A letter from Timbuktu: Project in Mali delivers work and fun
Cards bring fabled city to life, and a livelihood for unemployed tour guides.
By Bailey Berg, Washington Post
December 25, 2020 — 11:32pm
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It's not often that Phil Paoletta receives disgruntled emails about his and Ali Nialy's project, but when he does, it's because someone thinks their West Africa-based company is a scam.
The duo started Postcards From Timbuktu in 2016 with a mission to help unemployed tour guides gain an income by sending cards from a city that's become shorthand for a far-flung, if not imaginary, place.
"They think Timbuktu isn't a real place and we're printing fake postcards and stamps to make it seem like something's coming from a place in a joke," Paoletta said.