Mali: Health, Gender, and Community Empowerment

Faculty and Staff

Modibo Coulibaly, PhD, Academic Director
Born and raised in Mali, Modibo Coulibaly obtained a BA in education from the École Normale Supérieure before continuing his graduate studies in the United States. He received his MA in African studies from Temple University under the auspices of the Fulbright Junior Staff Fellows Program, followed by his PhD in African and African American studies from the same university. Mr. Coulibaly has taught undergraduate courses at Temple University; his overall university teaching experience in Mali and the United States spans more than fourteen years. Most recently he has been on the faculty of the École Normale Supérieure in Mali. Mr. Coulibaly is fluent in French, Bambara, and English. He resides in Bamako with his family.

Oumou Bagayoko, Office Assistant and Course Coordinator
Ms. Bagayoko was born and raised in Mali. She holds a BA in English from the University of Bamako FLASH (Faculty of Letters, Languages, Arts, and Social Sciences) and has taught English in secondary schools and colleges. Ms. Bagayoko has also worked with women’s associations such as the Association pour le Progrès et la Défense des Droits et des Femmes Maliennes (APDF). Her recent travels include a trip to Ghana to improve her English and a visit to Burkina Faso as a chaperone on an excursion for school children. As office assistant and course coordinator for SIT Mali, she assists the academic director with program preparation, administrative tasks, and the implementation of program rules in collaboration with other program staff, including the academic director and program assistant. She speaks Bambara, French, and English.

Aida Coulibaly, Homestay Coordinator
Ms. Coulibaly is currently a law student at the University of Bamako and has been a program contact since 2007. Her familiarity with the program makes her an excellent facilitator of cross-cultural experiences, including the homestay. She is a great asset to the program.

Adama Berthe, Student Services Coordinator
Mr. Berthe holds a BA in foreign languages (English and Arabic) from the University of Bamako Faculty of Letters, Languages, Arts, and Social Sciences. He has also worked as a tour guide, visited six of Mali's eight administrative regions, and knows the neighborhoods in Bamako extremely well. He speaks Bambara, French, English, Arabic, and other Malian local languages. Mr. Berthe has worked for many organizations as a translator, interpreter, and teacher. He is interested in different cultures and has developed an excellent English program for secondary and professional schools, including Lycée Moderne Elite and Centre de Formation Professionnel Moussa Camara. Mr. Berthe has also worked with the Business and Language Center and Entreprise ACCSURH Consulting as a trainer. He was a member of SIT Mali’s homestay families from 2004 to 2008. Additionally, Mr. Berthe has always been interested in youth issues and has been a member of several youth associations such as Association Kaoural and Association des Jeunes Ressortissant de Sikasso, where he was in charge of culture and education.

As student services coordinator for the SIT Mali program, Mr. Berthe’s main duties are accompanying students on all excursions and, when necessary, supervising the group and assisting with logistics related to all excursions; assisting the academic director in facilitating cross-cultural and other student briefings; supporting staff and students in emergencies; visiting homestay families during the homestay period; assisting students with any difficulties they may encounter during their time in Mali; providing general support; and performing other duties as assigned by the academic director.

Sekouba Traore, French Instructor
Mr. Traore was born and raised in Bassabougou, Kati, in Mali. He did his primary schooling at École Saint Jean Bosco, in Faladie, Kati, where he got his DEF (certificate of end of junior high school). He got his baccalaureate in languages and literature from Lycée Badala in Bamako.

Mr. Traore received a BA in psycho-pedagogy from l’École Normale Supérieure in 1992. He also did some training at specialized health centers. He completed a twelve-month internship at the Psycho-Medical Center at the Malian Association for Mental Deficiency where he learned about children with mental disabilities. He also completed an internship at Hôpital du Point G where he learned about patients with mental illnesses and spent six months as an intern at a center for reeducating young delinquents.

Mr. Traore has also worked as staffing director at a trade and transport company in Gao. He has also worked as a registrar at Lycée Saint-Joseph in Kalaban-Coura, and he has been the registrar at Lycée Privé Franco-Arabe Nahar Djoliba since 2011.

Mr. Traore resides in Bamako with his family. He speaks Bambara, French, and Sonhrai. He has been teaching French to SIT students for eight years now.

Ousmane Traoré, French Instructor
Mr. Traoré holds an MA in educational policy and leadership from The Ohio State University (1996). He has taught American studies at the University of Bamako since 1996. He has attended seminars on communicative teaching organized by the United States Information Agency in Washington, DC, and by the British Council.

Mr. Traoré has been teaching at SIT since 1999 and has been a teacher for most of his adult life. He speaks Bambara, French, and English.

Amadou Djibo, Nutrition and Public Health Lecturer
Dr. Djibo earned a doctorate in medicine from the Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Odonto-Stomatology in Bamako in 2007. He completed his specialization in endocrinology, metabolic sicknesses, and nutrition in January 2011. In May 2009, Dr. Djibo attended a workshop on new methods of contraception and on the use of a therapeutic combination of Artemisia and other medications used in the fight against malaria.

Dr. Djibo has also been a permanent physician and manager at the health center Jigiseme in Kalaban-Coura. He also did a survey and treatment of cerebral motor infirmity (CMI) in children at different reeducation centers in Bamako and at the Hospital for Mothers and Children (Hôpital Mères Enfants de Bamako). Additionally, Dr. Djibo has worked at the Hôpital du Point G as an interim head of ward in rheumatology.

As an SIT lecturer, Dr. Djibo is in charge of nutrition and public health. He speaks French and Bambara and is conversant in English. He has good computer skills and has been working for SIT for five years. Dr. Djibo resides in Bamako with his family.

Haidara Assetou Cissé, Lecturer in Gender Issues
Ms. Cissé was born and raised in Kati. She holds a BA in letters and French literature from the University of Bamako, FLASH (the Humanities, Arts, and Social Science Faculty). Ms. Cissé has worked as a French professor at the high schools El Madani Drave and Beidi Konandji. She has also been in charge of the Family Division Program at the National Direction for the Promotion of the Child and the Family (DNPEF).

Ms. Cissé teaches comparative analysis between sexes and methods of formal and informal education in Mali. Ms. Cissé has participated in many trainings since 2003, including trainers’ training in comparative analysis of sexes; training on setting up projects based on results-focused management (RFM); training in the elaboration of strategies and techniques for capacity building at World Vision; training on methods to accelerate participative research; training in gender and development from the Centre for International Studies and Cooperation’s office in Mali (CECI/Mali); training in staff management at the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children, and the Family (MPFEF); and trainers’ training through UNICEF in the methodology of Theatre FORUM linked to excision in Sikasso. In addition, she participated in a regional workshop on the consequences of the practices of early marriage by Direction Nationale de la Promotion de l'Enfant et de la Famille (DNPEF); a seminar on strategies to fight against child trafficking; a seminar on the rising of awareness of young mothers (particularly maids) on their status; and a workshop on texts ratified by Mali on the rights of women and children.

As a lecturer at SIT Study Abroad Mali, Ms. Cissé is in charge of gender issues. She has been working with SIT for more than eight years, both as a teacher and a homestay family member. She speaks French, English, Bambara, and Fulfulde.

Ms. Cissé is very knowledgeable in computer sciences. She is proficient in PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Excel, the Internet, and Access.

Sylliah Mamby Traore, Traditional Medicine Lecturer
Mr. Traore is a professional traditional health practitioner. He is also a researcher in the field of traditional medicine and has his own laboratory where he manufactures traditional medications. In 2005, he won an award from the Salon of Inventions and Technology Innovations in Bamako for his research on the therapeutic virtues of plants. Mr. Traore has participated in many workshops and symposia, including an inter-African workshop on AIDS in 1994 in Bamako; a symposium on research in health in 2003 in Bamako; an International Conference on Research and Development workshop in Dakar, Senegal, on medicinal biodiversity in 2003; an inter-African meeting of the African Health Organization in Bobodioulasso, Burkina Faso, in 2009; and an African and Malagasy conference on education and health.

As a lecturer at SIT Mali, Mr. Traore lectures on traditional medicine and its impact on local communities.

Mr. Traore speaks French and Bambara.

Paul Coulibaly, Environment Lecturer
Mr. Coulibaly was born in N’Torosso in Ségou region. He is an engineer in forestry and water management at the Institut Polytechnique Rural de Formation et de Recherche Appliquée. Mr. Coulibaly did an internship in forestry and participated in many training sessions in forestry/topography from 1987 to 2002. He has worked as an instructor in agroforestry as an alternative for sustainable development. Mr. Coulibaly was the manager of a plant nursery through which he taught students about different methods in forestry, wood exploitation, agronomy nursery, carbonization, and agriculture. He has also trained many villagers in fertilizing, gardening, and plant production.

Mr. Coulibaly has provided training in forestry nursery to many people in agencies such as Plan International, ADRA/Mali (Adventist Development and Relief Agency), Action Couverture et Développement (Recovery and Development Action), Terra Nova, Mission Sahel, Projet CARA, BADS (Bureau d’Assistance et de Développement Social), and CFPF/Tabakoro (Centre de Formation Pratique Forestier). Mr. Coulibaly has published many articles, including “The Review of Plants Nursery” and “Reports for the Veterinary School of Bamako.”

As a lecturer at SIT Mali, Mr. Coulibaly is in charge of current environmental issues and possible solutions.

Mr. Coulibaly is very knowledgeable in computer sciences. He speaks Bambara and French and is conversant in English.

Fatoumata Sylla, Gender and Development Lecturer
Ms. Sylla holds a BA in letters and French literature from the École Normale Supérieure (ENSUP) in Bamako. She has a great deal of experience working in the field of gender issues. In October 2011, Ms. Sylla participated in a regional meeting on women’s access to legal and judicial services in Africa. She has also participated in a training session entitled “Concepts and Instruments for the Integration of a Gender Perspective in Development Activities” in Turin, Italy.

Ms. Sylla has worked in many high positions in the government. She is in charge of Missions for the Minister of Justice, where her duty is to conduct the activities of the Advising Committee on Gender and HIV Issues. She was in charge of the Department of Information and Communication on county issues at the Ministry for the Promotion of Women, Children, and the Family. Ms. Sylla has worked as director of the Department of Child Promotion at the National Directorate for the Promotion of Children and the Family.

As a lecturer at SIT Mali, Ms. Sylla is in charge of gender issues, with a focus on women’s participation in development, formal and non-formal education, girls’ schooling, and women’s empowerment.

Ms. Sylla is very knowledgeable in computer sciences. She speaks Sonrhai, Bambara, French, and English.

Boubacar Mody Guindo, Program Lecturer
Mr. Guindo holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Arizona, with a focus on school and university resource management. He currently works at the National Center for Research and Technology, a section of the Ministry of National Education of Mali. Mr. Guindo is a member of the West and Central African Research and Education Network (ROCARE), a permanent member of the UNESCO subcommittee on natural sciences for Mali, and a member of Mali’s National Commission for UNESCO’s Education for All by 2015. He works as a consultant for the World Bank on the issue of schooling for girls in Mali and as a consultant with USAID on an education project in Bamako. Mr. Guindo speaks Bambara, French, English, and Dogosso (a Dogon dialect).

As a program lecturer with SIT, he instructs students on Mali's education system, Mali's contemporary history, tourism in Mali, and county issues in Mali.

Aliou Diallo, Health Lecturer in Malaria
Mr. Diallo has been a health technician at Hospital Gabriel Touré in Bamako since June 2000, where he is in charge of reanimation and gastroenterology. From June 1997 to June 2000, Mr. Diallo worked as a head nurse in the Catholic Dispensary of Sanzana in the Diocese of Sikasso. He has also worked at the NGO Plan Mali for eight years as a health promoter. Since October 2008, Mr. Diallo has been in charge of courses on medicine in many health schools. He has been the advisor of many students in the field of health training.

Mr. Diallo has participated in training in project elaboration, communication techniques, trainers’ training, and HIV/AIDS awareness. He is involved in preventing and fighting against malaria and malnutrition in Mali.

As a lecturer at SIT Study Abroad in Mali, Mr. Diallo introduces students to preventative practices and behavior and treatment related to malaria in Mali.

Mr. Diallo speaks Bambara and French.