* This blog post is part of Invoke’s participation in the 2008 Vancouver Blogathon for Charity

Up early in the morning, quick breakfast, then its off to the truck for a 2.5 hour drive, much of which is over dirt roads.

When we arrive in N’Gouraba they entire village is out to greet us. We are early even, but they are waiting diligently. The road is completely lined with people of all ages and the Hunters greet us with music and strange dancing. I say strange because it is totally random free-form movement and they’re snickering and joking around with one another.

Once we run the gauntlet of cheering villagers we sit with the mayor, tribal elders, and a host of spectators as we are presented with gifts. KC is overwhelmed as they present him with one thing after another including the honorary position as head of the Farmers. This is a tremendous honor and because you can’t be the head of the Farmers without any land and he is promptly presented with a deed for 1 hectare of land! Wow!

Now it is time to meet with the leaders of each group: city hall, medicine, education, the womens group, and the farmers. They were super organized and very proud to report on all the successes they are enjoying, always noting that there is still much to be done. Note taken and we are on it! After a full, exhausting day of presentation after presentation in 38?? heat we are pretty spent and head back to the city.

Some of what we’ve done to-date: built a medical clinic, stocked it with medicine, fitted it and the school with a solar powered energy system, filled the school with textbooks, purchased seed, fertilizer, and farming equipment for 100 farmers.

Many these initiatives include a repayable portion which is pooled into a community fund. This encourages the community to work together and help each other develop the economy. When we met with leaders from each area of the village, they all operated in the black. There were no cost over-runs. Responsible government and leadership is very much present in N’Grouraba.

You can see more of my pictures in this public Facebook album. And if you have any questions or comments on what we are doing I would love to hear from you so please dont hesitate to contact me.

* This blog post is part of Invoke’s participation in the 2008 Vancouver Blogathon for Charity

My good friend kc and I went on a pretty nuts trip this past May. It was a whirlwind that started with Amanda and I spending a week on the beach in Mexico followed by London, Bamako, Casablanca, Paris, and Lyon with the main purpose of the trip to get our boots on the ground in Mali, make sure things were going well, and to see where we could further get things done.
To get to Bamako from Europe you need to take a late flight, arriving at 3am local time. Leaving is the same. Upon our arrival our driver Camara grabbed us and we made our way to the Listel’s Libya Hotel which was financed by Libyan dictator Momar Khadafi. Turns out he is very generous with his oil money to his neighbors. In fact, he is in the process of creating a massive district to centrally house all of Bamako’s government bodies.

After a short sleep we were up and at’em and heading out to meet with Plan Canada and Plan Mali representatives. First on the agenda was to visit a textiles factory. Mali only processes 1% of the cotton they harvest. Instead of exporting it all to be manufactured into usable textiles in Asia and then re-imported we are looking at opportunities to develop textiles in Mali as a vertical industry where the cotton is grown, processed, and manufactured locally thereby creating jobs and keeping the economy self sufficient.

Most of the equipment was from the 70′s and in need of replacement. As you can see these pics:

When I saw these guys rummaging through this junk i was curious. No joke, this is their parts department. Workers sort through these heaps hoping to find parts to repair the old machines. The company is looking for $20 million to refit the plant.

Later this day we were presented with an outline of what Plan was looking to do to expand the projects we’re working on and get us geared up for the next day’s trip 2.5 hours away to N’Gouraba Village. That is where the bulk of Lochmaddy’s work is done and I was extremely eager to get out there.

To be continued…

* This blog post is part of Invoke’s participation in the 2008 Vancouver Blogathon for Charity

Earlier this year both David Tedman and I were asked to be trustees of a foundation focusing on laying the groundwork for sustainable economic development, primarily in Mali. This was an opportunity to help guide dollars and offer leadership to regions in need of economic empowerment.

The Lochmaddy Foundation’s philosophy is simple:

Focus on economic development – Once a community has economic options and self sufficiency it is able to take care of its own. The foundations of economic sustainability do require medicine, education and solid, responsible leadership and we integrate each of those into the mix when creating a plan for the community.

I would like to take a quick minute to thank all of the donors who have so generously supported Invoke in our quest to raise money for the Lochmaddy Foundation and through them the village of N’Gouraba, Mali. Through your support, we have been able to raise $1,446 at the time of this post – far exceeding the amount we though we would be able to raise through this initiative.

Below are some pictures of N’Gouraba and the people that will be helped through your donations.

Please help Invoke support Plan Canada and the village of N’Gouraba by donating to the cause at Plan’s website.

Vancouver’s first annual blogathon for charity is set to start 10 pm Friday, July 26 and will finish 9 pm Sunday, July 28.? There are three shifts that bloggers could sign up for and Invoke has signed up for the Sunshine Shift – 10 pm Friday to 10 pm Saturday. This may be the first Vancouver specific blogathon, but it flows from a long tradition of blogathons.? When the people who organized the previous blogathons could not organize it this year, Rebecca – Vancouver’s Miss604 – stepped in and organized this years event.

Last year, Vancouver was represented by Rebecca and Raul, but Vancouver has really stepped up to the plate this year and as of the time I wrote this post, there are 14 Vancouver bloggers (including us) signed up to participate – Rebecca Bollwitt, Tania Morrison, Raul, Shane Gibson, Karen Hamilton, Ayeza Garcia, Isabella Mori, Danny Dang, Mehnaz Thawer, Barbara Doduk, Chris Richardson, Colleen Vince, and Duane Storey. There is still a week to sign up and I highly encourage all the Vancouver bloggers that haven’t signed up yet to do so.

A blogathon is a 24-hour period when you write a blog post every 30 minutes for a good cause.? Yes, you read that right – we will be posting 48 blog posts!? I’ve put the word out here and our team members have really stepped up to the plate – yes 48 posts from me may have gotten a bit boring.? Thus far, Nadia Nascimento, David Tedman, Dario Meli, Ryan Holmes, Andre Liem, Murat Ayfer, James Wilson, and our very own bacon chocolate chip cookie baking Zuri Scrivens have volunteered to write at least one post.? This list will most likely grow as the actual date grows closer.

Invoke has set a fund raising goal of $1000 $3000 (thanks for everyone who’s donated – we reached our original goal within hours – it feels great to be able to increase it) for the blogathon.? If you would like to support our efforts – which we would greatly appreciate – you can make a donation to the cause here (the page will be going live later today).? Invoke has chosen a charity that is very close to our hearts The Lochmaddy Foundation.? Invoke is connected to this charity through Dario Meli and David Tedman who sit on the board. Through the Lochmaddy Foundation, all donations will be directed to a community in Mali, West Africa. Families in N’Gouraba are working hard to improve their lives and the lives of their children through a special agricultural project. Your donation will empower and enable them to realize increased crops, more family income with new opportunities and a brighter future.

We are collecting donations through Plan Canada who are our partner on the ground there.? I would like to thank them and specifically Heather for all of their hard work in helping Invoke bring this all together.