In Mauritania we have two major initiatives. One is a Personal Development course which focuses on: Purpose, Development, Relationships, Hope for the future, and Training. We ran 5 courses in 2017 training 90 students and plan to run 4 courses in 2018. Our second initiative is with community development of children. It focuses on Literacy, Encouragement, Reading, Critical Thinking, and Educational games.

On January 27, 2018 we held a follow-up mentoring day inviting the 20 students from a Crossroads course held in December 2017 to come and discuss progress. Fifteen of the 20 came. Some had previous engagements. We were encouraged by this response. We had prepared 3 individuals who have taken the course in the past to work as mentors. The participants were divided into 3 small groups and these used a questionnaire prepared in Arabic and French to facilitate discussion and feedback. In all three groups the majority could remember and record at least 5 of the 8 life lessons studied. Crossroads encourages getting education and the importance of good relationships. Amongst the feedback received, one participant shared that he had previously decided to quit school but because of the course decided to continue. Another student shared that because of the life lesson about thinking before you act, he had been able to improve relationships. After the small group discussions each group had one person share their reflections with the whole class. We were encouraged by attendance and this feedback. We plan to do such follow-up days with each group which has attended a Crossroads course.