Virginia Friends of Mali

The Most Vulnerable: Women with AIDS and Islam in Mali By Christopher A. Brooks and Salim Coumaré. New York: LINUS Learning, 2017 This is an excellent piece of research and writing about health and AIDS in Mali, produced by an anthropologist who is a specialist in the field. The way in which the women's stories are recounted by Dr Brooks, with his colleague and doctoral candidate Salim Coumaré, touches our hearts as well as informing our brains about the problems these women face in their society and in their families. A valuable contribution to our knowledge of West Africa and an interesting spin-off from the Sister City relationship between Richmond, in Virginia and Ségou, in Mali. Thank you, Dr Brooks.

One day in the fall of 2013, a young Malian,  Konaté Kadijah M Samaké , arrived in Richmond in to study at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her father Mr. Samaké (originally from Segou) is rector of the University of Bamako College of Humanities, and her mother, Mme. Samaké (a Bamako native), is an executive with BorneFund (ChildFund). She majored in International Studies and while a junior in 2015, Kadijah (known better as Didi) started an NGO in her hometown to help provide food and supplies to families in need. Didi graduated from the VCU School of World Studies with her Bachelor of Arts in International Studies on Saturday, 13 May 2017 and said she intends to continue the work of her NGO while pursuing a career in diplomacy and development back home, and, of course, raising a family--because (and talk about multitasking!) Didi got married last summer and this spring gave birth to a healthy baby boy at VCU's materinity center just after her final exams and just in time for