Projects

I’m not starting an NGO, nor do I work for one. My mission is to find and showcase existing social enterprises that are doing effective work. These projects feature West Africans leading, innovating, and developing solutions to the problems faced by their communities. They are not charity cases. I consider any financial contribution made by this site less of a donation and more of an investment. These are projects that could be replicated on a larger scale and in other other parts of the world. I’m trying to raise their profile.

I will be connecting with these projects in person and documenting their work here on How to Draw Camels. To follow along, subscribe to the blog.

Ecova Mali

From their site: ECOVA MALI hires local experts to provide “hands-on” agricultural training, as well as instruction on business planning, basic accounting, and marketing to Malian farmers. ECOVA MALI also provides start-up capital in the form of micro-loans and mini-grants for the creation and development of worker-owned and managed, sustainable agricultural enterprises based on principles of environmental and social responsibility.

I will be staying at their training center for several days, getting a first hand look at their operation and reporting back on this site. Check them out at ecovamali.org

Project Muso

From their site: Access to health care is a fundamental human right. But it is not easy for the women we work with in Mali to protect the health of their families. Information about health issues is helpful, but certainly not enough, particularly in the context of extreme poverty. A mother may learn nutrition skills that could save her childrens’ lives, but she cannot use many of them if she must feed her extended family of 10 on a budget of $3/day. A mother may learn to recognize crucial danger signs that her child has severe malaria and needs to get to a hospital immediately, but she cannot act on this knowledge if she cannot afford to pay the fees for essential medicines and hospital care.

Driven by the hope of improving the health and quality of life of their families, many of these mothers strive to earn an income. But poor health in their families can cripple their chances of success in the marketplace. A mother may be forced to empty her savings or take out loans to pay for urgent medical care for her child; she may herself become sick and unable to work. So she finds herself trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and disease.

Project Muso’s Approach:
Project Muso partners with mothers in Mali to enable them to free themselves of this poverty-disease trap. Through our Participatory Education Program, Springboard Microfinance Program, and Community-Based Malaria Program, Malian women are afforded an opportunity to turn their hopes into real possibilities. Collaborating closely with Yirimadjo’s Management Committees, Project Muso also supports community activists and leaders to prioritize and develop their own solutions to crises of poverty and health they face. These programs complement and reinforce each other, creating a new virtuous cycle of community mobilization, education, enterprise, and access to health resources. Through the concerted efforts and investments of many individuals and organizations, Project Muso is nurturing the seeds of grassroots health.

After meeting two volunteers from Project Muso last fall, I am excited to learn more about this organization and to witness their efforts on the ground. Check them out at projectmuso.org.

Mali Health Organizing Project

From their website: MHOP aims to create a model clinic and health delivery system in Mali by enabling slum communities to design and build their own health systems, capitalizing on users’ innovative ideas.

Mali Health Organizing Project is another social enterprise that has been on my radar because, like Project Muso, they focus on empowering communities and harnessing the potential that is already there. Their intent is not to impose outside models, but rather to develop them from within the communities themselves. Check them out at malihealth.org.

See my blog post on MHOP here.

Most projects will not be featured until I experience them on site, but feel free to suggest a project on the contact page.

You can find updates and reports on projects I am working with in the projects category on the blog.