Provide Food for Mali's Vulnerable Children

Help vulnerable children at risk through crisis

The last few months in Mali have been challenging due to internal political crisis.   Through it all, our children continue to thrive. The children had a good summer  with their families and the ACFAa school provided a refresher course in September, prior to the school year starting at the beginning of October.  However, because of the political crisis in Mali and the impact of the loss of international funding  due to world events, including in the United states, has taken its toll.

Feeding ACFA Children

The one thing that has never changed for ACFA is the priority of feeding our children. This includes the vulnerable children who are in our care 24/7 hours a day as well as the over 120 children attending the ACFA school who live in the surrounding impoverished villages. ACFA is unique in that it provides all children attending at school 3 miles a day. The motto that one cannot learn on an empty stomach means even more today. A big help for feeding the children nutritious meals is the continued expansion of the ACFA vegetable garden.  The children help to harvest tomatoes, green peppers, papayas, cucumber and watermelon.   Our cooking staff spent time training with a chef who is a nutrition specialist. ACFA is lucky to have a water well, so water is not an issue.  Solar power for all the ACFA buildings also helps in many ways.

Education as the gateway towards a bright future

One of ACFA’s four programs is education.  Our first cohort of children that came to ACFA in 2010-2011, received their education in the capital of Bamako at private schools.  We are particularly proud that 90% of  those children passed the rigorous DEF exam, which is the national exam in Mali required before students can go to high school. The national pass rate is around 40%. Many of those ACFA children ended up going to vocational school, and having graduated from the ACFA program, are now working in a variety of jobs.  Three of our  girls are attending high school so that they can take the baccalaureate exam to go to university.  One of ACFA’s girls passed that exam last year and is enrolled in university.  The school at the Zorokoro Children’s Complex now has three kindergarten classes as well as classes for grades one (1) through four (4). The children are all doing well and we have the same teachers that we have had since we opened the school several years ago. In fact, we have had very little turnover in staff since we opened the Zorokoro Children’s Complex in 2020.  In school, the over 140 children not only learn mandatory subjects for their grade level but also are exposed to music and dance, utilizing the musical instruments stored in our community library and computer lab. The computer lab continues to be used to provide basic computer skills to young adults in the surrounding area, with a volunteer computer teacher.

Mali’s vulnerable children have a future with your help

We know that vulnerable communities around the world are at risk.  ACFA has been taking care of the vulnerable children of Mali since 2010. ACFA has a proven track record of providing opportunity and a future for children who have previously been living in the streets and now ACFA has expanded to children who have a roof over their heads but not much else, enabling them to receive an education starting with kindergarten.  These vulnerable children come from 8 villages surrounding the Zorokoro Children’s Complex and ACFA’s eyes are on helping the communities in those eight villages beyond the needs of these small children.

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