a major holiday. In West Africa, they call it Tabaski, but most of the Muslim world calls it Eid al-Adha. This week, the work resumed and things are moving ahead nicely.

Thanks to the principal of the school in Tionso, Monsieur Cissouma, for sending these great photos! These photos are a great illustration of the community mobilizing to help build the school. This is one of the ways that we build new schools quickly and inexpensively. Young people in the village transport materials like sand and gravel, and provide plenty of labor.

The new three-room schoolhouse will replace an existing mud brick building that was in poor condition. As a part of every school project, we also fund the construction of a storeroom/teacher’s office and a block of latrines for boys and girls. The school enrolls 440 children, so these new classrooms will help ease overcrowding. The bright, airy new classrooms also help the village to recruit and retain teachers.

We can only build schools with your help! Visit our Contribute page to learn more.

All of the materials were delivered to the site of the new primary school in Tionso and construction has begun. The pictures below show some of the materials required to build the school and the initial steps to constructing the foundation.

On April 14, 2025 a representative from our organization, Abou Coulibaly, traveled to Dintiola to participate in the opening ceremony of the newest primary school. He was warmly welcomed by the local village. Below are pictures of the ceremony where the keys are handed over to the village chief. Several types of dances were performed during the ceremony, including the Minanka mask dance, the Koredouga, the Bara and the Niogo.

A local television station covered the festivities. Stay tuned for the video. We’ll post it after we have subtitles added, since the video is completely in the local language, Bambara.

We are thrilled to announce the opening of the new elementary school classrooms in the town of M’Pessoba, Mali. This community of 12,000 people already had 6 classrooms, but some of them were in poor condition and the school was overcrowded, putting a strain on teachers.

Thanks to the support of the Australian Ripple Fund, construction started in November 2024. As always, we work in partnership with the community, which keeps construction costs low. In addition to the 111 girls and 109 boys in the village, the school also hosts children from smaller villages in the area. M’Pessoba has around 250 households ready to accommodate all the students who will come from other localities.

When our representative in Mali, Abou Coulibaly, visited M’pesoba in April 2025, the classrooms were filled with children who are benefiting from a beautiful new learning environment!

There has been great progress to the primary school in Dintiola over the past month. As you can see the construction is well underway and will be nearing completion soon.

Before long this structure will be home to many eager to learn children!

These are the eager students who will benefit from your generosity. They are in clear need of a safe place to learn. The new school will include three classrooms, one office/book storage room and a set of two latrines. At least 97 children (60 boys and 37 girls) will be enrolled at this school. The Village of Tionso is also willing to share the school with surrounding villages in need. If the infrastructure is built, the local board of education will be able to provide teachers to educate these students. Please consider helping as any donation goes a long way for this community!

Good news from our collaborators in Mali! Construction has begun on the new primary school in the village of Dintiola. This will be our 34th school! According to our volunteer Abou Coulibaly:

The project in Dintiola is off to a good start. Much of the procurement is completed, the team has started making the cinder blocks.

During the last week of October, our volunteer Abou Coulibaly visited the village of M’Pessoba to kick off the construction of a new elementary school. Here, Abou is meeting with members of the community and the vice-mayor.

The plan for M’Pessoba is to build 3 classrooms, an office/storeroom for the teachers, and two blocks of latrines. We estimate that the new school will enroll 220 children — 111 girls and 109 boys.

Currently, the children attend schools that are either overcrowded or far away from their village. As a result, the classrooms serve “double shifts” and children only attend for half the day. Other children have to walk several miles and cross a busy road, which puts them at risk of accidents. The new school will alleviate the overcrowding and provide a safe environment for learning.

Thanks to a number of generous donations over the last few months, we reached our fundraising goal for the new school in Diassidian, Mali.

Last year, we made the unusual decision to begin construction of a new school, knowing that we did not have enough funds to finish it. The community wanted to begin construction before the rainy season began, when the dirt roads turn into mud and transporting supplies becomes difficult.

This year’s rainy season was particularly intense across West Africa, and caused widespread flooding, the worse seen in decades. Each of Mali’s 20 regions was affected to some extent, and the government reported 30 deaths and the loss of hundreds of houses, latrines, and wells. In many areas, school buildings have been used as shelters. As a result of the flooding, the start of the school year was delayed from Oct.1 to Nov. 4. 

This fall, the children of Diassidian will be able to start the school year off in bright, airy new classrooms.

Please join us in celebrating the completion of our 33rd school. We have already started planning for school #34 in M’Pessoba, Mali. Thank you again to all of our incredible donors who make this important work possible.

It is with deep sadness that we share the news that Build a School in Africa Director Judy Lorimer passed away in June.

Judy was a dear friend and we will miss her tremendously. Judy was with Build a School in Africa since its earliest days, first as a mentor to high school students raising money for charity in 2002, then making the organization “official,” and serving as director for over 20 years. Judy visited Mali many times over the years, and, as a former teacher herself, loved visiting the villages and meeting the teachers and schoolchildren. You can read Judy’s obituary at legacy.com.

Here is a touching remembrance from a friend and fellow African dancer, reprinted with permission:

The organization’s Board met on July 15, 2023, and asked Matthew Heberger, volunteer and long-time webmaster, to serve as acting director. Our priority is to finish building the school that is under construction in Diassidian, Mali, and to ensure that all funds the organization has received are used for their intended purpose — building schools in deserving communities in West Africa. If you have any questions or concerns, please be in touch at matt@buildaschoolinafrica.org.