Where We Work

[ About Sikoroni ]     [ About Mali ]

The Mali Health Organizing Project works in the country of Mali, West Africa in a slum neighborhood called Sikoroni.

93% of Mali's urban population lives in slums. -(UN-Habitat)

We believe that places like Sikoroni are particularly deserving of attention. According to the UN, a slum is an urban area that lacks:

• Safe water
• Sanitation
• Secure tenure
• Durable housing
• Sufficient living area

Slums in Mali, however, are neighborhoods.  They are NOT violent, and the people are motivated and organized.

"The world is...limitless" Dan te dinye na. -Bambara proverb

About Sikoroni

Sikoroni means "little old shea tree" and is a neighborhood just north of Mali's capital city of Bamako.   There are an estimated 60,000 people living in Sikoroni. 

The people in Sikoroni mostly come from rural places.  They go to the city hoping to find work.  The houses are constructed out of mud-brick (called "banco") and they generally last only a few years.  People stay in Sikoroni for much longer because they cannot afford to move into the city and are too ashamed to move back to their villages.

Few people in Sikoroni own their land.  The government does not provide services in Sikoroni because few people vote or pay taxes.  Some people in the town are 4 kilometers on hilly rocky pathways from water, clinical care, paved roads, or electricity.

Despite all of these hardships, Sikoroni's people are active and engaged.  The need for change and the potential for people to lead it make Sikoroni an ideal site for Mali Health Organizing Project's community-committee model.

Click here for pictures from Sikoroni.

 About Mali

Mali is a landlocked country in West Africa.  It is bordered by seven nations, and marked by the Niger River.  The Climate is mostly arid and desert.

There are many ethnic groups in Mali, including Bambara, Mandinka, Fula (Peul), Dogon, Songhai, and Tuareg among others.  French is the official language, but Baminankan is the primary spoken language.

Malie has a uniquely peaceful culture.  They have a national cultural concept of Diatigiya (hospitality) and a joking system between formerly warring groups that allows for incredible confilct resolution and day-to-day conviviality.

Mali is also the world's 3rd poorest country.

• 72.3 percent of the population lives with less than a dollar a day
• 81 percent of the adult population (15 and older) is illiterate
• 29 percent of the population suffers from malnutrition
• Nearly 1/4 of the children die before the age of 5
• Life expectancy is 47.9 years.

          (Source: DHS and the UN)

    
"When you can use  the earth as shoes and the sky as a hat,

you can claim to have understood the world a little."

-Bambara proverb