On a recent trip to Mali (by no means my first and certainly not my last -- I'm off again the end of March), our group was returning from an afternoon visit to a village in the Bandiagara, when unusually a lone white guy was spotted walking along the road. Turned out to be one Bob Geldof. All the car windows were shut at the time, so unfortunately all I did was point and gesticulate wildly as the name came to me. Later on in the evening there's Bob and entourage at the same hotel we're in. Again, unfotunately, pressing matters called: that chicken I'd purchased earlier had been sent down to the village elders for cooking and it was dinner time. So dressed in my big green Nigerian boubou, off I went, sweeping right past without saying anything and knowing anyway that I wasn't supposed to be so un-cool

I relayed to all my Malian friends over dinner who Bob Geldof is and how important his work is for Africa and what it could mean for Mali and how well known he is back home, etc. I told them all how much I wanted to sit and chat with Bob about all things Africa and find out what he's up to in Mali, what he plans to do now. They all asked me why the heck I didn't speak with him right then and there. So I had to explain how in our culture, well-known people are expected to be treated as though they're not well-known when we plebs encounter them "in the wild". My friemnds couldn't believe it, since anyone well-known in their culture expects to be approached and chatted with as though they're a member of the family.

The question then is this (and sorry its through a forum like this, but you don't exactly have an email address for us normal bods): Bob, what's the deal in Mali? Real work, holiday, publicity stunt? And if you've got fifteen minutes could I get your thoughts on some work in Mali? In particular, have you spent some time chatting with the Toureg? I mean, I know there are many problems vying for attention, but so many buttons could be pushed and so many avenues explored by working with them. The families are such a strong blend of initiative to maintain their way of life but to make use of "our culture" shrewdly for the long term.

I got to spend a long weekend chatting with a few and boy, oh boy was I taught some lessons there, and quickly. Here's a few things they taught me in that one weekend.... The festival in Essakane: they're crying out for an injection of help organising it or it'll die. On the one hand the traditional activities are being sidelined (and that's why the festival should exist) and on the other hand, the music thang isn't going well (and they need the internationals to keep coming to provide some protection when the government shows up for the yearly talks). The elders are also asking about getting satellite phones for the families to better communicate, particularly while they're out in the desert on a caravan.

And there's this one Toureg chap's proposal to establish a "family school" that would enable not only the kids in his family to go to school but also the women AND the men like himself who missed out on reading and writing during the war years. He's got a vision to educate within his family in Tamasheq, French and Arabic at the same time so that all parties will be contented. In fact, that's partly why I'm off in March, so I can talk with him and see what more I can do. Now I'm just one lone northerner who works for a charity and lives almost broke in London but can still see how a little here is a lot there.

And another thing they showed me that seems so obvious, so pressing and so applicable across the world: Why aren't drugs info leaflets (say the 100 most widely-sold in the Sahel or something) printed also in picture languages for the non-literate so folks know when they're taking the right stuff to do the job? I was glad to help but my heart was breaking as I was handed vial after vial while someone was looking for the right thing to take for a headache but couldn't read the labels. And all I could say, "Nope, they're vitamins. Nope those're for treating malaria when it hits you. No, those are antibiotics and you gotta be careful not to take these too much. Hey, yeah those will help your headache, take those." Not a very sustainable situation. Do you know if there's a project anywhere where someone's involved in doing anything like this? And why don't the drugs companies get shamed into doing this themselves? Could they be "persuaded" if a little trial was done to kick-start an initiative like this and then a bit of careful nit-picking was undertaken??

Well that's just for openers and all of it not earth-shatteringly new I know.

Anyway I'm sure that if you've spent any time in Mali you'll know how wonderful the people are -- such warmth, openness, honesty, endeavour, initiative, intelligence, energy -- and how ****-eating poor the damn place is. No thanks to historical debt they've no doubt paid a thousand time, no thanks to a certain amount of control of their markets by external multinationals, no thanks to the slump in the world's cotton market, etc. But there's such scope, and such hope.

Well, there's my 15 minutes up already and you'll probably not see this. However, in honour of my Malian friends, I've at least (belatedly) tried to have the chat they couldn't believe was out of the question in Sangha, Bandiagara, Mali. And if we don't have that chat: go well. And please go well with and for all of Africa. My own heart is with the Malians, but everyone needs an equal whack at making something of themselves.

And apologies to all you music fans for this very un-musical posting.