Again, my apologies for the delay in updates, the internet was out yet again last week when I was in San. I am leaving early tomorrow for a few days in Bamako for my mid-service exam…hard to believe it’s time for this check up and impossible to believe that I have less than a year to go! While in Bamako I should have access to more reliable wireless internet…God willing.
The past few weeks have passed quickly with the goodbyes and welcomes officially over and am adjusting to a very full house in San, now 13 of us. Holly and I have been run ragged taking the new volunteers around San and buying what they need to furnish their houses and basically get a feel for the city so we won’t have to be at the house the next time they’re in town. I now remember just how many questions we had last year and there were only 3 of us asking 7 older volunteers. Now the roles are reversed and 10 new volunteers are relying on Holly and me for guidance.
Site has been pretty quite these past few weeks. The month of fasting just came to an end and while my village is Christian, we still celebrate with a feast called Seli. As you can imagine, people can get pretty crabby when they don’t get to eat or drink anything from dawn to dusk, so I’m totally content to have this month of fasting over. The rains are great this year, coming almost every day but as with everything in life, the downside is that bruce roads are completely impassible thus I can no longer get to Djeli market. It’s not a problem seeing as how my friends in Sebanso are exceedingly generous and give me garden produce regularly. That said, hungry season is coming to a close and I can see a dramatic difference in the quality and quantity of food I am given over these past few days. Still a few weeks to go before harvest, but the end is in sight. Many of my friends have clearly lost a significant amount of weight and with malaria running rampant, I’m anxious for some relief of the rains. Just like home, each season brings with it some ups and downs; I just didn’t realize how extreme these ups and downs would be in Mali.
It’s hard to know exactly what people are sick with during rainy season because any sickness is diagnosed as Malaria. That said, at least 2 people in each family seem to be diagnosed with Malaria each rainy season and this is often when the most deaths in village occur. The elderly and children are most susceptible and while the death of elderly adults is celebrated, the death of a child is rarely mentioned. My homologue, Bah, has lost 3 children and from what I gather this is quite typical. Kardi, Bah’s best friend, just lost his youngest son a few days ago. This was the first child I knew and played with regularly so it was pretty tough to have no ceremony or any real recognition of his death…the mourning process is significantly different here and has been quite an adjustment.
Well, I should be going. Hopefully I’ll have lots of internet access over the next week and I can send out some more updates.
Much love,
Cait
