WELCOME TO PAD

Created by the artist Kader Keita and his friends in 2004, PAD is a registered community-based association working with children living or working on the streets of Bamako, the capital city of Mali in West Africa. PAD uses the media of art and culture to build the confidence and self-esteem of these largely forgotten children, thus facilitating their reintegration into wider society through reconnection with their families and learning skills for independent living. They include, among others, children with disabilities, school dropouts, young mothers and those displaced from north and central Mali.

Patron: Professor John Carey, Emeritus Merton Professor of English at Oxford University, the distinguished critic, reviewer and broadcaster, and the author. www.johncarey.org

UK support for PAD is channelled through the Mali Development Group