Samena, Mali

Saturday


August 14, 2010

True to form I write again on a very rainy day here in Mali. I woke up this morning to the sound of steady rain falling against my tin roof. This has become a welcome sound because it not only means that the temperature will be cool for a few hours but also that there will be quite around the village, which believe me is something to cherish.

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Another view of my concession

I am sitting on the porch of my new house watching the rain flood my courtyard. I live in a two room concrete building which was built by the french at the end of the colonial period. Besides my house and the three school buildings all other structures- houses and mosques- in the village are made of mud brick. I have a mud wall enclosing the courtyard which has two large trees which provide an immense amount of shade keeping the area pretty cool. I am very happy with the set up. The house has pretty high ceilings and two large windows. As those of you who have ever lived with me can imagine, I already have some plans for decorating!

The volunteer I am replacing was here with me for the first two days. He showed me around town pointing out the important spots like the only reliable place to get cellphone reception. He gave me some bits of insider information such as not to worry when I see a man in a turban staring at the house, his name is Ali- not all there but friendly and harmless, at least someone is looking out for me! He introduced me to the important people in village and told them that I would be replacing him. My lack of language has proven to be a challenge as Zach leaves pretty fluent and the villagers have to start new with someone I can only imagine it is very frustrating. But I take comfort in the fact that this is the third time they have done this as I am their third volunteer here.

House in Samane

My counterpart, Adama, seems to be very nice. He was the counterpart for the other two volunteers and understands this process-- or at least the storyline I have made up in my head tells me he understands. I have started to do this, as I have no idea what people are saying and for that matter don't really understand why people do a lot of the things they do, I have started to make up reasons and this has turned into a storyline-- whatever keeps you sane, right?

Some of Adama's Children

When a community requests a volunteer and are chosen to receive one they must provide certain things for the volunteer- a two room house, a host family, a counterpart and so on. The community chooses all of these things from within. These people are not paid but do this as part having a volunteer. The counterparts are choose, or so I am told, because they are influential within the community and can help the volunteer integrate, identify community needs and successfully implement projects. Not only is Adama very involved with in the community as he is the president of several communities but, as Zach told me, one of the main reasons he was originally chosen (four years ago) was because he used to work at the fishing docks, on the Niger river and everyday would eat lunch with the boat owner who happened to be white. Therefore, Adama was the one in the community most used to dealing with white people and this was the main reason he was chosen. It is I must admit interesting to be the only white person within a twenty km radius- never in my life have I felt more popular.

View of the porch

In addition to Adama and his family I have a host-family. The Peace Corps requires that each volunteer have these two points of contact within village so the volunteer is provided with at least two families who are looking out for them when in village. I was assigned to the dugutiki's house (the chief of the village). My host dad is the dugutiki's younger brother. So far all this has meant is that I eat dinner with him every night. Usually they eat to (millet flower pounded into a jello texture green substance) and okra sauce but because it is Ramadan (started a few days ago) we get fish in addition to this. Two nights ago was my first time eating with him. We finished the to and then, he reached into a bowl and he proceeded to rip the whole fish in half and shove one half of it in my hand. Never in my life had I been so grateful for lack of electricity! Zach was sitting there and informed me, that when he eats fish he has found it best to slurp it so that you don't, by mistake, eat bones. And so I began to slurp. I am not sure what part of the fish I ate thanks to the darkness, the textures were strange but I must say, it was the best fish I have ever had! Many weeks ago, our LCF Brahmia told us a saying they have in Bambara. It says that when you are far away from your mother's cooking you must not ask your brain in something is good you must only ask your tongue. In this case, I could not agree with him more.

And the verdict is... Segou for two years!

Tuesday


August 10, 2010

It seems that I only write these blog entries on rainy days. I am sitting on the floor of my house on a straw mat hearing the rain beat down on my tin roof. I have come to learn that the rain always sounds much more intense against this roof than it actually is. I learned this the hard way by laying in bed after a long night of sweating and desperately wanting to take a bucket bath but thinking it was too rainy out only to leave my room and realize, it was not rainy at all. So always good to check outside before making any big decision such as bucket bathing ( and yes this is in the top three of big daily decisions I make here in Mali).

Map of Mali, Segou to the east of Bamako

Back at Tubaniso. This trip back was the big one we where we finally found out our sites. I will be living in the region of Segou located north east of Bamako. The village I am in in 5,500 people which is huge compared to some of my fellow WATSAN friends, one of my friends is in a village for 300 people. My town in called Samene and is 45 km from Segou- which is the regional capital. Because I am in a larger village I have a pretty good set up. There is a market in my town every Monday where I should be able to buy some fresh fruits and such. Part of me is very excited about this and part of me is terrified. The major thing that I have been struggling with in our language classes is the money system. It is the most confusing thing I have ever attempted to understand. When saying a price it is not just the number that you would say if you were counting. Instead it is some bizarre system that involves multiplication and division by five, and the introduction of new words into the counting system- basically totally confusing but something I will have to learn quite well if I wish not to totally get ripped off every time I want to buy a banana.

At our sites we are assigned a counterpart. This is a Malian that was elected by their village to help us be successful at site. During this time at Tubaniso our counterparts came to meet us. This has been interesting as I know very little of the language! But it seems that all the PCTs are a little over our heads here so at least there is solidarity on this front.

Tomorrow I will head out to my site and spend a week there. I am at a replacement site so I will be replacing a volunteer. He will meet me there and show me around the village. I am grateful for this and can't wait to see where I will be living for the next two years. This is an exciting and terrifying time. Wish me luck!

Back In Sinsina

July 25, 2010

Sinsina group cooking

I am back in Sinsina (our homestay village) for the longest stay during PST (Pre-Service Training). It was quite a challange returning here after a few days in Tubaniso. There we ate cheesburgers, pizza and french fries and now upon our return to homestay we are back to rice and fish sause! The eight of us here in Sinsina have been making the best of things. We had a movie night were we watch avatar. We all huddled around Lindsey's mac-book trying to listen to the small bit of sound that came from the computer. This was a great night and if ever you are going to watch Avatar not in 3-D you should do it outside in Africa, the natural sounds alone make it a rare experiance! We enjoyed movie night so much we are thinking about making it a weekly event, or an event until our computers run out of battery.

Graham and his chicken

In language class we have been working on bargining which I belive is going to be the end of me, but thats besides the point. In order to practice our LCFs (teachers- it seems everything in the PC has an acccronym) sent us out to buy food and cooking needs and we all made dinner together. We had plantains - which LIndsey and I made, garlic mashed potaots, scrabbled eggs and hybiscus tea. Although this sounds like a odd assortment of food it was a much welcomed changed from what we eat with our host families!

We are preparing another meal for monday night- where we are going to buy chicken- live chicken that is and Kyle is going to kill them. I declined this opportunity when it was offered to me but Kyle is very excited, like a kid in a candy shop. Ill let you know how it goes. In addition to the chicken we are buying pinapple, garlic, onion, pepper and some other things and we are going to make kabbos! This should be the best meal yet!

Cooking here is an experiacne in itself. I find cooking back in the states to be difficult but here, when you take away everything that makes cooking easy away well, lets just say, I am lost. We cooked over an open fire which was quite awesome but took forever-- but I guess all I have here in Africa is time, so spending fourty-five minutes watching water boil really isn't something to complain about. Aminata, one of our teachers has been patient in showing us the ends and outs of the process which has been a blessing. Well I have big plans today to sweep out my hut and maybe go for a bikeride-- don't want to keep my busy day waiting.

Kyle and his chicken

Cheers!

Dinner or soon to be

Sinsina, Mali Homestay Site

Saturday

July 10th, 2010

My House in Sinsina

This is our second full day at our home stay. On Thursday the eighty trainees were split into twelve villages, seven other peace corps traniess and I piled into a truck with our bags and water filters tied to the roof and set of for Sinsina, a small village about an hour south east of Bamanko. We each only knew the name of our host fathers, who all had the same last name, which we found interesting. We arrived to the warmest greeting possible. Our truck was chased by small children for a few minutes before we arrived to an open area among many mud brick houses. There, we found tons of women and children waiting for us to arrive. The children surrounded our vehicle and reached to touch each of us as we decended from the vehicle. We were instructed to wait a few minutes while the men finished up prayer in the mosque.

Interior of my house

We sat down on chairs that were provided under a shaded area. There the children just stared at us saying and think god knows what. Once the men were finished we were taken in to see the elderes. We were taken to a small fly infested room. We took off our shoes and as we stepped into the room our feet met freshly skinned cow hides which served as the carpet. We sat down and the men greated us and told us that we would be treated like their children. They were very welcoming and thanks to the translator we understood that they were willing to do anything for us.

Afterward we were taken out into the center of the village were some men played drums and we were made to dance. Typically white of us we all stood in a circle and clapped while we were laughed at us. The malian word for us in "Tobob" which means white man. We can here this chanted down the street as we walk by.

Center of Town... Mosque on the right

After the dance we were each presented to our host fathers and taken to our new homes. My father's name is Amandu Dumbia. As I quickly found out polygomy is widley practiced here and I seem to have four "moms" and by my count it seems nearly 40 brothers and sisters, but I am not too sure about all the exact relationships among everyone. My bamara (the language they speak and I am studying) is not good enough to ask these questions yet but I am sure that lesson is coming soon. They gave me a new Malian name I am now, Fanta Traule, I have always wanted to be a Fanta Girl, who knew all I had to do was move to Mali! From what I have gathered this is the name of my host dad's first wife, still trying to figure out what that is supposed to mean exactly.

Our family compound is made up of many huts, I have my own, and between us all there are chickens, goats, and today a bull came walking through. The children run around nude and bath in the open. We take a trip to the pump daily so that I can get bathing and drinking water. The whole experiance is odd but increible. I am constanly in awe of the things around me that should be easy and normal but here, certainly are not.


The bucket baths are quite nice, our "nyagen" (bathroom, and by that I mean mud wall surrounding a whole in the ground) has an open roof (which is much better than a closed one- these are the kind we have at Tubaniso and it get a little hot and consequently smelly). If you close your eyes while taking a bucket bath you can almot imagine that you are in Martha's Vineyard electing to take an outdoor shower. I have also found that these baths are not to be taken to feel clean because, it seems, that will never happen rather there purpose is merely to cool you down for the few minutes afterward.

My host sister, Fatima on the right pounding millet

The food is interesting. I eat with my eldest host brother Herunna. We are brought a bowl from which we both eat out of with our right hand. Each day it is a mystery what will be under the lid and meal time is usually pretty scary. Last night we had rice and some sort of fish sause. I, being the honored guest was requested to eat the head. Luckly in class that day I learned how to say NO, YOU EAT! Herunna of course insisted that I eat this, he proceeeded to rip the head, and the insides into smaller pieces and throw some of this "meat" into my section of the bowl. I very caually brushed it to the side and hoped I didn't actaully eat any (at least thats my story).

Host brother Levie

The sounds and sites here are just incredible. I was woken up by the call to prayer today and during lanugage class, we sit outside and the goats and donkeys constanly are try, and most the time succeeed in distracting us. The teachers are great and the way they teach is interesting. Each time we go home we come back with 30 new words. At times the Language seems easy but once we go home our families speak so fast it proves to be much more difficult. But I am sure with time it will come it is only the second day.

It is raining right now and I am sitting on the floor of my hut listening to music and composing this email by the light of my kerosene lantern.. This is the first time since I got to Philadelphia that I have been alone. So far I am very much enjoying everything. As many of my fellow Peace Corps Trainees have said, this is so much better than sitting in an office. I could not agree more. Each day, no each moment I learn something new about the world and mostly importantly about myself. The people are wonderful. They laugh all the time and are genuly interested in my learning. Each night I sit with my host brothers and sisters and learn new words. We point to things and say them in Bamara , Enlgish and French. I am sure I sound like a three year old constantly asking whats this? and why? But hey, that's how you learn right!

Hope all is good in the states. Miss you all immensly!

Happy 4th!

July, 4 2010




We made it to Bamako and quickly found out I have been pronouncing it wrong for the past month. Our flight was delayed a few hours but as a volunteer told me today the President arrived in the airport right before our flight so the speculation is that this is why we were delayed in Paris, I have been delayed for far less interesting reasons so, not so bad.



We got back to the training center in Tubainso, about a 45 minute drive from the airport and sits about ten miles outside Bamako. In the van we had a current PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) to answer all our questions. She very kindly gave us our "presents" Mosquito Repellent- which I must say is the best present I have every received!!! We also passed over the Niger river, which was beautiful. Upon arrival we got our latrine orientation, which was interesting to say the least. After this very important lesson the staff had a snack waiting for us- our first taste of Malian food was not bad at all!



We are staying in one room huts with three bed. Our roommates were assigned based on our "sectors," our work assignments. I am staying with one WatSan (Water Sanitation- the same sector that I am) and a Heath Education girl. It appears that these two sectors will be working closely with each other throughout training. It is nice to have roommates that are going through the same realities that you are. We braved the latrine and all came out unscathed, tucked in our mosquito nets and woke up and crack of done all with each other, which has made it all manageable. None of us have braved the whole showering thing yet, but I am sure it is just a matter of time.



As today was the fourth of July we had to opportunity to go to the American Embassy and meet the Ambassador as well as other Peace Corps Volunteers, Military and other ex-pats. There, we had the chance to play Frisbee, swim in the pool and had a tug-of-war tournament- Peace Corps vs. US Military, I am happy to say the Peace Corps killed! While all this went on we listened to familiar tunes of Jimmy Buffet and Bruce Springsteen-- a pretty American first day I must say.



We did however, have our share of reality checks that we are in fact in Mali. We were issued our Malaria pills and had a long discussion about how we can prevent the many diseases that are common in Mali. Tomorrow is a full day of training starting at 7am with a language test (YIKES!), cultural orientation, and the first round of vaccinations.



Happy 4th to you all!!

Travel to Mali

July 2, 2010

From google images

Okay, here it is the first of what I hope will be many blog entries. We have just finshed our 2 day training or "staging" in Phillidaphia. It was a wonderful experiance a time that reassured me that I am truly with a group of people that understand the excitmet, fears and anxites that come along with taking this journey. Our group has eighty people that consists of 5 sectors, enviorment and agriculture, Heath education, small buissness enterprise, water sanitation and education. Everyone is very excited! We are on a bus now traveling on a bus to JFK airport in NY. Our flight leaves tongiht at 11:30pm we take the 7 hour trip to Paris then a 5 and a half hour ride to Bamako. We will arrive around 8:30pm on Saturday night and start the next leg of the journey. Here I go!