Organization: Ouelessebougou Alliance

All Photos The Ouelessebougou Alliance is committed to assist the people of the Ouelessebougou region in Mali, West Africa through a long-term development relationship. The Alliance's purpose is two-fold: 1) to work in partnership with village citizens to achieve their economic, health care, and education objectives, and 2) to provide the opportunity for both cultures to learn from the other's family and social relationships.

Focus Areas:	Economic Development, Education, Health, Microfinance
Countries Served:	Mali

Description of Services:
Our underlying premise is that the village citizens will become self-reliant as they identify the most crucial needs and sustainable solutions to satisfy their needs. Major project areas include : Health: Health training in disease prevention, nutrition, sanitation, HIV/AIDS prevention, hygiene, wound care, infant and mother care Vaccinations and mosquito nets Construction of clean drinking wells Education: Management of 11 elementary schools Yearly provision of school supplies and desks Promotion of girls? education Quality education training for village teachers Economic Development: Provision of revolving village loans Business skills training for loan recipients Promotion of entrepreneurialism in women
History:
It all started in May of 1985, when seven members of the Utah community traveled to Mali, West Africa in response to the images of drought, starvation and death in sub-Saharan Africa displayed on the media. Their goal was to locate a specific African community with which they could form a long-term partnership to help the people overcome the obstacles of extreme poverty. The group identified Ouelessebougou--a rural region in southern Mali--as the region for their assistance. Soon after that first trip, the Ouelessebougou Alliance was officially formed and began not only by responding to the urgent need for food and water, but also to provide long-term, sustainable solutions that would go beyond handouts.
Accomplishments & Progress:
Impact & Results Though 20% of Malian children die before the age of 5, less than 1% of children in OUA villages died from vaccine preventable deaths in 2008 Among villages that participated in Healthy Villages Workshops last year, diarrhea decreased by 67% on average and malaria decreased by as much as 82% Since the 1990s, 34 clean drinking wells have been constructed Last year over 1,300 students attended an OUA school in villages where no formal education opportunities previously existed Girls? enrollment in OUA village schools is 21% higher than national school enrollment in Mali 11 village loans have been disbursed with a 93% payback rate and profits reaching up to 84%