FAQs

What are the next steps for MHOP?

MHOP is honored to have the commitment of the Mayor's Office of Commune 1, Bamako.  The regional representative for health is very impressed with our model and has invited us to partner with the government to implement our program in four other slums.  First, we need to prove that our model of organizing communities and working through government works: in the next two years we will be building a clinic, improving health outreach, and jumpstarting a trash disposal sysam.  We hope to workin in all slums of Commune 1 within six years.

What makes MHOP different from other health projects?

MHOP is not just about providing services, we are about changing how healthcare works in slums in Mali.  We help the residents develop their own health projects and advocate for themselves at the level of the government.  We don't come in with a foreign agenda, we allow local people to prioritize and design their own healthcare systems.  In this way we undo the root cause of slum underdevelopment, the disconnect between slums and their governments, at the same time as we provide life-saving health services.

What is the day to day life like for an MHOP intern in Mali

Our interns are each in charge of a program (or several).  A typical day involves eating "seri" (porridge) with their host family, holding a planning session with our Malian director, traveling to Bamako to meet with a mayor's representative, helping the members of the community committee work on project design, attending a concert or a baptism, helping in the maternity ward, etc.  Really, it is hard to predict exactly what an intern will do, because they (along with our Malian leaders) call the shots!

Who funds MHOP?

Our volunteers' third-grade teachers fund MHOP.  Our friends fund MHOP.  You fund MHOP.  The vast majority of our funding comes from individuals who care about health injustice.  We have also received funding from the US Embassy in Bamako's "self-help" fund.

Why did MHOP choose to work in Mali when there are so many other countries I've read about in the news?

Bamako is the fastest-growing city in Africa, meaning that there are large numbers of people moving from the country to the city.  At the same time, the size of the slums is still manageable, with most under 100,000 people.  Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the needs of the people in these areas are extraordinary.  These needs, combined with a culture that values collaboration, led us to believe that Mali would be the perfect place to try combining community organizing and public health models.

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