A path shared for 27 years - IFAD

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Kingfisher (above) and blue heron (p. 37) now come back every year to the lake. ©Marlene McLoughlin, private collection “Village women have two kinds of savings clubs: one where the pot is taken away immediately by a member and one where the money is kept safe for several months. When the men’s cooperative needs fuel for the pumps in order to flood the fields and soften the soil for land preparation, rice prices are low and they would not make enough to finance the whole crop season. By borrowing cash from the second kind of women’s club, they can start land preparation in good time without taking a loss on rice sales. When they finally sell their rice, they make enough both to pay back the loan (with a bit extra for the help) and to cover their costs for the rest of the season. Everybody benefits from a good harvest. That’s four wins!” Yaya Dondie Ballo, project staff, PDZL and PIDRN, Mali As women, we had always done a bit of petty trading but our incomes rose after the project came. People had more money to spend and we had learned new ways to make money ourselves. We use our money for little extras, especially things for the children, as well as food, condiments and clothing, a coin to buy something to eat during playtime at school… Comments from a women’s group in Tonka, Mali “Things are improving steadily. I am able to complete most of the vaccination cycles and children are no longer dying from easily preventable diseases like measles, meningitis and whooping cough. People come in immediately for treatment of wounds, malaria and malnutrition; they are gradually realizing that we can do a lot more than the traditional practitioners. A few years ago, cholera had broken out in one of the villages and we stopped it by setting up a base camp there. We knew what to do and we had everything we needed to treat the sick and clean up the environment. That was an epidemic that didn’t happen.” Abidine Baby, Male head nurse, Tonka health centre, Mali Before the health centre was built, women gave birth at home with the help of a traditional midwife and many of them died. The midwives trained by the project encourage us to go to the health centre for pre-natal visits and even to give birth. If a woman insists on giving birth at home the midwives know what to do if something doesn’t seem right: they take her straight to the health centre. They’ve saved the lives of many women. Comments from women’s groups in Tonka, Mali 36
At first, we were bothered by the fact that the head nurse was a man but we soon got over that. Nurses and doctors don’t see you as a man or a woman: you’re a sick person who needs help, that’s all. Comments from women in Tonka, Mali “All our villages have at least one person who knows how to monitor the health of mothers and children (health, growth, etc.) as well as one or more volunteers who understand the importance of knowledge and the advantages of modern health care. Their advice is respected in the rural areas.” Abidine Baby, Male head nurse, Tonka health centre, Mali “I have been head nurse at Tonka since 1980. At that time, the dispensary built in 1957 covered a vast area. Getting a seriously ill person to Niafunké or Timbuktu used to take several days: all we had were canoes, donkeys or camels. Today, we have an ambulance. People call us by cellphone to arrange for pickup at a roadhead. Without the project, they wouldn’t have had the money to buy a mobile phone, they wouldn’t have known how important it was to get to a health centre in time and the system wouldn’t have been in place to get them to the hospital. Some places are still isolated but people no longer wait until the last minute. People who would have died only five years ago are surviving today. Abidine Baby, Male head nurse, Tonka health centre, Mali The women in our culture didn’t do much field work, that was for men. We were expected to cook food and take it to them. The project changed all that when it helped the village build that irrigated area for us. Things were so bad we would have have done anything to help the family! Each of us has her own plot, we grow mostly rice, wheat and vegetables. We sell some of the vegetables at the local market. And after learning how good they are for health from the nurse and the matron, we are adding a lot more to our sauces. Comments from a women’s group in Tonka, Mali The project left five years ago but that didn’t change things at the health centre: the staff and the (health centre) association are still doing a good job and the medicines we need are always available. All that is lacking at the centre is better equipment. Comments from villagers in Tonka, Mali Screenshots from the video on the Zone Lacustre Development Project, Mali. (see attached DVD). THE LAC LACUSTRE PROJECT IN MALI 37
Page 1 and 2: A path shared for 27 years Enabling
Page 3: A path shared for 27 years Enabling
Page 6 and 7: The opinions expressed in this book
Page 8 and 9: Preface The Belgian Survival Fund J
Page 11 and 12: This book… commemorates the innov
Page 13 and 14: A brief history On 20 October 1983,
Page 15 and 16: “The Belgian Survival Fund was a
Page 17 and 18: Overview of the mainstream portfoli
Page 19: Overview of achievements Between 19
Page 22: THE VILLAGE The village is the focu
Page 25 and 26: WATER FOR LIFE Water is essential f
Page 28 and 29: WATER SOURCES Africans get water fr
Page 30: We’re convinced that the project
Page 33 and 34: The project helped us build a dam a
Page 35 and 36: Our lake was dying … Things were
Page 37: View of Nounou village, Mali ©The
Page 41 and 42: KNOWLEDGE - OLD AND NEW Traditional
Page 43: “The older women were the first t
Page 46 and 47: “The project helped us build 11 s
Page 48: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION Cell
Page 51 and 52: LIVELIHOOD OPTIONS FOR THE RURAL PO
Page 53: “Hunger creates a vicious cycle t
Page 56: LAND If you have land, you are If y
Page 59 and 60: “I can even talk to my husband ab
Page 61 and 62: The cereal banks were supposed to b
Page 63 and 64: STRENGTH IN UNITY In the old days,
Page 65 and 66: The project was going to rehabilita
Page 67 and 68: “Trawlers were a big problem: the
Page 69 and 70: We know how to keep the water contr
Page 72 and 73: 70Deciding and doing things togethe
Page 74 and 75: PARTICIPATION It takes time to win
Page 76 and 77: We helped the project people select
Page 78 and 79: 76Health care
Page 80: Primary health care centres Fifteen
Page 83 and 84: “People sometimes ask me why I st
Page 85 and 86: Child receiving a penicillin jab in
Page 87: We make sure the children wash thei
Page 90 and 91:
TRADITIONAL HEALERS AND MIDWIVES Wa
Page 92 and 93:
90Microfinance
Page 94 and 95:
SOLIDARITY GROUPS Traditional savin
Page 96 and 97:
“Before marrying, I worked as a n
Page 98 and 99:
“Duterimbere helps women overcome
Page 100 and 101:
98Post-conflict interventions
Page 102 and 103:
“I think that one of the most imp
Page 104 and 105:
The Socio-health Programme in Rwand
Page 106 and 107:
“I was manager of the IFAD-financ
Page 108 and 109:
A path shared
Page 110 and 111:
“During the 1990s community devel
Page 113 and 114:
Odds and ends Herders watering thei
Page 115:
The first Summit on the Economic Ad
Page 118 and 119:
Overview of the mainstream portfoli
Page 120 and 121:
A quick guide to development termin
Page 122 and 123:
The core Editorial Team: Norman Mes
Page 124:
Belgian Fund for Food Security Via
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A path shared for 27 years - IFAD

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