It’s been a while since I last wrote and so much has happened! First and for most, rainy season is in full swing and much to everyone’s relief, the rains while starting later this year, have proven to be significantly more frequent than the damaging lack of rain in 2009. My village is busy at work plowing, planting and weeding their fields of peanuts, rice, millet and corn. I even had the opportunity to push the plow behind the cows and while my rows aren’t exactly straight, I did it! My homologue’s garden is lush and green which I cannot begin to express how unbelievably beautiful the color green can be after 9 months of being encompassed in a world of brown. Bah, my homologue, and I are trying to spread the use of urine fertilizer in our village by using his garden as a guinea pig. Some interest has been peaked as people see the size and speed at which his garden veggies are growing (okra, hot peppers, corn, egg plant). Mom sent some veggies and Bah is fascinated with the American corn which is different from Malian corn therefore very excited to try it. We are also growing green beans, squash and zucchini, none of which he had heard of and thus also very curious what the final product will be (he is convinced that zucchini’s are actually cucumbers and will not rest until he proves me wrong…). I walked to the garden a few days ago and thought I saw Sali (Bah’s wife) working, but nearly fell over with laughter when I saw two newly constricted scarecrows standing in her place…too funny. He also took the tape from a cassette and tied it up throughout the garden so the wind blows and makes a loud noise to keep those pesky birds out. I never cease to be amazed by the ingenuity and lack of waste I find in this country.
The rain brings with it difficulties in travel as Bruce roads become nearly impassible during and after a rainstorm. The best, and most recent, example I can give happened just last Thursday on my way back from market in Djeli. I bike to and from Djeli with Bah’s best friend, Kardi because Bah takes his moto while we have to bike, and on Thursday we left too late from market and were forced to bike 10 kilometers in what can most accurately be called a monsoon. 10 k really isn’t too much to complain about but Bruce roads are mud during rainy season, and when it’s not mud, it’s underwater. I won’t get into the details because the memory is much too fresh and painful in my mind but it’s safe to assume the adventure was hilarious, exhausting, frustrating, hilarious, muddy, emotional, and then hilarious again. To peak your interest I can tell you this odyssey includes multiple bikes breaking, me falling off my bike, me falling while pushing my bike, me “swimming” (water was about waist high at one point) along with my bike, a brief donkey ride, meeting new friends and finally, given a chicken. I was soaked head to toe when I got home but didn’t really matter because I was covered too in mud from head to toe…the joys of rainy season continue to show themselves to me each day.
While saying goodbye to my friends in San is proving to be extremely emotional, I’m currently having some leverage in fighting the sadness with excitement because I’ve just met the 9 new volunteers to become SanKaw (people of San). We will lose 6 from the STAGE before mine and gain 9 making an even 12 for my last year of service (Holly, Brad and I are the only 3 from my STAGE in San) or at least until February when yet more volunteers come to Mali. As San house manager I have to lead a house meeting explaining the basics of the house, collect dues, answer questions, etc so this has been a crazy week. To make things even more stressful, I had two site buddies this past week. There is a volunteer being placed about 2 kilometers from me and another in my market town that I had to visit each for a day and take into San on Friday. I’d forgotten how completely helpless and totally clueless we were a year ago…we knew nothing! I’m exhausted and tired of being mother hen but it’s been a nice distraction as my two best friends in the STAGE before mine are COSing in the next few days. Good news is, I think we are getting a great group and I’m excited to see what this next year will bring. It will be completely different from last year now having two volunteers so nearby but I think it could prove to be a great tool in getting work done and collaborating for projects in addition to being a nice reprieve for my sanity.
I guess that’s enough for one email. Sorry again for the lack of correspondence, internet has been down in San for over a week now! I’ll be in and out of San saying my goodbyes to friends and then in san in early September for the new volunteers installation to site and finally and then headed to Bamako the week after to pick up a friend from the airport. It’s going to be a crazy few weeks coming up, and to think, August is already half over!
Miss you and love you
Cait
July 26, 2010
I just got back from a weekend trip to my friend Cassie’s village and a spontaneous trip to Djene. Cassie will leave for America on August 4, as she is finishing up her second year. She invited her closest friends in village for a feast in her concession that we cooked for. Esther, Jen and I all came from San and had a great time at Tene, Cassie’s site. We got to Tene on Saturday afternoon and greeted the necessary people before heading over to the radio station where we acted out a skit on air. One of Cassie’s biggest projects as a volunteer is preparing a 15-20 minute radio broadcast once a week on health topics ranging from birth control to the effects of smoking to AIDS to nutrition. It was really fun and all the people of Tene were taking about how exciting it was to hear all the Americans on the radio. The next morning we headed over to one of Cassie’s friends houses and prepared the meal of rice and peanut butter sauce for 35 people…quite an undertaking. It took several hours to prepare but it was a great time to learn how to cook the sauce which is delicious but pretty expensive to make thus nearly impossible to eat at site. The party was a great success and it gave me a glance to my future a year from now. It was incredibly powerful to hear people talking about Cassie and how much she meant to them. It definitely helped put in perspective the role each of play in our respective communities.
Jen, her friend from home, and I left in the evening on Sunday for Djene. We had to cross the river via ferry, wading through the water to get on and off, but finally made it to our hotel around11pm. Djene is famous for the mosque in the center of village. It is the largest mud building in the world and is an impressive site, especially having lived in a very modest mud hut and knowing the extent of maintenance and upkeep required. In the weeks leading up to rainy season each year the entire city comes together for the very important festival in which all community members help to bring water to make the mud to re-mud the entire mosque. The festival is the one of the most important times of year and the tourist industry is dependent on it. Only Muslim people are allowed in or post menopausal women thus I only got to see it from the inside but it was still in impressive site. Apparently, there are 100 mud pillars in the interior to hold the ceiling up. No building is allowed to be taller than the highest point of the mosque thus you can see it from nearly everywhere in Djene. Just beside the mosque is a UNESCO building that is making huge progress in transferring Ancient Arabic manuscripts onto computers. Most every family in the city has these manuscripts passed down through the generations and have been kept in trunks for years suffering endless termite, mud, rain, heat, etc damage. Becoming a World Heritage Site has increased the tourists in the area which I’ve become torn between loving and hating. They bring a lot of money to the community but they also give handouts thus making our job as Peace Corps volunteers increasingly difficult as people associate being white with giving away money.
It was a great weekend away and I’m being forced now to start saying my goodbyes to some really great friends. On the other hand, I was just assigned to be site buddy for two new volunteers coming up in August so it will be a great chance to get to know the new guys who arrived a few weeks ago. I can’t believe it’s time for me to be doing this. I remember in my site visit how totally terrifying it was and how lost and confused and overwhelming it is, and now, I have to be the site buddy for two others…woah.
Anyways, I’ll be back soon for just a day next week and I’ll try to get a letter out.
Love you all,
Cait
Jen, her friend from home, and I left in the evening on Sunday for Djene. We had to cross the river via ferry, wading through the water to get on and off, but finally made it to our hotel around11pm. Djene is famous for the mosque in the center of village. It is the largest mud building in the world and is an impressive site, especially having lived in a very modest mud hut and knowing the extent of maintenance and upkeep required. In the weeks leading up to rainy season each year the entire city comes together for the very important festival in which all community members help to bring water to make the mud to re-mud the entire mosque. The festival is the one of the most important times of year and the tourist industry is dependent on it. Only Muslim people are allowed in or post menopausal women thus I only got to see it from the inside but it was still in impressive site. Apparently, there are 100 mud pillars in the interior to hold the ceiling up. No building is allowed to be taller than the highest point of the mosque thus you can see it from nearly everywhere in Djene. Just beside the mosque is a UNESCO building that is making huge progress in transferring Ancient Arabic manuscripts onto computers. Most every family in the city has these manuscripts passed down through the generations and have been kept in trunks for years suffering endless termite, mud, rain, heat, etc damage. Becoming a World Heritage Site has increased the tourists in the area which I’ve become torn between loving and hating. They bring a lot of money to the community but they also give handouts thus making our job as Peace Corps volunteers increasingly difficult as people associate being white with giving away money.
It was a great weekend away and I’m being forced now to start saying my goodbyes to some really great friends. On the other hand, I was just assigned to be site buddy for two new volunteers coming up in August so it will be a great chance to get to know the new guys who arrived a few weeks ago. I can’t believe it’s time for me to be doing this. I remember in my site visit how totally terrifying it was and how lost and confused and overwhelming it is, and now, I have to be the site buddy for two others…woah.
Anyways, I’ll be back soon for just a day next week and I’ll try to get a letter out.
Love you all,
Cait
July 13, 2010
I just returned to San for a day before heading home to site but had to come to the internet café to see pictures of my new niece!! I’ve been breezing through phone credit with regular phone calls home to find out when she was born and I was oh so excited to hear on Sunday that mom and baby were healthy. Well worth the expense. Congratulations to the new grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles and of course, mom and dad.
I was at site for the fourth of July which was significantly less anticlimactic than last year when I was preparing for my last days in America, but I left on the 7th for San and then up north to celebrate our 1 year in country anniversary on July 10. When I was in Bandiagara we watched the finale of the World Cup and I was torn if I wanted a bunch of euphoric Netherland fans roaming the streets of Johannesburg post game or distraught fans…
I went to Justin’s site for a night and was fascinated at how different each person’s experience is. We are both in the same country but that is just about where the similarities end. Of course he speaks a minority language, Donoso, while I speak Bambara so that was an adjustment not being able to communicate with the same ease that I’ve developed at my site. The actual physical contrasts between our villages are what really made me realize just how huge this country is. His village is situated on the rocks and absolutely gorgeous. While mine is simple and quaint with mud houses and fences, all the buildings in his village are made of rock. I think I would be in significantly better shape if I lived in Dogon country because to go anywhere in village you essentially have to rock climb. I was there less than 24 hours and my legs were sore for days after…and these people carry buckets of water on their heads and carry heavy loads up these cliffs multiple times a day, it’s incredible. The beauty comes at a significant price though in that water so close to the dessert and in that rocky of a terrain is exceptionally hard to come by and clean water even more so. Thus Justin, as a water and sanitation volunteer has his work cut out for him trying to educate his village on basic sanitation practices. A primary source of dirty water comes from the lack of bathroom facilities. The Malian bathroom, a negen, is hard to dig and build in Dogon due to the rocks so the villagers defecate on the rocks. This is the root cause of much of the water contamination because as the rains come it washes everything right down the cliffs and into the drinking water…
The tenth came as quite a surprise, how could it have already been a year? So much has happened I can’t imagine that I have another year to go. People are already asking my plans about what I want to do when I get home and I can’t believe how fast the time is passing. The one year in country mark is traditionally the hardest time for a volunteer and I’m happy to say that the overwhelming gloom that consumes many volunteers hasn’t hit me and hopefully won’t. I have a strong and stable support group both at home and in country which has proven to keep me grounded. Before I left, I was hoping to learn a thing or two about myself being able to spend a significant amount of time alone at my site, but I’ve come to learn that I need other people in my life to learn about me. It’s been a year full of changes.
I hope everyone is doing well and know that I miss you all like crazy. Time is passing quickly but that doesn’t go to say that it’s not incredibly difficult at times to be so far from home for so long. I love you all and think of you often,
Love always,
Cait
I was at site for the fourth of July which was significantly less anticlimactic than last year when I was preparing for my last days in America, but I left on the 7th for San and then up north to celebrate our 1 year in country anniversary on July 10. When I was in Bandiagara we watched the finale of the World Cup and I was torn if I wanted a bunch of euphoric Netherland fans roaming the streets of Johannesburg post game or distraught fans…
I went to Justin’s site for a night and was fascinated at how different each person’s experience is. We are both in the same country but that is just about where the similarities end. Of course he speaks a minority language, Donoso, while I speak Bambara so that was an adjustment not being able to communicate with the same ease that I’ve developed at my site. The actual physical contrasts between our villages are what really made me realize just how huge this country is. His village is situated on the rocks and absolutely gorgeous. While mine is simple and quaint with mud houses and fences, all the buildings in his village are made of rock. I think I would be in significantly better shape if I lived in Dogon country because to go anywhere in village you essentially have to rock climb. I was there less than 24 hours and my legs were sore for days after…and these people carry buckets of water on their heads and carry heavy loads up these cliffs multiple times a day, it’s incredible. The beauty comes at a significant price though in that water so close to the dessert and in that rocky of a terrain is exceptionally hard to come by and clean water even more so. Thus Justin, as a water and sanitation volunteer has his work cut out for him trying to educate his village on basic sanitation practices. A primary source of dirty water comes from the lack of bathroom facilities. The Malian bathroom, a negen, is hard to dig and build in Dogon due to the rocks so the villagers defecate on the rocks. This is the root cause of much of the water contamination because as the rains come it washes everything right down the cliffs and into the drinking water…
The tenth came as quite a surprise, how could it have already been a year? So much has happened I can’t imagine that I have another year to go. People are already asking my plans about what I want to do when I get home and I can’t believe how fast the time is passing. The one year in country mark is traditionally the hardest time for a volunteer and I’m happy to say that the overwhelming gloom that consumes many volunteers hasn’t hit me and hopefully won’t. I have a strong and stable support group both at home and in country which has proven to keep me grounded. Before I left, I was hoping to learn a thing or two about myself being able to spend a significant amount of time alone at my site, but I’ve come to learn that I need other people in my life to learn about me. It’s been a year full of changes.
I hope everyone is doing well and know that I miss you all like crazy. Time is passing quickly but that doesn’t go to say that it’s not incredibly difficult at times to be so far from home for so long. I love you all and think of you often,
Love always,
Cait
June 27, 2010
I just finished my Food Security conference in Bamako and my two villagers enjoyed a day in town before heading home to Sebanso on Sunday. I am staying in San until Monday so I can go to market day here due to my inability to go to my own market because our road floods each time the rain comes.
The conference was in Bambara entirely and thus the few volunteers there attended some alternative sessions and in our down time enjoyed the wire access we so rarely get to enjoy. A woman working for the CDC in Atlanta, Dr. Mary Alleman, came to speak to us on some of the most common preventable diseases present in Mali with particular emphasis on Polio. A large part of my job as a volunteer is to share my experiences with family and friends while in country in an attempt to raise awareness of our country of service, thus, I’m writing this email primarily to inform you all about some issues present in Mali.
Just a few years ago there were no cases of Polio in West Africa and today there are many spreading north/west from Nigeria. Several years ago rumors of female infertility caused by receiving the polio vaccine circulated through Nigeria, so today a significant proportion of the worlds cases of polio are found there (India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are the other endemic countries). The first case of reported polio in Senegal in many years occurred in January 2010 and Mali has had 2 new cases reported in both 2009 and 2010 and expected to grow quickly without immediate prevention and treatment intervention. Small Pox is the only disease to be completely eradicated in the world and polio was very close until recently. With these new cases surfacing the World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control, and Ministries of Health are all working hard to eliminate the disease and hoping to utilize PC volunteers to help spread the information and help ensure all the children are vaccinated. There are specific weekends were the local CSCOM (bruce doctors office) relays (kind of like a nurse) go door to door and vaccinate the children 5 and under in each house in their respective communes and use a permanent marker to color the child’s pinky nail as an identifier that they’ve received the vaccine. This is where we as volunteers can be particularly effective. We have developed a relationship with our communities and can find the kids without the marked pinky and have their parent’s get them vaccinated. These campaigns occur every few months since the first occurrence of polio in Mali in 2008 and during these campaigns the children receive the vaccine for free.
As our conference pertained to Food Security and the starting of committees and associations we have learned some interesting stats during our sessions. For starters, there are 1 billion hungry people in the world and in Sub-Saharan Africa one in every three people is chronically hungry. I’m hard pressed to find a more important issue facing Mali than Food Security. I can truly not imagine having to reduce my meals to one a day in an attempt to make it through hungry season or being in fear that I’m not going to have enough money to buy food for the week.
Food Security is a global problem and defined by a community’s accessibility of food in a community and for those people in the community to have adequate access to it. This includes quality of food and the nutritious value of that food. Nutritious food is difficult to come by even during cold season which is when most of the garden produce is available in market not to mention the other 10 months of the year when produce is exponentially more expensive and harder to find. When millet is the staple of your diet and the only regular sources of protein are in dried fish (one of the most horrid smells in market) you can imagine the difficulties in eating a balanced diet…scratch that, the impossibility of eating a balanced diet. I heard an interesting theory on one of the many reasons Mali and other West African countries continue to be unable to develop which essentially comes to the conclusion that sorghum is the only indigenous crop in Mali and all the millet, corn, beans, etc that are grown have been brought in from outside.
This is just the tip of the ice berg relating to Food Security and the possibilities and also the dangers of not addressing the problem. In theory, upon my return to site my villagers will have some ideas on how to protect the village in saving food and increasing production, etc. Hopefully I’ll have some positive updates for you in a few weeks.
Love,
Cait
The conference was in Bambara entirely and thus the few volunteers there attended some alternative sessions and in our down time enjoyed the wire access we so rarely get to enjoy. A woman working for the CDC in Atlanta, Dr. Mary Alleman, came to speak to us on some of the most common preventable diseases present in Mali with particular emphasis on Polio. A large part of my job as a volunteer is to share my experiences with family and friends while in country in an attempt to raise awareness of our country of service, thus, I’m writing this email primarily to inform you all about some issues present in Mali.
Just a few years ago there were no cases of Polio in West Africa and today there are many spreading north/west from Nigeria. Several years ago rumors of female infertility caused by receiving the polio vaccine circulated through Nigeria, so today a significant proportion of the worlds cases of polio are found there (India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are the other endemic countries). The first case of reported polio in Senegal in many years occurred in January 2010 and Mali has had 2 new cases reported in both 2009 and 2010 and expected to grow quickly without immediate prevention and treatment intervention. Small Pox is the only disease to be completely eradicated in the world and polio was very close until recently. With these new cases surfacing the World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control, and Ministries of Health are all working hard to eliminate the disease and hoping to utilize PC volunteers to help spread the information and help ensure all the children are vaccinated. There are specific weekends were the local CSCOM (bruce doctors office) relays (kind of like a nurse) go door to door and vaccinate the children 5 and under in each house in their respective communes and use a permanent marker to color the child’s pinky nail as an identifier that they’ve received the vaccine. This is where we as volunteers can be particularly effective. We have developed a relationship with our communities and can find the kids without the marked pinky and have their parent’s get them vaccinated. These campaigns occur every few months since the first occurrence of polio in Mali in 2008 and during these campaigns the children receive the vaccine for free.
As our conference pertained to Food Security and the starting of committees and associations we have learned some interesting stats during our sessions. For starters, there are 1 billion hungry people in the world and in Sub-Saharan Africa one in every three people is chronically hungry. I’m hard pressed to find a more important issue facing Mali than Food Security. I can truly not imagine having to reduce my meals to one a day in an attempt to make it through hungry season or being in fear that I’m not going to have enough money to buy food for the week.
Food Security is a global problem and defined by a community’s accessibility of food in a community and for those people in the community to have adequate access to it. This includes quality of food and the nutritious value of that food. Nutritious food is difficult to come by even during cold season which is when most of the garden produce is available in market not to mention the other 10 months of the year when produce is exponentially more expensive and harder to find. When millet is the staple of your diet and the only regular sources of protein are in dried fish (one of the most horrid smells in market) you can imagine the difficulties in eating a balanced diet…scratch that, the impossibility of eating a balanced diet. I heard an interesting theory on one of the many reasons Mali and other West African countries continue to be unable to develop which essentially comes to the conclusion that sorghum is the only indigenous crop in Mali and all the millet, corn, beans, etc that are grown have been brought in from outside.
This is just the tip of the ice berg relating to Food Security and the possibilities and also the dangers of not addressing the problem. In theory, upon my return to site my villagers will have some ideas on how to protect the village in saving food and increasing production, etc. Hopefully I’ll have some positive updates for you in a few weeks.
Love,
Cait
June 22, 2010
June has proven to be exceptionally busy! I started the month going to what I like to refer to as an oasis in the desert aka a little village on the Bani River that served as a going away party of sorts for the 6 volunteers in the STAGE before mine. The village, Teriabougu (house of friends), was about 30 kilometers off the main road between San and Bla (a most unfortunate city name). It was more a little resort than a village as it was gated off and the hotel was the primary location of guests. There was a pool that was legitimately clean and lounge chairs that we took full advantage of. As a reward to surviving hot season we spent a great deal of time just sitting in the pool, getting out and jumping right back in. The village in and of itself is pretty fascinating. There is a tree nursery with thousands of trees being grown as well as an established beekeeping practice and they have a Jatropha seed press to make bio-diesel fuel. We splurged on the last night and all ate at the restaurant the hotel that was perhaps one of the best meals I’ve had in country (not saying too much when my diet is toh or on good days, rice and sauce).
I returned to sight for just a few days before heading north to Bandiagara for the start of the 2010 World Cup! It’s such an experience living in Africa for the first World Cup ever to be held in Africa. There is such pride through this continent as the African teams are being cheered on. While realistic expectations are not high for any of the African teams to make it to the second round, you wouldn’t know that based on the enthusiasm of the fans. I met up with Justin in Sevare and then went up farther north to Bandiagara. Bandiagara is a frequent starting point for the tours of Dogon country so there is a lot of western influenced food there and nice hotels for us to watch the games in. To celebrate my year in country coming up on July 10, 2010 I ordered a Dogon Bracelet to be made. They are region specific and the designer melts down coins then hammers them into shape. I’m getting my Malian name, Aramata, carved into the bracelet and so excited to see how it turns out. I’m getting to go back to Bandiagara briefly for my actual 1 year anniversary so I’ll get my bracelet then.
I again returned briefly to site for a busy two days. I met my newest host sister who is just 3 weeks old, she is yet to be named as Malian tradition goes there is a naming ceremony a week after the birth where the name is announced but being in a Christian village we do things a bit differently and they wait until the Dad decides on the appropriate name. I was taken to the fields and helped plant millet…kind of. Mostly I just watched as the fields were plowed then planted not even a full row of millet because the Malians were laughing hysterically at my pathetic attempt to be agile in my planting. I failed. It was a great experience none the less and really helped me experience a huge part of their lives that until know I’d just heard rumors of.
Currently I am back at Tubaniso, the training area where I was brought when I first arrived for PST and again in December for IST. Two members from my village are here, Tabita Demebly and Dabassy Coulibaly, for a food security conference. I technically do not need to be here but I think it meant a lot to my villagers that I came even though just a few other volunteers are here. Its working out well though as this morning I was able to meet with my boss, Macki Cisso, and discuss some project plans and generally just catch up. It can be really hard being so far from Bamako and easy to feel like you’re slipping between the cracks so it was nice to be greeted and asked about specific people in my village he had met months earlier. I suspect the rest of the week will pass quickly and I’m looking forward to Peace Corps transport back to San. I have to admit though; I have reached a whole new level of confidence when I managed to get from San to the Bamako bureau by myself. Never before had I had to negotiate with taxi drivers and navigate the insanity of Bamako traffic so I was really proud of myself when I actually reached my destination with minimal trouble.
Hopefully, I’ll be back to site on Sunday and spend at least a week there before heading up to Bandiagara. My friend Holly is flying home to Washington for a month and leaves on the 7th and there is a possibility that I could join her on her trip to Bamako for a day then head north with some friends who are coming from the other side of the country (Kayes) where they will be celebrating the 4th of July…but I detest transport and don’t know if I want to spend 9 hours on a hot bus just to turn around for 13 hours more the next day.
In papa’s words, “That’s all I’ve got to say”
Love,
Cait
I returned to sight for just a few days before heading north to Bandiagara for the start of the 2010 World Cup! It’s such an experience living in Africa for the first World Cup ever to be held in Africa. There is such pride through this continent as the African teams are being cheered on. While realistic expectations are not high for any of the African teams to make it to the second round, you wouldn’t know that based on the enthusiasm of the fans. I met up with Justin in Sevare and then went up farther north to Bandiagara. Bandiagara is a frequent starting point for the tours of Dogon country so there is a lot of western influenced food there and nice hotels for us to watch the games in. To celebrate my year in country coming up on July 10, 2010 I ordered a Dogon Bracelet to be made. They are region specific and the designer melts down coins then hammers them into shape. I’m getting my Malian name, Aramata, carved into the bracelet and so excited to see how it turns out. I’m getting to go back to Bandiagara briefly for my actual 1 year anniversary so I’ll get my bracelet then.
I again returned briefly to site for a busy two days. I met my newest host sister who is just 3 weeks old, she is yet to be named as Malian tradition goes there is a naming ceremony a week after the birth where the name is announced but being in a Christian village we do things a bit differently and they wait until the Dad decides on the appropriate name. I was taken to the fields and helped plant millet…kind of. Mostly I just watched as the fields were plowed then planted not even a full row of millet because the Malians were laughing hysterically at my pathetic attempt to be agile in my planting. I failed. It was a great experience none the less and really helped me experience a huge part of their lives that until know I’d just heard rumors of.
Currently I am back at Tubaniso, the training area where I was brought when I first arrived for PST and again in December for IST. Two members from my village are here, Tabita Demebly and Dabassy Coulibaly, for a food security conference. I technically do not need to be here but I think it meant a lot to my villagers that I came even though just a few other volunteers are here. Its working out well though as this morning I was able to meet with my boss, Macki Cisso, and discuss some project plans and generally just catch up. It can be really hard being so far from Bamako and easy to feel like you’re slipping between the cracks so it was nice to be greeted and asked about specific people in my village he had met months earlier. I suspect the rest of the week will pass quickly and I’m looking forward to Peace Corps transport back to San. I have to admit though; I have reached a whole new level of confidence when I managed to get from San to the Bamako bureau by myself. Never before had I had to negotiate with taxi drivers and navigate the insanity of Bamako traffic so I was really proud of myself when I actually reached my destination with minimal trouble.
Hopefully, I’ll be back to site on Sunday and spend at least a week there before heading up to Bandiagara. My friend Holly is flying home to Washington for a month and leaves on the 7th and there is a possibility that I could join her on her trip to Bamako for a day then head north with some friends who are coming from the other side of the country (Kayes) where they will be celebrating the 4th of July…but I detest transport and don’t know if I want to spend 9 hours on a hot bus just to turn around for 13 hours more the next day.
In papa’s words, “That’s all I’ve got to say”
Love,
Cait
June 3, 2010
Sorry for the lack of correspondence, I’ve been away at site for almost a month!! The STAGE before me is getting ready for their Close of Service Conference in Bamako in a few days so I’ve come into San for the day in preparation for our trip to Teriabougu…basically a village with a pool and a hotel that is up to American standards (well, there is a fan in the room and the pool water isn’t green…I’m not sure it qualifies for American standards but it’s a welcome sight for Peace Corps volunteers). It’s our good party for the 6 getting ready to go home in just a few months! I’m sad to see them go and cannot believe this will be in a year…God willing I survive another hot season.
The end of hot season is very near on the horizon, twice now, the rains have come and with them a welcome breeze. Thunder and lightning have been all but forgotten until this past week when I was almost mesmerized by the long lost sound. Though I have to admit, I had forgotten how much more challenging riding my bike on bruce roads is when you have to either create an alternative route through the trees and bushes (which have malicious thorns) or go swimming.
I ate my first bug last night. My host dad brought me a bowl of what looked like a combination of a dragon fly without wings (they burnt off when the bug was toasted) and a little caterpillar. I didn’t vomit as I threatened I would but it’s not something I want to repeat in my near future. Fortunately these bugs aren’t around long thus the novelty of them. Speaking of mutant creatures I learned there is such a thing as a scorpion tarantula mix bread of scariness! I knew I killed one a few months ago but nobody believed me until others have been spotted wandering around…I’m glad to be vindicated in being right but I’m torn because I would have been totally fine convincing myself it was a figment of my imagination.
In other news, I attended a funeral in a neighboring village on Sunday. It must have been a really wealthy family because the woman was buried in a casket!! All funerals I’ve been too before the deceased have been wrapped in fabric only. The service was nice but a little long and I’m guessing about 600-700 people were there. It made for a long day but someone did give me a chicken!
My host mom just had a baby girl two nights ago. I’ve yet to see her but when I go back to village on Monday I’ll see her and take lots of pictures for the next email. Most women have their children in the morning and are back cooking dinner and watering the garden in the afternoon…these women are amazing. However, my village is pretty sophisticated and the women can stay at the Maternity for a few days to recover.
I spent a day at a friend’s site just 9 kilometers from me and we did a world map mural painting on the side of her millet cereal bank which was a welcome break and a lot of fun. During that trip we also did a Neeme cream formation. The Neeme tree is a most interesting tree whose leaves have a natural mosquito repellent, so we presented to the women’s association in Zana (the village) how to make the cream. They can either sell the cream at market or use for personal use as the rainy season approaches.
My men in my animal raising association are really working hard to get all their paper work together for the cooperation they are trying to start. I was excited because of the eight required people that have to have birth certificates five already have them. I wasn’t expecting any of them to have them and was worried about how we would find the money to pay for all of them, but now we only have to save for three which is much more feasible (15,000 cfa which is approximately $30…much better than the 40,000 cfa I was anticipating).
I’ll try to give another update soon when I return from Teriabugou or perhaps when I’m in Sevare the following week I can get an email out. I will be traveling a lot in the month of June eventually ending up in Bamako for a few days for a Food Security meeting at Tubaniso for a few days so expect better correspondence during this month!
Love,
Cait
The end of hot season is very near on the horizon, twice now, the rains have come and with them a welcome breeze. Thunder and lightning have been all but forgotten until this past week when I was almost mesmerized by the long lost sound. Though I have to admit, I had forgotten how much more challenging riding my bike on bruce roads is when you have to either create an alternative route through the trees and bushes (which have malicious thorns) or go swimming.
I ate my first bug last night. My host dad brought me a bowl of what looked like a combination of a dragon fly without wings (they burnt off when the bug was toasted) and a little caterpillar. I didn’t vomit as I threatened I would but it’s not something I want to repeat in my near future. Fortunately these bugs aren’t around long thus the novelty of them. Speaking of mutant creatures I learned there is such a thing as a scorpion tarantula mix bread of scariness! I knew I killed one a few months ago but nobody believed me until others have been spotted wandering around…I’m glad to be vindicated in being right but I’m torn because I would have been totally fine convincing myself it was a figment of my imagination.
In other news, I attended a funeral in a neighboring village on Sunday. It must have been a really wealthy family because the woman was buried in a casket!! All funerals I’ve been too before the deceased have been wrapped in fabric only. The service was nice but a little long and I’m guessing about 600-700 people were there. It made for a long day but someone did give me a chicken!
My host mom just had a baby girl two nights ago. I’ve yet to see her but when I go back to village on Monday I’ll see her and take lots of pictures for the next email. Most women have their children in the morning and are back cooking dinner and watering the garden in the afternoon…these women are amazing. However, my village is pretty sophisticated and the women can stay at the Maternity for a few days to recover.
I spent a day at a friend’s site just 9 kilometers from me and we did a world map mural painting on the side of her millet cereal bank which was a welcome break and a lot of fun. During that trip we also did a Neeme cream formation. The Neeme tree is a most interesting tree whose leaves have a natural mosquito repellent, so we presented to the women’s association in Zana (the village) how to make the cream. They can either sell the cream at market or use for personal use as the rainy season approaches.
My men in my animal raising association are really working hard to get all their paper work together for the cooperation they are trying to start. I was excited because of the eight required people that have to have birth certificates five already have them. I wasn’t expecting any of them to have them and was worried about how we would find the money to pay for all of them, but now we only have to save for three which is much more feasible (15,000 cfa which is approximately $30…much better than the 40,000 cfa I was anticipating).
I’ll try to give another update soon when I return from Teriabugou or perhaps when I’m in Sevare the following week I can get an email out. I will be traveling a lot in the month of June eventually ending up in Bamako for a few days for a Food Security meeting at Tubaniso for a few days so expect better correspondence during this month!
Love,
Cait
May 8, 2010
My trip into Bamako was successful in that I was able to watch the Kentucky Derby and while I didn’t pick the winner I had Super Saver in second so I was pleased. I also managed to eat 12 scoops of ice cream in three days…it was delightful! Malians tend to be some of the most passive aggressive people I’ve ever met and I experienced a classic case of this when trying to get transport home. We called the bus and reserved four spots to leave on the 4 o’clock bus. When we get to the station we learn that all the tickets are sold out so we go talk to customer service with the woman with whom we had made the reservations. She said to would find out what was going on, so we waited. We waited for 20 minutes and finally went to go find her because we hadn’t found out anything. She left. Apparently our seats had been sold and she didn’t want to tell us so she went home. Oh well. So we had to stay an extra night in Bamako before catching the more reliable 6am bus to San.
On Wednesday we had a spring cleaning of the stage house…much overdue. It was preparation for my birthday which was really fun despite being so far from home. We ended up having about 12 people in san for the festivities and ate a delicious cake to celebrate. I had saved my presents mom sent so was able to open them on the night of my birthday.
My time at site before I left was brief but pretty productive. My homologue, Bah, took me around to several associations to see how the work and try to figure out some ways that I can help them. We met with two of the women’s associations, the road building association, animal raising association and the millet saving association. I spend at least a day each week at the second cycle school and have a date set in mid May to work with 20 of the girls about decision making and like skills. The female English teacher has proven to be extremely helpful in helping me work with these girls. She helped me pick the 20 girls she thought would get the most out of it and be willing to open up. It’s kind of taboo for women to speak openly here so I wanted some strong young girls for these first sessions. If this goes well then I hope to have these sessions each month.
Bah has officially finished his house and had a “welcome home” party of sorts. They made a huge dinner and had about 25 of his closest friends come over. It was a fun party but I stayed up until 11:30…a record for me at site where I’m normally sound asleep by 10pm. The donkeys have been walking through my concession at night keeping me up and creating some hostility in how I feel about them, but other than that, I’ve adapted really quite well to sleeping outside.
Love,
Cait
On Wednesday we had a spring cleaning of the stage house…much overdue. It was preparation for my birthday which was really fun despite being so far from home. We ended up having about 12 people in san for the festivities and ate a delicious cake to celebrate. I had saved my presents mom sent so was able to open them on the night of my birthday.
My time at site before I left was brief but pretty productive. My homologue, Bah, took me around to several associations to see how the work and try to figure out some ways that I can help them. We met with two of the women’s associations, the road building association, animal raising association and the millet saving association. I spend at least a day each week at the second cycle school and have a date set in mid May to work with 20 of the girls about decision making and like skills. The female English teacher has proven to be extremely helpful in helping me work with these girls. She helped me pick the 20 girls she thought would get the most out of it and be willing to open up. It’s kind of taboo for women to speak openly here so I wanted some strong young girls for these first sessions. If this goes well then I hope to have these sessions each month.
Bah has officially finished his house and had a “welcome home” party of sorts. They made a huge dinner and had about 25 of his closest friends come over. It was a fun party but I stayed up until 11:30…a record for me at site where I’m normally sound asleep by 10pm. The donkeys have been walking through my concession at night keeping me up and creating some hostility in how I feel about them, but other than that, I’ve adapted really quite well to sleeping outside.
Love,
Cait
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)