Mali Association of Culture and Hope

Mali Assn. of Culture and Hope

Other disadvantaged people

Although the Association and Kader work mainly with children, they have also worked with young offenders, both in Mali and in the UK, as well as the elderly, with women’s groups in the Djikozoni area in Bamako, with ‘handicapped’ people and groups of very sick children from the villages.

There’s a lovely footprint bogolan sheet that Awa, Kader’s wife, did with some children who had Noma, a very disfiguring facial disease. The local hospital consultant phoned the Association when Kader was away.

He asked if there was anything that could be done to cheer up this group of children, who had come into Bamako from the villages to have their annual session of treatment at the hospital. There was lots of fun and this is the result.

[Noma, is a devastating gangrene that starts in the mouth and quickly spreads to disfigure the face, destroying both soft and bony tissue. The disease is attributed to poor hygiene and malnutrition, and often follows an infection such as malaria, or measles, especially in conditions of extreme poverty. Its victims are almost always children aged 2 to 6. In the early stages it is simple to treat. Untreated, noma is fatal in 80% of cases. Noma Federation www.nonoma.org]