'Milestone' Category

Geekcorps Mali is pleased to introduce Mohamed Sanogo as the newest addition to the Cybertigi team. Mohamed will be the liaison between the Geekcorps office in Bamako and the various Cybertigi sites in the Southwest corner of the country. His role will include training the managers of each kiosk, providing technical and managerial assistance, assisting with sites launches, and various other activities. In short, he will be the Cybertigi point man each time we open a new site.

Mohamed is a graduate of the Modern Technical College of Sikasso, studied accounting, has worked and acted as manager in small boutiques in the Sikasso region, has experience with women’s groups, and is well suited for the travel and other requirements of the position.

Over the next 2 weeks Mohamed will be splitting his time between Bamako and Ouelessebougou/Faraba where he will be working for the first month or two while we set up the first kiosk. In Bamako Mohamed will be learning about the elements of the project and its goals and being trained on how to operate the kiosks. In time he will be training others in these same areas.

As was mentioned in the last post we’ve finally settled on a final name for the LMI we have underway. And the winner is…. Cyber-tigi.
Special thanks to Katie McDonald, third year Peace Corps Volunteer for her input. During a brainstorming session with a group of PCVs at the Geekcorps office last Saturday we tossed around a few names and a few ideas. With a bit of introspection Katie put it to us simply, “Why don’t you just call it Cyber-tigi? After all, that’s what they’re going to call it in village anyway.” Bingo! Thank you Katie.

Why do we like Cyber-tigi? It’s a simple blend of a universal term in any language, “Cyber”, and “tigi” which ties in with Bambara, the predominant local language. It isn’t too cumbersome to say and just rolls of the tongue. “Cyber-tigi”. It’s also more practical than Cyber-mobili since we’re using a moto not a car. One other little nicety is that we are going to be using entrepreneurs in each of the villages with eKiosks so now that person will be known as the Cyber-tigi, helping to reinforcing our brand.

Kan bèn*.

Brennan

* Kan bèn: Good bye.