Location Profile
Bamako
Bamako, the capital city of Mali, has an estimated population of 1.5 million. It is located on the Niger River, in the southwestern part of the country. Bamako is the nation’s administrative center, as well as a river port and a major regional trade center. Manufacturing includes textiles, meat processing and metal goods. There is also commercial fishing on the Niger River.
Even though the capital city has over a million people, it is more fitting to call it a widespread village. There is a broad variety of transportation methods: donkey and cart, walking, bicycle, moped, baches (green Peugeot vans that are crowded to the max), taxi, or 4WD’s. With the exception of a few paved main roads, most of the city’s roads are extremely bumpy dirt roads. During the dry season, from November through May, the roads are dreadfully dusty. During the rainy season, the potholes and sometimes the entire road fills with terracotta colored mud or water. This unfortunately is a breeding ground for malaria carrying mosquitoes.
In Bamako, 45 percent of the population lives in informal settlements. Common home construction throughout the district consists of mud bricks with straw or metal roofs. A small percentage (less than 20%) of households have access to safe water. The majority of the population obtains water from free private wells. However, groundwater from wells covers only 65 percent of the needs of Bamako inhabitants. Additionally, less than 2 percent of the population is connected to sewage facilities; wastewater discharges onto the land, which infiltrates and pollutes the groundwater.
The city of Bamako faces many challenges such as, 33% of the population living below the poverty line, high population growth, and high unemployment (39% +). It has been reported that farmers and nomads, who lost their base of existence because of extreme drought and locust plague, live in extreme poverty and famine. Mothers collect leaves and grass to save their children from starvation. Rampant malaria, cholera, meningitis and AIDS also threaten public health.
Furthermore, there is great spiritual poverty, with only a 1% Evangelical presence. Operation Harvest is laboring with the church to proclaim the Word of God to provide sustenance for their souls. This field worker will assist the local churches in Bamako as they equip their lay people to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the only cure for the poverty of humanity.
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