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Mali: report 2011

September 2011 :  The Thursday tradition is now well established for the children, even the youngest are brave enough to come up to the table where Sophie is waiting for them.  There are surreptitious sideways glances to check that the biscuits and bananas are there.  The education sessions are also working as each child remembers to greet Sophie in the correct manner.  On one particular morning in September the calm was shattered by the brusque arrival of three men and three women each carrying a small bundle of blankets, they were clearly upset by what had happened.  A young girl, still at school, had died giving birth to triplets.  One of the babies was so small it had to be hospitalised.  Our employee Mariam will take care of the child at the Nutritional Recovery Unit.

Training in the countryside continues with all the necessary security precautions.  The new Governor is a charming man who is working alongside us and seems to be fully aware of our mission.

September 22 is Independence Day and the AAG is the only NGO to be invited to raise a flag.  All the children attend the ceremony and sing the national anthem.  This is a solemn moment which precedes the distribution of milk.  The children are all happy to receive 2 caramels and 2 fruit sweets to mark the occasion.

October 2011 :  This year the rains have brought good pastures and the nomadic herdsmen are optimistic.  The heat has now returned and with it malaria.  Several of our children have suffered an episode of malaria.

At the Nutritional Recovery Unit, Mariam has done excellent work with the thirty-month-old, Mariama who is now a splendid baby.  On her arrival in September she weighed only 5.9kg and was suffering from severe malnutrition with complications.

November 2011 :  There is a lot of excitement in the air as the festival of Tabaski approaches.  The women are worried as the price of everything is so high.  Families have to join together to be able to afford to buy meat.  Basic foodstuffs are either in short supply or exhorbitantly expensive.  Stocks of baby milk are unavailable and we have several new babies who have lost their mothers.  The situation is very serious, thousands of people are threatened by famine.

Many families have had to move south to more secure areas but space is limited.  Farmers can no longer cultivate their crops in peace, they are constantly confronted by armed thugs and criminals.  The fragile peace in the region is broken.

More kidnappings in Hombori and Timbuktu lead to more fear.  All westerners have been ordered by the Government to leave the area.

December 2011 :  Finally we find baby milk for sale but it is very expensive.  As millet flour is no longer available, Sophie replaces it with manioc flour.  The women are unused to using this so Sophie organises an information session to explain how to prepare it.  The demonstration manioc is shared around and greatly enjoyed by the children who all claim more.

The cold, dry Harmattan wind is making nights glacial so we increase our distributions of warm clothing and remind the women to keep the children covered at night.

The container finally arrives and ‘thank you’ is not enough to express the gratitude we feel for the marvellous supplies and equipment which will soon be put to good use to help protect the children from the extremely difficult circumstances in which they live.

Christmas is celebrated with great joy.  After raising the flag and singing the National Anthem, each child receives a banana, a small bag of sweets, hot chocolate and a doll, newly arrived from Switzerland.

The extremely difficult year finally draws to a close.  Between the uncertainty of food stocks and exploding prices, and the physical dangers to people and property everyone is living in fear for the future.

Sophie would like to thank all the generous donors from the bottom of her heart for their support, and wishes everyone all the best for 2012 and a year filled with happy moments shared with people you love.

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Mariama before


Mariama after


Distribution of manioc


Arrival of the container


Christmas


Preparation of hot chocolate

 

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AAG - Association d'Aide à Gao - Suisse - Email: aide-gao@bluewin.ch