Finish the SegouRichmond House Well

Richmond House / Maaya Musow

A building in Ségou, Richmond’s Sister City
A symbol of 21st century partnership and socio-economic development
A philosophy for expanding the opportunities of infants, girls and women

A building:
Richmond House will be a community center in Ségou, jointly run by Virginia Friends of Mali (VFoM) and by Ségou’s Foundation Cheick Mansour Haidara (FCMH) with the two sister city commissions. The program of arts and culture, sports and information technology will be run by young people on a rigidly gender-equal basis. Everything will be arranged democratically, with each position shared by a girl and a boy:  two presidents, two secretaries, two treasurers, two auditors, etc. Land has been acquired by FCMH and VFoM, and a management group (5 in Ségou and 2 from Richmond) will oversee the program and its finances. Groundbreaking: Early summer 2016 to sink a well.  THIS IS UNDERWAY!

A symbol:
Ségou’s municipal leadership wants to bring young people into the 21st century as social and economic entrepreneurs: creating “New Ségou Citizens” who will promote the city and its region. A riverine center of agricultural and economic activity, and – like Richmond, Virginia – a former political capital, Ségou is ambitious for its youth, especially for its girls to become entrepreneurial, democratic leaders.  

A philosophy:
Our project document, entitled From Nyéléni to Maaya Musow: nurturing Ségou’s adolescent girls to be tomorrow’s urban leaders & entrepreneurs, builds a range of activities that we believe necessary for the development of Ségou’s women and the fulfilment of their socio-economic potential. The Bambara words Nyéléni and Maaya Musow do not have direct English translations: but they imply the traditional “perfect womanhood” in the first instance, and “cooperating entrepreneurial women” in the second. “Mother” is the most important title in Mali. We do not seek to replace traditions, but we do want to open new horizons to Mali’s women by using Ségou’s Maaya Musow model that builds confidence and an entrepreneurial spirit in girls.

The activities surrounding Richmond House will:
  + encourage girls to complete high school education, while taking on leadership roles 
+ encourage more girls to take STEM subjects, and help them succeed
  + encourage families to believe in dreams and STEM careers for their daughters
+ improve and support entrepreneurial opportunities for unschooled women
  + launch early-childhood education initiatives, linked to maternal and child health
+ bring better health and hygiene into the homes of young mothers and their babies
  + mobilize local associations to work with us, using action-research analyses of results

We hope that the building, the symbol and the philosophy of Richmond House will generate support from entrepreneurs in Mali and in Virginia, as well as from NGO, foundations, educational and private and government sources all over the world. The Sister City relationship between Ségou and Richmond provides an unusual framework to develop synergies between North and South, and between the private and public sectors.

Progress! On August 16, 2015 Virginia Friends of Mali and Fondation Cheick Mansour Haidara signed an agreement to partner on the establishment and operations of the Richmond House / Maaya Musow project on a jointly owned 2.5 acre site in the Sébougou suburb of Ségou in Mali. From downtown Ségou the site is approximately a 10-minute ride by car, bus or motorbike, or 15-20 minutes by bicycle. It would take 1 hour 50 minutes to walk. Link to map of the site.

What will this phase of funding will do?
1) Dig the well and water tower, and install the pump so that we can power the toilets, showers and washing facilities.

The well then makes possible these next steps:
2) Make bricks and stabilized banco
3) Draw field development plan and agreement with all project partners - UNDERWAY
4) Construct the first building without wood that has two rooms with domes, veranda, and storage space.
5) Define, recruit and hire personnel.

UPDATE: Begun in mid-June, as of July 18, our chief of technical operations in SEGOU announces that the WELL has WATER in it a a depth of 9.8 meters. This means that they will start the process of stabilising the well with a wall and interior cement rings. SO WE ARE ON OUR WAY !!!!

The cost of the well, tower and pump is $6,000. VFOM raised and conveyed $3,000 to the Segou contractor so work could begin in June. They have struck water (!!!) and the stabilisation half of the work begins. The remaining $3,000 is our goal for this campaign!

The funds are needed as soon as possible, so we are inviting you to contribute now and as a special Thank You Gift, enjoy a spectacular concert of Malian music on September 23, 2016 for your investment in this phase of the Richmond House / Maaya Musow project.  Click Here for Concert Details.  Every $200 contribution made by August 15 can claim a reward of 2  FREE tickets to the September concert. 

Virginia Friends of Mali is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Richmond, Virginia. We established the sister city relationship with Segou, Mali in October 2009 and are members of the Richmond Sister Cities Commission  and Sister Cities International.