Timbuktu

Can you imagine what life would be like if
you lived the Sahara desert where the
temperature could be over 50°C in the
shade?

How would you like to struggle for survival in a region that
that is becoming increasingly dry and inhospitable? What
would it be like to live in a remote desert town where 1 in 3
have no work and no prospect of ever getting any?

How would you like to bring up children in a place that has
almost no health care facilities even if you had the money to
pay for it? Where more than 10% of children die before they
reach the age of 3? In a town where locals estimate that over
50% of the children don't go to school, what chance is there
that life will improve for the next generation?

Can you help the poor children of Timbuktu? We are currently
paying for the education of 12 children from some of the poorest
families in the city. The children will also get a free nutritious meal at
school each day, a strong incentive to attend school in a town where
malnutrition is rife, and many children die before reaching their third
birthday due to hunger related causes. To find out more about
sponsoring a child, click here

The Timbuktu of history
In its hey-day, Timbuktu was richer than London or Paris. 2/3 of all
the world's gold passed through the markets of Timbuktu, making the
city very rich. Timbuktu was Africa's fabled "City of Gold".

Around the riches grew up a great Islamic university, said to be the
greatest in Africa, with over 50 000 students studying the Koran.
Many of the Muslim priests who took Islam across North and West
Africa and beyond were trained in Timbuktu.

The Timbuktu of today
Today Timbuktu is a shadow of its former self. Almost half of the
current population of around 50 000 have no proper home. Instead,
they live on waste-ground in make-shift dwellings made only of
grass-mats or blankets draped over sticks.