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| News » Newsletter March 09 |
| 50, Friars Street,
Sudbury,
Suffolk,
CO10 2AG
0044 (0)1787 311590
SPRING NEWSLETTER MARCH 2009
Joe Milthorp
This newsletter begins with tragic news. Joe Milthorp, one of the two Gifford engineers seconded to work with villagers on the Soromba dam died tragically of the Lassa fever on 17th February. Having become ill Joe was brought back to Bamako by the President of the Soromba Association and after treatment in a clinic was taken back to England by air ambulance. He died of this rare condition soon after admission to UCH Hospital in London. Mamadou Kone and Sue Upton spent much time with Joe before his return to England. Liz Newell his colleague returned soon afterwards and was supported by Sue. Everyone concerned has been hugely affected by this tragedy- as the next section of this newsletter makes plain the Soromba project has huge importance for everyone in the area, and its completion will certainly change many lives for the better. Improved food sustainability and access to other villages in the rainy season mean that the dam will also save lives, but the best testimony to Joe is from the letter of condolence sent from Soromba. This is a translation of it.
Letter of Condolences
- The Village Head of Soromba
- The Councillors of the Head of the Village
- The Soromba Young People’s Association
- The Soromba Women’s Association
- The whole population of Soromba- men, women and children
- The Development Association of Soromba
- The people of the neighbouring villages of Komina, Torola, Dèbèla and Mâh
All come together, heart-broken with sorrow, to present their most sad condolences, through J&D, to the family of a most approachable, kind, warm courageous and receptive young man. We wish to say that Joseph died in the course of work on a noble cause, to help achieve a project which has been the dream of everyone in our villages.
The young engineer, Joseph, helped realise this project with his two hands, his heart, his know-how, and his very helpful advice. He has given people in these villages something which has been their dream for a very long time- a plentiful supply of water, which will help them, and their animals, as well as helping the development of every family through their being able to grow vegetables and fish.
The image we have of Joseph’s kindness will forever light up the village of Soromba.
Our only request, through this letter, which Soromba would like to present to Joseph’s family is that, because he has been regarded as a son of the village, the Soromba dam should be allowed to bear his name so that he is immortalised through the work he gave his life for.
The tragedy, and the reaction from Soromba should remind us of the importance of the work we support, the courage which volunteers like Joe and Elizabeth bring to it, and the quality of leadership shown by Kone and Sue. Our most sincere condolences to the family and everyone affected including Nick Carter, Vaughn Lawfull and everyone at Gifford.
January Visit
Andy Benson, Rob Spivey and Tim Hewes went to Mali to visit J and D and MDG funded projects. Tim went specifically to develop his link with Kader Keita’s Pensons a Demain project- covered later in the Newsletter. Rob and Andy took many pictures and you can download them by following these instructions:
Go to: http://www.flickr.com then sign in by clicking "Sign In" at top right hand corner. The Yahoo ID is mdgorg@yahoo.com The Password is: friars52& . Then Click on Your Photostream
The left of the screen shows all photos loaded. The right shows the photos sorted into groups. Click on a group icon and all the relevant photos come up. You can click on individual photos or run a slideshow by clicking on the icon towards the top right. The Soromba group includes some pictures of Joe and Liz at Soromba. Later pictures show the various projects and Malian scenes including pictures of the Festival by the Niger which they went to at the end of their trip. If you have no access to a computer but would like more information or pictures of a specific project please let me know. The main findings from the visit were discussed at a recent committee meeting, as follows:
Kader Keita and his work
Tim Hewes was impressed by the work with homeless and disadvantaged children being done by Kader and his organisation Pensons a Demain. Many members will have heard of this project before, and MDG has wanted to develop better links with it, so that there is a better chance of arranging longer-term support. Tim and Andrea have been supporters from the beginning, and it is very good news that Tim is now working to make those links permanent. He is doing this by establishing a UK branch of Pensons a Demain , which is to be called the Mali Association of Culture and Hope. This will operate within a partnership with MDG . If you want more details get in touch direct with Tim- timothy.hewes@btinternet.com or 76, Lashford lane, Dry Sandford, near Abingdon, Oxon, OX13 6EB.
...and special thanks to everyone at the Moat School, Fulham who contributed so generously to this work from a recent non-uniform day and hot dog sale!
Money!
As everyone knows these are tough times for all charities, but organisation like ours, which send funding to partners in Africa with currencies tied to the Euro are suffering from the double whammy of financial pressure at home and the £ yielding fewer CFAs in Mali. In practice that means every £ gives them about 700 CFA instead of the 900 which they used to get. There is not much sign that this will improve ion the foreseeable future. About 98% of all money we receive goes to projects in Mali- We pay no staff and we keep our costs at an absolute minimum- the recent visits were all self financed for example. It is of major importance to us to keep up our level of commitment to Mali, but to do that we need you to help us if you possibly can.
· Can you increase your giving- or place it on a regular footing by Standing Order?
· Could you make a one-off donation to help us through the next year more easily?
· Is there an activity you could run which would bring money in- some practical examples are given in the next part of this report!
· Do you have friends or contacts that could help? A church group or club for example. As we have developed since 2000 we have generally extended our network in this way and any new ideas or connections would be really valuable.
If you can help us in any way then contact David Hedge, our Treasurer, at 26, Emanuel Avenue, London W3 6JJ, or ring him on 0208 992 2531. E-mail david.hedge@bmo.com
Thanks very much!
Here are some of the events and activities which have helped us recently:
If you would like advice or support in planning an activity please ask- we can provide publicity material and sometimes people who can help. We also carry full Public Liability insurance for events, and if you want to be within this cover please get in touch to discuss.
Truck
As many members know the Oxfordshire based Truck Music Festival has been a major supporter of MDG and the Reproductive Health programme in Bamako over the last 5 years. We are delighted that Truck has decided to continue its support, The Truck events are always amazing and attract national interest. Our relationship has always been mutually supportive in that we try to recruit our members as Stewards. We would like to have as many MDG Stewards as possible for both this year’s festivals. Details as follows:
The Wood Festival- Acoustic music and entirely environmentally friendly. Near Wallingford Oxfordshire from 15tht to 17th May. If you can help contact Claire Bennett of Truck on Claire@thisistruck.com If you want to check it out in advance give Tim and Andrea Hewes a ring on 01865 735646 as they went last year and already signed up for 2009.
Truck 12- at Steventon in Oxfordshire July 25th and 26th but help always appreciated on the Friday and Monday either side. MDG usually provides stewards on Saturday night but you can help at any time over the weekend. Please contact John Hedge- details at the head of the newsletter.
Mali Interest Group
The November Conference ‘Mali now, Mali the Vision’ went really well at the Princess Diana Memorial Fund HQ, with a maximum attendance, and a great range of contributions. This included the Malian Minister for Tourism, the Malian Ambassador, Michael Nkonou from the Fair Trade Foundation, Camilla Toulmin of IIED and Sally Baden from Oxfam on cotton issues. The Conference was also treated to a wonderful lunch time performance by Bassekou Kouyate and Amy Sacko- Malian music stars with a major international reputation who stayed afterwards to hear the debates and listen to Lucy Duran from Radio 3 speak on the cultural and economic significance of Malian music. Lunch itself was a triumph for the ladies of the Malian Community Council who overcame the limitations of the venue by getting hot food there by taxi!
Big thanks are due to everyone involved, most particularly our partners in the event the Malian Community Council. They were crucial to making things happen, and the Conference has led to a much bigger agenda of work between the two organisations in 2009 and onwards. Among those challenges is the request of the Malian Minister that we do something even bigger next year! Within MDG particular thanks go to Andy Benson who led this event, and to Sue Raikes, Siri Moorby and Rob Spivey who carried much of the planning and organisation work.
If you are interested in the co-ordination of our work with the Malian Community Council, and our links through MIG to other agencies in the UK working with Mali we really could use your help- Conference skills, administrative back up and organisational experience would all help share the load. IF you can help phone or e-mail Andy Benson on 0208 800 7509, or e-mail as follows andy.benson @malidg.org.uk
Working for Schools
We are developing several news schools links but are also keen to produce an educational newsletter about Mali and our work, which would go out to a range of schools that have expressed an interest. If you can help with this- putting material together, design etc could you please contact John Hedge.
Posh Junk
Heather Bolitho and Gill Hedge are planning to start a ‘posh junk’ stall at the market in Coggeshall, Essex. They will sell quality donated items which can turn a penny for MDG. The first stall will be on 2nd April.
So as your thoughts turn to spring-cleaning, can you help by looking around, asking your friends and generally helping us to acquire some good stock. Please phone Gill Hedge on 01787 311590, or e-mail gillhedge@hotmail.com
Diary Events
Please get the following dates into your diary:
June 5th 8pm Redhouse Radio and the Ouse Brothers at the Quay Theatre Sudbury, Suffolk- tickets £11 and all proceeds to MDG – another chance to hear two of the finest bands on the Cambridge acoustic circuit. Tickets from 01787 374745
10th and 11th October the national Trust Ickworth Wood Fair s and Sale 2009 near Bury St Edmunds- MDG will have a stall, perhaps in aid of one of our specific projects. More details in the next newsletter but we will need help on both days, and helpers have free entrance. Contact John Hedge on 01787 311590 if you can help us.
11th October at 3pm Holywell Music Rooms in Oxford Trevor Cowlett and his choir will perform Messiah for MDG- more details in the next newsletter, but be sure to keep you diary free for what will be a great experience.
Stop Press!
Rob and Hilary Spivey were instrumental in our recently getting a considerable donation of new IT equipment. During his January visit Rob agreed with Kone the items which J&D would have, and the donation therefore will be a valuable boost for their office, and this includes laptops which were taken out by Andy Rob and Tim. Rob still has some first rate equipment, much of it new and we are keen to sell this either direct to members or through E-bay. A detailed inventory is attached of available items with a guide price. Please contact Rob direct if you are interested on 01787 375099 or robert.spivey@malidg.org.uk
If you are planning events and would like to share information through the newsletter or on our web site contact John Hedge as above or Ken King who runs our web site on 01865 890829- ken.king@malidg.org.uk.
With all best wishes for Spring and grateful thanks for everything that you do.
John Hedge. Mali Development Group Secretary
MDG COMPUTER KIT INVENTORY
Screens
2 HP L1706 – 17” Flat Screen TFT - 17" - 1280 x 1024 / 75 Hz - 300 cd/m2 - 500:1 - 8 ms - 0.264 mm New £157 - £165
2 HP1702 - (Carbon, Silver) 17 inch LCD Monitor New £245
1 Dell EF171FPb – 2003 – Out of date - no price
1 Lenovo L171 L7AK2a Flat panel display - TFT - 17" - 1280 x 1024 / 76 Hz - 270 cd/m2 - 500:1 - 8 ms - 0.264 mm - VGA (HD-15) - business black – New £115
Printers
1 HP 2410 Photosmart Price New £212
1 HP 1010 Laser jet – New £110
1 HP P2015dn Laserjet – New £250
Keyboards
5 x HP 316 Keyboards. New £20
PC Tablet
1 Aiptek HP 12000U. Without mouse or pen. New £70
Scanners
1 Canon Scan Lide 20 New £35
1 Packard Bell Diamond 1200 plus. No price
Offers please to Rob Spivey 01787 311590
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