06/17/16 Mark Bessire, Portland Museum of Art
Posted by Dick Hall
AFRICA SCHOOLHOUSE
Mark Bessire has been the Director of the Portland Museum of Art since March, 2009. Previously, he was Director of the Bates College Museum of Art in Lewiston. He moved to Bates from the Maine College of Art in Portland, where he was the Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art. Bessire is a founding board member of the non-profit "Africa Schoolhouse," which is dedicated to building schools in rural Africa. http://www.africaschoolhouse.org/index.html
Mark told us about his friend Josh who died 25 years ago. He left an endowment for his friends to go out to dinner annually on the night before Thanksgiving and view the inflating of the Macy day balloons. One year, at that dinner, Mark and his wife invited the attendees to build a school in Tanzania. The group was founded to build the school, that night. In Tanzania, art is mostly associated with healing, so it was decided to include this concept into the planning of schools. There are now 20 full-time employees of "Africa Schoolhouse." Schools include fresh water wells, a critical need in the area. Mark said if nothing but the well survived, the school would be a success for the village. AfricaSchoolhouse moved away from the colonial school model, and created a school that looks like a village. Classrooms and teacher houses were included in the village. The organization built a health clinic nearby, with education in the healing arts. Traditional and modern medicine work side by side. Both respect the contribution of the other. The organization operates on the belief that schools must be self sustaining when complete, as keys are turned over to the community.
Clay Bessire, Mark’s daughter, spoke next about when the Portland high student traveled to Tanzania in April 2016. She watched students, in a lab, using chemicals. (Later when she shared these photos of her immigrant classmates at Portland High, they were amazed that the school had real labs for girls.) Education for girls is more difficult than for boys. Clay is setting up social media for the school now, and stays in contact with the girls she met. She went to a 2nd school, where there were only 7 girls in the class of 36. Most girls have to stay home and help out. Boys have more time for homework and for playing, as girls do all the work. Empowering girls is so important. Most mothers and fathers have not gone to school. Portland High, Africa Studies Group, has paid all the fees and supplies for three students. Secondary schools are free, but students still have to pay for uniforms, fees, and supplies.
Clay Bessire, Mark’s daughter, spoke next about when the Portland high student traveled to Tanzania in April 2016. She watched students, in a lab, using chemicals. (Later when she shared these photos of her immigrant classmates at Portland High, they were amazed that the school had real labs for girls.) Education for girls is more difficult than for boys. Clay is setting up social media for the school now, and stays in contact with the girls she met. She went to a 2nd school, where there were only 7 girls in the class of 36. Most girls have to stay home and help out. Boys have more time for homework and for playing, as girls do all the work. Empowering girls is so important. Most mothers and fathers have not gone to school. Portland High, Africa Studies Group, has paid all the fees and supplies for three students. Secondary schools are free, but students still have to pay for uniforms, fees, and supplies.
Clay told us when she signed her name to a guestbook, many people were shocked she could do it. Most girls her age cannot read or write. Clay missed out on LaCrosse season, so she brought two sticks. She taught others to play and some boys learned how to pass.
(Photo: Mark, Clay and Aimee Bessire.)The microphone went back to Mark, who told us the first school has 500 students, and the whole cost of the project was $750,000. "AfricaSchoolhouse" has a new focus.....girls empowerment. Pamela Hawkes and Scott Tees, from Portland, donated their time to design the newest school project to support this focus. It has been shown that the longer kids stay in school, the better the opportunities. School prepares them for the better jobs in the cities. Mark’s wife, Aimee, then told us how some girls walk up to 2.5 hours, one way, to get to school. "AfricaSchoolhouse" is planning to build a boarding school to address this need. She told us that some families are happy that their daughters can go to boarding school. Some are very concerned about losing the labor at home. She told us that girls have been assaulted on the way to school. They need a safe place to be at school.