History

An organization founded on compassion and collaboration

In 1996 Dr. Gilles Degois, a Paris-based physician, founded the French non-profit organization Le Kinkeliba and established a network of partners in both Senegal and France. The teams he put in place collaborated with extraordinary effectiveness to improve the quality of everyday life in the one of the poorest regions of the world. Le Kinkeliba constructed uniquely effective medical centers and educational facilities that provide lifesaving health services and key learning opportunities to villages deep in the African bush where such facilities and programs were previously nonexistent.

Now, in a myriad of ways and through other organizations, the medical professionals, educators, engineers, and members of the business community engaged by Gilles continue to work with rare conviviality and energy to achieve palpable results.

AFLK was founded in 2005 as American Friends of Le Kinkeliba with an initial focus on this work.  In 2011, under our new name, American Friends of Le Korsa has expanded the scope of its activities in this region we have come to know well; the pathways created by Dr. Gilles Degois enable us to assist our fellow human beings with a spirit of profound joy.

AFLK was established by the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation. The needs of a struggling population to combat poverty and illiteracy and improve their everyday living conditions were issues close to the hearts of the Alberses, who experienced great hardship while always treasuring the beautiful possibilities of existence.