Living a Dream

Traveling to the United States of America is a dream become a reality thanks to the Mandela Washington fellowship selection 2017. This dream is a widespread determination to make a difference and a positive change every second of my life.

I was born in the fabled desert city of Timbuktu, this city is land locked, arid, and poor, but it’s a power house when it comes to art, architecture and literature. At an early age, I used to work as history-teller, mostly for American visitors traveling to my homeland, Today, after spending hours on the flight from Bamako to Paris and from Paris to New York, my current destination, I really understand how these people I met in my youth crossed seas in order to visit my people and learn their knowledge and their civilization. Some of them even brought development opportunities for grassroots local communities hidden on the edge of the Sahara Desert.

We all have dreams and work day and night to fulfill our dreams in the process of learning new things and visiting different places. During these last years I have seen myself focus on E-learning and professional development online. I hold a Master’s degree in English language and literature today. My dream is to empower myself through exchange programs like the Mandela Washington fellowship for the goal to make difference in this world and make a positive change in the life of grassroots local communities and be among those who can bring development opportunities through international partnership.

Each person has a specific mission in his life. When you grow up in grassroots communities with limited access to quality education and professional development opportunities, the only way to make a dream a reality is by building a strong network of people and institutions that can support, enrich and help you. When I was kid, I was a great fan of American TV shows. Watching the American universities and college students studying gave me the feeling that the power of a country resides in its educational system. At this early age, with the influence of the TV show culture, I dreamed of one day studying in American universities or participating in a training program of an American university or college.

Today after flying hours and hours in order to reach my host university-- the Wagner College situated on Staten Island in the harbor of New York, I am just one the happiest people in the world.

I am eager to meet American teachers, mentors, tutors to learn from them the knowledge of civic leadership this summer and return to my grassroots local communities in order share the knowledge with them.

We all need someone who can help us find our own path. During the interview of my selection for this program they asked me a question of why when I got my Master’s degree in English I decided to return to Timbuktu. I answered simply that my dream is to share the culture heritage of Timbuktu with the outside world. For making this dream a reality I dedicated my life to research and be mentored by elders who are keepers of the legacy of the city to collect the history, care for it and then share it with the outside world.

This dream is deeply rooted in a Timbuktu land of peace and culture inspired by a young native of Timbuktu with the only goal to share the cultural heritage of Timbuktu virtually across the globe.

My vision is a vision of the desert, my mission in life is to use the cultural heritage as a catalyst for lasting peace, transforming violent extremist narratives online and bring development opportunities to the region by cultural innovation. The Mandela Washington fellowship program will enrich and support my dream because I dream to build a strong network with the American people and explain to them the problems our communities confront in the 21st century-- a century of apocalypse for Timbuktu and the northern region because my country is convulsed by a religious, ethnic and civil war.

Siting on the flight before I landed to New York I thought deeply about my local grassroots community living in the fire of war. Today my main challenge is to be a thoughtful leader of positive change and bring hope for my people. Traveling from Timbuktu to New York is of course a destination from one end of the end of the world to the other. In this long air flight, I thought about great men who made great actions in the world by traveling across the globe and sharing their knowledge.

For most of my American friends, Timbuktu is the end of the world. Today, on the flight visiting the United States of America, I understand why they think this way.

Dear readers and followers, in a few minutes, I will land in New York. My life is my message and I am born to make difference in the world.