Virginia Friends of Mali

     Virginia Friends of Mali  wish a Happy Birthday  to the Independent  Republic  of   MALI !   Un peuple   Un but   Une foi  51 Years Young,  Strong, Gifted  and  Determined ! Amis   du Mali   en Virginie  souhaiter un joyeux anniversaire  à   la  République  indépendante  du   MALI !   Un peuple   U n but   Une   foi  51 ans  J eune, Fort , Doué et D éterminé !

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 c...

Segou project manager Madani Sissoko (pictured left with an old friend, the city hall gardener) sent the slideshow of photos below that document progress since July on all four projects: the latrine/washroom blocks at the municipal kindergarten, the public market and community health care clinic as well as improvements to the clinic's maternity wing.

WEDNESDAY, 8 JUNE 2011 Robin, Michelle, Allan, Dana and Ana ran up to DC for the day to get visas from the Malian embassy for upcoming trips and to have a nice face-to-face with Adam Kaplan and his staff at Sister Cities International. The AUPAP latrine and maternity clinic renovation projects are moving, slowly, but steadily, towards construction even as we hold our breath that the work can get done before the rainy season takes a complete and slushy hold on Segou. We also discussed other projects of VFOM most, though not all, of which are centered on or based in Segou. Our annual visits to the Festival Sur Le Niger, hosting of friends visiting from Segou, intra-national youth film and photography projects, and the simple rewarding business of getting to know one another's countries and lifeways. All went well and we even managed to vacate the capital region by 3pm and so miss the exiting wall of traffic that is so many commuters' daily nightmare. FRIDAY, 3 JUNE 2011 First F...