To travel on the roads of the world, it is also to halt for some time in countries, cities, villages, which need assistance, which need us.
Our round the world tour is centered on the desire to involve ourselves into the local life, thanks to the conduct of various projects that touch with the culture, the education of the new generations and the economy of the countries that we cross. We want to be active and put ourself at the service of the people in the need of our knowledge for a better future.
We chose to carry out our first experience of voluntary help in a French speaking country of Africa. The rate of analphabetisation in Mali is close to 90% of the population, and much of the families need assistances. The women have on average 7 children each, and often live under precarious conditions. After some Internet search we wanted to support the actions of ALAD, a franco-malian charity.
ALAD is an association reg law 1901, founded in 1985 and based in the west suburbs of Bamako.
The charity is managed in France and also act in Mali locally. It currently has 600 members and acts in these various sectors:
Education of children, sponsorships for school fees, microfinance, fair trade and health care.
President Yvan Baradel is on the spot in Mali from October to May. M. Baradel, former prefect, devotes much of his time and effort to the good performance of his association. He accomodated us cordially and helped us to work in a good environment for one month mainly in microfinance and in the field of education.
He also manages the local team, Lassine the accountant, Fatou, the cooker and Moussa the driver and repairer, and all the visiting volunteers.
At the time of our stay M. Baradel devoted a good part of his time to the work undertaken in the village of Katibougou where ALAD is constructing its new premises. Thanks to the chief of the village of Katibougou, which offered a field to ALAD close to an elementary school, ALAD will soon have a new house where they will move in February 2009. Many rooms for the volunteers, and a bigger space will enable them to accomodate more people and visitors.
You also want to do a good action and help the women and kids of Mali?
We saw with our own eyes the needs for development in Mali, in the fields of education, health, training, business etc. A small help from you is a big one for them, so if you feel like it, do it, and you will not regret it! We also know your gift in good hands, having orselves worked with ALAD on the spot in Mali.
We propose to you to help in the following fields:
* Fund a Microfinance project : lend some small amounts of money at 0% to help micro entrepreneurs to develop local projects. See our article on Microfinance including our work and some examples of project data sheets.
* Sponsor a child for school: Give a child the chance to go to school so later he can find a work and not be doomed to manual work and poor conditions. See our article on Sponsoring.
* Become a volunteer at ALAD's: Many works are possible: healthcare, education, microfinance, reovation .... but beware that Mali is a former French colony so you must learn to speak French before coming!
Also know that 66% of any money paid to ALAD (except the loans for microfinance) will be deductible from your taxes… ALAD at the end of the year will send you a tax receipt which you will have to join to your declaration.
If you wish to help ALAD, send to us an email on loladel@hotmail.co.uk and we will direct you towards the people concerned. Thank you and Cheer!!!!!!!!
Due to the language barrier and the security risks in Brazil, we were constrained to go through a specialised agency to find our volunteering projects in Rio. It is a little bit against our principles to pay to help, but given the circonstances we did not really have the choice. And we do not regret it at all as we had an amazing experience!!
Delphine was dreaming about getting involved in the world famous Carnaval of Rio, that everyone knows for its extraordinary parades of floats and people in extravagant and coloured costumes. The Carnaval being very commercial in Rio, we had to go through an agency to be part of it. Find a project or getting involved while on the spot could have been possible, but too risky given the little time we had in Rio before the Carnaval.
For Laurent's projects, it was safer as well to call upon specialists rather than land in the middle of a favela working with an unknown association found on the Internet. The dangers in the favelas are real (see my article `the favelas, no law areas'), and it takes time for a foreigner to tame them.
It is thus from London, through the agency i2i, that we paid and organised our volunteering projects in Rio, during the whole month of January 2009.
Too many people use the excuse that serving a great cause is useless as their individual action would not have any weight against the immensity of the cause. This is true for environment, poverty, health, and the education problems of the future generations.
While traveling, while being extracted from our business life in Europe, with Delphine we strated to realise, to step backwards and see things slightly differently. Also seeing with our own eyes the needs of the people, living and sharing moments with them, made us open our eyes and gave us more motivation and desire to help them. While being conscious that our actions are tiny, we know that even for a while they make some happy and on a whole they can contribute to make the difference.
