After the high purchasing level of our launch quarter, which included Christmas, we have had a quieter second period. £200 was received between January and March, the majority being for Reflect and medical equipment. There are two interesting developments about both these areas of our work

 

MDG committee member visited Wogoma during his recent Mali trip, and was asked to officially open the clinic. It was clear to Andy how much the completion of the project meant to local people. The village provided the building and MDG members the equipment for it, so thanks to everyone who contributed. As you will see from the information about this gift we plan to identify another village where we can provide help with medical equipment and Tanty Samake, our link worker, and Mamadou Diarra, the Manankoro team leader, are both working on this. Money raised from the Gift scheme will go towards the new project.

 

Gift scheme vouchers have already helped equip Reflect circles in Manankoro, but MDG is now involved in a new project. This is the Women’s Hope project, a new initiative in Bamako. Many rural women in Mali suffer from serious incontinence because of early marriage or pregnancy, frequent closely spaced pregnancies, and, sometimes, female circumcision. Their incontinence leads to many problems including social exclusion, divorce and the sheer physical misery of the condition.

 

J&D have wanted for some time to work with these women, who come to Bamako to attend a hospital, which provides operations which can help. The women come from rural areas and stay in a house provided by the wife of Mali’s former President, Alpha Konare. Sometimes they have a long wait and sometimes the operation fails and they stay to see if another attempt can be made. They often bring their children with them and live a hand to mouth existence by washing clothes.

 

J&D want to provide a worker to help them improve their self-confidence and develop better ways of sustaining themselves. A key part of this work will involve starting a Reflect circle. MDG has now raised half the costs, thanks to a bit made by Ray Fishbourne to the Bernwood Trust, and we hope that alternative Gift sales of our Reflect Gift can help raise the balance so that we can help make a success of ‘Women’s Hope’.

 

More news about the other vouchers in the next report.