SOROPTIMISTS IN MALI 2009 / Part 2

Director Heinrich Dahms saw for himself how hardworking and dedicated the Malian population is to bettering their living conditions. They are extremely dedicated to improving their own lives: they don’t wait for handouts – but get on with the job themselves.

As the Soroptimists found – the Mali women enable the Water Projects - fulfilling their side of the project way beyond the expectations of the sponsors’ hopes.

When a SOROPTIMIST chooses a village to assist in building a Water, school or Maternity project, it’s because she has compiled information about the population, hardships (such as children walking more than 6 km a day to attend school each day, and in temperatures that exceed 40 degrees!), lack of clean water (the only source of water could be an estuary which is infested with black fly and tsetse fly) etc.

The Soroptimists evaluates the needs of the village and together with the village elders and Head of the Women’s Group in each village decides which problems to tackle first. For example: building water pumps, growing vegetables, building a school or a clinic etc., these things have a natural order in a village.

CLEAN ACCESSIBLE WATER is the primary necessity from which all the others can grow.

MALIANS are not waiting to be helped, but gratefully and positively embrace any help they get – from the sponsored water pump comes clean fresh disease-free water. The villagers not only use it to wash in and drink from, but build bricks which in turn they build maternity centers, schools, grain storage rooms, community centers etc.

EVERY LITTLE DONATION IS USED TO ITS FULLEST POTENTIAL

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