School for 120 Youth in post-conflict Timbuktu

Dear Supporters of the project to rebuild the Tombouz school in Timbuktu, Mali:

I wish to thank you again for your very generous support for Caravan to Class and literacy for children in villages around Timbuktu and the Southern Sahara Desert.

Last week we witnessed the funeral of a great man, Nelson Mandela. Unfortunately, leaders like Mandela come around once in a generation. Much of West Africa sorely needs leaders like Mandela, Mali included. One of Mandela's most frequently used lines was "Education is a weapon that can be used to change the world". At Caravan to Class, we could not agree more! Unfortunately, during much of 2012 and the beginning of 2013, it was real weapons that were used by Ansar Dine, a group closely linked with Al Qaida, to subjugate an already at-risk population in Northern Mali. During this militant takeover of Timbuktu, two Caravan to Class schools, Tourari and Tombouz, were partially destroyed by the militants.

Caravan to Class is thankful, this Holiday Season, to be able to resume our work helping one of the world's most marginalized people, the Tuareg children of Timbultu, achieve their dream of literacy. This could not have happened without your support. Our hope, as the saying goes, is that we can "turn a tragedy into an opportunity". With the recent visit of UN Secretary-General Ban K-Moon and a high level UN delegation to Timbuktu recently, we see the possibility of hope for this historic, ancient, and fascinating place. For more on this, visit, please read the link: http://timbuktu-lopac.tumblr.com/.

Caravan to Class has been able to reopen five schools and plan to rebuild two of them during 2014. The other schools will likely not be reopened in 2014 due to lack of critical mass of village inhabitants (yet to return as refugees in neighboring Burkina Faso). We will continue to support these fives schools paying teachers' salaries, providing basic nutrition (a huge draw to getting children into school), and books/school supplies until other the villages are able to support the operations of their schools or other, larger NGOs can support their operations (UNICEF, Plan International) etc.

Thank you again for your support and as our project progresses, I will certainly inform you and send pictures.

If you would like your thank you gift, a CD of famous Malian singer Vieux Farka Toure's latest CD "Mon Pays", please send me an e-mail with your mailing address and I will happily send you one.

Sincerely,

Barry Hoffner, Founder and Executive Director, Caravan to Class

Links:

• Caravan to Class video narrated by Peter Coyote