My first experience in West Africa was in Lagos, Nigeria in 2002. At the time, I was the spokesperson on cultural policy of a group in Bochum city council and I was visiting a project that the city of Bochum wanted to support.
Lagos was a massive culture shock for me and I didn’t really want anything more to do with West Africa after that.
But then, in 2004, friends invited me to Bamako in Mali and I soon gained a different impression. This visit motivated me in 2005 to go to the Mopti/Bandiagara region in Mali for three years.
Working on behalf of DED (now: GIZ), I helped local organisations to develop. For example, this included annual planning of organisational
and financial matters in connection with project development as well as monitoring and evaluation.

In 2011, my employer at the time, the District of Mettmann, gave me leave of absence for a further three years so that I could again travel to Mali
as an expert for GIZ. However, this second assignment ended abruptly in 2012 with a military coup. I was evacuated to Germany. For many weeks we had no idea at all how things would continue. That was also a personal crisis for me. The leave of absence from the District of Mettmann was for the planned period until 2013 and it could not be shortened. In 2013 a new opportunity arose for an assignment and I then worked as a gender advisor for GIZ in Burkina Faso until 2016.

In 2007, during the time between my assignments in Africa, I gave a talk in Bochum about my work in Mali. Cuba-Hilfe Bochum, an association to provide aid to Cuba, was looking for another area of work at the time. My talk provided the impetus to establish the “Aktion pro Afrika e.V.” association and I have been involved with this ever since.
In view of the political crisis in Mali, in 2012 we organised a meeting of all associations and groups in Germany which work with civil society in Mali. We imagined that many other organisations were probably also at a loss to know what to do next. Over sixty people from all over Germany took up our invitation. This is how the “Mali Network” was created and, since then, it comes together for a meeting about every two years. We exchange views about the changed conditions in Mali, consider what development options are available and report on new projects. Generally, a representative of Mali’s embassy attends as a guest, as does a person from Engagement Global. These meetings end with working groups and a small cultural programme. The next one is planned for summer 2024.

In January 2024, I visited Mali again as a Board member of “Aktion pro Afrika” so that I could visit our projects in the area around Bamako. The priority areas are health centres and building schools.
We also support small projects (for women). It is exciting to see what changes are taking place in Mali at the moment. Our partner structures are very reliable and are able to continue their work, even under the current conditions. At the moment, we are working on the follow-up after the trip and preparing the applications for new projects. We use evening events with presentations to provide information about our trip. Organisations and anyone who is interested can book these presentations with Engagement Global at “Bildung trifft Entwicklung” (Education meets Development). I am listed here as a returnee and speaker.

Africa has caused me to change some of my habits. I now insist on greeting everyone, a custom that plays a considerable role in West Africa. I now prefer spontaneous encounters to appointments planned a long time in advance. I love Afrobeat on WDR’s Cosmo Radio and I also listen to the broadcasters Al Jazeera, France24 and Deutsche Welle, which always provide some content about Africa. I am in contact with some of my ex-colleagues in Mali and Burkina Faso via Facebook and WhatsApp, which means that I do not lose sight of this part of the world and my life.

Further information on the projects, contact details and opportunities to donate:
www.aktion-pro-afrika.de
 

More on the Mali network

 

Gabriele Riedl was in Mali (GIZ) from 2005 to 2008 and from 2011 to 2012 and in Burkina Faso (GIZ) from 2013 to 2016.

The article was published in transfer 01/2024.