Our Work in Mali
Just as Mali has an ancient and proud cultural history, it also has historical
significance to Freedom from Hunger. Our very first efforts to implement Credit
with Education were launched in Mali in 1989. Over time, Credit with Education
was refined and transformed into a cost-effective partnership methodology
that now serves women in five West African countries as well as nations in
other parts of the world.
Today in Mali, Freedom from Hunger and its two credit union partners, Nyèsigiso
and Kondo Jigima, serve two large, rural regions of the country. For our Malian
partners, the greatest challenge has been to extend the reach of Credit with
Education across vast distances to serve women living in communities that
are as isolated as they are impoverished.
Today, Credit with Education programs in Mali have loaned over US $20 million
to women in rural areas. Our new partner, Kondo Jigima, is expanding into
even more remote regions, reaching from the city of Mopti toward the fabled
Timbuktu. As in other countries, the Malian Credit with Education members--no
matter how poor--are respected as entrepreneurs. Loan repayment in Mali is
virtually 100% and the interest on these loans supports the ongoing operational
costs, helping the program to achieve sustainability. At weekly repayment
meetings, field agents engage the women in "learning sessions" to
introduce new ideas and recommended practices on the topics of health, nutrition,
family planning and business management. Most of the women participating in
these programs can neither read nor write, so these learning sessions are
frequently the only education they have ever received.
Mariam Diakité is a member of the Bendeki ("Understanding each
other is great!") Credit Association in the village of Quéléngana.
When asked what encouragement she would give women to join a Credit Association,
she said, "I would encourage her to join . . . I would tell her that
when you earn more money from your business, you could buy your children new
clothes and food. I would tell her that she would learn that cleaning her
house is very important for the health of her children. Before we had a Credit
Association . . . we had no resource to borrow money…. No one would
give money to a woman."
Weldon Wasson visited the program in Mali during his service as Freedom from
Hunger's Chair of the Board of Trustees. The visit affected him deeply. "You
need to sit in a Credit Association meeting and listen to the women to really
understand how the program affects them,” said Wasson. “I learned
that, in their wildest dreams, these women never thought they'd have this
opportunity . . . They told me they value the education most. They recognize
that even with additional income, without knowledge they would not be able
to improve their children's health."
Our Work in Mali 
