Postnatal incontinence

Many women in Mali suffer from incontinence due to complications and damage during childbirth. Such complications are due to factors linked to:

• Early marriage / pregnancy at a very young age before the body is fully mature  
• Female circumcision, still widely practiced in Mali  
• Frequent pregnancies too close together

Women’s incontinence frequently leads to social exclusion, divorce, lack of means of survival for them and sometimes also their children – such exclusion destroys lives and leads to untold misery. A high proportion of the women affected are rural women with the least access to health care and education services.

This is largely a hidden issue, much as sexual abuse once was in Europe and the US.

There is an operation that can sometimes help such women and this is performed at Point G Hospital in Bamako. Women who know about this operation see it as their only hope of living successfully in their communities and those who are able to make the journey to Bamako do so.

 The wife of the former President (Alpha Konare) provided a house where women waiting for and recovering from the operation can stay – previously they were living from hand to mouth virtually on the streets. There is a community of around 40 such women and their children currently living in the house at any one time.  They survive through washing clothes for patients in the nearby hospital. Some of them have remained for years because if the operation fails they try again, sometimes as often as 10 or more attempts; by such time there is little chance of success but they continue to hope and have little alternative but to remain and keep trying.

During the World Social Forum in Bamako 2006 the plight of these women (and children) was highlighted. A Director of J&D was a member of a World Social Forum delegates visit to these women and it was as a result of that experience that J&D and MDG resolved to look for an opportunity to work with them.

  Manankoro- malaria

Poor rains and limited capacity for water storage has had a significant adverse effect on cultivation.

The population of Yiningdougou is 4,857 50.2% of them women, and the 11 villages are linked by rural tracks, with good cooperation between the villages because of marriage links. However Yiningdougou is one of the poorest Communes in Bougouni, and one of the significant social problems is the exodus of young people from the area.

Two water courses cross Yiningdougou- the rivers Baoule and Degou. The small river concerned in this project is the Wony at Mafélé- which flows only during the winter. The Wony is a tributary of the Degou and drains towards the river Baoule.

The village council has consulted widely about priorities and needs. Some of the needs raised have been met- notably building of a small maternity clinic, and some work with women’s groups developed through Jeunesse et Développement. With the help of Mali Development Group the women have developed a market garden with a perimeter fence, and a diesel mill, which frees time from millet pounding and enables them to have more time with their families and for vegetable cultivation. 135 women are involved in the market garden, and this has had a significant impact on local diet and health.

There is however a real problem over water availability, and the drying up of wells has limited activity and prevented further development. The role of women is crucial in the development process, and the Yiningdougou Commune Council, and the village council both want the micro-barrage as a way of sustaining and extending the market gardening and rice growing which are now indispensable to daily life. The barrage, and the raised water table will also increase land available for pasturage - at present there is inevitably some conflict of interest between cultivation and animal husbandry. This was the reason why barriers were needed for the market gardens, and extra pasturage will be a significant secondary gain.

As well as the 1309 inhabitants of the main village many of the surrounding villages will also gain from increased water supply and improved food sustainability. Consistent water supply throughout the year will therefore have major benefits.

A strategy is in place to involve the staff of the community health centre in making the community aware of the safety and health issues associated with the barrage.

The structure proposed is a large concrete barrage, which will allow water to be retained in the Wony throughout the year slowing the loss of water from the riverbed.

Funding for the barrage came from a variety of sources- these include a number of Charitable Trusts, proceeds from Zôe Sinclair’s Marathon, Gifford and of course a substantial number of donations from members and activities. Huge thanks to everyone.

Work began in earnest on site at Mafelé at the beginning of 2008. Mark Richardson and Becky Mulley from Gifford arrived in Bamako soon afterwards and after a week’s orientation in Bamako went down to Mafelé. For the next four weeks they worked alongside the contractor and local people, living in the village. Each week a log of their progress was sent to New Civil Engineering magazine (it is viewable here). Mark and Becky give a moving account of the importance of the project to local people and their realisation that water is a very precious commodity. Both of them did a great job, and were very appreciative of the support they had from Jeunesse et Développement especially Tanty Samake. We hope that Gifford will keep up its involvement in the project with a follow-up next year, and perhaps other projects into the future.