Virginia Friends of Mali

Thank you to everyone who came out to our Open House & Welcome Day in spite of the crazy storm - nearly 30 of you beat the weather and were hunkered in William Byrd's lovely Grace Arents Library to share Chef MaMusu 's Ginger-Bissap Tea, Goree African Restaurant 's Peanut Sauce, good Malian music. Showing off Mali is our favorite way to introduce Richmonders to our sister city, Segou, and to Africa, in general. Our new bilingual SOL-ready storybook, Djita, a Malian Girl from Virgina , was available for sale, autographed by the author, VFOM founder Robin Edward Poulton.  This event was an introduction to Virginia Friends of Mali so you can find out who we are, what we do, what we'd like to do and how you can be a part! If you missed it, we will do it again in March 2012, but you can always just email and one of our enthusiastic members will be right back in touch.  Happy Holidays to One and All! 

4pm - Open House: Storytelling Artifacts & Photo exhibits Video footage of the Festival Sur le Niger Book Signing of our first publication Djita, a Malian Girl Born in Virginia Light refreshments 7pm - Presentation “About VFOM” Join VFOM! Celebrate sister cities, cutural exchange, and friendship! PLEASE RSVP! Email us! virginiafriendsofmali@gmail.com If you cannot come, become a member, and  consider donating to one of our many programs.

Completed! These are photos of all four AUPAP project sites in Segou. Som

Bassekou Kouyaté and Ami Sacko feted by Richmonders at the Richmond Folk Festival Mali’s famous orchestra NGONI BA was the Toast of the Town at the Richmond Folk Festival. Led by ngoni magician Bassekou Kouyaté and his vocalist wife Ami Sacko, the orchestra of seven Malian musicians wowed the crowd, and ended the Festival at fever pitch as three or four thousand fans danced the evening away at the Dominian Dance Pavilion on Brown’s Island Sunday night, October 16th. Kouyaté is an ancient musical name in Mali. At Sunday’s banjo workshop with four of Virginia’s banjo masters, Bassekou explained how he had learned to play the ngoni from his father and grandfather, and how his ancestors were playing music and sang the sovereign’s praises seven hundred years ago at the court of the original Lion King, Sunjata Keita. The Lion King founded the Malian Empire in the year 1235, and his legend became famous through the songs of his griot Balafasé Kouyaté, ancestor of Bassekou the le

     Virginia Friends of Mali  wish a Happy Birthday  to the Independent  Republic  of   MALI !   Un peuple   Un but   Une foi  51 Years Young,  Strong, Gifted  and  Determined ! Amis   du Mali   en Virginie  souhaiter un joyeux anniversaire  à   la  République  indépendante  du   MALI !   Un peuple   U n but   Une   foi  51 ans  J eune, Fort , Doué et D éterminé !

1st Adjoint to the Mayor M. NIANG, (Segou), Dace (SCI), Adjoint (Segou), Dana (VFOM), Mayor O. SIMAGA (Segou) Our good friend and executive committee member Dana Wiggins left on August 19 and returns September 14 from her turn as AUPAP project monitor and defacto Richmond city ambassador to our twin city, Segou.  Notre bon ami et membre du comité exécutif Dana Wiggins quitté le 19 août et retourne Septembre 14 à partir de son tour que AUPAP projet de surveiller et de facto ambassadeur de ville de Richmond a notre ville jumelle, Ségou. The following photos were taken in July and August and demonstrate that construction has been moving "full speed ahead" since funding and the rainy season arrived almost simultaneously. The Ségou contractors have been diligent and in spite of one wall collapse, Dana and Dace (Sister Cities International) have been able to confirm that a September completion date is likely.  Les photos suivantes ont été prises en Juillet et Août et démo

Segou project manager Madani Sissoko (pictured left with an old friend, the city hall gardener) sent the slideshow of photos below that document progress since July on all four projects: the latrine/washroom blocks at the municipal kindergarten, the public market and community health care clinic as well as improvements to the clinic's maternity wing.

WEDNESDAY, 8 JUNE 2011 Robin, Michelle, Allan, Dana and Ana ran up to DC for the day to get visas from the Malian embassy for upcoming trips and to have a nice face-to-face with Adam Kaplan and his staff at Sister Cities International. The AUPAP latrine and maternity clinic renovation projects are moving, slowly, but steadily, towards construction even as we hold our breath that the work can get done before the rainy season takes a complete and slushy hold on Segou. We also discussed other projects of VFOM most, though not all, of which are centered on or based in Segou. Our annual visits to the Festival Sur Le Niger, hosting of friends visiting from Segou, intra-national youth film and photography projects, and the simple rewarding business of getting to know one another's countries and lifeways. All went well and we even managed to vacate the capital region by 3pm and so miss the exiting wall of traffic that is so many commuters' daily nightmare. FRIDAY, 3 JUNE 2011 First F

Click on Arts link above.

Djita: Pearls of Wisdom from a Sister City Djita is a girl born of Malian parents in Virginia and educated in several countries. Through the young life of this iconic figure, “Djita: Pearls of Wisdom from a Sister City” seeks to illustrate the rich diversity of Malian culture with mothers and children at its core. Djita’s story is a tangible witness of global shared values. Through 1 July 2011.  Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia .  The main exhibition at the Black History Museum is  Pearls of Wisdom: Black Families and the Nobility of Everyday Living.  00 Clay St. Richmond VA 23219 804-780-0093 or information.bhm@gmail.com Hours: 10am - 5pm / Tuesday - Saturday / Tickets $5  Virginia Museum of Fine Arts permanent African Collection is very, very good and lives here in Richmond for your convenience, free of charge. The highlight of the museum's current offerings, however, is the special exhibition: Dynasty and Divinity: Ife Art of Ancient Nigeria .  B

Halfway through this year's visit to Mali and I've visited Bamako, Segou, Koutiala and I may get to Sikasso. I got here in time for the last of the Harmattan, seasonal winds that keep the days looking smoggy and the nights looking smoky and sexy like an old jazz nightclub. But nothing's old or jazz about the music scene here. I've only had a taste and really, it is gorgeous. The photo above was taken in Markala at the local civil social services coordinating agency. Kida is on the right and the man directly to his left is the agency's director. Our visit was quick, but almost every social services issue a community can have touches base or is coordinated through this agency. In terms of the business at hand, I've visiting all three of the AUPAP project sites, taken photos and am in the process of writing my reports. In all three instances the need is clear. And, as I was going through the photos from last February's visit to Les Poupons I discovered on

Report: first leg of journey to Mali for 2011. I will represent the VFOM at this year's festival and begin official documentation of the AUPAP site work when I arrive in Segou this weekend. I had a one day layover in Dakar Senegal to visit with my father and stepmother at their home and my aunt who was visiting Africa for the first time. My father determined my one day in Dakar was best spent on two sites: Gorée Island and the new national monument of Senegal. When you understand the geography of the slave trade era you recognize that this is part of the history of Mali's people as well. Voici les images: