Strongwill, partnership and community engagement illuminate a village in Mali

In this edition of VOICE, I invite you to discover and appreciate a community impact project in Mali, made possible by the will and commitment of Mr. Yahia Camara, founding member and Deputy General Manager of the association Espoir 18, which works for social integration and equal opportunities, a true enthusiast for the emergence of Africa, as he likes to call it.

In this issue, Yahia Camara tells us about one of the community projects he has just completed in a rural area in Mali with the help of young people, the lighting of a village by installing streetlights powered with solar energy.

When individual strongwill and the passion to help others and contribute to the development of communities arouses and associates with the commitment of an entire community, it gives…. light

Let’s read in his own words, the motivationbehind, and the story of this successful project.

Mr Camara, can you talk about the community project you got involved in?

The aim of the project was to bring lighting and install streetlights in a village located in western Mali in the Kayes region. The objectives: Bring more security to the village in a country that has been fighting terrorism for ten years now, Allow the villagers to have a nightlife. (After 5:30 p.m. there was no more light). And Allow businesses to have longer business opening times, and in this way have a better economy.

What motivated you to start this project?

I have been carrying out projects abroad for fifteen years. At first, I wanted to contribute to my country of origin. Following a trip in 2003, I saw the poverty in my village, the ravages of poor-quality water that the villagers were drinking. I then worked with the association I was working for to raise funding and have two water pumps installed.

“I travelled with 8 young people from the 18^th arrondissement of Paris, we were ignorant and arrogant and we thought we were going to teach everything to the villagers and we were surprised by their ingenuity, their sympathy… I do not claim to work for the development of Africa, I just want to contribute to its progress, its emergence (I don’t really like the word development). ” Yahia Camara

How did you get the funding?

We worked on self-funding on one hand and on corporate donations from personal contacts who contributed to the project. I also contributed through my businesses in Mali.

In your opinion, what is the impact of this project today for the populations?

This project has an interesting impact: financially, it now allows merchants to open their shops until 10 p.m. for some. This allows the villagers to have a nightlife, the children to be able to study, play games and walk around a little later in the evening. Activities are now organized in the evening, because most of the villagers are busy during the day.

Having light makes it possible to see the danger coming, there is a strong reduction in the theft of cattle.

What do you think weighed the most in the success of this community project?

What weighed the most was the participation of locals in the project, their desire and their help in installing the equipment. Listening to local and their needs is very important in any community project. It would have been impossible to achieve this without their participation and commitment.

What are the biggest difficulties you have encountered?

The biggest difficulties for this type of project are always linked funding.

If you could give a message today to our readers, what would you say to them?

I am involved in social projects such as streetlights, I have also invested in setting up an optical store and a beauty salon for men in Mali. There are many projects to do in Africa. I am very happy to have undertaken all these projects, it is a vast field to exploit. There is so much to do.

What other projects do you have in the pipeline?

I will invest in agriculture in the next few months. I am currently working on opening a second optical store in Bamako and finally I have a project to renovate a school in ruins in Mali because I find that education is a strong way to emancipate oneself.

In the medium / long term I would like to work on a project of an itinerant truck with optical equipment in order to carry out consultations in rural villages in Mali and to equip the most deprived children. When you can’t see properly, you can’t go to school effectively.

Thanks a Million Yahia Camara for agreeign to share your project. Please continue to contribute

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There are many hearts of gold like Yahia Camara. Some like him implement high-impact social/community projects at their level, others contribute at their current position, and some have projects in mind but have not yet started putting them to life. Either way, the important thing is to make sure that we put to good use some of our talent and our possibilities to help those groups or communities that are less fortunate than us.

Read Yahia Camara biography below and do not hesitate to contact him on Linkedin should you like to help in one of his projects.

D. Manou-Assoko

Biography: Who is Yahia Camara?

Yahia Camara is one of the founding members and deputy general manager of the Espoir 18 association, which works for social integration and equal opportunities. After working with populations in working-class neighborhoods, he led several international solidarity projects in Africa, Asia and South America with the most vulnerable populations. A few years ago, he decided to open an optical store and a hairdressing salon in Mali. He chose entrepreneurship to work on developing and supporting young people by providing training and jobs. He is responsible for partnerships and the France network of the Union Des Ambassadeurs association. His passion for the transmission of knowledge led him to teach at the University of Paris Nanterre in Master of Science in Education on the notions of commitment and project. Graduated with a master’s in Science of Education, a CAFDES (Certificate of Aptitude for the Functions of Director of Social Establishment) and an Executive Master specialized in policy management and potential development in Africa from the Sciences Po Institute of Paris. He is also a laureate of the Committed Young Leaders of the ASPEN foundation. His commitments relate to equal opportunities and inclusion in all its forms throughout the world.