Hi, I am Andy McLeod, a filmmaker based in the Canary Islands. After an assignment in Mali some years ago, I have been involved in a local community project to build a school in Timbuktu, for some of the poorest families in Africa. This project is nearing completion, but the political situation which is currently unfolding in Mali is putting the children at grave risk of hunger. As I write, jihadist militants are descending on the capital Bamako, and are plotting to overthrow the military junta’s government, which also grabbed control a few years ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/01/how-al-qaida-linked-jihadist-group-jnim-is-bringing-mali-to-its-knees

As a result, the current government has ordered the closure of all schools in Mali, leaving our school without funding, so it is unable to feed the many children who rely on this as their sole source of nutrition.

I am in contact by WhatsApp with Baba Toure, a personal friend, and one of the directors at the school, who is telling me the situation is getting dire. He is asking me for help and the only way I can think is to reach out in the hope of finding enough kind souls to raise some money to buy food. The target is 2,000 euros for 2 months supply of food. Can you help?

I am putting some photos of the contraction of the school, which is another project running on GoFundMe