Virginia Friends of Mali

(Found this wonderful image at https://www.flickr.com/photos/by-chris-g/4734253220/) 2015 Festival Sur Le Niger http://www.festivalsegou.org/ News from Segou via Maliweb.net http://www.maliweb.net/?s=Segou&x=2&y=4 News from Africa via JeuneAfrique.com http://www.jeuneafrique.com/Article/ARTJAWEB20140924160027/ Historic recordings by Mali's "Les Ambassadeurs" http://worldmusiccentral.org/2014/09/27/essential-historic-recordings-by-malis-les-ambassadeurs/

Hello everyone, Today we met King Kanga Assoumou of Bassam after spending a wonderful day and evening at the beach. The King proved to be very welcoming and seemed very happy to receive us. We were even given a local drink to taste! Everyone is having an amazing time and we all look forward to keeping the good times rolling as we move on to Mali! Thanks for checking in on us, Taron Ware

Friday May 23rd I write these notes as I lie back on a student cot in Yamassoukro, the official capital of Ivory Coast that has the world's biggest cathedral: an exact copy of St Peter's Rome, except that is it one yard bigger ! We are all in this extremely smart National Polytechnic Institute created by the first president of Ivory coast, Felix Houphouët-Boigny, bringing American students to see how the Africans study and how might it become possible to establish exchange programs between Virginia and West Africa. This place is very prestigious and it therefore has literally dozens of international partnerships. We have been brought here to a Grance Ecole show-place, to meet the elite of Africa! The private engineering + business college we are visiting in Abidjan, AGITEL, offers more scope for concrete VCU partnership, because it has none in USA until now. The same is true of Bamako and Segou universities. And since all their students want to learn English, the offers a

http://www.mediasanctuary.org/OumarKonate Malian music permeates! intubates! laminates! vibrates! illuminates! creates!  Saturday, May 24 at 10pm Malian guitarist Oumar Konate will perform with his band. Graybeard from WRIR 97.3 FM will spin hot Afro dance tunes. Click here to visit the Facebook event page and read the comments! for example: "Oumar Konate and his band were Incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

https://myspace.com/hotelx http://miramar-music.com/ will share the very cool bill with the wonderful Bolero group Miramar on June 2nd at The Camel

Monday May 19th 08.30 at AGITEL, a smart engineering and business school started in the 1990s by the man who – today – has been made Minister of Industry. This private school, with strict rules and a uniform of blue blazer and blue-yellow striped ties (for both men and women) has 1200 students in its full-time education cycle of three years for a first degree, with a possibility of a Master’s thereafter. Three years ago they switched from the French system, to adopt the international “LMD” used in the USA: Licence, Master, Doctor. In addition, AGITEL has 400 students following evening courses, which allow professionals to upgrade their qualifications while still working. They can earn credits as they go along, allowing them to take as much time as they need to graduate. The current Director-General (replacing His Excellency the minister) is Colonel Sorry Bamba, a retired marine engineer who received us graciously in his office, and led us to the plenary hall in front of 250 stud

Virginia Friends of Mali formally launches fundraising effort for Project CURE. Dear Friends, VFOM is very pleased to continue our work in health projects in our sister city Segou. Project C.U.R.E.  is the largest provider of donated medical supplies and equipment to developing countries around the world. "Project C.U.R.E.’s Cargo program delivers semi-trailer-sized cargo containers carrying medical donations to under-resourced hospitals, clinics and community health centers in developing countries. We manage a complex inspection, inventory and logistics process that annually places millions of dollars worth of medical supplies and modern equipment directly into the hands of doctors and nurses so they can provide quality care to their patients, many of whom are women and young children.  Project C.U.R.E. collaborates with community partners in each country to develop a high-level understanding of the scope of need. Our thorough, on-site assessment process ensures that ev

by Dr. Robin Poulton Philosophy at Lycée Cabral - Class 11-L teaching with Mr Salim Coumaré on Monday afternoon and Wednesday morning, 10 and 12 February 2104 Sister City – meaning Hospitality, Friendship and Fraternité Friendship - Macky Tall and the Tall clan Family – meaning, and new meanings Slavery – Virginia & Mali links Identity; name; religion, family; religion, superstition; History and Sister Cities – changing American perceptions of themselves On Feb 10th 2014, I went to school with my host, Councilman Salim Coumaré, who teaches philosophy to seniors at the main Ségou lycée with its 1700 students, 114 teachers and 44 sundry staff. This is a place with latrines you would not recognize. The 44 classes that have computer science as a subject once a week, have to share the Lycée’s 11 computers: these is not one computer in the Staff Room, so teachers – who cannot afford to buy their own computers - have great difficulty in following social media, keeping up with t

Feb 11: Modlin @ Boatright: Fatoumata Diawara Feb 15: A Night of Mali Music Feb 20: From Africa To Appalachia: An Evening with Cheick Hamala Diabte, Sammy Shelor, Danny Knicely and Friends ---------------------- February 15: A Night of Mali Music Fatoumata Diawara                 Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba At the University of Richmond Camp Concert Hall / Booker Hall of Music on Saturday night, February 15, 2014 at 7:30 pm.  Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara has packed a lifetime of experience into her 33 years. Diawara’s career includes stints as a dancer, and a film and stage star before finding her true calling as an unparalleled singer and songwriter. Blending Wassalou traditions of Southern Mali with international influences, Diawara has performed and recorded with Oumou Sangaré, AfroCubism, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and the Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou. (From Richmond's Sister City Segou)  Bassekou Kouyate is one of the true masters of the ngoni, an ancient

Maison Carpe Diem   BP 31 85, rue 16 quartier commercial (au rez-de-chaussée de la Radio Sido) Ségou - Mali maisoncarpediemsegou@gmail.com www.carpediemsegou.com