What Took You So Long Foundation

With the Bamako Express train sitting idle on a siding, we take the bus from Dakar to Kayes, then on to Bamako, a marathon two full days of travel along mostly dirt roads. The 5am bus from Dakar is delayed by an hour and a half, but the “Swede Group” is soon on its way, rucksacks and tents securely fastened on the roof of “City Boy”, our Vietnam War era bus liberally plastered with posters of Chinese pop stars. On the bus we meet Carlos, a Spaniard in his mid-thirties, who is travelling to Timbuktou. We reach the border at 10:30pm, and spend the night camped outside the Mali customs and immigration office along with our fellow travellers. Safety in numbers seems to be the idea.

We awake at dawn the next day and after a heavenly cup of sweet coffee and some old baguettes bought from a local stall just outside of the immigration compound we’re loaded back on the buses and on through police, gendarme, immigration and customs checks. Once across the border it’s a short ride to Kayes, where we change buses just as a squall hits the town. Rain comes as a relief, clearing the air of dust. Rains are certainly dramatic in this part of the world.

The bus from Kayes is even older, but a more comfortable ride with 4 rather than 5 passengers to each row. We arrive early the following morning in Bamako, in pitch darkness, and without a place to stay we join Carlos and make our way to the Maison de Jeunes were we pitch our tents for our stay on the banks of the Niger river.

In Bamako we meet and document the work of the Mali Health Project (MHOP), a grassroots NGO working with slum dwellers on the city’s edge. MHOP was founded 5 years ago by a visionary 19 year old American student volunteering in Mali, Caitlin Cohen, and in this short time has been integral in creating contact between a once forgotten community and the local government, and dramatically improved child mortality rates and basic standards of public health amongst some of Mali’s most vulnerable people.