Virginia Friends of Mali

Learn more at  www.cpelsegou.org .

Good day Va Friends of Mali, I just want to share a couple things I thought you might enjoy: Richmond-based blues artist Corey Harris and his band will be playing the Capital Ale House on January 10, 2014. Visit www.corey-harris.com for details. In addition, Harris has begun offering online lessons (via sonic-junction.com) to his very groovy approach to the blues, which has not only been inspired by Malian music, it has been informed by collaborations with Malian musicians. Share this link with your budding guitarists:  http://sonic-junction.com/corey-harris Here is the latest in Robert Plant's series on the Festival au Desert 2008:

Post by Kadidia Samaké .

Rebel Music MALI 11/25 on mtvU 9/8c.  A brave group of Malian musicians defy the State of Emergency and rally together to stage a rebellious public concert for peace and unity in their country. Un groupe de musiciens courageux de Mali défis l'état d'urgence et organise un concert publique militant pour la paix et l'union au Mali.

Robin Edward Poulton was guest of Liz Humes on her weekly book review show, Wordy Birds, on September 13, on Richmond Independent Radio, WRIR lp 97.3 FM and  WRIR.ORG .  Robin Poulton is the co-chair of the VCU conference Women War and Peace. His book is called  A Peace of Timbuktu: Democratic Governance, Development and African Peacemaking . It’s about his involvement in peace making and the small arms disarmament that ended a 1996 Tuareg rebellion. He is the vice president of  Virginia Friends of Mali  and he’s worked with the United Nations in Geneva disarmament research and written about disarmament issues in Sierra Leone and Liberia, Cambodia and Afghanistan. On this show, Robin explains the Tuareg conflict and provides insight as to why resolution is such a difficult thing for Mali to achieve. Listen to the show:  http://wordybirds.org/2013/09/20/robin-poulton/ Zakiyatou Oualett Halatine was featured on Lightly on the Ground Radio, Wednesday, October 2, on Richmond Inde

ABOUT SEGOU http://www.cpelsegou.org/ www.festivalsegou.org ABOUT VFOM https://www.facebook.com/VaFriendsOfMALI www.vafriendsofmali.org

Dear Friends of Mali, WILL YOU MAKE A PERSONAL GIFT TO OUR GRIOT? In Mali, the most important social and spiritual event in the calendar is always a funeral. Not a birth, nor a marriage, nor the winning of a lucrative contract, but a funeral. AND THE MOST MEANINGFUL funeral of them all is your mother's funeral. Not your father's funeral, although that is meaningful as well of course: but it is your mother who gave you life; it is your mother who educated you; it is she who made you who you are, who taught you what is right and what is wrong. From your father, you receive your name: but from your mother, you receive your social status, your knowledge, your education. Prince Jata, who later became the Lion King, was known as Sunjata Keita: Keita from his father, of course. But he was known as his mother's son Sogolon Jata, which became 'Sunjata'. Cheikh Hamala Diabaté, our griot and our friend, lost his mother two days before the Folk Festival. H

The  Women, War and Peace  conference is over but you can review the program and papers at  www.vcupeace.net .

Please keep our friends and colleagues, neighbors and survivors in your hearts as residents from Bamako, Mali's capital city, are dealing with the terrible flooding that took at least 23 lives on Wednesday and left potentially thousands homeless. Here are a few links to news reports:  http://www.aljazeera.com/news/ africa/2013/08/ 201383015847117114.html?utm_ source=twitterfeed&utm_medium= twitter http://www.reuters.com/ article/2013/08/29/us-mali- floods-idUSBRE97S00I20130829 http://www.france24.com/en/ 20130830-killed-floods-mali- bamako-deaths-mud-houses ------------------ CPEL Segou has a new website Djibril Guisse, member of the Council for the Local Economic Development of Segou (Conseil pour la Promotion de l'Economie Locale de Segou), has written to announce that our sister city's equivalent to the Chamber of Commerce  has just relaunched website: www.cpelsegou.org. This is the organization that partnered to produce the first

The two candidates are  Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta  (Rally for Mali) and  Soumaïla Cissé  (URD - Union for the Republic and Democracy). You can follow the voting process for today's polling on Mali Vote 2013,  http://malivote.com . So, here's a little music from the VFOM Mali INdependence Day celebration from 2012. Cheick Hamala Diabate and his band and dancer lit up the VCU Commons Ballroom that night! CHD's full band returns to Richmond on Friday, Sep. 20, to perform for the Women, War and Peace Conference. Special guest artists include Malian griotte Aissata Diabate and local Hotel X sax player, Tim Harding. This is video one of two. Click the Culture tab above to see both.

Films on Women, War & Peace Key Portion of the Women, War and Peace Conference 2013 (Sep. 20-21, 2013) The conference title is inspired by the 2011 PBS series of films on Women, War and Peace , in particular the documentary film on the women’s peace initiative in Liberia, entitled Pray the Devil Back to Hell . It is the story of Nobel Prize winners Ellen Johnson Sirleaf  (current president of Liberia) and Leymah Gbowee (founder of the Gbowee Peace Foundation) who peacefully took on the warlords and the regime of dictator Charles Taylor during a devastating civil war and brought an end to the conflict. This film will be shown during the conference, and esteemed film producer Abigail Disney will provide the Friday evening keynote address. She will discuss the film itself and the work of the Gbowee Peace Foundation USA . The Foundation facilitates international engagement with the vision and work of Leymah Gbowee and organizations working in Liberia, West Africa, and globally in

From The Guardian UK July 29th France 24 reports that: Sunday’s poll was conducted fairly smoothly with no reports of violence and a large number of Malians casting their ballots, defying security fears and disregarding Islamist threats to derail the vote. Official turnout figures have not been released, but analysts say the voting rate could exceed the 36 percent achieved in the 2007 elections. RPM candidate Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (known as “IBK”) and the URD’s Soumaila Cissé are considered the frontrunners among the  list of 27 presidential candidates . RPM projections  on Sunday  night put Keita in the lead, which led to hundreds of supporters gathering at the party’s Bamako headquarters and chanting, "IBK – the man we need." Similar scenes of jubilation unfolded at Cissé’s URD party headquarters in the Malian capital. These are the two candidates expected to face-off on August 11th.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/28/mali-elections-high-turno

VFOM has launched an IndieGoGo campaign! Click here to learn how you can help bring two special guest Malian Peacemakers to the Women, War and Peace conference, and receive fantastic Thank-You Rewards. Ibrahim ag Youssouf Noted Malian peacemaker Zakiyatou Oualett Halatine Malian peacemaker and  former  Minister of Tourism and Culture Updates on MALI's current situation: MALI ELECTIONS ARE IMMINENT Mali holds national elections Sunday, July 28 2013. The two candidates with the highest number of votes will move on to a run-off election in August. A new president and a new administration are about to be formed. THE PROBLEM OF CHILD SOLDIERS IN MALI The recent conflict in North Mali has raised yet again the problem of children as victims of war. Girls are even more vulnerable than boys: this is proven by the rumored rapes that took place in the city of Gao last summer, when it was invaded and taken over first by MNLA troops from the former Libyan

Women, War & Peace Conference September 20-21, 2013 will feature the fantastic music of Cheikh Hamala Diabate and his daughter Aissata Diabate! And in 2014, Look who's coming: http://modlin.richmond.edu/events/modlinarts-presents/mali-music.html Unh. So Exciting!!!

11 January 2013 meeting of the Segou physicians, administrators, both local and state, with the VFOM/VCU team members to discuss ethical protocols for the research project. In January 2013 VFoM members led a group of VCU professors to Ségou and Bamako, to launch new partnerships in teaching and research. The delegation of professors and colleagues (with their Malian names and research interests) included the following: Dr. Helen Ruth ASPASS, geographer interested in transferring knowledge of Africa to early childhood and elementary education students Dr. Christopher BROOKS, VCU Head of Anthropology interested in social problems related to AIDS, Malian music and the historical Virginia-Mali connection  Dr. Patricia CUMMINS (Rokiatou TRAORÉ), VCU French professor interested in comparative university systems and in innovative French language teaching  Ana EDWARDS (Aminata TALL-SISSOKO), VFoM President, interested in Mali-Virginia cultural relations throug

Pat Cummins, Robin Poulton, Dr. Fanta Diabate visiting Byrd House Market on opening day of the 2013 season. Fanta then flew off, back to Bamako. Fanta’s visit to Richmond Dr Fanta Sambou DIABATE, Mali's most famous gynecologist and obstetrician spent a week in Richmond working with the VCU Health System and the VCU School of World Studies. On Friday May 3rd a group of members joined Fanta for lunch at MAMUSU's Africaine on Main, a popular West African restaurant on West Main at 2nd St, behind the Richmond Public Library. That day the akra were particularly delicious (these are fried black-eye pea or bean flour balls, and they are the delicious the West African ancestor of our 'hush puppies'). Fanta is working with the VCU AIDS clinic to set up a medical research project in Richmond's Sister City - Ségou on the Niger River - to help AIDS sufferers in Africa. The SWS brings knowledge of French and Mali and Anthropology to the medical team, which has w

A collaborative and interdisciplinary symposium offered by VFOM, VCU School of World Studies, Richmond Peace Education Center and Richmond Sister Cities Commission featuring film screenings, lectures and discussions on the topics of women, war and peace. The scholarly portion will be paired with the annual Mali Independence Day celebration of traditional and contemporary music, food, dance, visual arts and history from Mali's cultures. So, SAVE THE DATES! and if you are interested in earning some of your volunteer hours or just want to volunteer, click here  or on the "Want to Volunteer?" tab above.

Click here to view and download a copy of OCHA's most recent snapshot of the humanitarian crisis in Mali in terms of displaced persons .  OCHA is the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs www.unocha.org

Here's a link to a nice NPR/Afropop Worldwide Mali 100 Mix , with a little ecommentary... Enjoy. Meanwhile VFOM is chugging along. A board meeting is scheduled for this Saturday, March 16, at which we will welcome a new board member and a new intern from VCU this semester! Thank you Allan! Thank you Dr. Cummins' 3rd year French class! Introductory profiles of Tim and Amanda will be posted soon. The challenges that Mali faces are all over the media these days. In spite of the conflict, the nation will hold elections in July, for the central government as well as regional and local jurisdictions. Many of our friends, including Segou's mayor and city councilors' seats are in the race, so we'll try to keep you apprised of the results. Please share your knowledge as well: virginiafriendsofmali@gmail.com. 10,000 Villages will be holding their 3rd Annual Fashion event on April 27 and guess which VFOM member will be sharing the runway? This event promotes the

Tim Harding, long-standing member of Hotel X, is bringing the extraordinary balafon player Balla Kouyate to Richmond, along with the great kora player Alhaji Papa Susso, the 3rd week of February. They'll be at University of Richmond for numerous performance/lectures on the 21st, two grade schools on the 22nd, C-Mor (Children's Museum of Richmond) Saturday afternoon the 23rd, and a gig that night with Hotel X at the Neighborhood Resource Center in Fulton.  Confirmed details to come soon, but pick a date or two and tune way in.

University Partnerships: VCU, UniBAM, UniSEG Crisis notwithstanding, the Virgirginia Friends of Mali and Richmond Sister City Commission signed memorandums of agreement with the vice-rector of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Bamako, and the rector of the University of Segou. Use the following links to learn more: Report on the VCU School of World Studies website http://www.has.vcu.edu/wld/ whatsnew/2013/mali.html News coverage on ORTM of the signing with the University of Bamako https://hassns.has.vcu.edu/ vportal/VideoPlayer.jsp?ccsid= C-899328c1-7ccf-4016-8c4f- 46b5dc480173:1#  

When "we" are house-bound with no internet connection anywhere "we" tend to turn to television for company, news, maybe some education and certainly entertainment. When our trip to Segou became a sojourn in Bamako we tended to be fixated on the news about the burgeoning crisis which we watched on France24 - the France-based French-language network that became my French CNN because I couldn't get the real CNN on my TV. ORTM - Mali's national television and radio network produced most of its programming in Bamanankan (Bambara), Kasonga (from the western Kayes region), and other Malian languages which I just couldn't identify. Two other networks, CANAL and TM2, were consistently on air. CANAL was an entertainment channel (movies, music videos, infotainement...). TM2 seemed to be feature a range of local and international serials, on travel, tourism, sit-coms, dramas and some news, but all Malian for African. After a couple of nights I found myself in a kin

Mayor Ousmane Simaga interviews the Segou Peep This filmakers of "My Country My Cloth / Ne Ka Jamana, Ne Ka Fini" just after the world premiere which was held in in early January at Segou's city hall. The project was coordinated by Dr. Shawn Utsey, professor of psychology and chair of the department of African American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University.  Click on the "Slideshows..." tab above to see more!