Mali 1

Well folks, I can safely say that this is the first blog I've written from 38,000 feet. Thanks to new technology on Emirates A380s I am writing to you from over Ankara, Turkey as I head to the UK this morning.

The point of being in London is to be briefed before heading to Mali, West Africa on Tuesday afternoon.

Mali has been a troubled nation over the last year or two. For a long time Taureg ethnic tribes in the north wanted a separate state. Islamists got hold of this sentiment and joined with the Taureg to launch an incursion through Mali early last year. Once they got a foothold in the north they dumped the Taureg and went their own way, trying to establish Sharia in what is usually a moderate, secular (although predominantly Muslim) country. The French arrived last January to help their former colony and have settled things down again. Just this week the United Nations have agreed that from July 1 they will send peacekeepers to help also. This will hopefully enable the July national elections to proceed.

In the meantime over 500,000 people have been displaced by the conflict. They are mostly from the north, but living in the south. Unlike other disasters, they aren't in camps - they are mostly staying with other people. But nonetheless there is not enough work or income to sustain this.

Even without a conflict, Mali needs help to develop. One in 10 children die in infancy, the second highest death rate in the world. Only one fifth of adults are literate. The average age in the country is only 16, with 48% of the population under 14 and life expectancy around 50 years. A once proud and rich empire built on gold, sand and river trade (along the Niger river) has been decimated by colonisation, military dictatorships and recently civil war.

Please pray for Mali. Please pray for The Salvation Army which has only been active there since 2007. Please pray for our regional commander Major Ntoya. Please also pray for our international team as we settle in this week and try and work out how we can best help.