PIP: In Mali, only girls pay the penalties for having sexual intercourse. Pregnant girls are taken out of school. In 1975, the Sikasso city government established the Feminine Promotion Center of Wayerema. Today, it receives girls aged 15-23 at a cost of 5000 francs per girl. The girls tend to have been sent away from school for insufficient intelligence or physical inaptitude (i.e., pregnancy). 80% of attendees are adolescent mothers, 45% of whom are illiterate. The youth spend 3 years at Wayerema Center. They learn about nutrition and prepare for family life by learning about sex education, birth spacing, and contraceptive use. They learn how to improve their socioeconomic status through apprenticeships in sewing, embroidery, gardening, livestock raising, and dyeing and how to work in a group. Training and family life education provide them the means to take charge of their lives. The Malinian Association for the Protection and Promotion of the Family submitted a grant proposal to IPPF to increase the Center's financial resources to meet the growing demand for its services. The number of students has increased from 107 in 1983 to 210 in 1990. IPPF funds went to buying about 20 sewing machines (65,000 francs/new machine). Sales of sewn items and of kitchen garden products allow the Center to be self-supporting. The municipality pays for electricity, water, staff, and seven external teachers. The Catholic church intervenes at the planning level and favors natural family planning methods and sexual abstinence. The Center's director is a nun of the Catholic mission. The Center appears to be effective. Adolescent pregnancy has decreased from 20% in 1980 to 10% in 1988. Sikasso has 3 centers providing maternal and child health and family planning services. Yesterday's rejects have become educated and literate women who can generate their own income. In fact, men come to the center to find a quality wife who can share the economic burden.