Bamako - sponsoring street children to attend life skills courses

Mali Development Group (MDG) is a registered charity which has been supporting development work in Mali, West Africa since 2000.  It is a volunteer led organisation, and relies exclusively on the skills and commitment of its members. Since its foundation MDG has raised £1.25 million. It has a number of members in Sudbury who have supported its activities through events, information sharing and fundraising.

MDG has two partners organisations in Mali, one of which ‘Pensons a Demain’ is supported by Sudbury Rotary Club.  ‘Pensons a Demain’ (Let’s think about tomorrow) is a small organisation in Bamako,  Mali’s capital city, which works with very disadvantaged children , most of them homeless and destitute. The founder is Kader Keita, himself disabled from childhood, but a highly regarded artist. His mission in life has been to provide a place for the children to stay and be rehabilitated. 

The special quality of the centre is that it uses art as a therapeutic medium, especially the classic Malian art form of Bogolan - making pictures on cotton cloth with the black mud from the Niger which flows through the city. The images are fixed with a mixture of natural herbs and the result can be stunning designs. The children learn about bogolan, but also take part in dance, drama and singing. In this way they grow into their own culture while also receiving health care, nourishment and re-entry to formal education. Over 100 children are helped each year and many other organisations come to learn about this highly child centred approach to the problem of street children - Kader does not like the term- he says streets don’t have children, only people!

Sudbury Rotary Club has been supporting PAD with funding for two places a year and this has made an important difference to this small project. Our involvement in this project has now finished, but over the three years it ran, it provided invaluable support for the youngsters.