Dear Friends and Family,

A personal plea.

I just wanted to let you know about the situation in Molobala and Balala villages in Mali. It is very sad to know that only 39% of the population in these villages have access to safe water. I really believe that in a world where there are lots of disparities between different countries, we are all happy to support each other when it comes to the essence of life, water. So I have gone a bit crazy and taken on the Andalusia cycle challenge for 400km with Islamic relief. Me and 14 friends will be doing the challenge to raise money to provide safe water access to Molobala and Balala villages in Mali. We aim to raise money to set up 2 boreholes equipped with hand pumps that will provide safe water access to 800 people!! Now the last time I cycled properly was about 10 years ago and I used to get very tired at 2km let alone 400km!!. But I am prepared to go the whole way and fight through the 400km with your support and encouragement to perform our responsibility. Please help me achieve my target of 1500 pounds to make this happen. Thank you. :)

Kind regards,

Mohammed

Further information:

1. PROBLEM STATEMENT

With a population size of 16,450,000 and a poverty rate of 45%, Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world. It is part of Sahel countries’ most vulnerable areas to climate change affecting in depth communities whose socio-economic activities depend on water availability. It is featured by frequent inter annual rainfall variability, with a result of long periods of droughts. 

In addition to that, the country’s public water infrastructures are not in operation or are in need of repair and in some areas, such as Molobala and Balala villages, a water distribution system is not even existing.

As a result, communities – rural ones in particular – seek water from unsafe sources, which are the major causes of a high infant mortality rate and diseases. The difficulty in accessing to safe water primarily affects women and girls – 50% of total population –who are assumed to play a role of prime water supplier for the household and who are frequently forced to quit their schools and remain out of the community life for this reason.

Due to these circumstances, entire communities can’t fulfil their basic needs, including access to food, water and sanitation facilities. The most vulnerable groups affected remain single headed households,
elderly people, disabled, widows and orphans.

2 NEED ASSESSMENT

Islamic Relief staff took steps to assess the immediate needs of both communities either through surveys to collect data and direct meetings with the beneficiaries and local authorities. The assessment showed that the water coverage rate is nearly 39% in both localities and that for a total population of 4,100 inhabitants only 4 boreholes are operational which is against the national standard of 1 borehole for 400 people.

As immediate consequences of these circumstances:
- High population pressure on the existing water points;
- Recurring disputes amongst women during water fetching;
- Poor personal hygiene and sanitation within household;
- School absenteeism of young girls, who are directly involved in providing water for their families;
- Unsafe water consumption and water diseases, such as diarrhea.

3 ISLAMIC RELIEF’S RESPONSE

The project action is aiming directly to improve the living conditions of the community in the two villages through accessing safe water supply in their locality by setting up two hand pumped boreholes. The direct beneficiaries of the project will be 800.

The process of implementation will include these activities:
1. Setting up of two boreholes equipped with hand pumps;
2. To build a committee of 14 people with the objective of running an awareness campaign on water diseases and training its members on the use and maintenance of the two boreholes.