Sustainable Housing for Rural Communities in Mali

The first phase (Sept 2008 - August 2011) of the unrolling of AVN’s Program in Mali, has now ended. It is the first regional program of its kind to be implemented outside Burkina Faso, and has included:
 a pilot test of the AVN pump-priming strategy (the Dendjola Pilot Village Deployment Program), helping to define local expectations and potential
 the setting up of AVN-Mali and the recruitment and training of an initial local management team
 the training of the first generation of NV masons in Mali (35 so far)
 the construction of 110 NV buildings (= 325 vaults, totaling 2,500 linear meters)
 the setting up of the first AVN ’franchise’ operation in Mali, with the NGO Terre et humanisme in Tacharane.

The full Annual Report from AVN-Mali (2010-11) is attached to this report. It is in French, but contains many photos.

The photo says it all ...  the children of Siaka Djiré (’champion’ of the Dendjola Program) have built an amazing Nubian Vault chicken-house entirely of their own accord (see photo). They must have spend a lot of time observing the AVN masons at work in the village, and decided to go ahead with a project of their own. What greater proof could there be that the NV technique has been incorporated into the local culture? And maybe these kids will form the next generation of NV masons in a few years’ time?

The second phase of the AVN-Mali Program will start in September 2011, and will involve the opening of new franchises, the development of the regional market in NV housing, and the evaluation of the final two years of the Dendjola Program.

Please help with your donations to ensure the ongoing success of the program.

Links:

• All the latest news from AVN

• AVN-Mali Annual Report (in French) (PDF)
  

The third season of construction in our Pilot Village Deployment Program (PVDP) around Dendjola is just coming to an end, with excellent results:

- 9 buildings completed, composed in total of 19 vaults (thus, an average of 2 vaults per building),

- a total length of vaults, if put end-to-end, of 111 meters

- 5 new apprentices in training.

The driving forces behind this progress have been the local 'champion' Siaka Djiré, who has also played a major role in spreading the word about the AVN program to neighboring villages, and the NV master-mason Ibrahim Mien, who has himself supervised all 9 building sites and acted as the main channel of communication with the clients. Another important factor in the growth of the program has been the catalytic effect of building village mosques using the NV technique: everyone helps in providing manual labor for these community buildings, and they act as powerful demonstration sites for the quality and durability of the NV technique, prompting villagers to ask for houses to be built in the same way.

The three photos show examples of the constructions from this 2010/11 season.

Financial support for part of this season's program has come from the Dutch Triodos Foundation, and from the BICIM Bank in Mali (part of the BNP Paribas Group), but AVN is still looking for funding for the fourth year of the Dendjola PVDP, and for extension of the Program in Mali to neighboring regions. Any help you can provide will be much appreciated...

Links:

• AVN website