Support Mali's Vulnerable Children

Crisis in Mali continues!

While the immediate crisis has somewhat stabilized, there is still great uncertainty in Mali: insecurity and fuel shortages are still affecting the people and the economy.  Through it all, the vulnerable children of Mali in ACFA’s care are thriving, continue to grow and learn at the ACFA school, and this is no small credit to the support of donors like yourself.  To mitigate the current international funding challenges, ACFA-Mali’s leadership’s vision resulted in increased involvement of the local community in the form of in-kind donations of food, clothing etc….  One such example is the renewed relationship with B2Gold, the Canadian Mining company that built our library and computer lab in 2024.  This February, B2Gold donated school supplies to our children valued at over $600.  Unfortunately, this doesn’t cover all the needs of the over 150 children in ACFA’s care.  Your support, now more than ever, in these dire moments in international development work, is crucial, and as we say in Mali, no amount is too small!

But there is Hope!

This past quarter marked the successful graduation from initial military training, of none but our own Billy, one of our 1^st generation’s children.  He is now not only employed, but serving his country and making a future for himself and his family!  Diakassan, a girl from our 1^st generation, performed well in the high school and ranked in the top 10% of the country.  We are hoping that this year, she’ll pass the very rigorous baccalaureate, allowing her to attend university.  In January, as the 2^nd generation children returned to school with pride and determination, ACFA hired an intern to assist in the education and administrative tasks.  The result is an astonishing over 95% above average grades in the ACFA’s school report cards.  

Combining the nutrition and education programs!  

The vegetable garden included in our school curriculum, allows our children to grow vegetables like salad, cucumber, tomatoes, parsley, mint, and fruits like papaya, sugar apple, guava, etc... that they consume.  Additionally, they partake in caring for the sheep, this is all part of their vocational learning process.   

We need your help!

Thanks to you and your donations, the vulnerable children in ACFA’s care have kept a smile on their faces while learning in school every day.  They feel secure and happy in a time of great unrest in Mali and elsewhere in the world.    Please consider donating to ACFA today to help us maintain the momentum.  We cannot let them down!  And please share our project with your network!  Thank you in advance!  

Links:

• Our website

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.

 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.

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.

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.

Please help us meet our goals in this GlobalGiving campaign.

Links:

• website