The Tandana Foundation NEWS RELEASE 2933 Lower Bellbrook Rd., Spring Valley, OH, 45370 For immediate release Media Contact: Anna Taft, Executive Director, at 614-595-1864 The Tandana Foundation Offers Individuals a Chance to Lend a Helping Hand and Experience Mali's Cultural Riches Spring Valley Ohio -The Tandana Foundation is offering individuals a way to extend the season of giving well into January by organizing a Volunteer Vacation to Mali from January 16th to 31st, 2010. Participants will share their time and lend a helping hand to people half a world away. They will give and receive the precious gifts of friendship and new experiences. The primary focus of this trip will be to help the villagers of Kansongho protect and restore their environment by working side-by-side with them on several projects. They Volunteers and residents will plant native trees and fruit trees in order to reforest around the village’s traditional well. Travelers will also work with villagers to construct anti-erosion dikes in the fields to prevent the loss of topsoil. Participants will stay in the village for six days and, after hard days at work, will relax and enjoy the culture of their generous hosts. Before and after their stay in Kansongho, participants will tour Mali's rich countryside and see some of the country's landmarks. The tour will include a visit to the city of Djenne. While there, they will visit the world's largest mud brick mosque, and visit with artisans. The trip will be capped off with a pinasse trip up the Niger River. Throughout the entire tour participants will meet a wide variety of fascinating people including nomads, fishermen, textile producers and wood carvers. One stop on the tour holds special significance for The Tandana Foundation. After hiking down the Bandiagara Escarpment, the tour will visit the village of Tereli. In 2008, Tandana funded the creation a school garden there. Not only do the students sell produce to raise money for school supplies, they also learn about gardening. While visiting Tereli, the travelers will also see the historic Tellem cliff dwellings. The trip costs $2500. This does not include airfare to Mali but does include all in-country lodging, food, transportation and activities. Interested individuals may visit The Tandana Foundation's website, www.tandanafoundation.org, to learn more about the Volunteer Vacation and register for the trip. Also on the website is more information about all the other wonderful volunteer opportunities organized by Tandana. The Tandana Foundation, based in Spring Valley, Ohio, is a non-profit organization that promotes and provides opportunities for cross-cultural educational experiences and service projects. Operating mainly in highland Ecuador and Mali’s Dogon country, the Foundation offers scholarships to rural students to continue their secondary education and grants to support local educational initiatives and organizes group service projects and volunteer vacations. For more information about The Tandana Foundation, please visit www.tandanafoundation.org. # # #

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• The Tandana foundation 2010Mali volunteer vacation - Susan Koller, Fri Nov 13 08:49:10 2009