Mali: report 2009

September 2009:  This was a very difficult month with Sophie and her team so busy they didn’t know where to turn first.  There are 16 children (of whom 5 are very young) at the reception centre in Boulgoudié which has a capacity of 9 and a maximum of 11.  There are insufficient staff and insufficient space and a solution must be found to this critical situation.

The rains have stopped but too little fell to ensure a good harvest.  Often the few plants which grew have been damaged by torrential rains followed by periods of extreme heat.  The coming months will prove to be very problematic.

All is going well with our orphans, with the exception of several mild colds.  Whilst Sophie is away in the surrounding area, Tantie and Mariam take charge of the distributions.

October 2009:  We were very happy to be visited by Safiétou this month.  She is an orphan and, two years ago, her grand parents refused to send her to school.  They have now changed their minds and have asked us to fund her schooling.  Sophie has agreed to take responsibility for this.

One-month-old triplets, Salamata, Oumar and Zeïnabou, have been admitted.  They have lost their mother and all were very underweight at birth and are now malnourished.  Their grandmother will remain with them during their hospitalisation allowing their father to return to his village.

Including the latest arrivals, the Nutritional Recovery Unit now has 22 infants in its care.  Beds are now being placed in the corridor due to insufficient space in the bedrooms.  We can see no solution to this problem.

The security situation in the region worsens day by day.  Vehicles are being intercepted as they enter and leave the town.  The occupants of these vehicles are robbed and then stranded in the bush, up to 100 km from Gao with very little food and water.  Tension is quickly mounting.

We are still awaiting food deliveries from the World Food Programme and the situation is becoming critical for the children we are treating.  Some families have become so discouraged that they have abandoned the programme.

November 2009:  The cool season has finally arrived.

We have received 45 tonnes of fortified Unimix flour from UNICEF to help us cope with the WFP stock problems.

In response to the many attacks and threats of kidnapping, all
non-governmental organisations have been instructed to return their personnel to the capital so all their programmes have ceased. This is a bitter blow for the impoverished population.

Sophie has refused to abandon the children.  She will continue her work with the teams that she has trained.

December 2009:  (Extract from Sophie’s most recent report )  The year ends in an avalanche of violence, assassinations, hostage-taking and drugs and arms trafficking.  These have combined to make the region very insecure and inhospitable.  The saddest thing is that the ‘Gateway to the Sahara’ is now associated with terrorism even though the population there is powerless to act and equally victim to these problems.

Despite this precarious situation, Sophie and her team are maintaining their spirits.  Their sole aims for 2010 are to continue in a spirit of love to care for and treat the children.

On their behalf and that of the whole AAG, we thank you for your continuing support and wish you peace, joy and every happiness for 2010.

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Ibrahim 33 months old, 5kg900

Ibrahim is cured

Nouhoum 17 months old, 5kg200

Nouhoum is cured

The AAG furnishes Health Centres

Almidi who has recovered from Kwashiorkor disease