Virginia Friends of Mali

Woman washing clothes and dishes in the refugee camp built in a landfill near the Bamako Airport  where she and her family have lived since escaping the violence back home in the Dogon region. Please assist with A FUNDRAISER FOR THE CAMPS OF DISPLACED PEOPLE FROM THE DOGON REGION OF MALI The  COVID -19 pandemic is spreading across Sub-Saharan Africa, threatening its most vulnerable citizens. In Mali, thousands of villagers have fled the central Mopti region where much of Dogon Country and the Niger River flood plain have come under the control of Islamic extremists.  Hundreds of villages have been ransacked, houses and granaries looted and burned and livestock stolen. Innocent women, children and men have been murdered in an interethnic conflict instigated primarily by outside forces. Many Dogon and Fulani displaced persons from the Mopti region have been living in Bamako for over 3 years in tent camps without toilets or running water.  In such cramped quarters it is...

Virginia Friends of Mali is pleased to announce  .... the publication of an exciting book written by two of our founder members in honor of the 10th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Segou, Mali and Richmond, Virginia, USA. Board Members Ana Edwards and Robin Poulton are in love with the West African country of Mali and the second city of Mali, called SÉGOU, which has made them both Honorary Citizens. The City of Ségou has been twinned with the City of Richmond, Virginia for the past ten years. Many things have been done in Ségou and in Richmond, as a result of this partnership, and the stories the authors tell are very instructive. Ana and Robin have written an amusing and insightful book, published this month in Richmond VA by Brandylane Publishers: Sister Cities: A story of friendship from Virginia to Mali by Ana Edwards & Robin Poulton. Richmond Va: Brandylane 2019. ISBN: 978-1-947860-58-2 A fun story about Richmonders and their Malian...

What a great idea! https://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-mali-social-network-for-illiterates-20190617-story.html

Les 10 journalistes de Radio Sikoro- six a gauche, quatre a droit. The 10 journalists of Radio Sikoro - six on the left, four on the right.  Five finalists (Soummou , Marie , Saran , Massitan , Safiatou)  held a writing conference, a round table in the studio on the theme, "influence of social networks on girls." They went on camera one by one to introduce themselves and describe their motivations.  Today, Andee, Cameron and their Bamako-based assistant, Erika Pomerance (standing in the photo), announced the three finalists:  Marie , Saran , et Massitan!  They said it was difficult to leave anyone out! This group of three will work together until Saturday at noon, when their team leader will be announced as the WRIR intern. Remember, though the intern will travel, all the young women will benefit and are excited about the projects they would like to take on with their new skills.

Cameron and Andee are shown in a video greeting they sent to the group of ten young jounalists who make up the Radio Sikoro half of the Sister Radio project.  Sister Radio is an independent documentary following the partnership between two independent radio stations from two sister cities: WRIR 97.3 fm in Richmond, Virginia and Radio Sikoro in Segou, Mali, as they build a program to educate women in Segou on radio broadcasting and radio production. The program is called Sister Radio in which Radio Sikoro sends an intern to Richmond to learn the elements of radio production under the tutelage of WRIR radio producers. The intern will then go back to Segou where she will relay the knowledge she accumulated to other women interested in making their voices heard through Mali radio. Andee and Cameron arranged for several interviews in advance so they would lose no time getting to work. These shots are from their first interviews in the capital city of Bamako. Khadidia Samake Tour...

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 ...