Projet des Signes Malienne (Mali Signs Project)

We are planning a follow-up trip to Mali to strengthen what was started there and to encourage our collaborators. We have decided to blog about our plans, so that others can comment on and/or learn from what we are doing. The following are our notes from a meeting in the Miami airport following the CGIU 2010 meeting.

Whats the format? What do we want to do differently? Do we want to host another conference? Travel to the school sites? What do we change?

We want to focus on the cultural awareness of the deaf community
We need to invite hearing community members to learn about deafness and the health topics
Maybe we could have a Deaf US person talk to them and have Balla translate?
Action: follow up with contacts in UT Deaf/ASL community.

Go to other cities- student sin Bamako have many other privileges and opportunities: Deaf Olympics, NGO connections, longer estbalished...
We would need a larger team- BKO community to travel outside BKO. That's more expensive. We would have to pay for BKO counterparts
We also would have a lots of expenses by bringing people in (per diems, housing, food...)
Reason for the conference is to bring people together. CHanging the format makes the conference less sustainable- new format makes it harder to repeat.
If we travel with BKO partners they could repeat that model too, or make their own (ownership either way)
Collaboration @ the conference
Conference- deaf BKO folks talk about how THEY will engage the heairng people in their comunities
We need them to bring tech back to BKO and do more skillsets with it
YouTube won't work b/c not all have internet
mail is not an efficent system
Bring DVDs annually and share
Want to repeat the conference model and involve BKO team more so they have more examples
Need to teach fundraising
Want everyone to know why it's important- minimize number of people who just come for per diem- make sure this is useful for EVERYONE
work with BKO team to mkae their own CGIU committment
application to screen participatns
Not everyone is literate
Fund Ben and Balkissa to screen applciants at partner schools- 5 in each city? Create more accountability between partners- passing responsibility to Ben and Balkissa- pay to do?
Partner with UT orgs to fundraise

How long should the conference be?

Lizzy- starts a deaf project in Togo
UT students go to Mali following Summer
Togo contacts and Burkina Faso participants join Bamako students have a conference together in Bamako.

Structure of Conference

Can we certify participants for a particular skill within the time line of the conference?
Have participants pick certain "subject" (for ex: computer, community organization etc.). This way there are specific people with specific skills that they can then disseminate withing their community.
Each night the groups come up to the "stage" to announce their commitments for the next year.

Participant Screening

Balkissa, Aicha and Benjamin would travel to individual Deaf schools and talk to students, teachers, parents other people while travelling
Spend 2-3 days per school screening individual participatants
Kalilou screen - Tombouctou, Goundam, Keita
Balkissa - Bamako (Hippodrome, Niamakora) , Sikasso, Koutiala

When will the conference be?