Help Build a Future for IDP Women & Children

We all understand that for the people of Africa to realize their full potential the key is education.               In Mali the literacy rate is 31%. The children in the Fadadie IDP Camp, instead of being in school,   are out on the streets begging. So ATEG proposed to initiate a Childhood Education program. For the program to succeed we needed both motivated families and children. So we brought in the Headmaster of the local school to speak to the families about the value of education. During the gathering with the Headmaster, one mother expressed that that both she and her husband were illiterate, and that was “the biggest regret of her life.” She said that “she will do everything in her power to make sure her daughter succeeds in school.” We selected 30 children for our pilot project. We funded their school fees, supplies, clothing, backpacks and their birth certificates. Classes began in October, 2023. We expect this program to be a life-changer for both the children and their families.

ATEG hopes this will be an ongoing program. We expect to support these children as they advance through grade school. We also hope to provide education for additional children each school year. This is only possible through the continuing support of generous donors like yourself. On behalf of these children and their families, thank you so much for enriching these children’s lives and giving them hope for the future.

Arts to End Genocide continues to deliver joy and hope to the women and children at the Faladje IDP Camp in Bamako, Mali. Because of the positive feedback we received with our first “Dance Program” which taught the children their traditional Malian dances, we have continued, and expanded that program. Our instructors have added storytelling to further enrich the children’s lives. The children, as well as the mothers, look forward to these weekly sessions with much anticipation and excitement.

We are introducing a hygiene program so as to teach the children as well as the parents, good hygiene practices. Since they literally live on a garbage dump, and were excepting these conditions as “normal” ATEG felt there was a very strong need for this training.

Because of your generous donations we have continued to help the Women’s Cooperative develop markets for their beautiful products. The hand made merchandise produced by the women that ATEG trained in sewing, are now selling at Tryon Palace Museum Gift Shop in New Bern, NC. We are also doing a test market in Bamako supermarkets as we develop local venues for their products. Educated, working mothers help the whole community in the Faladje Camp.

We continue to distribute rice on a monthly basis. During Ramadan we also gave oil to each family.

Doctors continue to provide medical service to the Camp as well as providing medicine. We are hoping to get malaria test kits to check any person that feels ill. The Children’s Clinic has increased the amount of examinations and has requested an increase in the amount of medicine which we provide. ATEG also has added a woman to visit the camps to provide sex education and raise awareness about STDs.

We thank you for your support of these women and children living on a garbage dump and hope that you tell a friend about this program in the hope that they, too, might want to help the vulnerable people in the Faladje IDP Camp in Bamako, Mali.