Dear Friend
The northern half of Mali
was tragically taken over by Islamist groups after the
coup in March. I am writing to let you know that Joliba's
work is just south of the rebel held area and is continuing
as normal.
Following your kind support,
as well as our normal programme, we have been busy with
a lot of food crisis prevention, because Mali is going
through its worst drought for 30 years. Your help has
consisted of measures such as providing microcredit for
vulnerable women to trade sesame to Burkina Faso; providing
food-for-work for soil conservation; supporting revolving
credit in villages with no food; and providing a fund
for cattle feed, to keep family cows in milk in Fulani
villages with severely malnourished children. As international
aid has not been forthcoming, we have also provided 40
tons of food aid to destitute pastoralists in a very remote
area, who would not otherwise have survived.
Timbuktu and the northern
half of Mali have been taken over by Islamist networks
from a number of countries. In Mali's peaceful, well-organised
and tolerant country, people in the north are now being
terrorised by Islamist groups. People have nothing to
eat and their cattle are dying. Sharia law is being imposed.
Women are subjected to forced marriages with Islamists,
and savage beatings; schools and hospitals have been ransacked
and closed; children are not allowed to play with balls
and are being forced to become soldiers, music and dancing
have been banned. Ancient monuments are being destroyed.
It is unbelievably sad, and has been both extraordinary
and incredibly shocking to see how quickly northern Mali
has been destabilised. Why has the world taken no notice?
Lastly, although it is
now the rainy season, many people have been unable to
afford seed to plant essential crops such as peanuts and
beans. They are asking us for credit, so that they will
have chance of a crop and food to eat for next year. We
would like to raise £5,000 for this, and £1,000
for elderly women who will be dying of hunger by September.
Just £5 would make a difference. Our bank details
are Triodos Bank, Sort code 16 58 10 Joliba Trust, Ac
02059700.
Dead millet crops on the Dogon plains
Communication from Timbuktu
2 July 2012
Are we not obliged
to say something at last?
The people of Timbuktu
on the edge of the abyss.
What is left but for us
to cry huge tears before an unspeakable crime that has
reduced us to victims for the last three months, day on
day:
-Before a non-existent
State, which lacks the means and the initiative;
-Before an international community which is hesitant and
passive;
-Before an exhausted population, bruised by successive
acts which are totally indescribable.
It is exactly 90 days
since our people witnessed the destruction of the signs
of the State and all other institutions, and the closing
of the schools and health centres.
One month later, it was the lack of electricity and drinking
water, then it was the systematic pillaging of everything
that belonged to them, including attacks on shops, ransacking,
oppression, attacks which go to the deep heart of their
identity, values which go beyond Timbuktu, beyond Mali,
beyond Africa, and which belong to the whole world. The
elements that have permitted Timbuktu to be recognised
as a World Heritage site have been attacked and destroyed.
What now remains for Timbuktu
and its citizens after the destruction of the mausoleums
and the monuments just three days ago? We witness the
most odious of crimes with the destruction of all that
we hold dear: the Mausoleums of the Saints, which represent
the identity, the authenticity, the pride of Timbuktu.
With regard to the merciless
situation in which we find ourselves, we look to what
the future holds for the city, a very sombre future for
our people who are powerless, empty handed before heavily
armed terrorists.
We invite good will from wherever it may come, to come
to the aid of our people, to help extract them from this
suffering, for the situation only worsens with each passing
day. ____________________________
Dune
stabilisation Cost
per hectare per year £1,536
Over 100 hectares need to be stabilised
School
arboretum and training for schoolchildren
In tree management cost per school £1,260
(waiting list of 5 schools)
Regeneration
of forest and pasture resources through
establishment of set-aside land parcels in 2 districts
(this includes seed resources, workshops with villagers,
local government and nomads, and guarding by Nature Protection
Societies, which is much cheaper than fencing. £2,799
People use trees for every aspect of their daily life,
and dried leaves are the main element of diet. Loss of
trees, pasture, and cattle is the main reason why much
of Mali and Niger have become the poorest countries in
the world and are currently very prone to famine.
Assisted
Natural regeneration of tree cover in
two districts £3,360
(a million new trees were grown by using this method in
2009)
Midwifery
Training (we are very low on funds for
this)
Salary of qualified Midwife to carry out training with
village birth attendants for one year £2,100
