MALI
When our partners and friends at One Global Village (OGV) requested help for the Dagabo village they support in Mali, our team knew we could help.
The people of Dagabo survive on subsistence farming. OGV is empowering the village, especially the children, to live healthier lives through education and medical care. The group provides one nutritious meal per day at the Siraba School. The school needed a canteen so the children would no longer have to sit in the dirt to eat. OGV asked us to build a facility that could double as a community center where the village can gather. FYI includes solar lighting for evening tutoring/homework and village/community meetings.
UAF volunteers traveled to Mali over the 2020 New Year’s holiday to build the structure. Volunteers quickly learned the intricacies of generators and uneven electricity. Despite blowing out many power tools they persevered and raised the building. Team members said they loved working with the local parents and kids to build benches for seating. Some of the kids built their own benches to take back to their huts. UAF also sponsored Sloan Buhse, a nursing student to assist and learn during a OGV’s surgical mission happening the same week. Sloan also worked with Dr. Tammy Neblock-Beirne at a clinic for adults, students and new baby/mother clinic.
After the canteen was built and the tables and seating were put in place, up, our volunteers did a little more. They extended the cooking hut to create an awning, so that the mothers who cook the daily meal have shade from the broiling African sun. They built also built a large table and benches to be used for meal prep and serving the lunch, which had been on the ground. The team also created new soccer goals from left over metal beams. A huge hit with the kids!
The canteen/community center is named in memory of Mike Alex, a friend and family member to many UAF volunteers. He passed away suddenly in the summer of 2019. Mike was a powerful advocate for Catholic education. Helping a school located in a humble African village is a fitting tribute to his life and a legacy that will endure.
Abigail Hayo, One Global Village: The villages is thrilled to have partnered with United Aid Foundation on this project. UAF’s vast experience and expertise in disaster relief - battling the elements, less than favorable accommodations, many challenges with supplies and equipment and more - set up for the perfect collaboration. We were a team of 13 incredible volunteers and I could not be more proud of each and every one of them. I am equally proud of the Dagabo community for rolling out the red carpet, red dirt in this case, for our team. The villagers welcomed us with great enthusiasm and worked with us side by side throughout the week. Thank you to United Aid Foundation, to your supporters and to the families of our team members for making this dream week come true.
John Alex, United Aid Foundation:
UAF originally took on this mission with a bit of trepidation as wasn’t in our normal wheelhouse.
We were humbled by the gracious reception by the people of Dagabo and we immediately understood how important this mission was to the village. We accomplished everything we set out to do plus a little more, only with the help of the people. I’m a proud new member of the Doumbia people as decreed by the elders of the village. Proud to be so.