Kalabancoura - Bamako, Mali, West Africa
Student Biographies
Click on the thumbnail photos to read their stories.
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Nassira is about 14 and of Malinke descent. She lives on the street in front of a local mosque. Nassira's 3 older brothers live in one room they rent for $18 a month and her 2 sisters are married to laborers. Both Nassira's parents were beggars and at the age of 2 when she could stand, she became a full time beggar herself, holding out her own hand. On good days, Nassira would bring in 20 cents to $2 which mostly went to pay the room rent for her brothers. Many days she and her mother would not eat and survive only on the generosity of the leftovers from food brought to the mosque. When asked what is her dream she replied "I don't know what a dream is. Begging is what I was born into; it's all I know."
Nassira is skilled at fabric wax stamping and dyeing. She is also expert at the sewing machine and joins a team of 3 other girls in her first business this July making and selling products to Hèrè jè. |
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