Zander Bleck at the Festival in the Desert

When we were enjoying the sunset at the Festival au Desert in Essakane, Mali, we saw people shooting a music video on the next dune. They had the perfect backdrop - a glowing orange orb approaching the horizon on one side, and a bright full moon above the sand dunes on the other. After the sun had disappeared and they had finished shooting, I approached the singer and asked his name. He said that he was Zander Bleck, and that he was from New York and was going to be playing that night. I got a photo before he headed off to soundcheck, and we made a mental note to keep an eye out for the video.

I found the video on YouTube today, and Craig and I enjoyed watching it. There's a lot of good footage of Essakane...the sunset and full moon look absolutely gorgeous. There's nice Tuareg footage as well, and camels! There's also some fun footage of him playing soccer with kids in Bamako, and they clown for the camera the same way that our kids in Kori-Maounde did.

Video of Kori-Maounde Service Project

Here is a video documenting our volunteer project in the Dogon village of Kori-Maounde in Mali. We donated 85 trees, planted 54 of them, dug a 31 meter trench, created a water basin, and laid pipe for the school's garden project. The students will maintain the garden, and will sell the resulting produce at market to earn money for school materials.

Click on the image below to download the 33 meg movie.