Speaker Roger Frank- The Bamako Rally

At the Ladies Night meeting Roger Frank of Upper Eden Rotary Club and John Taylor of the Appleby Club gave a very moving illustrated talk describing their participation in the Bamako (Mali) Rally. Mali, the landlocked West African country, is the World’s third poorest nation. Although much of Mali is barren it is self sufficient due to the fertile Niger River basin in the south and east.  A large cotton producer subsidies to cotton farmers in richer countries (particularly the US) depress prices and restrict access to export markets. Low cost alternatives to the Paris-Daker Rally raise funds for charitable causes and the Dakar (Senegal) and Banjul (Gambia) were very successful.  The Bamako Rally (2007) rules state that a vehicle participating must have a maximum cost of £100. Owners may modify and make road-worthy their vehicle and Roger and John decided to create a pink Ice Cream Van. Obtaining a Transit Van from a scrap yard in North Shields the eye-catching van was loaded with many sponsored items needed in Mali e.g. 100 digital thermometers, sewing machines, cotton and threads, pencils. It was an ice-cream van and had ice cream and flakes kept cool in a 12-volt freezer. The van was shown at events in the North of England to raise awareness of the project and a means of collecting donations. The journey took them from Plymouth, through France and Spain, Gibraltar, crossing to Morocco, Marrakech through the Atlas Mountains across desert and following the cost road south.  Roads varied in condition (and suitability and stretched the definition of ‘road’). Driving through sand was quite a challenge. Eventually reaching Bamako they visited local villages, saw the need for wheel chars, improvement to village wells and the poverty and cheerfulness of people living lives so difficult we cannot imagine. The van was sold for £2,200 and the vehicles that survived the Bamako Run and were also sold, so with cash donations £17,500 was available to be used for local projects in Mali. This reinforces the Rotary motto “Service above Self”!