Mali: report 2015

October 2015: Sophie is required to intervene following an increase in tension within our team.  She reminds everyone that we are all working together to reduce the suffering of children.  This must be done from the heart and not only for the salary.  We are striving to support infants who have had their childhood damaged or destroyed and if we are incapable of rolling up our sleeves and doing our best then we will have lost our reason for being here on earth.  The message is received and understood by the whole team.

One Saturday offers a moment of pure happiness.  The children are growing up nicely and the whole population is grateful for what we are doing.  The women are visibly proud as they present the children who are now ready to enrol in school.  Each child receives enough money to register themselves for the year.  Oura, who has returned from his pilgrimage to Mecca, accompanies the new students for their registration.

November – December 2015:  The Mayor of Gao has returned, fully exonerated of all accusations by the High Court.  The Agreement Protocol for the Reception Centre is signed by him, with a huge sigh of relief from us. 

We can now concentrate on completing the necessary renovations and repairs of the building and then begin using it.  We will be recruiting the needed personnel in January.

We prepare a new partnership agreement with ACF (Action Contre Faim) for 2016.  This will be financed by the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO).  Because we are nearly at the end of our PCA with Unicef, we decide to let our accountant go.  The accountant has not been satisfactory in much the same way as the dishonest security guard.
Several new malnourished orphans join us, such as little Salma.  This brings the end-of-year total number of orphans in our care to 133.

The end of the year is marked by shock and grieving following the attacks on Paris and Bamako, among others.  The future of the planet looks very unsure.  How do we find a way through so much corruption, so many atrocities and so much gratuitous violence? 

The answer adopted by the AAG is to keep looking forward, never give up and remain confident that things can improve.

We wish everyone all the best for 2016.  May it be a year of peace, freedom and hope.
HAPPY NEW YEAR.

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