Please join us for a Mali-style barbecue on Sunday June 29th in Berkeley. This will be an informal gathering to thank and greet our volunteers, supporters, and friends — past, present, and future. Our big fundraiser is coming up in the fall, but for now please come help us celebrate our progress, as we’ve recently finished translating about 70 percent of Where There is No Doctor into Bambara.

Buying street food in Sikasso, Mali. Photo by flickr user ‘delayed gratification.’

Sunday, June 29, 1:00-4:00 pm
Charlie Dorr Mini Park
2208 Acton Street
Berkeley, CA 94702

RSVP here

The Charles Dorr mini-park is nestled in a quiet Berkeley neighborhood between Allston and Bancroft Ways, about a 20-minute walk from the Downtown Berkeley BART. It’s easy to get to by bike, and there is nearby on-street parking.

We’ll have Mali-style brochetti sandwiches, and some snacks and cold beverages. Bring something to share if you like.

The park has a great playground, so kids are very welcome. And please pass on this invitation to friends and family to help us grow the Dokotoro family. Please click here to RSVP.

Dɔɔnin dɔɔnin kɔnɔnin bɛ ɲaga da.

—Bambara proverb: “The little bird builds his nest bit by bit.”

If we had a motto here at The Dokotoro Project, this would probably be it. We’re getting closer to our goal of publishing the book Where There is No Doctor in the Bambara language, but I think it’s safe to say that this project has turned out to be longer and more complicated than any of us ever imagined. We have a couple of exciting things to announce:

We just published Chapter 16: The Eyes, on the website. Go to our Downloads page to check it out.

We recently completed the final edits to Chapter 10: First Aid. Whew, this was a long one! Volunteers are working on formatting it for the web now. Our translators worked entirely from English-language source text (based on the all-new 21st-century edition of Where There is No Doctor from Hesperian Health Guides), so there is no bilingual edition available. Please contact us if you can help with English-to-French translation, even just a few paragraphs at a time!

Illustration of how to attach bandages from the First Aid chapter

We’re planning a little barbecue in Berkeley on Sunday, June 29. This will be an informal get-together to thank our volunteers and supporters, or just hang out and chat about Mali. Make sure you subscribe to our email updates to get an invitation!

We’re considering holding a larger celebration in the fall to commemorate le 22 septembre, or Malian Independence Day. Please be in touch if you would like to join the planning committee or have any ideas!