Moise and I found Djeneba Diarra studying in front of the blackboard with her baby, Mawa, beside her. She was practicing writing words with the letter "b" in them. Djeneba never had an opportunity to go to school, but for the past twelve months she has been learning in Project Muso's Women's Education Program, training as a Moishe Community Health Promoter. As part of her training, she has been learning fundamental math and literacy skills.

After she finished her writing practice, she opened the Level II literacy book, and began reading to us from a passage about methods for purifying drinking water. Djeneba dove boldly into reading the paragraph, and while some longer words provoked a slight hesitation, it was difficult to tell that a year ago this same person could not recognize letters and had never picked up a pen.  "These skills have been so useful in my everyday life," Djeneba told us, speaking in Bamanankan. "I study every chance I get. Even when I am cooking, if I have a spare moment, I open up my book and I practice reading." Mawa sat beside her, holding an identical, miniature version of her mother's pen, imitating her mother's motions.

I walked out of the classroom filled with a sense of awe. "That is an incredible woman," I said to Moise. Moise turned to me, smiled, and replied "yes, and yet, Ari, in our classes, there are many women like her."