Changes and Frustrations (We should be starting any day now...)

For the sake of candor, I feel obliged to write about the bad was well as the good regarding this epic school project.  First let me say that we still expect to start buying materials and making bricks any day now.  We've been saying that for almost a year now.  Here's where we're at:  Kyle and I raised over $20,000 (thanks to many of you) toward the cost of the school.  We then partnered with the organization BuildOn to fund the remainder of the budget and help oversee construction.  BuildOn cannot finalize their commitment to the project until we know all the details of the budget, i.e. total cost of the project.  We can't finalize the budget until we stop making changes.  Which should be any day now.  

Last week, we thought we had a final budget until it turned out the total cost of the project was nearly $80,000 - much more than we expected.  The original goal of the design was to introduce the technologies of compressed earth bricks and rainwater harvesting, to develop a LESS expensive alternative to Mali's standard cement construction.  But so much had been added to the design that this benefit was no longer discernible.  Thus we began the process of value engineering.  We have since settled on a scheme that keeps the original goals of design intact and takes out the unnecessary expensive materials (like I-beam columns and metal roof trusses).  These changes brought the budget down to $60,000 which is a much more manageable figure. 

 But we're still not out of the woods.  Construction in Mali has to happen in within a precise window of time based on seasonal changes and farming calendars.  It's very difficult to continue projects during the hot season, the rainy season, or during the harvest.  Even if we start construction now, there's a chance we'd be encroaching these seasons before we finish, pushing the project's completion back even further.

So that's where we're at.  Pending finalization of the budget, we should be starting any day now.

Postscript - If anyone knows how Madonna manages to pop out $15 million schools in Malawi so effortlessly please let me know.

Noma: "The Face of Poverty"

Noma (derived from the Greek "nomein" meaning "to devour") is a devastating gangrenous disease which attacks children, quickly destroying their mouth, nose, and face, and which can prove fatal after just a few weeks. Without prompt treatment, mortality rates from this disease are as high as 70-90%. I won't post pictures.  If you are curious and have a strong stomach, search "noma disease" in google images.

Why am I talking about Noma disease?  It's a long story that starts about a week ago in Cinzana.  Kyle and I were packing our things to go back to Segou when Adama, Kyle's host father, shows up with a young couple and their newborn baby.  The baby has a cleft palate and the couple wants to know what we can do to help them.  Not wanting to give them false hope, we say we'll look into it when we return to Segou. Later that day, while leafing through an old Rolling Stone magazine, an ad serendipitously catches my eye:

Smile Train is an organization that provides free cleft surgery for children in developing countries.  I shot them an email.  Their quick reply brought news that not only do they work in Mali, but there was a team of Canadian doctors coming to Bamako the first 2 weeks of February to perform free surgeries!  Within a few days we were on a bus to Bamako with mother and child, headed for the hospital.  

The baby, less than 1 month old, was severely malnourished and underweight (only 3 lbs!).  The doctors told us they couldn't operate on the cleft until the child was in better health.  They arranged for them to stay at the hospital, free of charge, while the baby was given a strict regiment of proper nutrition.  

In the meantime, we had been contacted by another family from a neighboring village that had heard about the project.  They had a daughter in need of cleft surgery, and they met us at the hospital in Bamako.  Upon examination, the doctors informed us that the girl's condition was not actually a cleft palate, but rather an infection called "Noma."  Half of her mouth and her entire cheek had been destroyed by the disease.  Due to the severity of her condition, she was transfered to a special clinic outside Bamako designed specifically for Noma patients.  There she will receive free treatment for the infection and eventually free surgery to reconstruct her face.

In the developed world, children who acquire an infection of this sort are simply treated with penicillin and cured.  The disease has been virtually eradicated in America.  In countries like Mali, the same infection, when combined with malnutrition and poor oral hygiene, often causes death.

The moral(s) of this story: 1. Don't take your health (or your healthcare system) for granted.  2. There are groups out there doing amazing work.  I don't often make plugs like this, but if you're looking for a good place to make a donation, I recommend Smile Train, a light at the end of the tunnel.