Self-Advocacy Association of NYS

Djigiya, Our New Mali Friends

QUICK LINKS...Djigiya Pictures | Letter from Djigiya | Djigiya Q & A | Stephen Andersen's Website

~Djigiya~

our new Mali friends

The SA Board has begun to develop a relationship with some really interesting people with disabilities who live in Mali,
Africa. Steve Holmes has a friend, Stephen Andersen, who is serving in the Peace Corps in Mali. He is teaching people
how to start small businesses. Steve asked his friend if he had met any people with disabilities in Mali. Stephen asked
around and discovered a small group of people with disabilities who call themselves Djigiya. We decided to try to get to
know the members of Djigiya and we’ve begun to correspond with them. We have had to overcome a lot of barriers including distance, lack of technology and language but we’ve made a good beginning.

To the right is a picture of our Djigiya friends wearing some T-shirts we sent them from last year’s conference. Djigiya, by the way, means ‘support’ or ‘help’ in Bambara, a native language the members of Djigiya speak. We think they want to open up a can of change in Mali! You can also go to Stephen Anderson’s site directly and look at all the pictures: www.geocities.com/steve_intj/

One thing we have learned is that our Djigiya friends need some help. There is no funding for the work they do. The SA Board has decided to establish a "Djigiya Fund". We started the fund raising at the SA State Conference by dedicating our 50/50 raffle profits to Djigiya. This amounted to $263! Also, the winner of the raffle, Larry Sutliff, generously donated back $100 of his winnings, bringing the total to $363!

You can also make a donation to our Djigiya Fund by calling Steve Holmes at (518) 382-1454 or emailing him at seholmes@earthlink.net

A Few SA Questions and Answers from Djigiya

SA Question #1: What is your dream for your organization? What do you hope to accomplish together?
Djigiya Answer # 1: Djigiya dreams of making a better life for its members. At present, Djigiya has 240 members. It does not receive funding from any other government or non-governmental organization. It has no funds. We get together to encourage each other to be as productive and happy as we can be. Before Djigiya, many people with disabilities in the Markala area stayed in their homes, to embarrassed or self-conscious to go out.Djigiya greatly appreciates the contact and support of SANYS. You are the first organization EVER who has offered us any attention or assistance. We are very happy about that. Thank you.

SA Question # 2: What could our organization do to help Djigiya?
Djigiya Answer # 2: To help us make better lives for ourselves, we could use work materials. Although our members have varied skills, we are virtually all underemployed if not unemployed. This is due to discrimination against us, and our lack of funds to start businesses. Therefore, nearly all Djigiya members are beggars at sometime. We must ask others for food and other necessities of life in order to survive.

Here are some of the skills that our members have now:
~ chair weavers/cainers (19 of whom are blind) ~ 2 tailors
~ 5 small businessmen ~ 6 electricians
~ 20 hairdressers ~ 30 students

Our biggest hope now is to form a ‘Djigiya Work Center’, which would support the working efforts of our members. In the USA, this might be called a cooperative. Here is a list of materials that we have identified so far that would help us:
~ chair weaving materials ~ paints for dying clothes
~ electric sewing machines (now, a Djigiya tailor is using a foot
powered sewing machine, but his handicap is with his legs, so his
productivity is reduced)
~ soldering machines
~ electrical supplies
~ hair dressing materials (gels, cosmetics, beads)
~ computers for the students
~ bicycle chain (one of our members has a tricycle, but not chain
for her to power it with her arms. This reduces her mobility,
because she needs to wait for someone to push her.)

SA Question # 3: Are there people with developmental disabilities involved in Djigiya?
Djigiya Answer # 3: There are 18 people with developmental disabilities in Djigiya. 150 people have physical disabilities. 60 people are blind.

SA Question # 4: Do you meet with leaders of your government?
Djigiya Answer # 4: When we go to government offices to meet, they ask us to leave without talking to us. They do not want to be bothered with us.

SA Question # 5: How are people with disabilities treated by members of the community in Mali?
Djigiya Answer # 5: Djigiya members are discriminated against, ignored, and looked down on. When we apply for jobs, we are refused. Our parents tell us to leave their homes because they cannot afford to continue caring for us. We cannot get health care because we are too poor to pay up front, and there is not government health program for us. (Stephen comment - POVERTY is the underlying issue. Remember that on average, Maliens earns $2/day. Average family size is around 8.)

Want to help out? You can make a donation to our Djigiya Fund by calling Steve Holmes at (518) 382-1454 or emailing him at seholmes@earthlink.net

Links...

Djigiya Pictures
Letter from Djigiya
Djigiya Q & A
Stephen Andersen's Website