Ada naama neebe!

(the blog title means "you eat beans" in Fulfulde)

One of the most interesting parts of Mali is how they resolve conflicts and joke with each other. A lot of ethnic tension is mediated through joking cousins. These relationships are based on last names and ethnic groups. For example, the Bambara and the Fulfulde ethnic groups joke with each other as a way to avoid open conflict. Here's the history behind it: After the historic battle of Kirina of 1236 that settled the victory for Sundiata Keita, King of the Mali Empire, a national convention was called to lay out the founding principles of how Malian society would be organized. The joking cousin relationship existed before Sundiata was even born. However, he was the first leader to make it a social institution, hence giving it full powers in Malian communities.

According to oral tradition passed down through griots (village storytellers), once upon a time, two friends went into the bush to collect wood. One of the two buddies got scared by an animal. Back into the village, the one who got scared tried to make everyone believe it was he who had been brave. Soon they were giving each other a hard time. That's how the joking started and eventually turned into a medium whose goal has since been to help ease the relationship between two people at work, in the neighborhood, or within the entire community. In other words, the joking cousin relationship (called senenkuya) is used both as a game and as a social tool aiming to prevent potential conflicts that my arise from various frustrations or misunderstandings.

It turns out that senenkuya (joking cousins) has become one of the most important features of Malian culture thanks to King Sundiata's vision to broaden the scope of that relationship. Finally, the reason why Keitas tend to have the most joking cousins lies in the fact that King Sundiata Keita declared that to become a better leader, one ought to take criticism from everyone else.

You can say anything to your joking cousins. My last name is Dembele, which is a Bobo ethnic group last name. The Bobos joke with the Fulfulde. The main joke between the two of us is the Fulfulde tell the Bobo that they eat dogs. In turn, the Bobos tell the Fulfulde that they stole our cows. This comes from the fact that in Fulfulde, cows say "bobo" instead of "moo." So the cows are always calling the Bobos to come and bring them back to their rightful owners. The most common thing to say to your joking cousins is, "You eat beans!" This is the equivalent of a Malian fart joke. But it is absolutely HILARIOUS, and has been told for centuries.

After greeting a new person, you usually ask their last name. Then you begin joking. A typical encounter might go like this:
Me: Good morning, how are you?
Malian: I am fine, how are you?
Me: No problems at all here. Did you arrive in peace?
Malian: Yes, no problems.
Me: How is your family?
Malian: Everyone is fine.
Me: Did you spend the night in peace?
Malian: Yes, no problems.
Me: What is your name?
Malian: Moussa
Me: What is your last name?
Malian: Diko.
Me: Oh!! You stole my cows!
Malian: You eat dogs!
Me: Yeah, well at least I don't eat beans for every meal.
(and it goes on from here...)

And that is the height of Malian humor! It is a lot of fun to joke with people, and it provides a good way to show people that you understand their culture and speak their language.

*Parts of this blog were taken from the PC Mali Cross Culture Manual, as told by Aliou DIABATE

First Formation! (67 photos), by Jenny Rulon

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Dogon Country

Here's a link to an article that recently appeared in the NYT about Dogon Country - the area of Mali that most tourists go to. I live about 2 hours away from the Dogon cliffs.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/travel/07personal.html

Allah akbar!

This song is really popular in Mali right now - everyone in my village goes around singing it, and it's always on the radio. It's about how great Allah (God) is and how good it is to praise Allah.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8SGpI47_qA&feature=related

Naming Ceremony

A couple days ago I went to the naming ceremony of a friend's baby boy. Naming ceremonies are very important in Malian culture, and are similar to a baptism in that the baby is welcomed into the village family and religious community. The baby is also given a name (obviously, ha).

Naming ceremonies take place very early in the morning, so that morning I woke up at 5:30am and hurridly got dressed in my finest bezan outfit. Bezan is a really nice waxy fabric that is like a Malian gown or suit. Mine makes me feel like a princess because it's the same color as Cinderella's ballgown. Anyway, my host sister, Malado, came and got me and my host mom and I made our way to our friend's house for the ceremony.

We got to the concession and removed our shoes to enter the house. All the men were sitting outside the house on mats, and all the women were inside the house preparing the baby for the ceremony. The entire ceremony was gender segregated, with men outside and women inside. My host mom and I got there just in time for me to help hold the baby while his head was shaved by his grandfather. After the shaving was finished, the baby was passed around the room, with all the women joking, laughing, and chatting. Most of the conversation was centered on why I don't have the lip tattoo and facial scarring that all good Fulfulde women have.

When the baby had been passed around, the room fell silent as the men began to lead the prayer in Arabic. Everyone lifted their hands, going through the motions of prayer for this occassion. At first I didn't participate - while Christians are generally okay with people not of their faith praying with them, Muslims have stricter rules. For example, it would be incredibly inappropriate of me to enter the mosque, especially at prayer time. Even to observe would be offensive. But then the woman beside me grabbed my hand and said "You're one of us, pray with us," and made me start the prayer motions too. That meant a lot.

After the men had finished saying the blessing, they passed a small, circular straw mat. On it were the mother's wedding ring, a kola nut to represent the father, and the baby's hair which had just been shaved. Everyone touched it, said a prayer while holding it, and then passed it on. It was such a nice way to symbolize that the entire village would welcome and care for this child and his family. After that was finished, all the guests received three kola nuts and a piece of candy.

The baby's name? Ali, named after his grandfather.

It really meant a lot to be invited to the ceremony and allowed to participate - it made me feel like I really am a part of this community, despite the innumberable cultural and lingusitic differences. Day by day, dooni dooni, things are coming together.

Afterwards, I explained to my host family how American / Christian baptisms differ from Malian / Muslim naming ceremonies. I told her that in America, the baby is put in a bucket of water (font doesn't really translate) and then a religious man puts oil on the baby's head. My host mom was confused about the oil - "But you cook with oil, why would you put it on a baby?" Good question, good question. It also didn't help that in Fulfulde the word for fire and candle are the same, so when I said that they light a candle for the baby she probably was imagining a huge bonfire or something. Oh language mistranslations, how I love thee.

Questions

I've been corresponding with a sixth-grade class in Arcadia as part of the World Wise Schools program of Peace Corps. They recently sent me a bunch of AWESOME letters with some great questions, and I thought other people might be interested in the letters too:

• What is your favorite part of Mali? My favorite part of Mali is the conversations I have with my Malian friends. Malians are incredibly welcoming and love to joke around. You can see on my blog an example of a conversation I had with my host mom about the US space program. Conversations like that where I get to share US culture and joke around with friends are my favorite!
• Would you want to live in Mali permanently? No, but not because I don't like it here. Mali is a great country, I would just prefer to live in America closer to my family and friends for the rest of my career and travel to places like Mali for vacation.
• What do you do in your spare time? Read, read, read, and read some more! I also go around and chat with my neighbors, write lots of letters, and dance crazily around my hut to music from my iPod (I charge my iPod with a solar charger).
• Is Mali fun, or are you praying to come back? I definitely have my good days and bad days, but overall I'm very glad that I came to Mali and am enjoying my time here. I'm very excited to come home for 3 weeks in September though!
• Is there fast food? In terms of McDonalds or Taco Bell, not at all. Malians don't eat out like Americans do. Eating out is actually seen as a bad thing, because it means that you can't feed your family at home. There is street food, though. Women sell food by the side of the road out of huge metal bowls. There is usually macaroni, beans, rice and sauce, fries, and some kind of meat to choose from.
• How many books have you read? A lot! I'm not actually sure, but there is a list on my blog that has all the books I've read so far.
• What kinds of animals are there in Mali? There used to be a lot of wildlife in Mali, like lions, elephants, and antelope. Unfortunately most of that wildlife was killed due to over-hunting and poaching. Today there are two herds of elephants left, and I've heard rumors that you can see a lion or two in western Mali. Other than that, there are a lot of farm animals that Malians raise, like cows, donkeys, sheep, goats, and chickens. There are no pigs because most Malians are Muslim and cannot eat pork.
• What diseases are there in Mali? Quite a few. Someone asked me specifically how I could get sick from amoebas, and I should explain that I was actually sick with amoebic dysentary. You get this disease from drinking unclean water. I'm much healthier now though! In general, diseases caused by poor quality drinking water are common here. Also, malaria, TB, and diseases caused by poor nutrition are big problems.
• What language do you speak? I speak Fulfulde. Fulfulde is spoken throughout West Africa, and is called Pular in Senegal and Fula in Guinea. It has been a challenge to rapidly learn a new language, but I'm very glad that I did. It lets me talk with more people, especially the women in children. It also shows that I'm dedicated to learning about Malian culture and people. And it's a very fun language to speak! There are at least 50 different words for cow, but only one word for to want/to like/to love! I think that says a lot about the Fulfulde culture, don't you? I speak French at the organization I work with because my supervisor there prefers to speak in French.
• Do you get paid? I am a volunteer, but I do get a living allowance from Peace Corps (about $5 a day). This money pays for food, clothing, everything. All my healthcare is covered by Peace Corps.
• How much is $1 in Malian currency? Mali uses the CFA, a currency used throughout West Africa. $1 is equal to about 450 CFA.
• Is the Malian government corrupt? Wow, hard question. I would say that most government officials are not corrupt and have the people's best interest at heart. There are cases of government officials taking money though. For example, 25% of the Malian budget is supposed to go to education. Does it get there? Judging by the poor quality of the public school system, I lean towards no. I think that Mali is one of the better examples of good government in Africa, but it still has its problems.
• What is the weather like in Mali? Right now it is HOT!!! It was 110 degrees yesterday, and it will only get hotter in the next few months. There are four seasons in Mali: rainy season, mini-hot season, cold season, and hot season. In cold season temperatures get down to the 70s. There are huge rain storms during rainy season with thunder, lightening, and a lot of dust that gets blown around. There are also sandstorms and dust storms which take place during hot season - now. Everything I have is currently covered in a nice sheen of orange dust. Rainy season will come in July, followed by mini-hot season in October, cold season in November, and then back to hot season in March.
• Do you have electricity? Like the majority of Malians, I do not have electricity. I use a flashlight at night to see and to read before bed. I've come to enjoy not having electricity though - the view of the stars at night is phenomenal!
• What is your house like? I live in a mud brick house that has 3 rooms. I have an outdoor latrine bathroom (called a nyegen). I have concrete floors, a metal door, and a screen door, and all my windows are screened. All the walls and the ceiling are made from wood logs and mud.
• What do Malians wear? Malians are very conservative people. The women wear long wrap-around skirts called pagnes and a shirt made out of the same fabric. Men wear pants and a collared shirt. Wearing proper dress and looking nice are very important in Malian culture. If you wear dirty or ragged clothing, it is a sign of disrespect to those around you. Malian fabric is awesome! So many fun colors and prints! I have a pair of capris that are neon green and polka-dotted. I love that I can wear them here and be normal.
• Do you have any Malian friends? Yes, I do! My host mom and I have become good friends, and I'm also friends with my homologue. (A homologue is someone assigned to help me to do my work by Peace Corps - usually a Malian living in your village that is motivated to do development work.) I spend a lot of my time hanging out with my host family, and when I'm not with them I'm hanging out with the kids who come to my house to play.
• Are people nice? Yes!!! Incredibly nice!! I think that Malians are among the most welcoming people in the world.
• How poor are people? Do they have a lot of stuff? Mali is the third poorest country in the world, so yes, the people are poor. The majority of Malians don't have access to clean drinking water, electricity, healthcare, a year-round food source, and good education. They do have a small amount of possessions - my host mom has an entire collection of pots and pans that she displays in her house. They wear jewelry and have nice clothes, and will have tea absolutely every day. They don't have a lot of stuff by American standards, but they are getting by.

I hope this let you understand Mali a little better, and if anyone else has other questions about life here, feel free to comment or send me an email!