Agency for the Promotion of Foreign Investment – manage the installation of a computer network and website for this new government agency. President Toure signed the agency into existence December 2005. The agency will encourage foreign investment in Mali.
Djigiya Group for People with Handicaps – support the Malian group of people with handicaps in their relationship with the Self Advocacy Group of New York (SA). Teach them banking and sustainable management of funds received from SA. Work with Emory University and SA to publicize the remarkable stories of Djigiya members.
Solar Ovens – work with Malian agencies, Peace Corps Mali, SunOvens International (http://www.sunoven.com/index.html ), and the NGO Kyoto Twist (http://www.kyototwist.org/cooking.htm) to encourage the use of solar cookers in Mali. This has multiple potential benefits, including: reduced cost of cooking for families, increased health for women by not breathing fumes from wood and coal fires, reducing the rates of both expanding desertification from the Sahara north, and continued deforestation.
Project Management – support the growth of the project management profession in Mali by working with the Project Management Institute (http://www.pmi.org/info/default.asp) and local businessmen to create a Project Management Chapter in Mali. This has the potential to make future projects more efficient and effective.
Millennium Development Goals – Explore ways to support the success of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/) to eliminate extreme poverty in the world by the year 2015. This includes ongoing communications and meetings between the Earth Institute and Columbia University, Malian government agencies, and on the ground development agencies.
Clowning – yet to come J