The other evening I walked through the Sourakabougou market and soccer field towards the bright red cross on a bright pink clinic, the ASACOMSISOU. After years of shuffling paper, meeting with bureaucrats, getting architects’ briefs, discussing the price of sand (this country is made of sand, it has a price?) it is easy to lose sight of the product of your endeavors. The clinic is a humble addition to the massive neighborhood, but it was spectacular to see its pink walls as the backdrop of the comings and goings from school, market, and the wide-open public plaza. Mr Traore, our nurse on weekend duty, greeted me, showing me proudly his register of patients, the room for hospitalized patients, the pharmacy, the maternity, and consultation rooms. He flipped through a paper copy of the children who are in the Action for Health program, and turned on the computer to call up their records in PatientView. It was a calm Saturday evening, one laboring mother waited remarkably silently for contractions to come faster, while the matron (midwife) bustled about preparing the birthing room. It is spectacular to see how far we have come in the 10 months since I have been here. And exciting, too, to see the projects that are beginning now. The community health workers are learning to use their phone health tracking systems with great aplomb, even the older women have had their teenage sons teach them how. Transforming Trash is trying some of our first prototypes for income-generating trash melting in Mali this summer. But our work is far from done. The clinic still needs nurturing itself as it grows to serve a larger population and be wholly financially independent. Action for Health needs many more enrollees before we start to see major changes in the overall health of the community. It has been exciting to get the snap-shot version of the project “before” and “after”… the growth seems almost exceptional. But I look forward to coming back next year for the next snapshot and finding our new pink clinic settled into the brown hillside, and seeing our seedling turn into a tree.

If you are in the New York area, please join MHOP Director Anna Ninan and guest speakers at an evening celebration of MHOP on June 28th from 6-8pm. We'll provide updates on MHOP's latest initiatives and tasty food, complete with a fantastic view of the city! When: June 28, 2010, 6-8 pm   Where: Goodman Media International 750 Seventh Avenue, 28 th Floor (between 49 th and 50 th Streets) New York, NY RSVP: anna@malihealth.org , 404 729 2502 by June 25 ...continue reading

Written by Alex Harsha - Infotechnology Coordinator . The first few months of 2010 have been an exciting time for the Mali Health Organizing Project, and we are looking forward to a great year with a new clinic and community health worker pilot underway! We are thrilled to announce that the grand opening of the Centre de Sante Communautaire de Sikoro-Sourakabougou (CSCOMSISOU) took place on Saturday, April 10, 2010. The community clinic construction began in December 2008, and the doors opened to patients unofficially last month. Located several kilometers from paved road, but right next to the market and school in Sourakabougou, this six-room clinic is located to maximize accessibility to the least served residents of the city. In addition, we have partnered with the Association de Sante Communautaire de Sikoro-Sourakabougou (ASACOSISOU), the clinic's governing board, to develop this clinic as an trial site for innovative health-financing and technological ...continue reading

In Mali, radio is a communication technology to which more than 60% of both rural and urban populations have access (USAID Community Radio survey). Few people in our target audience of Sikoro have access to televisions and newspapers, and radio serves as a primary source of news and politics. 93% of Mali’s urban communities are classified as slums (UN Habitat). As marginalized neighborhoods, slums receive few government services and lack basic health infrastructure. The root cause of this underdevelopment is the deadlock between slum residents and their government. Government refuse to provide services until slum residents pay taxes, and residents refuse to pay taxes until their contribution goes to services. Meanwhile, citizens have little knowledge of their rights or how to exercise them. The radio program Sigida Joli has two audiences: slum residents and the government. Radio Sigida Joli has already proven critical for addressing relevant community disputes. ...continue reading

By Caitlin Cohen, originally blogged at the Brown Social Innovation Initiative InfoHub. Link to original posting here .  I come from the People’s Republic of Vermont where “branding” is a dirty word. I am a strange choice to be writing a blog on Social Entrepreneurship. My non-profit, the Mali Health Organizing Project, is focused on universal primary health care, not a traditionally “entrepreneurial” field. Universal primary care isn’t sexy, simple, or scaleable. Yet it is extremely cost effective and addresses 90% of global health needs (WB, 1994). How can we get entrepreneurial about universal primary care? Is there a way to rejigger with the business model to improve financial access to care, as Nathaniel Whittemore suggests in his recent blog, or is there in inherent conflict between running a program run on a business model and a program based on rights? For universal PHC in the developing world there is one massive flaw with the “business model”: it ...continue reading

As we begin a new, exciting and challenging year at MHOP with three (yes, three!!) program pilots planned, we are reflecting more and more often on our organization's commitment to remaining community-directed. To share her thoughts about this difficult task, Alex Harsha offered to cross-post a blog she wrote in November during one of the more trying periods of MHOP's development. For other posts by Alex, check out her blog, N be taa Mali la..., at akharsha.blogspot.com! --------------------------------------------- When I arrived in September, MHOP was struggling to reach a consensus with the CHAG on the issue of their re-elections. CHAG members were upset with our team, as the notion of elections suggested we did not like the work that they were doing. Some members even hinted that we were out to publicly humiliate them. Moreover, several members expressed serious concerns that MHOP has not delivered on its promises – intimating that the CHAG would unfairly take the ...continue reading

Recently, two adventurous and philanthropic Norwegian medical students from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland embarked on a tremendous journey - a 9,000 km charity road race from Budapest, Hungary to Bamako Mali, all to benefit MHOP.  MHOP congratulates Sebastian Orskaug and Johan Hjort for successfully completing their ambitious goal and thanks them for the €2.000 worth of supplies and medication that they donated to our new clinic.  Best with your continued medical studies and keep in touch! Here's more about Sebastian and Johan: We Are Home - Copernica Adventures Aid Project When we started planning our participation in the Budapest Bamako more than a year ago we had a clear vision of what we wanted. Following the spirit of the original B2, the "Caravan Humanitaire" was essential to us. By collecting small donations from friends, fans and family we managed to raise € 2.000 before departure. MHOP: ...continue reading

I ni ce and hello from Bamako! My name is Alex Harsha, and I am from New Ulm, Minnesota. I am a recent graduate of Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where I studied international relations and bio-chemistry. It was an interesting, challenging (and odd) combination, and it allowed me to deepen my interest in global healthcare issues. While at Lewis & Clark, I became a member of an organization called SMS:Medic (http://medic.frontlinesms.com/"Frontline), an organization that I believe will have a major impact on global health systems through its pioneering use of a simple, low-cost mobile technology program. In May, MHOP decided to pilot FrontlineSMS:Medic with their CHW program, and I jumped at the chance to join the team as Infotech Coordinator. So what will I be doing, and why? Few would deny that this is now a critical time in global health. While epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria continue to claim growing numbers of lives, the ...continue reading

In 2010, MHOP has welcomed several new members to our team. Two new Americans, Alex Harsha and Leona Rosenblum, have recently begun their year-long posts as Infotech and CHW Programs Coordinators. We have also welcomed two new Malian staff, Dramane Diarra (Community Coordinator) and Awa Outtarra (Programs Intern). MHOP welcomes our new members on board and looks forward to sending updates about their projects!

Looking for creative and simple gifts? Here are a few ways to shower friends and family with presents AND promote health change in Mali! On December 19th, award-winning artists Geddes Levenson and Annie Blazejack will be partnering to each create 12 pieces of art in 12 hours. Looking for a more creative gift? Sign up to pre-purchase a piece. The surprise drawing, painting, or collage can arrive in time for Christmas for those who celebrate it. Purchase one piece for $200, or two pieces for $325 (includes standard mailing costs). Half of the profits will go to MHOP and be tax deductible. Click here or email anna@malihealth.org to order. Geddes Levenson Annie Blazejack For smaller gifts, you can also give a donation of any amount in a friend or family member's name. They will receive a holiday card and letter from MHOP thanking ...continue reading

  That's right, we came in 1st Place!  At the final count, we had 343 unique donors, who donated a total of $38,151, which was matched with $13,572 from Global Giving, and won us a $10,000 bonus! That means that thanks to your help, Action for Health now has an additional $61,723 for 2010. That is a huge help, and we cannot thank you enough.  By helping to support Action for Health, you are working with us to reduce child mortality in a country where 1 in 5 children die prematurely. Action for Health allows slum residents to exchange community service work, or "Action Fees," for free health care. Action Fees range from working at a recycling plant to volunteering in local elections to participating in health festivals. Community Health Workers and our new clinic will provide free services, and in exchange, families� health actions will create social, political, and economic value that will be re-invested ...continue reading

Over the past six weeks, MHOP has welcomed several new members to our team. Two new Americans, Alex Harsha and Leona Rosenblum, have recently begun their year-long posts as Infotech and CHW Programs Coordinators. We have also welcomed two new Malian staff, Dramane Diarra (Community Coordinator) and Awa Outtarra (Programs Intern). We are excited to begin working with these enthusiastic and dedicated individuals, and would like to take the opportunity to introduce them and their projects to you. Arriving in mid-September, Alex Harsha is not quite a Malian rookie any longer, though she readily admits that the challenges of navigating life in Bamako still leave her feeling like a five year old on a regular basis! Regardless, we are confident that Alex and her project will be a great success. But let's just let her tell you about all that... I ni ce and hello from Bamako! My name is Alex Harsha, and I am from New Ulm, Minnesota. I am a recent graduate ...continue reading

Thinking of making a gift to the Mali Health Organizing Project? November 10th marks the start of MHOP’s 3-week matching campaign! When a donation is made to our new initiative, Action for Health, through GlobalGiving between November 10 and December 1, our partner Global Giving will match that donation at 30%, 40% or 50%.  Matching funds are limited, so act quickly. Action for Health allows slum residents to exchange community service work, or "Action Fees," for free health care. Action Fees range from working at a recycling plant to volunteering in local elections to participating in health festivals. The program aims to reduce child mortality by 90% in a country where 1 in 5 children die prematurely. We’re counting on our supporters to help us raise more money for Action for Health by spreading the word! 1) Pass along this message on to your friends and families and ask them to tell others. Announce the campaign on your blog, twitter, or ...continue reading

This month MHOP worked to provide clean water with our javelisation (bleaching) campaign.  For many years, it was the role of the mayor's office to bleach private and community wells each year in order to keep them free of parasites and other bad things.  However, this program has fallen by the wayside in recent years.  The CHAG (the community group that advises us) suggested that we do that as a service to the community, and we decided it seemed like a good idea.  So, Moustaph (the CHAG member who had the idea), Awa (our Malian intern), and I went to all the houses of our target families to check if they had a well, and then we got the CSREF (the health center for this side of town) to provide technical expertise in bleaching the actual wells.  Within a few days, it was all done!  Here are some photos from the day; the first is from when we talked to the dugutigi (village chief) to tell him what's up, and the second is from bleaching the ...continue reading

It is my last three weeks in Bamako I am reveling in small pleasures: eating mangos the size of my head, taking bucket baths, and taking a backseat at our team meetings.  As many of you know I will be headed to medical school at Brown University on August 12, financed by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation.   I am passing MHOP's reins on to our Malian leaders and Anna Ninan. For me this leadership transition is like being a mother sending her child off to college on the first day of school: I am looking on nostalgically, but MHOP is sprinting full-speed through the doorway. It is exciting to see this organization move from into adulthood, and inspiring to see it in capable hands. I will remain involved, chairing the board for the next few years and returning to Mali in summers and yet another leave-of-absence.  I look forward to when I can come back to MHOP with the medical degree and skill set to help us move from our organization.

One of MHOP's strategies for growth is to develop partnerships with larger NGO and government programs who will be able to use their resources to implement exciting and innovative projects (developed by us!) across Mali and West Africa. Of course creating these relationships can be difficult, so it was very exciting when the National Department for Social Protection and Economic Solidarity (DNPSES) invited us to participate in a workshop on their new national insurance program. The DNPSES is starting a two-part insurance program in 2010. AMO, or obligatory medical insurance, is directed to salaried employees in the public and private sectors. AMO is designed to build on the national insurance/Social Security programs already in place. The second program, RAMED, will provide free health care for the poorest 5% of the population. MHOP is most interested in RAMED, and we would really like to be involved with the development of this program, ...continue reading

Hey! My name is ADAMA KOUYATE. I am studying English at the University of Bamako. I am in my fourth year; I have an internship with MHOP since June 2008. So I am the responsible for communication and coordinator for the radio project. These last four years have been really busy since I have been conducting many surveys in some respects. First; it was the survey in ten slums of BAMAKO. The survey consisted in doing focus groups with ten young persons and three old persons in each of the ten slums. We ask them questions about the most pressing problems of their community, what they did to solve these problems, what they expect of the government, what they know about their health rights. This survey allowed us to know that cleaning up, health care and the lack of purified water are some of the most pressing problems slum's inhabitants are facing today. It also allowed us to determine that more than 85 percent of the persons in slums don't have access ...continue reading

Les deux dernières semaines ont été très charge par des études sur terrain ;précisément la localité de MEKIN SIKORO. Cette étude est orientée spécialement sur les possibilité d’erdication des déchets plastiques par des recyclages .Actuellement les déchets plastiques sont entrains de faire des dégât énormes jusqu'à voir la mort des animaux domestiques et la degration du sol En fin d’atteindre les objectifs nos objectifs; j’ai effectue une étude de faisabilité de recyclage des déchets plastiques en collaboration avec le professeur/chercheur MODIBO TRAORE de la faculté des sciences économiques et de gestions de l’université de Bamako /MALI. Cette étude a nécessite la collaboration absolue de la communauté de MEKIN SIKORO ;qui devant ces déchets plastiques se voit impuissant pour lutter contre ce genre de déchets. Le problème majeur des déchets plastiques au mali est dit à l’implantation des usines de fabrication des articles en plastique tels que les petits sachets ...continue reading

NB: Most microfinance programs loan to people with existing businesses. We loan also to women who wish to start new businesses. To help them create effective business plans, we conduct monthly trainings on business planning where prior borrowers and members of the microfinance committee train the new members using bambara and visual curriculum materials. - Caitlin Cohen From Modibo Niang, our Malian Director: We launched a large training program in our meeting room of our community center on Saturday the 7th of February, 2009. There were a total of 23 women in this training, lead by two members of the microfinance committee and supervised by me, the Director of the Project. These women learned about the importance of researching the income and expenditures of their enterprise, the need to choose an enterprise for which they have adequate training, and estimating availability of funding for their work. They also learned about supply and demand ...continue reading

By Devon Golaszewski. Recently, I've been focusing on income-generation projects as part of our health-financing research . The idea is that by finding an alternate source of funding we can either reduce the cost for all patients, by reducing consultation fees or the cost of drugs at the pharmacy, or create a “solidarity fund” which will provide free care for certain services or certain patients, such as free malaria care for all children under-5. We would really like to create a clinic-linked industry that benefits the community in addition to making money for the clinic. One idea is to create a plastics recycling factory, which will turn the enormous amount of plastic waste in Sikoroni into useful items:buckets, sandals or even building materials such as paving stones or beams. We can pay local children a small sum to collect plastic litter, and with the help of organizations such as Engineers Without Borders and Brown University professors develop ...continue reading

Niang, Sara and I met with the president of the Malian National Assembly's health committee today. There is no existing committee for primary health care. We proposed and she agreed to create a subcommittee expressly to advocate for universal primary care health coverage for indigent people. We are meeting with a group of senators in late may to put this committee and a yearly "attelier" (planning session) in place, and we will hopefully be working with the Department of Social Development and Economic Solidarity's new program RAMED to determine realistic and health-access based measures of "indigence". Its long term, but with enough grassroots organizing to back it up, we might be able to drastically improve health coverage.

Written by Mariposa Garth-Pelly. Having lived in Bamako before I packed to return with the notion that if I'm comfortable wearing it it is OK to wear. That was until I arrived in Sikorro. Sikorro is a world apart from other Bamako neighborhoods. It is more village-like than other areas—we have electricity, but no pretense of running water, poor roads, and a moral conservatism that yesterday resulted in me being chastised for wearing knee length basketball shorts (too short!) that would have been perfectly acceptable in Bamako's more developed quarters. Sikorro one of the oldest neighborhoods of the capital, but it is chronically neglected when it comes to government services. Many people moved here recently from more rural areas and don't intend on staying long (thought they often do). I will be working on our Siguida Keneya, Health in Our Homes Program. This program is based on an action for health model whereby people are given free health care in exchange ...continue reading

Written by Julie Siwicki. The Brown MHOP student group has been collaborating with Providence, RI's own Metro Mart Convenience Store since mid-November. The cashiers have kept a donation jar on the counter for MHOP, and the owners have generously matched all funds in the jar. They helped us raise nearly $200! A special thank you to Pramesh and the cashiers for their enthusiastic support. We'll definitely be keeping in touch with them regularly... not only as MHOPpers but as hungry college students looking for convenient snicky-snacks! Please stop by and thank them yourself at: Metro Mart Convenience Store 221 Thayer Street, Providence, RI (401) 273-4407 ...continue reading

Written by Sara Rosen Dugutigi is a Bambara word meaning chief of the village ( dugu is village and tigi is chief). Dugutigi’s all around Mali, and Africa, are quite important and quite powerful. If there are any problems in a village, or any projects started, he must be consulted. If a meeting happens that dugutigi isn’t aware of it, problems normally ensue. Even though Sikoroni isn’t a small village, dugutigi’s still exist in each neighborhood in Bamako. Sikoroni/Sourakabougou held a large General Assembly meeting last week to talk about the committee that will run the new clinic that we’re building. The dugutigi of Sikoroni was invited, but unfortunately a faux-pas was made: He was offered the wrong chair, and was therefore offended. This extremely important meeting thus started off on the wrong foot. After some heated conversation about who was to be on the Board of the new clinic, and lots of yelling coming from discontented ...continue reading

Helen Shariatmadari left London five weeks ago in a shiny-grey sticker-covered 1991 Volvo with about 105,000 miles named "Jesse". Despite the fact that Jesse is almost as old as some of our interns, the car runs marvelously and made it all the way to Bamako, where Helen and David kindly donated her to MHOP to be our first "health taxi". Jesse cannot be a regular ambulance because of her size and lack of room for equipment. That said, our clinic is located in a place where taxis do not go; We will use her to transport non-emergent patients to the regional health center to get healthcare that we cannot provide at our clinic such as care for AIDS, diabetes, and pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia. Additionally, MHOP recently purchased a moto for our director to use for work-related travel and visiting collaborators. Motos are a marvelous form of travel in Mali because they permit you to escape the terrible traffic and get through roadways that ...continue reading

My name is Mariam A. Diallo; I am a resident in Vermont. I just arrived from Mali a few days ago. My trip back to the US was okay until when I arrived at JFK (New York). I waited for my luggage for two hours and came to find out that it was still in Mali. They had to leave some luggage there because the plane was full. It was just my luck. During my stay there I got the chance to work at MHOP. It was great experience for me. During my stay I have worked curriculums for organizing a campaign in french. In order to have a good turnout you need to follow four steps, which are: Step 1: Ask the what Questions. To begin your action planning you need to ask the what questions like what is the issues? What research needs to be done? What are the goals? Step 2: After asking the What Questions , you need to ask the Who Questions . They are four groups that you must consider when developing action plan. The four groups are: targets, core ...continue reading

This week in Sikoroni (in commune 1 in Bamako) I held a series of focus groups with the community and health personnel about health financing. Over the course of the meetings, we learned much about the quality of life of the population of the neighborhood. More than 80% of people do not have access to health care, mostly because of a lack of financial means. The health personnel mentioned that many people work in town and thus seek care there, and also that they do not have confidence in local health agents. These two cases explain in part the massive lack of care-seeking behavior in the neighborhood. According to the community, the lack of care-seeking is due to a lack of means to pay for health expenditures, (even if the human resources are good), but also the lack of qualification and experience of health agents. In effect, we will need to conduct more involved studies to put in place a functional health financing system in this ...continue reading

Translation: The residents of Sikoro/Sourakabougou came out in large numbers today for the laying of the first brick of their community health center. Valued at more than 22,000,000 FCFA, the center will permit the population to benefit from proximal care. In six months the residents of Sikoro/Sourakabougou will have their community health center. At the laying of the first brick a high time was had by the notables of the neighborhood, the authorities of the commune, as well as the members of the Association "Sigida Keneyali". "The CSCOM will permit more than 50,000 souls to benefit from primary healthcare and ameliorate the health coverage and health indicators in this district of Bamako." The Association Sigida Keneyali, thanks to whom this project has seen this day, has, as its work, several projects of this nature. This is why the director of the project stressed the importance ...continue reading

Mali is hot.  There is no mistaking it.  In my quest to get some green vegetables back into my diet I considered buying a refrigerator so I could go into town once a week to shop for veggies, and then store them in my home.  The problem is that my electricity is both expensive and unreliable.  The solution?   The $ 5 refrigerator!   Ingredients:   1)    Porous earthenware container (called a gi fiyen) ($2) 2)    Plastic bucket ($1) 3)    Metal stand ($2) 4)    MUD (FREE)   You put the sand and water mixture into the earthenware pot, put the plastic pot inside the mud, and the whole thing on the stand.  The water seeps out of the pot slowly and evaporates, cooling off the mud, and keeping the contents of the plastic bucket about 20 degrees cooler than the ambient temperature.  If you want things to get really cold, you can put a block of ice inside and it acts as a ...continue reading

What is the best way to make a fundraiser work well?  Make it fun!   For us to build a government-funded clinic in Mali, we need the community to fundraise at least 10% of the cost.  Our Community Health Action Group and our Peace Corps Volunteer headed up an initiative to combine a soccer match with free AIDS testing and a benefit raffle to help the community fundraise for the clinic. The morning was kicked off with AIDS education from our partner project, Djekafo.  They showed films and skits and dialogues about AIDS.  We brought the major AIDS project from downtown into Sikoro to do free voluntary counseling and testing for anyone who wanted it.  According to CESAC we had an excellent turnout for in-the-field testing. The chiefs of the village also offered some words. The afternoon featured a soccer match between Sikoro (in ChocoMali-sponsored white T-shirts) and Sourakabougouni (in our own AIDS day black T-shirts).  While there are some ...continue reading

Hundreds flocked to Brown University on Friday night to hear Malian musician Vieux Farka Toure in support of MHOP. Vieux and his band played to an energetic crowd eliciting song, laughter, and lots of dancing. What's more, they helped to raise $2,000 for Sikoroni's new clinic,  which will begin construction in late November! Vieux and MHOP share a passionate aim to relieve malaria in Mali. Vieux has always worked to eradicate this disease in his home country, with 10% of his album sales benefitting this cause. Malaria is also a top concern in Sikoroni. Many of MHOP's projects address it; for example net distribution and impregnation, health education, and a new clinic to serve malaria patients. Vieux's performance was a success in all dimensions; it brought in not only much-needed clinic funding, but also drew attention to MHOP and its work among Brown students and the greater Providence community.

I just attended the Network: Towards Unity for Health conference in Bogota, Colombia. There are 340 participants from 45 different countries, all of whom are trying to tackle primary health care and health education.  Discussions include brain-drain, medical school educations, and how to promote pro-poor healthcare policies. I was invited to present a workshop entitled “Using Health to Build Power” about using community organizing strategies for health. The diversity of participants was incredible… I learned about medical education in Mozambique and at Harvard, anti Gender-based violence campaigns in Egypt, and clinical outreach in Nepal.  It was a pleasure to share our model and see how it is applicable to projects around the world. One of the most amazing parts of the experience was the site-visit.  I spent a day at each of two healthcare programs in slum communities south of Bogota.  The slums here are nothing like in Mali: one of them, Ciudad Bolivar, has ...continue reading

Julie Siwicki and I visited the home of Brown University President Ruth Simmons’ today to meet the President of Liberia, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.  It is quite a thing to be introduced to your biggest heroes by another idol! (And they actually look a little like each other, as well). After threats to her life, two long stays in exile, and being charged with treason, President Sirleaf became the first elected female head-of-state in Africa.  On top of that, she is now in charge of rebuilding a nation after 14 years of civil war.  And the rest of us think our jobs are hard! President Sirleaf won the vote in 2005 in Liberia by mobilizing female supporters and quadrupling the number of women registered to vote. She is an inspiration to us all, a testament to the unbelievable power of an iron will.   Julie and I are extremely honored to have had this opportunity. I am flipping through photos now of our women leaders in Mali, trying to guess which of ...continue reading

I'm back home in MA after spending the summer in Bamako and still trying to adjust to the intense differences between Sikoroni and the states.  Hot running water and preserving produce in a refrigerator are welcome luxuries, albeit still somewhat perplexing knowing how expensive and even downright impossible such taken-for-granted amenities are in Bamako's slums.  Since my last blog update in July, the waste management program, specifically, has made exciting progress.  The CHAG completed a survey of nearly 100 households in Sikoroni's six districts about interest in and barriers to waste-management service subscription.  Now that I’m back stateside, reliable electricity and technological access will allow me to tabulate and analyze these results, which I will summarize, email to Niang in Mali to ensure that it is discussed in detail with the CHAG as plans progress to expand the program.  Such administrative work is much easier stateside due to the laws of ...continue reading

Radio Sigida Joli (Building communities, beautiful communities) Imagine no newspapers. Imagine your daily TV broadcasts are all in German.  You’ve never used the internet, have no email account, and cannot afford phone credit.  One of the biggest challenges to grassroots action in Mali is simply communication!  This summer MHOP has started research for a program to bring the voices of slum neighborhood residents into the public arena by radio!  With funding from the Huntington Public Service Award this project will help people discuss the problems in their communities, innovative local solutions, and concrete steps for getting involved. Adama Kouyate, a student at the University of Bamako, is the principle Malian intern on this project.  He has started a series of 10 focus groups in slum neighborhoods of Bamako to figure out what stations people are listening to, what stories they want to tell, and the solutions they have to share with each other.  So ...continue reading

After a brick laying community ceremony on November 25th, construction of a health center for 60,000 underserved slum residents will begin!  The clinic is scheduled to be completed by June 2009, so Ben and I have spent the last few weeks revising a list of the medial supplies needed to equip the clinic.  We met with Dr. Magdalene Togo, the ex-chief of medicine of the national hospital, at the Ministry of Health to better understand what clinic equipment we could expect to be “prise en charge” (provided by the government) and what will need to be provided by MHOP. The health ministry is located in the presidential compound on top of an imposing hill overlooking all of Bamako.  After spending all summer in the shadow of the president’s hill, we finally got to approach the center of Malian bureaucracy.   Caitlin, Niang, Ben and I took a cab up the winding road past series of murals of past Malian presidents.  But halfway up the hill, our taxi would go no ...continue reading

    Yesterday, Cari and I ventured across the Niger River to the other half of Bamako. The occasion: La Journée Panafricaine des Femmes. Not knowing what to expect, we were surprised and delighted to enter a large auditorium filled with women all wearing clothes of the same fabric!!! It was designed specifically for the occasion – the date and the seal of the Panafrican Women's Organization appeared on the fabric design.     The day is an annual convention-of-sorts where women and men come from across the country (and all of West Africa??) to mingle, eat, and address pertinent issues. This year the theme was "Impacts of Globalization on Poverty in Africa", with a focus on the role of women. Participants spoke, performed skits, danced, and sang on a stage in front of the wonderfully-matching audience.     I loved seeing these women taking such an active role to find poverty alleviation solutions. It fits nicely with the mission behind Musow ...continue reading

I sit in the courtyard drafting this blog amidst a large group of energetic women  in a circle under the shade of the mango trees diligently chopping large piles of onions and garlic.  In the corner, a local Sikoronian, Ami, paints traditional Malian geometric designs of henna on Caitlin's feet and hands.  The festive air is contagiously exciting.  Better yet, it poured throughout the night leaving today's air cool.  With all the bustling, the break from the heat is appreciated as tomorrow, MHOP's Malian director will marry!  On behalf of the MHOP staff, congratulations, Niang!   The week has brought other exciting updates as well.  Specifically, our waste management program, Sikoroni Jeya, has made terrific progress.   We have spent about a month gathering information from various local and governmental actors, which has proven to be both extremely frustrating and extremely rewarding.   The frustrating -  a number of ...continue reading

Today was a glorious day. Glorious is really one of the only ways to describe it. It was a Saturday and the day was largely filled with fun, as Saturdays should be. I woke up early to help Niang set up our mosquito net impregnation station  in one of the communities we work with. "Impregnation" is chemical treatment to kill mosquitoes, and it is responsible for about half of the preventative effect of a mosquito net. This was a great way to follow our recent survey, which found that mosquito impregnation and use was a huge problem.  While overall, project participants seem to be doing what they can do stay healthy, many individuals are still not sleeping under mosquito nets. When asked why, a lot of them said that they are only free for pregnant women and children, so they don't want to spend the money or don't think it's worthwhile for other family members to use them. However, that having been said, a large number of individuals still DO use mosquito nets but don't know ...continue reading

I think it's worth recording the many different kinds of interactions I have with people here. One big category: communicating with the host fam. I'm staying in a compound that houses about 35 people. Though I haven't yet figured out the exact relations between them all, I'm pretty certain that they're all related somehow. Only a very small percentage of them speak French – the dad (one of them) and two teenage girls. Everyone else speaks strictly Bambara. I'm taking a course in Bambara 3 days/week, but my skills aren't quite where they need to be for easy conversation. I talk to the two girls a lot. Their names are Aisha and Kadya. They explain a lot and teach me words in Bambara. Very helpful. My interactions with the women of the household are a little different. Both parties are acutely aware of the language barrier, but I feel like there's a mutual desire to "bond" or what have you. We exchange a lot of smiles, greetings, and handshakes. Sometimes they say something complicated ...continue reading

Aw ni sogomo!  Awn be Mali la.  (Good morning from Mali!)  We've been in Bamako for about a week now, and all of the volunteers have moved into Sikoroni. The first morning of our arrival we all received Malian names from one of the chatty market vendors.  I was pretty exhausted from the flight and didn't realize that our names would become such an important part of my summer here.  Since then, we've introduced ourselves at each store or house we've visited with our Bambara names.  Our first names are never enough, and we are always pressed to go around and say our last names, after which everyone laughs hysterically, telling us the stereotypes and stories of the rivalries between the different families.  Julie is constantly teased because she is a Kulibali- everyone laughs that her family is known for eating beans.  I'm a Haïdra, from a religious family, so the joke is that I must know the Koran really well.   Cari is a Kouyaté, a ...continue reading

A note from our director, Modibo Niang: Chaque trois mois toutes les ONGs et Associations de Developpement de Sikoroni se reunissent pour discuter des problemes et essayer ensemble de trouver des solutions ou propositions de resolutions. Ses propositions seront presentees a l'autorite competente pour une bonne execution. Sigida Keneyali a participe dans le CCLDS depuis le debut. On etait heureux de parler de nos programmes avec la communaute le 30 decembre. On a bien discute le centre de sante à Sourakabougouni, et comment faire demarrer la collecte des fonds pour que le centre soit realise le plus tot possible. Tout le monde a apprecie la bonne nouvelle.

We take for granted how much words matter | being able to write down a name next to a phone number, your grocery shopping lists, emails to friends, street signs... When you have spent most of your life as a student (as I have) words become the domain of library stacks and theory.  But words are a pragmatic necessity. Literacy is key to health, to keeping records, to getting directions, to taking notes, to running businesses, and to political empowerment.    I am delighted to say that the women's program has started its most ambitious initiative.  I had the distinct pleasure of sitting in on their first session of a new program last Monday.  Mme Aisata Touré, a trainer with the CAFO, the local women's group, stood in front of 36 women in her big pink chalk-stained boubou.  Half of these women are widows or single mothers.  She explained the letters of the bambara alphabet , with little anecdotes to explain each one's shape.  Us catch water, ...continue reading

Mali Health Organizing Project is pleased to present our new site, thanks to the hard work and kind donations of Orchid Suites Inc, Michael Stein, Nicole Veilleux, and Caroline Mailloux! 

Welcome to the Mali Health Organizing Project Blog! This blog will be updated by our onsite volunteers and Malian director.  Check back for reports and ruminations from the field.