African Sky Inc.

Our Story

A Peace Corp volunteer who believed his time in Mali, Africa was not quite up yet returned a few years later to the small African village of Dissan to complete his dissertation in Anthropology. Determined to thank his African family for their hospitality 2 years later, Dr. Scott Lacy opted to donate a much needed well to the village; little did he know that in three month’s time, this gesture would contribute a great deal more than just a local water source – it would in fact mark the beginning of African Sky, a 501(c)3 social profit organization with a dream of building and fostering friendships with rural Malian communities.

Raising money to install the well stemmed from the Ohio native’s love of football. Christine Lacy would send videotapes of the Cleveland Browns games to her son, who would play the month-old tapes in the Peace Corps house. “He would also rent a small black and white TV and put it on the back of his bicycle and take it to the village and then they would play it with a car battery so the people in the village could watch,” his mother explains.  With consent from the Browns, the Lacy team went to work, designing and selling T-shirts in the states advertising the Browns to fund the well-installment project abroad: African Sky was born.

A short three months and an astounding $9,000 in fundraising later, Lacy presented his village with the money. Incredibly, it proved to be enough not only for a well, but also for the manifestation of the village’s ideal vision: the construction of a schoolhouse. 

Recognizing the invaluable existence of a single school in a village, Lacy was driven to contribute more, and to expand African Sky’s reach to villages throughout Mali. “We’re thinking job well done, and he’s thinking job just started,” Lacy’s mother said.

In 2010 an exciting, life-changing piece of equipment for Malians and African Sky caught Lacy’s attention: a machine that creates bricks using the earth. (The purchase of which was made possible through the annual auction).

There is a history of failed construction projects in Mali all of which have one similarity: the techniques and machinery used are foreign to the local people.  Therefore, when the crews leave, so does the understanding of how to repair damages in the future.

African Sky’s mission addresses this cyclic struggle.

In bringing the adaptable earthen-block construction technique to Mali, Malians may continue to build and repair themselves, providing them economic stimulus. The African Sky vision aims to ensure that the team of Malian men trained to use the machine will with time become brick makers – essentially, they will be capable of running their own brick-building business.

Enter Drew Jacoby, a Miami University (Oxford, OH) graduate with a degree in architecture, whose run-in with his preschool teacher in an Ohio grocery store arguably changed his life – and the lives of a number of Malians. His teacher, aware of Lacy’s non-profit work, connected Drew’s architectural passion and summer experience in designing schools in Ghana, with African Sky’s work in Mali. Shortly after the cereal isle encounter, Drew and Scott had tickets booked to Mali. At 21 years old, Drew was appointed the architect of the “10 Schools, 1000 Lives” project.

“What ended up being built was a far cry from what I drew on that piece of paper,” Jacoby reflects on the initial difficulties of design. “In that experience, putting a line on a piece of paper, having to hike 4 km into a jungle, cut down a tree, hike 4 km back with a huge sopping piece of really hard wood balanced on my head, you realize the repercussion of every single decision made.”

The design that persisted astounded Jacoby. “Those guys in Mali not only made it look exactly like it, but they were able to make it better.” His sheer enthusiasm is evident in the blog he kept during the time of construction. Jacoby attributes his gushing excitement over the school’s success to the dedication of the Malian workers: “I’m only as good as their hands, and their hands are something else,” he said.

African Sky’s energy is contagious and its actions are far reaching, as is evident by the schools going up and the money being raised. “We’ll never know how far some of those ripples reach. But we know they’re there and that they’ve made a positive impact on a life. It makes your heart sing.” said Christine Lacy, “This dream is alive and well and is going to grow”.