The Mali Assistance Project (in conjunction with Witness: The Human Rights Project):

The Mali Assistance Project was founded to raise funds to assist the village called Foutaka Zambougou in Mali, West Africa. This is the home village of renowned Master Drummer Abdoul Doumbia, who now resides in Boulder, Colorado. Abdoul returned to Mali in the summer of 1999 with a group including interior designer Karen Marx. Upon examining the local supply of food, it became apparent that the villagers would soon to be facing desperate conditions including potential starvation due to drought. Through the efforts of Karen, Abdoul, and Witness: The Human Rights Project, The Mali Assistance Project was formed to address these issues. 

Phase One was successfully completed in October 1999, with Karen and Abdoul returning to deliver 33 tons of food to Foutaka Zambougou, just two days after their entire food supply was exhausted, saving them from starvation. There are 81 families in the village, some families having as many as 35 members. The total population is estimated between 1,500 and 2,000 people.  With $10,000 of the money contributed, the amount of food purchased provided 6.88 oz. of food per person per day for three months. This amount of food was not much, but just enough to survive. The subsequent crops have been healthy, with each harvest providing food for one year.

Through our fundraising efforts, more than $17,000 has been contributed toward Phase Two, which is being held in our non-profit 501(c)(3) savings account. Through the kind support of Witness, we operate under its 501(c)(3) non-profit umbrella. This ensures strict accounting for all funds, with no monies going to Mali Assistance Project salaries, and less than 20% going to program administrative overhead. All donations made to our organization are tax-deductible.

Phase Two:

One task in Phase Two is to help the village with digging and constructing additional wells to increase the availability and quality of water. Existing wells are often contaminated, and are insufficient to supply the water needed for the village population.   The Mali Assistance Project was recently awarded a grant through the Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering (CEAE) Department at CU Boulder Department of Engineering, in the amount of $8,000.  Engineering students at the University intend to create a solar powered filtration system for the drinking water from one well in the village.  The Engineering professor involved, along with two students and Abdoul Doumbia, will travel to Zambougou in January 2002, to implement this pilot program and to film the endeavor.

Most importantly, we have been researching the most effective method of creating an irrigation system for the farms in the village. We plan to dig 40 tube wells for the 81 farms and to provide pumps, holding tanks, and drip irrigation systems.  Our goal is to install the system in the winter of 2002. This will enable the villagers to farm year-round, instead of only during the four-month rainy season, staving off future threats of drought and starvation.

Phase Three:

We will build a small medical clinic to serve the 1,500 to 2,000 villagers in Foutaka Zambougou, as well as people residing in the twenty neighboring villages.  The total number of people in this area is unknown, but it is estimated at more than 20,000 people. Currently there are no modern medical facilities established, and no medical financial assistance of any kind provided by government. Villagers must walk ten hours to Segou to receive medical attention.

We will provide the materials and equipment required for the construction of the new medical clinic, and villagers themselves will provide the labor required to complete the project. Our organization will also provide used medical equipment, supplies, and pharmaceuticals needed for the clinic. The Malian doctors would live in the village and work for approximately $800 each per year. Please contact us if you are in a position to make a substantial contribution of a medical nature (equipment or services).

Phase Four:

The final phase of our project will be to build a small school, to give each child an opportunity to attend school, as currently no one in the village reads or writes. 

Our parent organization,Witness: The Human Rights Project has been involved with educational projects about democracy and culture for several years, doing field research in Bosnia, Cambodia, Tibet, Nepal, Mali, and El Salvador; doing major cultural presentations about Tibet at the Denver Art Museum; mounting major exhibits about the first elections in Bosnia at the Boulder Public Library, the Cheyenne Public Library, and the Wyoming state capitol; building a collection and archives of war, religious and elections artifacts, and making public presentations of photographers, films, filmmakers, and live performances by endangered cultures. Besides working with the University of Colorado/Human Rights Archives, Witness, along with The Mali Assistance Project has worked with Amnesty International, the American Alpine Club, U.S. West, Camera Obscura, the Boulder City Office of Human Rights Department, Boulder County AIDS Project, Voices for Children, Attention Homes, Helander Dance Theater, Community Food Share, and "The World Sits Down to Dinner" program at the Boulder Public Library. 

About Abdoul Doumbia:

Abdoul Doumbia is an extraordinary Master Drummer from Mali, who in 1991 was invited to the U.S. by Brown University to participate in their West African Dance Program. He has worked as a guest consultant and performer at Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, Dartmouth, and many other universities. In Mali, Abdoul was the lead drummer for eight years with the 47-member national drumming and dance troupe called Babemba.  Doumbia has studied with more than 30 master drummers throughout his lifetime, and has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe teaching workshops, leading drumming camps, and performing.  

For an update (in printable Adobe .pdf format) regarding the status of the organization's charitable activities sent to donors in January 2009, please click here and here to read their most recent letter to us. To make a contribution, please make checks out to The Mali Assistance Project and mail to:

The Mali Assistance Project
950 Yellow Pine Avenue
Boulder, CO 80304

www.maliassist.org

You may contact Karen Marx or Abdoul Doumbia at (303) 449-1774
e-mail: karen@maliassist.org
            abdouldumbia@maliassist.org

Important Note:
This page is provided as a service to The Mali Assistance Project by Motherland Music. Motherland Music does not take responsibility for any aspect of the program.