Timbuktu is the capital of northern Mali, a desert town on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. Four hundred years ago, Timbuktu was a thriving trade city famous for the 25,000 students in its universities. Modern Timbuktu is smaller than the medieval universities that made the city famous as a center of scholarship and wisdom. 

Timbuktu was also the capital of the medieval Empire of Mali, a vast swathe of West Africa, as large as the European Union, than stretched from the desert to the ocean. The Mali Empire was founded in 1235 by Sunjata Keita, the original Lion King.

Every 3^rd and 6^th Grade student in Virginia learns about the Empires of Mali and Sonrai for their SOLs.

Teaching Timbuktu in Mali

Teacher re-certification workshops and in-school teaching are taught by story-teller Macky Tall (Dr. Robin Poulton) and teacher Lydie Sakponou in support of SOL work in Virginia's schools and to assist/train Virginia's teachers. We want to hear from teachers and County Supervisors who wish to benefit from expert, lively, cultural teaching.

A three-credit Masters Course on Mali is offered by the University of Richmond in partnership with Virginia Friends of Mali. Teaching is led by Dr. Robin Poulton, Visiting Professor of International Studies 2002-4 at Virginia Commonwealth University, who has published several books on Mali. Teachers of social studies and history in Virginia will appreciate the course and other workshops we run for re-certification.

In the future we intend to run this course online. To support this Masters Course Dr. Poulton is in the process of writing a book for teachers called Peoples of the Mali Empire. This book will provide material for teachers and will also provide lesson plans prepared by teachers Lydie Sakponou and Melanie Stanley as well as some teachers working in Richmond's Public Schools. We would be delighted to receive lesson plans from other teachers that can help spread good and lively teaching about Mali.

We have organized seven exhibitions of Mali's art and artifacts, music and photos, teaching and story-telling, welcoming 25,000 students and teachers in Newport News, Richmond, McLean and Harrisonburg (at James Madison University, March-June 2007). In 2005 at the Richmond Public Library we emphasized the role of Timbuktu as an Islamic center of learning since the 1100s and as the northern center of trade of the Malian Empire. This event was attended by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Mali.

Our sense of African history and culture offers an exciting opportunity for institutional partners who want to offer credits to teachers. We add value to Virginia's education system by bringing the culture and spirituality of Africa into the curriculum. Our teaching responds to a need.

Robin Edward Poulton, PhD
(known in Mali as "Macky Haidara Tall")
rpoulton@comcast.net
Tel/fax: 804-355-6821

Lydie Sakponou
lydie_alapini@hotmail.com
Tel/fax: 804-986-9344