Man Wins $100K in Lottery and Pledges to Build Classrooms in Mali
What would you do if you won the lottery? For one North Carolina man, the answer is simple—he would help others by supporting education. Meet Souleymane Sana, a 39-year-old dance instructor in North Carolina who originally emigrated from Mali, a war-torn country in West Africa. Hoping to help the kids from his native country, he purchased a scratch-off ticket. Fortunately, luck was on his side, and he won $100,000. Now, he’s planning to put it towards a noble cause.
“This was my dream,” Sana said after he won. The winning scratch-off card was issued by the North Carolina Education Lottery, which raises $2.5 million a day on average for education. “That was one of the main reasons I bought that scratch ticket was to be able to keep helping them.”
With a deep understanding of the cultural weight of dance, Sana created a nonprofit. Called Kono Gnaga, its mission is to provide opportunities to Malian youth, as well as teaching them about dance and music from Mali. “Traditions are vital to the fabric of a community as they define who people are and where they came from,” states the organization's website. “Kono Gnaga’s mission is to not only preserve traditional dance and music, but to keep it alive for generations to come by using the culture itself to create opportunities for local West African artists and assist communities in Mali.”
Sana is interested in giving back to his community, particularly to the future generations who will hopefully keep traditions alive. “I love to dance and I want to teach the children in Mali to love it, too,” he admits. “If you talk about culture and you talk about education, they both go together.”
According to Kono Gnaga's site, West African folkloric music and dance have historically been an important tradition in African societies. However, the rapid pace of globalization has caused a loss of interest among younger generations. “This is of great concern as the disappearance of traditional music and dance means the loss of the ancient conversation between the dancer and the drummer,” the organization explains, “along with community identity and historical significance.”
In an effort to keep it alive, Sane has been giving traditional Malian dance workshops in the U.S. When he gets the chance to travel to his hometown of Bamako, he gives lessons to internally displaced children, who then perform at festivals celebrating their heritage. However, as the pictures depict, these group classes take place out in the open, mostly on dirt floors. That's why his dream has long been to support education and create more spaces for it in his native country. “Some of the money is going to be used to start building a dance center there,” Sana shares.
Ultimately, the dance instructor is just thrilled to see his dream come true little by little—and the money will surely go a long way in his undertaking of preserving Malian traditions. “I’m going to keep doing my best to help build more classrooms for the children in Mali,” he vows. “That is the thing that makes me really happy.”
To learn more about Kono Gnaga and support the nonprofit’s mission, you can visit its website.
Souleymane Sana is a 39-year-old dance instructor who emigrated from war-torn Mali to North Carolina. He created a nonprofit called Kono Gnaga, which provides opportunities to Malian youth by teaching them about dance and music from Mali.
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In a happy twist of fate, Sana recently won $100,000 from a scratch-off lottery ticket. “This was my dream,” Sana says. “That was one of the main reasons I bought that scratch ticket was to be able to keep helping them.”
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He is now hoping to build a dance center and more educational spaces in his native country. “I’m going to keep doing my best to help build more classrooms for the children in Mali. That is the thing that makes me really happy.”
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Souleymane Sana: Instagram
Kono Gnaga: Website | Instagram
h/t: [UPI]
All images via NC Education Lottery except where noted
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