Type: Charitable
PHASE: Design
CATEGORY: Health
LOCATION: Sikoro, Mali
USC Africa Health Initiative
Africa

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USC AHI is working to build a bridge that will provide access to the local health center, school, and market for the villagers in Sikoro, Mali during the 4-month rainy season.

Standings & Awards

379 out of 591 in Africa
87 out of 284 in Health
793 out of 935 in Design
950 out of 992 in Charitable
2355 out of 4003 Overall
The building of a bridge will drastically decrease maternal and child mortality rates during the rainy season.

During the 4-month rainy season in Mali, Sikoro becomes completely isolated due to the flooding of the only road out of the village. In the dry months, villagers can walk to the neighboring town of Sanankaroba to sell produce in the market, attend secondary school, and receive treatment at the health center. During the rainy season, villagers are cut off from these daily tasks. Mortality rates skyrocket, education is interrupted, and the economy comes to a halt. The flooding of the road pervades every aspect of Sikoro life.

USCAHI has been working for the past three years to solve this problem by raising enough money to build a bridge over the flooded river. The bridge will have an enormous impact on health, development, and economy in the village. Below are some of the direct impacts the completion of the bridge project will have in Sikoro:

  • More economic opportunity -  Working and trading in Sikoro depends on access to the larger town and its market. Sikoro does not have a market of its own, so during the rainy season, men cannot travel to other villages to work and women cannot bring crops to sell at market.
  • Improved village health - Village health workers cannot access the area during the rainy season in order to vaccinate children and to distribute other items such as mosquito nets and chlorine for wells.
  • Reduction in child and maternal mortality rates - The flooded plane prevents pregnant women from accessing to prenatal care, and makes it impossible for them to travel to the clinic to safely give birth.
  • Reduction in mortality rates due to malaria -  The river cuts off access to any sort of medical help during the highest, most dangerous part of the malaria season. 
  • Less environmental impact - During the rainy season when the women cannot sell crops at the market, they resort to chopping down wood as a main source of income, which contributes to the deforestation of the area and the expanson of the Sahara. Year-long access to the market would allow women to rely more on selling crops instead of wood.
  • Improved nutrition -  During the rainy season, women cannot purchase food at the market and must rely on the limited food availability in the village.
  • Better education - Children will be able to attend secondary school during the rainy season.

In addition to fundraising for the bridge project, we have led two student trips to visit the village of Sikoro in 2010 and 2011, where we have implemented two other development projects: the creation of a community garden and the re-cementing of the primary school in the village.

FIVE PROJECT QUESTIONS Required (60 - 90 minutes)

1. What is your innovation? 
14,000 miles from Los Angeles, villagers in Sikoro cannot access basic needs for 1/3 of the year due to lacking infrastructure. Infrastructure development is not a new innovation, but connecting college students in the U.S. to people halfway across the world to work together to solve a problem is. Internet and SMS technology has made it possible for us to maintain a relationship with village leaders and our Malian engineer. We hope to maintain this connection and help improve life in Sikoro
2. Who gains the most? 
The 500 villagers in Sikoro, along with the hundreds in surrounding villages, gain the most from our project. However, the members of USC AHI who have been committed to this project for the past four years and have had the opportunity to visit the village have gained so much in cultural understanding and awareness of international development issues. My work with USC AHI has been an invaluable experience which has defined my college experience and shaped my career aspirations.
3. Who pays? 
USC students, alumni, and generous donors in the Los Angeles community have by and large paid for our project thus far. We have held benefit auctions, organized restaurant fundraisers, and music concerts. The USC community has been incredibly generous in helping us achieve our goals, however, we still have a long way to go until we finish the bridge project!
4. What is your success? 
12 months from now - Construction on the bridge in Sikoro has begun 3 years from now - USC AHI has helped maintain sufficient funds for bridge maintenance, and has begun working on its next development project in Sikoro (TBD with the village elders) 5 years from now - USC AHI has maintained its relationship with Sikoro, and has hopefully expanded to several other villages in Mali using our model of sustainable development and partnership with local community.
5. How will you do it? 
We will continue working with our partners in Mali to plan for the bridge. Close collaboration with the engineer and village elders will be necessary to ensure the project continues during the current political instability. Once the bridge is complete, we will begin discussions with our partners to decide upon our next development project. As AHI begins to expand, we will ask our connections in Bamako and Sanankaroba to connect us with another community that we can help.

Badges & Awards

2013 DSIC Project Participant
2012 DEC Project Participant

Members

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Marina Tolchinsky