Speeches
Ceremony at Point G Hospital
Remarks by Amb. Gillian Milovanovic
February 19, 2009
M. the Ministre de la Santé,
M. le Directeur du Point G,
M. le Président du Réseau Malien pour le Développement,
Honorables invites et chers amis,
I am very pleased to be here today. We are here to witness the first fruits of an initiative of the Réseau Malien pour le Développement, a creative and energetic organization comprised of individuals who have studied in North America.
I salute the Reseau’s practical focus on a basic public health problem and I am very pleased to see the excellent use they have made of the modest grant provided by the US Embassy. Their choice of the hospital of Point G as the location of their effort and recipient of needed sanitation supplies could not be better.
In projects both big and small, the U.S. Embassy looks for Malian partners that are focused, committed, and – perhaps most important – self-sufficient. The Réseau Malien pour le Développement fully corresponds to that description.
I am particularly impressed that your members, having successfully studied abroad in a variety of fields, are now not only academic role models for others but also committed to making a practical difference at home. Intellectually and in terms of education your members are clearly an elite. What this project shows is that you are also an elite of the heart, who have not lost sight of the struggle of the man in the street to live in a decent, clean environment.
It is a pleasure to partner with you today. The US provision of funding for the trash cans and RMD’s wise decision to stretch this funding to purchase garbage bags and a service contract to collect the garbage for one year, should improve the sanitary environment of hospital Point G.
We look forward to seeing this partnership grow beyond the U.S. Embassy, the Réseau Malien pour le Développement and the hospital administration to include all the members of the Point G community. May that partnership prosper, and, in doing so, further enhance the quality of life of all those who live, study, work, and find healing here at Point G.
Thank you.
