who we are
a healthy bank balance
During the rainy season, Kousoula, in Mali, becomes an island. Only a hand-made bridge links the village to the outside world.
If a family runs out of food, they must make the perilous journey over this rickety bridge to market. Even then, there may not be any affordable food to buy. On the way home, newly purchased bags of cereals can fall into the river - or worse, people can even lose their lives on the unstable bridge.
This year, there will be no need to travel: thanks to an unusual kind of village bank. Cereals are bought in bulk before the rainy season and stored at the bank until they are needed, then the bags are sold at a fair price.
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Nausa Keiyta (above) is familiar with the risks of crossing the river, and with hungry times that come when the village is cut off by the rains. "This cereal bank is a dream come true," she says, "But I want to see it full of stock, so that everyone will come from surrounding hamlets to buy. When there is no food we cannot work, we forget everything else." |
Now, thanks to the small miracle of the cereal bank, and the big dreams of women like Nausa, there is enough food in the village all year round.
