SOS Sahel

Join Our Events. Many of our events are open to the general public and we would love you to join us for them.

Radio 4 Appeal: Sunday 5th April 2009, 7.55am Read the full appeal here

On Sunday 5th April 2009, Valerie Singleton OBE, of 1960s Blue Peter fame, presented a BBC Radio 4 Appeal for SOS Sahel UK. The appeal highlighted the story of water shortage in Warshal village in Sudan and how SOS Sahel UK brought the villagers and nomads together to enlarge their hafir (reservoir). This has prevented conflicts between the two groups from escalating, and transformed the lives of Ahmed Ibrahim and his family:

''Before we had a hafir we used to spend up to six hours daily fetching water from distant areas. Now we only need 15 minutes to bring water to our homes.'' Ahmed married his wife, Khadiga, three years ago. ''If she had had to walk for hours every day to fetch water, I would not have wed her,'' he remarked. ''I married her because of the hafir.''

With this free time, Khadiga is making grass mats for an income and can ensure their five children get to school. Ahmed can irrigate an extra hectare of his small plot and is proudly feeding his family and selling any surplus in the market. Crucially, there has been no conflict since the reservoir was built.

Public Debate: Tuesday 3rd February 2009, 18:30 - 20:30, Oxford Town Hall

”The Future's Mobile: Challenges & Opportunities to Development in Africa's Drylands”

Thank you to all those who braved the snow to attend our debate; your pertinent questions made for a very interesting discussion. Click here for a flyer. Click here for Questions & Answers.

Speakers were:

Professor Jeremy Swift, academic specialising in pastoralism: "Equipping Nomads to compete in the modern world". Click here for presentation
Dr Nick Brooks, Tyndall Centre for Climate Research, University of East Anglia: "Climate and the Sahel. Mobility & Modernity in a long-term environmental context". Click here for presentation

African Christmas Concert - Saturday 13th Dec 2008, St Margaret's Church, Oxford

Back by popular demand! SOS Sahel UK and fair-trade company Pula staged a second Christmas Concert for Africa, with profits shared between both organisations. Thanks to those who joined us for this intimate acoustic session of traditional West African music. We hope you enjoyed the evening and made the most of the market stalls selling fair-trade African arts & crafts and jewellery. Click here for a flyer. Click here for a flyer. To listen to the artists visit our MySpace page.

Juldeh Camara enchanting desert blues sounds.

One of the leading riti (fiddle) players of his generation. Juldeh is a prominent West African Fula musician with a fine voice and inspirational compositional skills. Winner of a BBC Radio 3 World Music Award 2008 for his album Soul Science.

Kadialy Kouyate rippling and hypnotic melodies

Renowned Senegalese kora player (21-string African harp). Kadialy's masterful playing and insistent vocals draw strongly on the Kouyate family and its griot praise-singing ancestry.

Nhamburo Ziyenge resonating notes to calm your soul

Oxford-based Zimbabwean musician whose forte is playing the mbira - a plucked thumb piano typical of Shona music.

To listen to the artists visit our MySpace page

Thanks to all those who entered our Raffle Prize Draw and to the companies who generously donated the prizes.

To be invited to our future events and receive updates on our work, please call 01865 403305 or email us.