Women's Portraits

Hilde Heindl

“What I am interested in, there I go.”

philosophy of life from …

… Hilde Heindl, initiator and head of the Mali project, interview conducted in her flat that shows her love for the African continent.

Gerti: “What was the crucial impulse to start with the project for Mali?”

Heindl: “I participated in a holiday travel to Mali, a country that woke my desires. We went in a pinasse along the Niger. In the first village that we visited I saw how people lived in the midst of horrible circumstances.

The tour guide told me about her project in Senegal. If it worked there, why not in Mali? Still on the trip in the pinasse the idea started to establish.

Back home in Vienna, I didn’t reflect much, just started without a plan. Maybe it was good that way because I had no idea how much work the future would bring, so the project could get going. That was in 2006. During that time there was also the film “Bamako” in the movie theatres that startled many people. (It’s a fictional trial in Bamako against the World Bank). I started to look for supporters, organized a “Mali Festival” in Vienna, was able to find money and started direct contacts in Mali for the implementation of the project. Especially contacts to the village elder, without whose consent nothing works.”

Gerti: ” How did you get the contacts in Mali?”

Heindl: “I went to the Malian consulate. They told me about Ms. Fatimata Sagate who supports us. The three villages there at the Niger in the district of Mopti were clear for me anyway. The main mean of transport there are pinasses, a boat with a roof where fishermen live during fishing season. The pinasse makes it possible to reach the villages along the Niger, give the basic medical support and start a school education. To use other means of transport is almost impossible.”

Gerti: “ What changed in the villages due to this project?”

Heindl: “The pinasse, including the doctor and the teacher are a fix institution now. In every village there are school lessons three days a week. 25 children in the morning and in the afternoon and  fifty women each in rotation for two days a week. That means per village there are 150 women and children in the literacy program. Due to donations we could also built a well and buy two motorbikes. A corn mill replaces the tiring millet stamping for the women. The people trust in us and show this through their warmth that often overwhelms me. The most important is the sustainability of the project. After five years it should be transferred to a person in charge in Mali. I hope that teachers and doctors stay, as long as they get their salaries. The pinasse stays. The project only works if we get support of people and officials in Mali itself. We also give a microcredit of 200,- per year to three villages. The borrower does not have to pay us back, only a small interest to the village commune. Therefor the money gets more and more slowly and can be used for the community. Also something they did not know before.”

Gerti: “ What are the biggest differences between elder people in Africa and here in Austria/Europe?”

Heindl: “ Here we are also secured materially when we are older and were able to acquire more education throughout our lives.

I have learnt in Mali that elder people have a very different value in society. They get respect even if they cannot be active anymore. I was invited to a doctor whose father is bed ridden for years. By greeting the father first the visitors show him their respect. The elder women, even though I don’t know how old they really are, are scarred through their work-intensive life. That does not mean that men do not work. The labor division is given due to traditions. If a village is doing well or not depends a lot on the village elder.

At the literacy program the younger women are the most diligent. Some get difficulties with their mother-in-laws or other older women who think that there is enough work at home why do they need reading, writing and calculating. But calculating is the most important when they sell their products on the market. One banana costs 10 Fcefa, two cost...? They could not calculate that this is twice as much.” (100Fcefa=15 Cent)”

Gerti:  “Because of the experiences you have made so far, would you start a project like this again?”

Heindl: “ At the moment I would rather say NO. It is not only very time intense to finance the running costs. Contacts have to be kept, visits have to be made. We need more money urgently for the salaries of the doctors, the teachers and the operator of the pinasse. Medication has to be bought. At the moment I am organizing a “Mali Festival” again. Artists have to be found that perform for free, a place has to be found where the event can take place for free, there has to be advertisement for the festival, and, and, and...

My motivation is just that nothing in Mali is possible without the help from outside.”

Gerti: “ To come back to our EWA project and active aging. Due to your work experience did you find a starting point for this?”

Heindl: “ A starting point is the level of education. My belief is that this enables both during the life time and in the phase after work to keep interested in daily life and stay active. I just always did it that way: “What I am interested in, there I go.”

“Thanks for the conversation”

Gerti Zupanich

Hilde Heindl, born in 1941 in Vienna, lives on the country side as much as it is possible, only due to her job in the city, too. Raised under normal family circumstances with four siblings, has three children herself, no grandchildren yet, always worked. Her first education was a teacher for special education, later psychotherapist with her own praxis that she still holds.

My name can be published on the internet. Links to my Mali project would be helpful.”

Link zum Projekt: www.mali-projekt.at

Foto Hilde Heindl 1, Foto Hilde Heindl 2, Foto Hilde Heindl 3, Foto Hilde Heindl 4

Gerti Zupanich