Virginia Friends of Mali

Friday May 23rd I write these notes as I lie back on a student cot in Yamassoukro, the official capital of Ivory Coast that has the world's biggest cathedral: an exact copy of St Peter's Rome, except that is it one yard bigger ! We are all in this extremely smart National Polytechnic Institute created by the first president of Ivory coast, Felix Houphouët-Boigny, bringing American students to see how the Africans study and how might it become possible to establish exchange programs between Virginia and West Africa. This place is very prestigious and it therefore has literally dozens of international partnerships. We have been brought here to a Grance Ecole show-place, to meet the elite of Africa! The private engineering + business college we are visiting in Abidjan, AGITEL, offers more scope for concrete VCU partnership, because it has none in USA until now. The same is true of Bamako and Segou universities. And since all their students want to learn English, the offers a...

http://www.mediasanctuary.org/OumarKonate Malian music permeates! intubates! laminates! vibrates! illuminates! creates!  Saturday, May 24 at 10pm Malian guitarist Oumar Konate will perform with his band. Graybeard from WRIR 97.3 FM will spin hot Afro dance tunes. Click here to visit the Facebook event page and read the comments! for example: "Oumar Konate and his band were Incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

https://myspace.com/hotelx http://miramar-music.com/ will share the very cool bill with the wonderful Bolero group Miramar on June 2nd at The Camel

Monday May 19th 08.30 at AGITEL, a smart engineering and business school started in the 1990s by the man who – today – has been made Minister of Industry. This private school, with strict rules and a uniform of blue blazer and blue-yellow striped ties (for both men and women) has 1200 students in its full-time education cycle of three years for a first degree, with a possibility of a Master’s thereafter. Three years ago they switched from the French system, to adopt the international “LMD” used in the USA: Licence, Master, Doctor. In addition, AGITEL has 400 students following evening courses, which allow professionals to upgrade their qualifications while still working. They can earn credits as they go along, allowing them to take as much time as they need to graduate. The current Director-General (replacing His Excellency the minister) is Colonel Sorry Bamba, a retired marine engineer who received us graciously in his office, and led us to the plenary hall in front of 250 stud...