Our friends at The Dokotoro Project invite readers in Northern California to a house party that will feature fantastic Malian music, food, and drinks.

The Dokotoro Project is raising funds to translate and publish the book “Where There Is No Doctor” in Bambara, a national language of Mali, West Africa. It is the world’s most widely used guidebook for community health, published by the Hesperian Foundation in Berkeley. We’re celebrating the completion of our first two chapters at a friend’s beautiful home in the Berkeley Hills.

We’ll be featuring a DJ playing African classics, and live music by Karamo Susso from The Gambia, master of the kora, a 21-stringed African harp. More surprises TBA! More details and RSVP below.

Join us to celebrate the completion of our first two chapters at a launch party hosted at a beautiful home in the Berkeley Hills. Fantastic bay views, crisp autumn air, great company, live kora music and delicious West African food and drinks.

Rides will be available from the North Berkeley BART. A donation request will be made at the event.

For those of you who cannot attend but still want to support this effort, please make an online donation.

Links:
http://dokotoro.org
https://www.facebook.com/DokotoroProject

As many of you know, a crisis has been unfolding in Mali for several months now. In March 2012, a group of military officers staged a coup, dissolving the current government, and sending the president into exile just weeks before elections were to be held. The coup has been widely condemned by many Malians, and by foreign governments in Africa, Europe, and the West. In April, a group of Touareg rebels and Islamist militants captured three of Mali’s regional centers in the north (Gao, Timbuktu, Taoudenni).

The Tuaregs are an ethnic group in Mali’s north, and groups of Tuaregs have staged a number of rebellions against the central government over the past century. However, it seems that the Touareg revolutionaries have largely beens swept aside by Islamist groups Ansar Dine and Al Qaeda in the Magreb who seek to impose a strict form of sharia law heretofore unknown in Mali.

Islamist groups have engaged in jihadism, terrorism and arms trafficking, and committed atrocities in the northern Malian cities of Timbuktu, Gao, and Douentza. Recent reports have indicated widespread human rights abuses. The UN reports that as many as 450,000 Malians have fled their homes for refugee camps in Mauritania and Niger, or to seek shelter with friends or family in southern Mali. In October 2012, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution urging a military action to remove Islamists that are terrorizing the population in the northern Mali.

How does all of this affect our work?

First, rest assured that none of our volunteers or collaborators is in harm’s way. Our current school construction projects are in the Sikasso region, well away from the violence in the north. For 2012, we are planning to break ground on a new school in the southern part of the Segou region, which is also far from the violence.

Second, we plan to continue our fundraising and construction projects as usual. We feel that our work is more important now than ever. Following the coup, most non-governmental organizations and foreign governments have withdrawn all aid other than essential humanitarian aid. This has meant the loss of jobs for many, and impacted local economies.

Our president and super-volunteer Judy Lorimer usually travels to Mali in November each year. Due to the current situation, she is postponing her trip annual trip until at least January, while keeping tabs on the situation and talking to our friends in Mali. While  northern Mali is unsafe for travel, in the capital and southern regions, for many life goes on as usual. There have been several protests in the capital Bamako, mostly peaceful, although there have been a few instances of violence. In fact, one recent article indicated that gold and cotton producers (two of Mali’s largest exports) are doing well due to high prices on the international marketplace.

Malians need our help now more than ever.

The conflict has created a refugee crisis. While many northerners have fled to cities in the south, many others living in refugee camps across the border in Mauritania and Niger. Each of these countries is dealing with food shortages, and conditions for refugees are extremely difficult, with poor sanitation that can lead to outbreaks of cholera and other diseases. Please consider making a donation to one of the organizations that is providing aid directly to refugees:

• Catholic Relief Services
• Doctors without Borders (Médecins sans Frontières).
• International Committee of the Red Cross (choose Niamey – covers Mali and Niger).
• Relief International

Build a School in Africa is holding its 7^th Annual Benefit Trail Ride on Sunday, August 26^th at Willowbrook Farm in Groton, Massachusetts. Horseback riders from all over New England trailer their horses to the farm to enjoy a 12- or 18-mile pleasure trail ride over beautiful woods, trails, and farm fields along the Nashua River.

After the ride, hungry riders enjoy a home-cooked four-course African buffet dinner, featuring dishes from Mali, Morocco, Kenya and Tanzania. This year’s ride is also offering a raffle for a variety of donated prizes. The ride is affiliated with New England Horse and Trail, and 50% of the proceeds will benefit the Build a School in Africa Project. For more information, contact Judy Lorimer at 978-433-2384, jmlorimer@verizon.net.

We are busy laying the groundwork for the tenth school we will help build in Mali, West Africa. We are planning to build a new school near M’Pessoba, which is between Bla and Koutiala on the north/south paved road between the major cities of Segou and Sikasso. There is a cluster of small villages that currently send their children to school in M’Pessoba, but kids have to walk from 5 – 11 km (3 – 7 miles) to get there, along the busy highway.

Several teenage girls have been assaulted walking to or from school. Our plan is to built a centrally located school that will serve the villages Boudibougou, Fantala, Kemesorola, and Sobala, as well as other settlements in the area.

We need your help to make this a reality. Please consider contributing today!

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Our trusted collaborator in Mali, Monsieur Abou Coulibaly, recently sent us some photos of our 8th and 9th schools, in Sossoro and N’Galamatiebougou. The school in Sossoro was finished in February, and N’Galamatiebougou in March.

Malaika Thorne in Dansa, photo courtesy of the Harvard Post.

March 24th, at 7:30 p.m.

Cronin Auditorium at the Bromfield School
14 Massachusetts Avenue (Rte 111)
Harvard, MA, 01451

Since the spring of 2002, the Cronin Auditorium in Harvard, Mass. has rocked to the rhythms of high-energy dance and music of West Africa. In recent years, the repertoire has been expanded to include music and dance from the African diaspora, contemporary as well as traditional dance forms, including hip-hop and Afro-fusion selections.

Performers this year include: Teriya Dance Company; Troupe Teranga, under the direction of Alice Heller; the “Hip-Hop Mamas” from Sudbury, led by Elizabeth Bernstein; a group of senior women called Dance ‘n Feet; and Latin, jazz and contemporary dance groups from the Movement Center in Acton and the Harvard Academy of Dance.

Malian Master Drummer Moussa Traore

A fantastic group of drummers will be led by Malian Master Drummer Moussa Traore. The program includes traditional dances from Mali, Guinea and Senegal, plus dance and music from the African diaspora – Hip-Hop, Break dance, Jazz, and more! Ticket are available at the door : $15 adults, $5 students, kids 4 and under are free.

All the proceeds of these two shows go directly to our new school projects scheduled for the fall of 2012.

As of November, our 8^th and 9^th schools are  currently  under construction in the rural  villages  of Sossoro and N’Galamatiebougou. Our first 7 schools were built in a very successful partnership with the international charity Save the Children. However, Save the Children has shifted its focus, at least temporarily, to concentrate on teacher training programs, and is no longer building many schools. But school buildings are still desperately needed, with many children attending classes in windowless storerooms, crumbling mud-brick buildings, or temporary shelters.

As a result, Build a School in Africa has teamed up with a trustworthy construction company  in Sikasso with extensive experience building schools to government standards. Generally a village is able to raise enough money to build just one classroom at a time, but with help from Build a School in Africa, the community will get an additional one or two classrooms, plus latrines and an office/storage building.

To celebrate our sixth full year working in Mali, our partners designed this wonderful new logo for us!

Judy Lorimer, director of Build a School in Africa, visits Mali  (at her own expense) each November for 3-4 weeks, with our annual contribution to help build the next school. In addition to our own regular fund-raising activities, we have received extraordinary support from individuals, schools, colleges, and organizations.

Students  have raised money running spaghetti suppers, car washes, neighborhood yard work, pet and babysitting jobs, bake sales, yard sales, talent shows, and other events. Generous individuals and organizations in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia  have made substantial contributions, and every donation, whether from a kindergartener who saved her  allowance to donate $10.00, or from those fortunate enough to be able to write large checks, helps build the next school.

It’s a great project for kids to work on, since  100% of the money they raise goes into the construction fund. Include your e-mail or mailing address and we’ll send you a picture of the school when it’s finished. Over the years, we’ve been helped by the generous contributions from a number of extraordinary individuals and organizations.

• In 2009, the Binnie family raised $10,000 for the school in Mounkonkoro, which was named after grandfather Wlliam D. Binnie.
• In 2010, the Hillside School in Montclair New Jersey raised $10,000 to help build a school in Heremakono in memory  of  Alan Elder, a beloved teacher.
• A  family in the Pacific Northwest raised $10,000 in honor of the patriarch’s 80th birthday, which helped fund the primary school in Tabarako.
• In 2011, two high school seniors from the McNeil High School in Austin, Texas raised over $11,500  for the school presently under construction in Sossoro.
• A school project, “Schools 4 Schools”,  in Australia, plus some significant private donations, are helping to fund the new school in N’Galamatiebougou.

These are just a few examples of our many supporters. Please consider making a small contribution and joining our movement to improve the lives of children in Africa!

Learn more on our Contibute page.

Horseback riders in the New England area have been helping raise funds for the project  for several years, bringing their horses to the “Build a School in Africa” Benefit Trail Ride,  co-sponsored by the Littleton Horse Owners Association.

The ride is held in Groton, Mass. during the summer, usually late August.  The ride starts at  Willowbrook Farm; riders follow a marked trail through beautiful town and state conservation lands, choosing  a route of approximately 12 or 18 miles, much of which follows the scenic Nashua River.

There is an on-trail snack stop with water for the horses, and after the ride, participants enjoy a home-cooked African buffet dinner of dishes from several countries. The ride is affiliated with New England Horse and Trail, with members receiving mileage credit for themselves and their horses.

For information about this year’s ride, check the NEHT website or contact Judy Lorimer.

To our supporters in the Boston area: check out the Belmont World Film Festival from March 14 to April 25. “Burning in the Sun, ” screening on March 30 is a documentary set in Mali, where we are actively building schools.

SA/Mali, not rated, 82 minutes

English, Bambara and French with English subtitles

Documentary directed by Cambria Matlow & Morgan Robinson

Daniel Dembele, a 26-year-old charmer who is equal parts West African and European, was looking to make his mark on the world. Seizing the moment at a crossroads in his life, he decides to return to his homeland in Mali and start a local business building solar panels?the first of its kind in the sun-drenched nation. His goal is to electrify the households located in rural communities, 99% of which live without power. The film follows him on his journey in growing the budding idea into a viable company and how it affects his first customers in the tiny village of Banko. Taking controversial stances on climate change, poverty, and African self-sufficiency, the film explores what it takes to prosper as a nation.

Part of the Peace Corps 50^th Anniversary Celebration and the Francophonie Celebration of New England