Support the Girls' Cause!
The founder of Close to Africa has been helping children in Mali receive an education for more than a decade. Part of her effort is to engage personally with the students. Some years ago we formed a club with our sponsored teenage girls, and through discussions we discovered that 100% were cut, so are affected by FGM (Female Genital Mutilation). FGM is the total or partial removal of the female genitalia. It is a violation of human rights. We were saddened by the knowledge that this harmful parctise is so prevailing in the community where we work.
Below are some troubling facts that justify why immediate action is needed:
- 89% of women in Mali undergo FGM, affecting 8 million women. The country is one of the most affected by FGM in Africa.
- In the Sanfil slum where we work, 100% of girls undergo FGM before they finish primary school.
- FGM is a dangerous procedure. It is severely painful, it can cause excessive bleeding at the time of the procedure which can lead to death. Later in life victims of FGM develop infections, urination and wound healing problems, cysts and many complications during childbirth. Mother and infant mortality at childbirth is extremely high in Mali.
What can we do?
The Close to Africa Foundation is committed to end FGM in Sansfil but as a foreign organisation we cannot act without the stigma of 'white superiority'. Therefore, we partnered with a local organisation called Sini Sanuman, or 'Healthy Tomorrow', which has been successful in Mali since 2002 in its efforts to stop FGM and violence against women. The organisation has a detailed program to reduce FGM, based on 20 years of experience.
Their method is to raise awareness by focusing on one community at a time, from the top down, i.e., from the political leadership down to the women (former excisors) who perform FGM: through meetings, one-to- one talks, workshops, radio and poster advertising. The education of a community, however, is very costly as it requires a lot of consultation meetings and educational programs. We are sponsoring a specific proven step-by-step program from our partner organisation that changes the opinion of people about FGM. In our endeavor we also partnered with two amazing young activists, Meshi and Favor of the West Nottingham Academy in the US. They created the Girls Connection campaign and helped us fund-raise for this cause.
Donate to our cause so that our supported girls stay intact and be able to become healthy educated young women!
How can you help?
Support our campaign by a one-time donation!
Any donation is welcomed whatever the size! Thanks to our sponsors we have been able to finance three months of a six months' program. We are very committed to continue further, so please donate to our End FGM campaign. Our bank account details: Kozel Afrikahoz Alapitvany MagNet Bank: 16200010-10097432 or IBAN HU61 1620 0010 1009 7432 0000 0000 Comment: End FGM campaign
2. Continuous support for our campaign
Just like sponsoring a child, you can sponsor our campaign by a regular monthly donation of HUF 5000.- (EUR 13.-) In this way you would become a regular supporter and we send you regular, detailed feed back about our campaign. Our bank account details: Kozel Afrikahoz Alapitvany MagNet Bank: 16200010-10097432 or IBAN HU61 1620 0010 1009 7432 0000 0000 Comment: End FGM regular campaigner
Please inform us about your pledge in an email!
Thank you for pledging your support to End FGM in Sansfil!
The team of the Close to Africa Foundation, the Girls Connection team, Sini Sanuman and the girls of Sansfil are grateful to you!