Gratitude

During the week we spent some time at Niamakoro, just south of Bamako.

We were running another workshop for the displaced women. This time we assisted 27 of them with training and equipment to start their own businesses.

Apart from the very physcial work of moving hundreds of kilos of gear that needed to be distributed, it was great to spend time in this community. It was great to hear more stories, including one lady who testified that we were her 'answer to prayer'.

Then, in true African style, we witnessed a dance. They started circling and hollering and waving their hands in the air as they repeatedly sang, "Merci, Merci, Merci". Then they broke into another song as some of the ladies took centre stage in the middle - solos if you like. It finished with a great singalong as the ladies thanked us for what we had delivered.

In truth we are only intermediaries. The materials have been purchased thanks to Canadian donors. The goods have come from local markets. The training has been done by local Salvationists. All that we do is bring the three together.

The gratitude of people in places like Mali teaches me so much. They have, realtively speaking, very little. They live in conditions that no-one in Australia would accept. There is no money. There is little health care. There is high food insecurity. Water is a problem - in one northern town (Gao) this week there was no water. Heat is a problem.

But they are a grateful people. And I feel embarassed again by the sense of entitlement so prevalent at home.