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Jigiya, Our New Mali Friends |
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~ Jigiya~
our new Mali friends
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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 Jigiya. We decided to try to get to
know
the members of Jigiya 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.
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| Our Jigiya friends wearing some T-shirts we sent them from last
year’s conference. Jigiya, by the way, means
‘support’ or ‘help’ in Bambara, a native
language the members of Jigiya 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/ |
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One thing we have learned is that our Jigiya friends need some help.
There is no funding for the work they do. The SA Board has decided to
establish a "Jigiya Fund". We started the fund
raising at the SA State Conference by dedicating our 50/50 raffle
profits
to Jigiya. 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 Jigiya Fund by calling Steve Holmes at (518) 382-1454 or emailing him at seholmes@earthlink.net
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 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 ‘Jigiya 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 Jigiya 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 he mobility, because she needs to
wait for someone to push her.)
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A Few SA Questions and Answers from Jigiya
SA Question #1: What is your dream for your organization? What do you hope to accomplish together?
Jigiya Answer # 1: Jigiya
dreams of making a better life for its members. At present, Jigiya 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
Jigiya, many people with disabilities in the Markala area stayed in
their homes, to embarrassed or self-conscious to go out.Jigiya 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 Jigiya?
Jigiya 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
Jigiya members are beggars at sometime. We must ask others for food
and
other necessities of life in order to survive.
SA Question # 3: Are there people with developmental disabilities involved in Jigiya?
Jigiya Answer # 3: There
are 18 people with developmental disabilities in Jigiya. 150 people
have physical disabilities. 60 people are blind.
SA Question # 4: Do you meet with leaders of your government?
Jigiya 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?
Jigiya Answer # 5: Jigiya
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 Jigiya Fund by calling Steve Holmes at (518) 382-1454 or emailing him at seholmes@earthlink.net |
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SANYS, Self-Advocacy Association of NYS, Inc. |
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