* 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…

For the blogathon Invoke chose to work with a global partner, Plan Canada, to receive the fruits of our fundraising efforts. This is primarily due to the fact that i can largely control where the money actually goes and get the opportunity to see first hand the impact it has because, as a Trustee of Lochmaddy Foundation, we work closely with Plan.

Here is a profile of this excellent organization:

- Plan was founded in 1937 in the UK as Foster Parents Plan.
- Plan is one of the world’s largest international, child-centered development organizations.
- They work in more than 45 developing countries worldwide.
- Their long-term community programs benefit 1.5 million children and impact the lives of 15 million people.
- Plan has no religious, political or government affiliations.

Please make sure you hit our partner page and contribute to making a difference.