In the last journal, you read a story about Ibrahim (EE-brah-heem) and his family (if you missed the story, find it here). They are part of an unreached people group in Mali, West Africa– the Bozo. What would daily life be like for Bozo children? Experience how they learn and play.

Cultural Activities:

Activity 1: Traveling School

Bozo families move often, searching for better fishing spots along the river. This makes attending a traditional school difficult. Instead they pack up their tent school and move it, along with their teacher, to their next location. Create your own traveling school.

1. Designate three rooms in your house for your traveling school.
2. As a family, travel to the first room and do some math problems together.
3. Travel to your next room. Learn to spell five words connected to the Bozo–Mali (country where the Bozo people live), Niger (river closeby), boat (main transportation), straw (material for building temporary homes), and capitaine (common fish). Have young children tell the first letter of each of these words or recite the alphabet.
4. Travel to your last room. Locate the country of Mali on a globe or world map. Share that almost all Bozo families are Muslims who try to please God by doing many good things.
5. Pray that they would come to know Jesus as their Savior.

Activity 2: Clay Figures

Clay is found along the banks of the Niger River. The Bozo people mix it with water and straw. Then they plaster the sticky mixture over the walls of mud-brick buildings to prevent cracks from forming. Children sometimes shape figures from clay they dig up near their homes. Make your own version of clay.

You will need:

-250 g (2 cups) flour

-546 g (2 cup) salt

-236 ml (1 cup) cold water

-large bowl and spoon

1. Mix the flour and salt together in your bowl.
2. Add water, a little at a time, until the mixture is smooth and begins to form a doughy consistency.
3. Knead the dough with your hands until it is smooth.
4. Give each child some dough to shape into figures. Create some that are familiar to Bozo children: boats, fish, hippos, bulls, and crocodiles.
5. Afterwards, pray that Bozo families will come to know God as the one who created them, loves them, and desires to have a close relationship with them.