Month: December 2020

The village elders in Neguela are very concerned about having access to water in their villages.   They said most people have to walk at least a kilometer to get good water.  They said there are some wells in the village, but they don’t have clean water and they go dry in April and May during the hot dry season.

We asked if we could see one of the wells and they took us into a family compound in the village.  They said it was a large extended family, with 8 families living in the compound.  They had a well in their compound.  They said this water was only used for household cleaning, not for drinking.

They are concerned about the water situation here.  Every other well we saw was no longer working.

These children were curious about our visit.  I think they are absolutely beautiful.

We walked through the central area of the village by the main road.  These bushel-type baskets are made here.  They are used in the markets for produce.

As we later drove out of town, we passed this bakkie with a load of these baskets up on top!

This was another interesting shop.  I’m not sure if they were making the grinding machines here or just selling them.  These machines are usually owned by a village or an association in a village and are used for grinding grains, corn or cassava.  In the south they’re used for grinding shea nuts and millet.

Here’s a shop with meat for sale and a skin drying.

Next we went to see the school.  Neguela is the main village in this commune, so the schools are here and children come from all of the out-lying villages to attend here.  Some walk for miles to get to school.  Today it was quiet and peaceful here, during this holiday vacation time.  It was fun to imagine this place teaming with children.

There were big beautiful trees providing shade here.

The classrooms were crowded with bench desks.  The education leader told us that the secondary school, on one side of the campus, has 3 classes, each has more than 100 students.

You can see the class count in this room is 107 students.

There was a well and water pump here, but it hasn’t worked for several years.  Sad.  There are between 1200 and 1300 students this school.  They have no water.

This is the “Cantine” or cafeteria (of sorts) for the children who live too far to walk home for lunch.  About 200-300 eat lunch there every day.  They serve rice with peanut sauce or tomato/onion sauce and ask the villagers to help donate to pay for the food.   The children who live close enough go home for lunch.

They have a library here that was built by World Vision and a donor provided the books and materials.

What a nice day we had, here in Neguela.  It would be nice if there were more we could do to help.

After a morning at the church working on membership records, headed on a road trip with Pres Sekou and Fr Mbaya.  We have received several cases of COVID-19 masks from LDS Charities that needed homes.  Some were shared with the hospital in Ouelessebougou last month, and today we took a case of 1000 masks to a village called Neguela, about 2 hours north and west of Bamako.

Here are a few things we saw along our way.  Today it was 97 degrees here.  This man was dressed for the chilly weather.

Traffic in Bamako is always a little crazy and people transport crazy amounts of stuff on their heads, motorcycles, and on their moto trucks.

Market day in a village we drove through:

The road was paved the entire way, but we dodged plenty of pot holes!  We stopped here to put more air in the tires.

A load of firewood:

As we got out into the wide open country, it was hot and dry and dusty.  It’s hard to tell from these pictures, but the flame trees were in bloom with bright orange-red flowers.

We arrived in Neguela at about 2:30 this afternoon.  Neguela is a small town and seat of the commune of Bossofala in the Cercle of Kati in the Koulikoro Region of south-western Mali.  The town is 61 km northwest of Bamako., on the road that goes to Senegal.

The village elders were expecting us and were excited that we came.  Pres Sekou has met these villagers before, providing some humanitarian relief during the hard COVID times.   He was told about this village by a friend who knew there was suffering here.

We gathered under a shady thatch meeting place with the village chief, the mayor, the head of education and some village medical providers.  These men were kind.  They were grateful and concerned about their villagers. They said there are 16 villages in the area (commune) they serve.  Beyond that, there are another dozen or more hamlets (smaller villages).  There are about 18,000 people in the whole commune.

Pres Sekou explained to them that we were here representing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we had a gift for them from our humanitarian relief organization, LDS Charities.  They were so grateful and gracious that we’d even consider helping them in this remote place.

They suggested we go with them to take the case of 1000 masks over to the health workers at the nearby maternity clinic.

Here is the entrance to the medical clinic.

We had a brief ceremony, handing off the case of COVID masks there at the clinic.  The mayor wore his Malian sash and gave a thank you speech.

The village chief and the mayor:

A former villager who studied in Germany to be a veterinarian returned to  build this Maternite for the women here.  They are so proud to have such a nice birthing center.

This is the receiving room where women are checked in before delivering.

These are the two birthing rooms.   The nurse told us that they deliver 30 to 35 babies a month here.

This is where the babies are cleaned and welcomed to the world.

Here is the recovery room:

Outside the Maternite is an area for families to wait and a small pharmacy.

A very pregnant donkey waiting her turn!

The chief, the education leader and the mayor:

The toilets:

The older clinic building:

There is a well and water tank here, but they do not work.  They haven’t had water here for a long time.

This is the ambulance for emergencies.

Here is the housing where the staff lives:

After this clinic, we went to see one of the few wells in the village, some basket industry here and the village school.

In November 2020 this wonderful water project was completed in the village of Tabakoro, Mali.  We partnered with LDS Charities and a local NGO with help from Mike Clayton and his humanitarian team who came over and oversaw the installation.

A well was dug in the village schoolyard, a big dirt field, between the primary and secondary schools.  This well, solar pump and filtration system will provide water for everyone in the area–a huge blessing.  This is the school the children from the chicken farm attend.  We visited here today after our church meeting there under the mango tree.

There was a shade tree near the well with a group of boys under it, and one wizened old man who was guarding the well and the pump equipment. He had a sleeping mat and his little tea pot and burner. The boys were there with him, keeping company and making sure the hardware was safe, especially the solar panels and the battery.

The gentleman showed us the pump at the bottom of the tower with the tank at the top which was enclosed by a cinder block wall. Not far away from the water tower was a cemented area with a double tap coming out of the ground. He said the water was free for anyone to come and take. He had a pink plastic cup he filled and drank from, so happily. What a difference clean water can make in their lives! It was exciting to see how thrilled they were for this new source of clean water.

Here is Pres Sekou Dembele, our Bamako Branch President, showing us the water project:

The young guardians:

This is the well:

And here is the solar panel:

Here is the tap where people can come fill their containers with clean, pure water.  This tap is mid-way between the school buildings, providing water for all of the school children.

This kind gentleman was enthusiastic about the new water source here.  He said the people in the surrounding village are so grateful for this gift–what  a great blessing to so many families!

The secondary school:

The primary school:

Our thanks to LDS Charities and all who helped provide this life-giving gift!