Richmond and Segou Celebrate 10 Years!

Virginia Friends of Mali invites you to follow our activities over the course of 2019, the 10th anniversary of the launch of the sister city relationship between Richmond, Virginia USA and Ségou, Mali.

To mark the occasion, Ségou journalist and publisher, Moustaph Maiga, published a special issue of his newspaper, Le Segouvien, entirely dedicated to the Richmond-Segou relationship and its ten years of collaborative activities. Click here to view Le Ségouvien - Special 2019 Issue.

In the US, February is honored as Black History Month, and this year it coincides with our commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans to the Tsennacommacah territory of the Chesapeake (later to be named Virginia). This is also the month of the year when Ségou celebrates its cultural traditions at a music and arts festival on the banks of the Niger River, their counterpart to our Richmond Folk Festival. And this year, representatives from Richmond and Ségou will come together over the next week, during the Festival Ségou'Art, to jointly mark the anniversary of a relationship intended to honor the historical and cultural relationships between our two cities, our two peoples.

Unable to accept the invitation to share the stage with the mayor of Segou due to Virginia's General Assembly session, Mayor Levar Stoney sent formal greetings and congratulations to the people of Ségou and his counterpart, Mayor Nouhoum Diarra, in a letter that will be read during the ceremonies.

The Richmond delegation includes Robin Poulton of Virginia Friends of Mali, Elizabeth Drumm, a Richmond-based entrepreneur, and the Sister Radio Project team (Andee Arches, Cameron Kit) that will produced a documentary film and facilitate a sister-to-sister radio production exchange program between Radio Ségou and Richmond's WRIR.

Link to the Sister Radio Project at which you will find a trailer.
Link to a YouTube video trailer of the Festival Ségou'Art.

Comments

"Peace Baba is the most famous bead person in Mali"

Peace Baba (real name Oumar Cissé) is the most famous bead person in Mali. His nickname comes from the fact that he used, for more than 20 years, to take care of Peace Corps volunteers in Mopti Region, whose 'vacation house' was right next to his shop: Farafina Tigne is the name of his museum/shop and the website is fabulously extensive, including a decent travelogue description of the country's major towns and features of interest to tourists. Peace Baba has moved from his small store on the island that is Mopti town, to a larger store in Sevaré beside the main paved Great North Road. Here he has a museum of beads and crafts upstairs, and a fantastic bead shop downstairs. Peace Corps Baba (Baba - Father) is a great man with a magnetic personnality and communicatable English. His beads are SO WORTH WHILE (and such good value). Some Malian beads are 5000 years old. Some were made when Jesus Christ was alive. Some are made from the bones of fish or the nuts of t

VFOM member visits AUPAP sites

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

The February Chiwara Is Out!

February in America is Black History Month, and this will be a theme of this month’s Newsletter . Black History Month is a great time for teachers to introduce Sunjata the Lion King to their 3rd grade students who will learn about the medieval Empire of Mali (a standard of learning requirement for elementary students in Virginia). Past Issues!

Virginia Friends of Mali

Search This Blog