Tempe Sister Cities believes that engendering international goodwill starts with aiding pressing needs.

After all, what else are friends for?

Project C.U.R.E.

In 2005, the U.S. State Department selected Tempe as one of five U.S. cities to be a “Partner in Peace;” pairing us with Hilla, Iraq, which is the capital of the Babylon Province.

Tempe Sister Cities partnered with Project C.U.R.E. to ship almost $400,000 worth of new medical supplies and equipment to the hospital in Hilla. The hospital serves the entire region of nearly half a million people but was chronically lacking sterile, useable medical supplies. Thanks to efforts by Tempe Sister Cities and Project C.U.R.E., the hospital was supplied with tools to better serve its patients.

Assistance for Timbuktu

In 1991, Tempe Sister Cities partnered with Timbuktu, Mali, Tempe’s first sister city in a developing country. The aim has been to improve the quality of life by providing Timbuktu with clean drinking water and medical assistance, responding to the needs of women and children, and restoring families’ livelihoods after a severe famine several years ago.

Providing Access to Clean Water

Tempe Sister Cities has built seven drinking water wells in Timbuktu, giving people access to fresh water without having to walk miles from home.

Medical Help

In partnership with the Wheel Chair Foundation, 240 wheelchairs were shipped to Timbuktu.  With another Project C.U.R.E. partnership, over $350,000 in medical supplies were sent to the Regional Hospital. Funds were also provided for the Hospital Administrator to study Parasitology  in Phoenix, Arizona.

Protecting and Empowering Women and Children

Tempe Sister Cities has brought leaders from Timbuktu to Tempe to collaborate on ways to elevate the status of women and children and to provide them with resources.  These have included:

• A millet grinder that allowed women to grind in minutes what previously had taken hours to grind.
• Sewing machines provided in a partnership project with the U.S. Embassy in Bamako.
• Funds for the Women and Children’s Center, which offered educational seminars to prevent the dangerous and painful practice of female circumcision, and to teach women to sew on hand-and-foot-powered machines.
• Funds for a six-classroom elementary school for the children of Timbuktu were provided.  A soup kitchen event where Wildflower Bread Company partnered with Hackett House helped to increase awareness of the school project and brought in additional funding for the school.
• A self-sufficient Goat and Sheep Fund was established to provide goat and sheep herders with new animals to replace those they lost in Mali’s famine. For a donation of $30, a pregnant goat or sheep is given to a family in Timbuktu. The animals provide milk, wool and fertilizer, and eventually meat and leather. When the family breed four offspring, they give two to another family, propagating the cycle of self-sufficiency.
• A scholarship fund was established because many parents lack the resources to keep their children in school past the 5th grade. A $40 scholarship will provide a student with a year’s worth of school supplies. In the past, this has frequently made the difference for a student to continue his/her education.
• A 2018 Summer-Youth-Program delegate from Timbuktu initiated a fund-raising campaign in Tempe for the purchase and distribution of blankets and mosquito nets to needy youth within her city. A donation of $20 helps a child in Timbuktu to stay warm and protected during the raining season.

Enabling Self-sufficient Survival with the GOAT & SHEEP FUND

Tempe Sister Cities launched the Goat and Sheep Fund to provide goat and sheep herders with new animals to replace those they lost in Mali’s famine.

For as little as $30, a pregnant goat or sheep can be sent to a destitute family in Timbuktu. The animals will provide milk, wool and fertilizer, and eventually meat and leather.

When the family breeds four offspring, they will give two to another family, propagating the cycle of self-sufficiency.

Would you like to feel the joy of give an animal to a family in Timbuktu?

Give a family the gift of livelihood and, at the same time, honor anyone you choose to designate.

For $30, you can help a family get back on their feet. You will receive a certificate of appreciation, indicating the animal you’ve given and the person you wish to honor with your donation.

An online donation form for Assistance for Timbuktu Online Donations is coming soon!

Would you like to feel the joy of helping a family or child in need in Timbuktu? You can designate to which program (Goats & Sheep, Scholarship Fund or Blankets and Mosquito Nets) you would like to donate OR you can make a general donation to the Timbuktu fund, which will be designated to the highest level of need.  Please help make a difference today.

Donate online by clicking on this button

Or donate by:

Mailing your check payable to Tempe Sister Cities to:

Beth Berlage and Rich Bonelli
TSC Country Directors for Timbuktu, Mali
1326 E. Carmen Street, Tempe, AZ 85283
Ph. 480-371-0712
Timbuktu@tempesistercities.org

Do you have a question or need more information?