We’ve received more updates from Mali. Below, read Tayloe’s message and watch video of an Africare irrigation project in Goundam, Mali.

“As the sun rises east of Timbuktu we are making our final preparations and loading up the vehicles for the all day ride toward the Mauritania border. The runners now have covered hundreds of miles since leaving Senegal last month and will be getting into Mali tomorrow.

We understand from base camp that the runners are in good spirits and we are looking forward to our rendezvous with them and witnessing this incredible feat as they put down some 50 miles a day in their 4,000 mile odyssey across the Sahara Desert.

There is only a small dirt road that runs west of Timbuktu toward Mauritania, following the snaking bends of the Niger River. Sand washed adobe huts dot the landscape and herds of goats, cows and the occasional camel watch us roll past. Yesterday we made this same trek an hour outside of Timbuktu to the village of Goundam.

In Goundam we stopped and visited with an Africare irrigation project that, with the help of a pump provided by USAID, is turning once fallow fields into rows of green stalked rice and corn and providing food to more than 30,000 local villagers who need it. It’s an amazing transformation and no one happier than the 150 men women and children who tend the fields and harvest the bounty. The money from excess food they sell is used to put their children into school.

It’s an incredible example of how a little assistance (read: water pump) can transform an entire village and create hope for a better future. We pieced together a video clip of the project to show you firsthand and you can watch it below. Stay tuned for more video casts in the next week.

JTE”