Oct 6, 2009
So two days ago I went to the waalde rewbe (women's association) meeting in Sassolo, conveniently held in the amiiri's concession, which is also my concession. I had told Kumbari that I wanted to go to the meetings, but I guess she interpreted that as I wanted to hold/run a meeting...because when it started Kumbari just looked at me and said "Kala!" (Speak!). And I was just sitting there like crap, what am I supposed to say? So I explained in Fulfulde to the twenty women there who I was, what I was there for, what PC is, and that I would be spending these first 3 months talking to them individually to learn about them and our community, and how they want to develop. It was rough. Kumbari translated what I was saying into real Fulfulde. Then after 30 seconds of an awkward silence, an old woman yelled out "We love you, Aissata!" in Fulfulde. It was hilarious. (Side note: my Malian name is Aissata Dembele.) She then said how excited they were to have me here and that they love me already and that they can't wait to get started on projects. It was such a nice thing to say - they are so motivated! - especially after it was obvious that I was not prepared at all for this meeting. Definitely got tears in my eyes. They're so ready and motivated to start projects - I'm afraid I won't live up to their expectations. But hey, I'll give it my best shot, that's for sure.
It's funny, the conversations you have here. Hamadou (Ousmann's younger and super nice brother, age 16) was hanging out at my house (sigh) when out of nowhere he asked "Est-ce qu'il y a les noirs dan Amerik?" I was sitting there like, what does that even mean? Then it dawned on me - he was asking if there are black people in America. So I explained that yes, there are a lot of black people in America. Barack Obama, for example. (He has a shirt with Obama on it, Obama is super popular here, they call him the world's first president.) But then Hamadou asked how the black people got there. And I just sat there...huh, how do I explain slavery, in French, to an African? Surely that's part of their public consciousness, right? I didn't want to get into (and my French/Fulfulde skills wouldn't allow me to) explain that people with my color skin oppressed and enslaved people with his color skin for centuries, so I just said that black people are born in America (which has been true for centuries too). It's funny - Malians are so honest about race, in ways that Americans are not. I don't know what's better - getting told all the time that I'm white - being chased by children yelling "foreigner! white girl!"- or Americans pretending not to notice that race exists, when it obviously divides our society.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Pedi Party!
Oct 1, 2009
My first two weeks at site are over, so I went to Sevare for a couple days for a break - and to go to a meeting for a region-wide project we're doing on Oct 15th for Global Handwashing Day. A lot of Malians believe that using soap washes your luck away, so they don't use it. It's a real challenge, especially when half of the diseases they get are caused by spreading germs by hand - they eat with their hands, all out of the same bowl. When you go to the bathroom, you wipe with your left hand here. But then the left hand touches the right hand, the right hand brings food from a communal bowl to your mouth...bam, instant GI sickness. So soap is really important. We're going to do some skits at 3 different schools in Sevare - in Fulfulde. Then - this has been around a while so we can't take credit for it - we might do a demonstration where we put sticky honey on a couple kids' hands, and then have them shake hands with everyone in the class, so everyone's hands are sticky. Then they rinse with water - but it doesn't get the honey off. After explaining that the honey is like germs that make you sick, they wash with soap. Voila, honey/germs gone! It's a good way to concretize something they can't see - the germs.
But I'm back at site now. I forgot how boring sitting around can be. I finally motivated myself to go out and greet people this afternoon (it's really hard sometimes when you don't speak the language!). But I actually had so much fun! I walked past a group of five women just hanging out, shooting the breeze, so I walked up and joined them. And yeah, I can't say much, but we still had fun talking about boys and braiding hair and all that fun stuff. That's what I love the most - those moments where everyone is just having a good time and laughing, and I actually get the joke (even if it's about me, which it often is - my Fulfulde amuses them to no end, and rightfully so, my grammar is atrocious). I had nail polish with me, so I whipped it out and did my toes, and then shared it with all of them - which they absolutely loved. For a moment it was almost like I was at a pedi party with all the girls at home or something. And since American companies invest their resources in things like never-chip nail polish, American nail polish is superduper awesome compared to what you can normally find here. So good day for the ladies - their toes will be hot pink for weeks. Not exactly world-changing or anything, but it certainly brightened their day (and mine). One of them is going to braid my hair sometime soon (ouch!) - I keep putting it off because I know it's going to hurt, but I know she'll get to me eventually. She's pretty determined. But then again, so am I... :)
My first two weeks at site are over, so I went to Sevare for a couple days for a break - and to go to a meeting for a region-wide project we're doing on Oct 15th for Global Handwashing Day. A lot of Malians believe that using soap washes your luck away, so they don't use it. It's a real challenge, especially when half of the diseases they get are caused by spreading germs by hand - they eat with their hands, all out of the same bowl. When you go to the bathroom, you wipe with your left hand here. But then the left hand touches the right hand, the right hand brings food from a communal bowl to your mouth...bam, instant GI sickness. So soap is really important. We're going to do some skits at 3 different schools in Sevare - in Fulfulde. Then - this has been around a while so we can't take credit for it - we might do a demonstration where we put sticky honey on a couple kids' hands, and then have them shake hands with everyone in the class, so everyone's hands are sticky. Then they rinse with water - but it doesn't get the honey off. After explaining that the honey is like germs that make you sick, they wash with soap. Voila, honey/germs gone! It's a good way to concretize something they can't see - the germs.
But I'm back at site now. I forgot how boring sitting around can be. I finally motivated myself to go out and greet people this afternoon (it's really hard sometimes when you don't speak the language!). But I actually had so much fun! I walked past a group of five women just hanging out, shooting the breeze, so I walked up and joined them. And yeah, I can't say much, but we still had fun talking about boys and braiding hair and all that fun stuff. That's what I love the most - those moments where everyone is just having a good time and laughing, and I actually get the joke (even if it's about me, which it often is - my Fulfulde amuses them to no end, and rightfully so, my grammar is atrocious). I had nail polish with me, so I whipped it out and did my toes, and then shared it with all of them - which they absolutely loved. For a moment it was almost like I was at a pedi party with all the girls at home or something. And since American companies invest their resources in things like never-chip nail polish, American nail polish is superduper awesome compared to what you can normally find here. So good day for the ladies - their toes will be hot pink for weeks. Not exactly world-changing or anything, but it certainly brightened their day (and mine). One of them is going to braid my hair sometime soon (ouch!) - I keep putting it off because I know it's going to hurt, but I know she'll get to me eventually. She's pretty determined. But then again, so am I... :)
Julde and Fete de Independence
Sept 22, 2009
Yesterday was the big julde, the religious feast celebrating the end of Ramadan. In the morning, everyone was getting ready, ironing their bezan (really nice fabric) and finishing up their braids and henna. I didn't get either done, but probably will shortly. I'm excited! (though it will probs hurt a lot, haha). Dembele, my neighbor, ironed for a good 2 hours - all of his family wore bezan. I wore my blue complet, and everyone was super excited to see me in Malian clothes. I went over to Kumbari's (my host mom/homologue) after greeting people, and we hung out for a bit. For lunch, her younger sister cooked huge amounts of rice for all the people in the village. I went with Kumbari to pick up ours, then we carried it back to Kumbari's concession, and the whole family ate together. The zame was delicious! Kind of like fried rice with meat and vegetables. Then I came back and called Mom and Dad - we actually got to talk for 30 minutes! It was so nice to hear their voices and support.
After, I went back to Kumbari's, and Moussa (my counterpart at the NGO I'm working with) was there - apparently there was a meeting last Wednesday that I was supposed to be at - 22 people were there to welcome me to Fatoma. But Moussa never told me about it. Good ol' Mali and their communication skills. He was kinda upset that I wasn't there, but at the same time, he did wait 5 days to come and tell me I missed the meeting I didn't know about, so maybe it wasn't that big of a deal. Sigh. After he left, Kumbari and I ate macaroni, and then an hour later she served dinner - so much food! It was crazy. Although after a month of fasting definitely understandable.
Today is Mali's Independence Day - Mali has been independent for 49 years. I went to Fatoma, where there was a huge vendi (party/feast) - people were dancing, playing drums, and the mayor was giving continuous speeches. Malian flags were everywhere, and everyone was in their finest clothes again. It was a really neat display of national unity for a country created 49 years ago.
Yesterday was the big julde, the religious feast celebrating the end of Ramadan. In the morning, everyone was getting ready, ironing their bezan (really nice fabric) and finishing up their braids and henna. I didn't get either done, but probably will shortly. I'm excited! (though it will probs hurt a lot, haha). Dembele, my neighbor, ironed for a good 2 hours - all of his family wore bezan. I wore my blue complet, and everyone was super excited to see me in Malian clothes. I went over to Kumbari's (my host mom/homologue) after greeting people, and we hung out for a bit. For lunch, her younger sister cooked huge amounts of rice for all the people in the village. I went with Kumbari to pick up ours, then we carried it back to Kumbari's concession, and the whole family ate together. The zame was delicious! Kind of like fried rice with meat and vegetables. Then I came back and called Mom and Dad - we actually got to talk for 30 minutes! It was so nice to hear their voices and support.
After, I went back to Kumbari's, and Moussa (my counterpart at the NGO I'm working with) was there - apparently there was a meeting last Wednesday that I was supposed to be at - 22 people were there to welcome me to Fatoma. But Moussa never told me about it. Good ol' Mali and their communication skills. He was kinda upset that I wasn't there, but at the same time, he did wait 5 days to come and tell me I missed the meeting I didn't know about, so maybe it wasn't that big of a deal. Sigh. After he left, Kumbari and I ate macaroni, and then an hour later she served dinner - so much food! It was crazy. Although after a month of fasting definitely understandable.
Today is Mali's Independence Day - Mali has been independent for 49 years. I went to Fatoma, where there was a huge vendi (party/feast) - people were dancing, playing drums, and the mayor was giving continuous speeches. Malian flags were everywhere, and everyone was in their finest clothes again. It was a really neat display of national unity for a country created 49 years ago.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
