My Nonprofit Reviews

The Wash Project is a superb visionary idea that has arisen from a young American listening to the advice of the local people in the town of Ouelessebougou, Mali, West Africa. Out of a remarkable friendship between Barclay Martin from Kansas City and Tieblecoro Samake from Ouelessebougou has grown a vibrant
partnership in community development. Called Beseya in the local language. Wash Project has developed resources for and education to support: (1) community-wide hand-washing with soap and water to combat the spread of infectious disease and (2) a gardening co-op to help local women provide food security for their families and market their own produce. Through its many initiatives ( including sports tournaments for boys and girls) Wash Project offers a model for doIng maximal good with minimal financial resources. The key is local consultation and leadership. Outstanding.

This project began on the advice of a local Malian health care worker who said the rate of infectious disease in his district would decrease significantly if people in the community could be encouraged to wash their hands regularly with soap and water. Barclay Martin and his local partner Teblicoro began by developing a schools-based hand washing initiative in schools in and around Ouelessebougou and the local buy in was so affirmative they have since expanded the program to include soccer and basketball tournaments, digging wells for water, supplying kettles and a motor van for distribution, soap making, Covid 19 mask making, bridge building and gardening. For several years Barclay Martin funded the whole project from proceeds from his own band performing in Kansas City but the program itself has been directed from the start by the local people who have expressed their gratitude with joyous celebrations of song and dance. The work being done by this group is genuinely transformative and simply amazing.