Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and spending time with friends and family. Since 90%(ish) of Mali is Muslim, Christmas is largely not celebrated here. Which, suprisingly, was nice. It was helpful in that for my first Christmas away from home, I wasn't constantly reminded of what I was missing since there were not any holiday lights, snow storms, Christmas radio stations, Christmas trees, decorations, etc. I did have a great time celebrating Christmas with my PC fam here in Mali. A group of five of us stayed in Sevare, made a fantastic Christmas Eve dinner of Mexican food (you can tell what I'll be eating all the time when I get back stateside by how frequently I mention burritos in this blog), went to Christmas Eve Mass in French and Bambara with a African dance party after, woke up Christmas morning to drink hot chocolate and open presents from home, then made a delicious Christmas brunch. My friend Eliza's birthday is on Christmas, so we celebrated that with birthday brownies and M&Ms. Unfortunately I was sick with amoebas so I couldn't really eat anything or go to church, but such is life in Mali. :) It was good to just be around friends and hang out. Thank you to everyone that sent presents to me here! I know it's a lot of work to do during a very busy holiday season -- I really really appreciate it!
I just got back from my in-service training (IST), a training which Peace Corps does in Bamako after your first 3 months at site are over. Since the first 3 months at site are all about language learning and community integration, IST focused more on learning technical skills that will help us do projects in the next year and a half. Most of my environment tech sessions focused on reforestation and gum arabic, a tree whose sap is used in all manner of things (Coca-Cola, the caps that cover pill medicine, chewing gum, etc). Mali already exports some of it to developed countries for use, but it has the potential to export so much more. Gum arabic grows really well up north in the Mopti region, and starting a tree plantation can be a great way for the community to earn income which can then be used for their development as they see fit. For example, supplementing their diets with more vegetables or improving water quality. The trees also fix nitrogen in the soil, thereby improving soil quality and crop yields. We also had a lot of training on how to apply for funding for our projects and write grant proposals.
In our spare time (ha) it was awesome to hang out with friends from PST and catch up. Randomly, Sean Paul came to Bamako to do a concert, so of course we had to go! It was so much fun, met some cool Malians and Gambians. We also had a wonderful Christmas / Hanukkah / whatever you celebrate party where we had a white elephant gift exchange and the Tubansio kitchen staff made us a delicious dinner. Pics are up on facebook. So great.
I head back to site soon, but will be back in Sev/Mopti for the new year. I'm really excited to get back. For the first time, it feels like Sassolo is home, and I find myself missing being there and chatting with friends. The night before I left Kumbari was very upset because she was forced to sell all of her cows and one of her friends died. It was hard to leave when my Malian family was going through such a hard time, and though I know I can't do anything to help, I can't wait to get back and just be there for them. Bad timing for IST, right? I'm also excited to start working on projects, though I don't quite know what they will be yet. My supervisor has some ideas, and I have some ideas, I think we just need to sit down , come to an agreement, and write out an action plan for the next couple months. (woahhhh action plan, what is that about? haha)
I would also like to apologize for the quality of my English - I don't speak it all the time and it is getting worse at the same rate that my French and Fulfulde is getting better. Sigh. One day I will speak a language fluently...one day...
Best wishes for the New Year!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Abande!!
This is a really popular song right now in Mali.
Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiSVRWIIKuk&feature=related
It's in Fulfulde and features Peuhl women. I hear it all the time in village-- people play it on their cell phones, women sing it in rhythm with their pounding when they pound millet with their giant mortar and pestles. It's pretty freakin' awesome. My favorite is the "Walay, mido yidi ma!" Walay is also my new fave expression in Fulfulde, it means 'oh my!' and is derived from 'walay Allah!' meaning 'oh my God!' People say it all the time, as in "walay, that kid is in trouble," or "walay, that outfit is fabulous." "Walay, mido yidi ma" means "oh my God, I like/love/want you." Hilarious. Side note: in Fulfulde, they have very specific and very general verbs. For example, there is a verb that just means "to draw water from the well." There is a specific verb for harvesting millet versus harvesting rice. But to like, to love, and to want are all the same verb. And that can be an important distinction. But it doesn't exist in Fulfulde. Walay, I love this language and all its ridiculousness. :)
Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiSVRWIIKuk&feature=related
It's in Fulfulde and features Peuhl women. I hear it all the time in village-- people play it on their cell phones, women sing it in rhythm with their pounding when they pound millet with their giant mortar and pestles. It's pretty freakin' awesome. My favorite is the "Walay, mido yidi ma!" Walay is also my new fave expression in Fulfulde, it means 'oh my!' and is derived from 'walay Allah!' meaning 'oh my God!' People say it all the time, as in "walay, that kid is in trouble," or "walay, that outfit is fabulous." "Walay, mido yidi ma" means "oh my God, I like/love/want you." Hilarious. Side note: in Fulfulde, they have very specific and very general verbs. For example, there is a verb that just means "to draw water from the well." There is a specific verb for harvesting millet versus harvesting rice. But to like, to love, and to want are all the same verb. And that can be an important distinction. But it doesn't exist in Fulfulde. Walay, I love this language and all its ridiculousness. :)
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the time with family and friends, and eating lots of yummy turkey! I will be spending Turkey Day with my PC family at Mac 's Refuge, a hotel in Sevare run by an expat named Mac. He is cooking Thanksgiving dinner for us, which includes a roast pig, mashed potatoes, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and some sort of fruit dish. Should be yummy! :)
So what are you thankful for this year? Having unlimited time by myself to think, I feel like I have never been more grateful for so many people and things in my life. So this Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for:
- The kindness and understanding of strangers, who are now becoming friends
- My family and friends back home
- Mail from home, and friends who make the effort to stay in touch
- New PC friends
- Skype
- Being an American citizen
- Shade and trees
- Yoga
- The variety of food available in the US
- Travel and making a new home
- Ridiculously bright colored fabric (and fabric with Barack and Michelle Obama's faces on it!! I have an outfit completely made of it, it's fabulous)
- My bike, and the bike ride into Sevare
- BBC World Service on my shortwave radio
- Electricity, running water/indoor plumbing, and the Internet once very 2 weeks
Most of all, though, I am thankful to all of you for reading this and supporting me. I am so grateful to have this opportunity, and love the challenges that it presents me with daily, but I could not do it without the support of family and friends from home. So thank you!
So what are you thankful for this year? Having unlimited time by myself to think, I feel like I have never been more grateful for so many people and things in my life. So this Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for:
- The kindness and understanding of strangers, who are now becoming friends
- My family and friends back home
- Mail from home, and friends who make the effort to stay in touch
- New PC friends
- Skype
- Being an American citizen
- Shade and trees
- Yoga
- The variety of food available in the US
- Travel and making a new home
- Ridiculously bright colored fabric (and fabric with Barack and Michelle Obama's faces on it!! I have an outfit completely made of it, it's fabulous)
- My bike, and the bike ride into Sevare
- BBC World Service on my shortwave radio
- Electricity, running water/indoor plumbing, and the Internet once very 2 weeks
Most of all, though, I am thankful to all of you for reading this and supporting me. I am so grateful to have this opportunity, and love the challenges that it presents me with daily, but I could not do it without the support of family and friends from home. So thank you!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Aid debate
In this Sunday's NYT, there was a fabulous book review by Nicholas Kristof about the current debate regarding foreign aid and development. I highly recommend you check it out: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/books/review/Kristof-t.html
PPP-ers will enjoy the Hegel reference. :) Also, what he says about NGOs and their white SUVs could not be more true - I like to call Sevare the land of the white SUVs because you see so many driving by, each with their respective NGO logos on the car door.
PPP-ers will enjoy the Hegel reference. :) Also, what he says about NGOs and their white SUVs could not be more true - I like to call Sevare the land of the white SUVs because you see so many driving by, each with their respective NGO logos on the car door.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Rockin the Mali Life
Sorry that I haven't updated in a while, it takes a lot of time to write a blog entry, and though the one thing that I have in large quantities here is free time, that free time never seems to be around an internet connection.
So what is new in my life? I spent a couple days up at my friend Eliza's site - I needed a breather from mine. It was a great time, I hung out with her host family and saw not one but TWO camels! Wildlife in Mali is pretty much nonexistent, especially up in the Mopti region. There are lizards out the wazoo, but other than that most animals are domesticated. The Fulbe people are cow-herders, so I see/live in the same concession as a herd of cows, as well as sheep, goats, and chickens. Then I was off to the Halloween party in Douentza, where I was a member of The Black Eyed Peas (the band)....as in me and 3 friends blacked out our eyes with eyeliner and ducktaped the letter "P" on our shirts. Clever, n'est pas?
I've been at site for the past 10 days, working on my community needs assessment that is due at training in December. It's actually pretty hard to do, considering the language barrier that still exists. I can ask the questions, but understanding the answer is a whole other issue. I'm going to get a plot of my own in the community garden, which is very exciting. I will have fresh tomatoes soon! I have a new homologue now, her name is Adama. She is absolutely fantastic, very motivated. I think we will work well together. I spoke with Moussa, who is my contact at the NGO I'm working with, and the main project he wants me to work on is building a website for our ecotourism project...eeeks! I can do it, but there are so many questions involved, especially about the sustainability of it. And my role here is to aid Malians in developing their own skills, so I would really prefer to train a Malian in basic computer/Internet skills, and then have him/her build the website.
I just finished reading The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs, which is a phenomenal book, aside from the fact that his solution is to throw money at the problem. I know that aid is necessary, but the more time I spend in Mali, the more I feel that money isn't going to solve the problems here. Malians have come to expect NGO/aid workers such as myself to come into their villages, give them something like a money, a school building, or a water pump, and then leave. This creates a huge problem. For example, in my village we have a water pump, but it's broken. An NGO came in to install it, but never taught anyone in the village how to maintain it, or created a plan to ensure that it would be funded in a sustainable manner when it needed repairs. As a result, we get our water from a well that isn't even cemented...the water is brown when it comes out of the well. This largely contributes to diseases like diarrhea, which can be fatal here. (I have a water filter, so I have a clean water supply, but I'm the only person out of 400 in my village that does.) What Malians need are dedicated and educated teachers that can transfer skills in public health, agriculture, environmental sustainability, and business development. But that takes money, so it's just a huge cycle. Sachs had an excellent point that those in extreme poverty do need the help to take that first step in development, especially in places faced with HIV/AIDS. (Side note: AIDS is present in Mali, but the percentage of people who reportedly have it is less than in the US, so it is not a major part of life here yet, as it is in countries such as Malawi.) I highly recommend the book to all those interested in development, just remember that money is not the only thing necessary to solve the problems facing the people of Africa.
The other big piece of news in my life is that I recently adopted a kitten!! His name is Winston, and he is absolutely adorable. He was Ali's (my friend 1k from me), but her allergies got to be too bad, so I recently acquired him. I will get pictures up as soon as I can...as in don't expect any for at least a couple months, things move slowly here. :)
I want to thank you all for being so generous in packages and letters! I feel very loved :)
And so sorry to respond to emails via blog, but my internet time is limited and this is the fastest and easiest way:
Katie C: Thanks so much for you email! People who have never spent a long time away from home don't really understand how much it means to hear everyday news that they consider to be boring. But to me, I'm missing out on the everyday stuff and it's incredibly exciting! So thank you, I will try to respond asap. I loved the picture of you and the kiddies. What a great aunt you are! Good luck with the college kids.
Sam: LOVE the bridesmaid dresses. Yes, I looked at every option. And I just got the pic of your wedding dress...GORGEOUS!!!! I can't wait to see pics of the actually wedding.
E: Glad we got to talk last night, remember that you are an amazing person! Miss you so much! Hugs!!
Love to you all! Have a happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy the time with family and friends!
So what is new in my life? I spent a couple days up at my friend Eliza's site - I needed a breather from mine. It was a great time, I hung out with her host family and saw not one but TWO camels! Wildlife in Mali is pretty much nonexistent, especially up in the Mopti region. There are lizards out the wazoo, but other than that most animals are domesticated. The Fulbe people are cow-herders, so I see/live in the same concession as a herd of cows, as well as sheep, goats, and chickens. Then I was off to the Halloween party in Douentza, where I was a member of The Black Eyed Peas (the band)....as in me and 3 friends blacked out our eyes with eyeliner and ducktaped the letter "P" on our shirts. Clever, n'est pas?
I've been at site for the past 10 days, working on my community needs assessment that is due at training in December. It's actually pretty hard to do, considering the language barrier that still exists. I can ask the questions, but understanding the answer is a whole other issue. I'm going to get a plot of my own in the community garden, which is very exciting. I will have fresh tomatoes soon! I have a new homologue now, her name is Adama. She is absolutely fantastic, very motivated. I think we will work well together. I spoke with Moussa, who is my contact at the NGO I'm working with, and the main project he wants me to work on is building a website for our ecotourism project...eeeks! I can do it, but there are so many questions involved, especially about the sustainability of it. And my role here is to aid Malians in developing their own skills, so I would really prefer to train a Malian in basic computer/Internet skills, and then have him/her build the website.
I just finished reading The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs, which is a phenomenal book, aside from the fact that his solution is to throw money at the problem. I know that aid is necessary, but the more time I spend in Mali, the more I feel that money isn't going to solve the problems here. Malians have come to expect NGO/aid workers such as myself to come into their villages, give them something like a money, a school building, or a water pump, and then leave. This creates a huge problem. For example, in my village we have a water pump, but it's broken. An NGO came in to install it, but never taught anyone in the village how to maintain it, or created a plan to ensure that it would be funded in a sustainable manner when it needed repairs. As a result, we get our water from a well that isn't even cemented...the water is brown when it comes out of the well. This largely contributes to diseases like diarrhea, which can be fatal here. (I have a water filter, so I have a clean water supply, but I'm the only person out of 400 in my village that does.) What Malians need are dedicated and educated teachers that can transfer skills in public health, agriculture, environmental sustainability, and business development. But that takes money, so it's just a huge cycle. Sachs had an excellent point that those in extreme poverty do need the help to take that first step in development, especially in places faced with HIV/AIDS. (Side note: AIDS is present in Mali, but the percentage of people who reportedly have it is less than in the US, so it is not a major part of life here yet, as it is in countries such as Malawi.) I highly recommend the book to all those interested in development, just remember that money is not the only thing necessary to solve the problems facing the people of Africa.
The other big piece of news in my life is that I recently adopted a kitten!! His name is Winston, and he is absolutely adorable. He was Ali's (my friend 1k from me), but her allergies got to be too bad, so I recently acquired him. I will get pictures up as soon as I can...as in don't expect any for at least a couple months, things move slowly here. :)
I want to thank you all for being so generous in packages and letters! I feel very loved :)
And so sorry to respond to emails via blog, but my internet time is limited and this is the fastest and easiest way:
Katie C: Thanks so much for you email! People who have never spent a long time away from home don't really understand how much it means to hear everyday news that they consider to be boring. But to me, I'm missing out on the everyday stuff and it's incredibly exciting! So thank you, I will try to respond asap. I loved the picture of you and the kiddies. What a great aunt you are! Good luck with the college kids.
Sam: LOVE the bridesmaid dresses. Yes, I looked at every option. And I just got the pic of your wedding dress...GORGEOUS!!!! I can't wait to see pics of the actually wedding.
E: Glad we got to talk last night, remember that you are an amazing person! Miss you so much! Hugs!!
Love to you all! Have a happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy the time with family and friends!
Monday, October 12, 2009
Can you say awkward?
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.
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.
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.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Success!
This is going to be short, because it's 6am and I'm exhausted, but wanted to update really fast before I head out to site again. So what's new...hmmm...Well, I survived the first 10 days at site! Sassolo is pretty great so far. The people are incredibly warm and welcoming, and I'm getting settled in. My job for these first three months at site is to integrate and to learn about my village. Most of my days I spend greeting...now what exactly is greeting, an American might ask? Greeting is incredibly important in Mali, and a good way to integrate into the community. Basically, for 2 hours every morning and 2 hours every afternoon I go around my village and greet people. Kind of like trick-or-treating, only in a foreign language and there's no candy involved. Other than just going around, greeting, talking, and asking questions, I spend a lot of time reading. I've read the last Harry Potter book again, but also the Foreign Policy journals you sent me, Mom, so I've been somewhat productive, right? Haha
My language is okay, I can communicate but just barely. The women are so funny when I talk to them - every new woman I meet asks the same questions: Can you draw water from the well? Can you speak Fulfulde? Can you wash your own clothes? Can you cook lunch? Most of them have never spent any time with an American before, let alone live with one, so their curiosity is understandable. It's just funny that they are so amazed when I tell them that I can, in fact, cook macaroni for lunch. I'm the first volunteer at my site ever, so I think a lot of my work will be in just sensitizing people to American culture, and vice versa. Answering a lot of questions. And asking a lot of questions too.
I'm in Sevare right now, headed back to site in 20 minutes for the day, and then I'm headed back into Sevare on Sunday-Tuesday. We're doing a regional project for Global Handwashing (with soap!) Day in October, and are planning stuff for that at the PC Bureau. So hooray!
I just want to thank all of you who read this, comment, or send emails...the support has been incredible, and means so much more than you know. Thanks for being there, sending your kind words, and being so generous in your time. The past couple days it's been rough being away from home, even as I feel like I'm really making a new home here. So thank you for the letters, emails, packages, blog comments, everything...they keep me going :)
My language is okay, I can communicate but just barely. The women are so funny when I talk to them - every new woman I meet asks the same questions: Can you draw water from the well? Can you speak Fulfulde? Can you wash your own clothes? Can you cook lunch? Most of them have never spent any time with an American before, let alone live with one, so their curiosity is understandable. It's just funny that they are so amazed when I tell them that I can, in fact, cook macaroni for lunch. I'm the first volunteer at my site ever, so I think a lot of my work will be in just sensitizing people to American culture, and vice versa. Answering a lot of questions. And asking a lot of questions too.
I'm in Sevare right now, headed back to site in 20 minutes for the day, and then I'm headed back into Sevare on Sunday-Tuesday. We're doing a regional project for Global Handwashing (with soap!) Day in October, and are planning stuff for that at the PC Bureau. So hooray!
I just want to thank all of you who read this, comment, or send emails...the support has been incredible, and means so much more than you know. Thanks for being there, sending your kind words, and being so generous in your time. The past couple days it's been rough being away from home, even as I feel like I'm really making a new home here. So thank you for the letters, emails, packages, blog comments, everything...they keep me going :)
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Site = Awesome
Getting to Sevare from Bamako was quite the experience! All 18 PCTs going to the Mopti region traveled with our homologues by public bus. It was an adventure and a half. First, we blew a tire just outside of Bamako - right at my homestay village, actually. So after we fixed the tire, about 4 hours later we stopped in Segou for lunch...and the bus broke down. Initially we tried pushing the bus Little Miss Sunshine-style, but we failed. So we had to wait at Segou for about 2 hours while they found a replacement part and fixed it. The next nine hours to San and then Sevare were relatively uneventful, but forty-five minutes out of Sevare we literally hit a cow! We drove over it with one tire but then swerved so it avoided the back tire. Luckily the bus didn't flip. It was hardcore storming then too, so we could barely see in front of us. Headlights and windshield wipers are for wimps, haha. So funny though, we ran over a cow. Total travel time: 14 hours.
When we got to Sevare, the PCVs were waiting to greet us and took us to an awesome hotel. It's run by a former American missionary named Mac. For breakfast, he made us French toast, pancakes, yogurt, and fruit and granola - so yummy. The next day in Sevare we set up our banking accounts, went to the PC Bureau, and basically familiarized ourselves with the city. Finally, it was just me, Ali (the vol 1K from me - she's super nice, I'm so glad we're so close), and Katie, the PCV who was our site visit buddy. We biked the 9K to Ali's village, met with the mayor, and then we biked 1K to my village.
My village is beautiful! We don't have electricity, which is absolutely fine, because at night the stars are GORGEOUS. I have stairs to my roof too, so in the hot season I can sleep up there in my bug hut. Super excited about that! My nyegen is huge too - I'm going to put some rice sack gardens out there I think, so that way the goats won't eat my tomatoes, basil, lettuce, and onions. It's going to be awesome. When we got to my village, there was a wonderful celebration waiting for us. Representatives of the surrounding village's women's groups were there, and all the kids in my village, plus the amiiri (village chief). There was a tom-tom, and Katie, Ali, and I all danced with the villagers for a while. I'm sure it amused them, and it was a lot of fun.
My supervisor's name is Moussa, and he is super motivated and very excited to begin our reforestation work. I saw the tree plantations, and they're huge! After that, I planted an entire field of millet - quite the adventure. He also wants to plan an Earth Day-esque festival of sorts, where all the villagers will plant a tree and we'll hold sessions on environmental sensibilation and awareness - like why it's important to replace the trees that are cut down for firewood. My big project will be ecotourism though - it almost seems like more of a SED site than an environment one, so I'm going to have to do some fun reading on business/marketing/finance stuff. The women's association also wants to start a garden, and I'm very excited to work with them on it. The president of the women's association, Kumbari, is my host mom, and she is so hilarious. She's going to be fun to work with for the next two years.
On the whole, I really enjoyed site visit. We had been warned by current volunteers that it would be absolutely horrible - it's the first time that you are truly by yourself, without any other PC peeps around. But I had a lot of fun, and didn't feel alone or abandoned at all - probably because Ali was so close, but also because the people in my village were so welcoming and eager to talk to me. My Fulfulde is still a bit rough (and will be for at least the next year), but I was able to have some good conversations, and Kumbari understands my pronunciation and translates to everyone else what I'm trying to say. We had some good times together. So hooray for a good site visit, and only 2 1/2 weeks left in training!
When we got to Sevare, the PCVs were waiting to greet us and took us to an awesome hotel. It's run by a former American missionary named Mac. For breakfast, he made us French toast, pancakes, yogurt, and fruit and granola - so yummy. The next day in Sevare we set up our banking accounts, went to the PC Bureau, and basically familiarized ourselves with the city. Finally, it was just me, Ali (the vol 1K from me - she's super nice, I'm so glad we're so close), and Katie, the PCV who was our site visit buddy. We biked the 9K to Ali's village, met with the mayor, and then we biked 1K to my village.
My village is beautiful! We don't have electricity, which is absolutely fine, because at night the stars are GORGEOUS. I have stairs to my roof too, so in the hot season I can sleep up there in my bug hut. Super excited about that! My nyegen is huge too - I'm going to put some rice sack gardens out there I think, so that way the goats won't eat my tomatoes, basil, lettuce, and onions. It's going to be awesome. When we got to my village, there was a wonderful celebration waiting for us. Representatives of the surrounding village's women's groups were there, and all the kids in my village, plus the amiiri (village chief). There was a tom-tom, and Katie, Ali, and I all danced with the villagers for a while. I'm sure it amused them, and it was a lot of fun.
My supervisor's name is Moussa, and he is super motivated and very excited to begin our reforestation work. I saw the tree plantations, and they're huge! After that, I planted an entire field of millet - quite the adventure. He also wants to plan an Earth Day-esque festival of sorts, where all the villagers will plant a tree and we'll hold sessions on environmental sensibilation and awareness - like why it's important to replace the trees that are cut down for firewood. My big project will be ecotourism though - it almost seems like more of a SED site than an environment one, so I'm going to have to do some fun reading on business/marketing/finance stuff. The women's association also wants to start a garden, and I'm very excited to work with them on it. The president of the women's association, Kumbari, is my host mom, and she is so hilarious. She's going to be fun to work with for the next two years.
On the whole, I really enjoyed site visit. We had been warned by current volunteers that it would be absolutely horrible - it's the first time that you are truly by yourself, without any other PC peeps around. But I had a lot of fun, and didn't feel alone or abandoned at all - probably because Ali was so close, but also because the people in my village were so welcoming and eager to talk to me. My Fulfulde is still a bit rough (and will be for at least the next year), but I was able to have some good conversations, and Kumbari understands my pronunciation and translates to everyone else what I'm trying to say. We had some good times together. So hooray for a good site visit, and only 2 1/2 weeks left in training!
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
I know my site!
Today I learned my site placement for the next two years! I am in a small village of 400 people about 20 kilometers outside of Sevare, in the Mopti region of Mali. I will be living with a host family, though I will have my own house with two rooms and a veranda (that means shade! hooray!) I am 1 kilometer away from a village with a larger market, which is on the Niger. So lots of fresh veggies and fish! My banking town will probably be Sevare though, which is also where the Peace Corps stage house is for the Mopti region. That means that I will most likely have internet access about once every two weeks or so, which is great.
I am so excited for my site though! The Mopti region is where Dogon country is - it's the part of Mali that most tourists go to because the Dogon people are famous for their masks, dancing, and art. They live on cliffs in these really neat houses. I'm glad I'm so close - it's supposed to be a great place to hike. My homologue is a 19 year old woman. I get to meet her tonight, and I'm so excited to have someone close to my age to work with.
Most of my work will involve reforestation and gardening. My homologue works for Planete Verte, a French NGO, so we will be implementing some of their programs in addition to my own ideas. As a secondary project, I have the opportunity to work with a women's association which makes leather products. They want to improve their product and then improve their business skills - expand into new markets and such. I don't know a lot about leather, but I'm excited to learn - what a cool skill that will be to have! And I'm glad I get to incorporate gender and development (GAD) and SED ideas into my service - it sounds pretty ideal for me. I'm traveling to Mopti for a site visit on Sunday for one week, so I will have a better idea of what my life will be like after that. I'm so ready to see it and finally know for certain! This whole moving every 12 days is getting a bit rough - I'm fine living almost anywhere in the world, as long as I can settle there and not move constantly. But I am so happy about my site - it's close enough to a big city that I'll have fairly regular internet access but en brousse enough that I'll still have the village experience. And I can't wait to start planting trees!
Currently listening to: Feist, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Other Lives
Currently reading: Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
I am so excited for my site though! The Mopti region is where Dogon country is - it's the part of Mali that most tourists go to because the Dogon people are famous for their masks, dancing, and art. They live on cliffs in these really neat houses. I'm glad I'm so close - it's supposed to be a great place to hike. My homologue is a 19 year old woman. I get to meet her tonight, and I'm so excited to have someone close to my age to work with.
Most of my work will involve reforestation and gardening. My homologue works for Planete Verte, a French NGO, so we will be implementing some of their programs in addition to my own ideas. As a secondary project, I have the opportunity to work with a women's association which makes leather products. They want to improve their product and then improve their business skills - expand into new markets and such. I don't know a lot about leather, but I'm excited to learn - what a cool skill that will be to have! And I'm glad I get to incorporate gender and development (GAD) and SED ideas into my service - it sounds pretty ideal for me. I'm traveling to Mopti for a site visit on Sunday for one week, so I will have a better idea of what my life will be like after that. I'm so ready to see it and finally know for certain! This whole moving every 12 days is getting a bit rough - I'm fine living almost anywhere in the world, as long as I can settle there and not move constantly. But I am so happy about my site - it's close enough to a big city that I'll have fairly regular internet access but en brousse enough that I'll still have the village experience. And I can't wait to start planting trees!
Currently listening to: Feist, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Other Lives
Currently reading: Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
Mexican food!!!
August 7, 2009
So last night, the group of eight of us in my village made the best tubab (foreigner) meal in the history of the world. Ever. We made Mexican food, and it tasted like real, legit Mexican food! Epic success of the century. So this is going to be a lot of detail, but this was such an accomplishment that I need to capture it. Everyone can either just ignore this or be amazed at our wonderfulness.
So the goal was to make burritos. We started cooking the meal at 11am. First, we seared the goat meat (cow wasn't available), and then we braised it for the next 5 or 6 hours in a mixture of water, tomatoes, tomato paste, cucumbers, garlic, onions, limes, maggi seasoning, salt and pepper, and one scotch bonnet hot pepper. While the meat was slowly cooking, we sorted and cleaned the beans and rice (technically class was happening during this time period. Obviously we learned a lot - haha). We cooked the beans with onion and garlic, and then made legit Mexican rice using tomato paste and some seasoning.
Now, for the best part: the pseudo-salsa. And I'm not just saying that because it's what I helped with. We mashed tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions together with a little bit of lime juice, sugar, salt and pepper, and garlic. Then, we added the only avocado we could find in the entire market. It was so delicious. Words cannot describe the fabulousness of fresh veggies in salsa form.
Next, we made tortillas from scratch using flour, water, and a teensy bit of oil. We made them as we needed them, so they were fresh and warm when we were eating. And voila! the final product...a burrito made with a fresh tortilla, fabulously seasoned goat meat (it tasted like pulled pork), rice and beans, fresh lettuce, hot peppers, our salsa concoction, and lime juice! Wonderful.
I haven't been away from the States long enough to forget that most of you reading this have access to burritos almost 24/7, and thus might not understand the pure joy garnered from this meal. So just imagine that you've gone without your absolute favorite food for four weeks, and are at the point where you're having vivid dreams about it - a side effect of the antimalarial prophylaxis. Then, you have the opportunity to make it, but things rarely if ever go as planned here. So you have incredibly low expecations but are still secretly harboring a hope that you will succeed...and then you succeed in such an epic way that it's beyond amazing! Gassi sanne! (very good) What a great night, with such great friends. I haven't laughed so much in a long time. Fabulous. :)
So last night, the group of eight of us in my village made the best tubab (foreigner) meal in the history of the world. Ever. We made Mexican food, and it tasted like real, legit Mexican food! Epic success of the century. So this is going to be a lot of detail, but this was such an accomplishment that I need to capture it. Everyone can either just ignore this or be amazed at our wonderfulness.
So the goal was to make burritos. We started cooking the meal at 11am. First, we seared the goat meat (cow wasn't available), and then we braised it for the next 5 or 6 hours in a mixture of water, tomatoes, tomato paste, cucumbers, garlic, onions, limes, maggi seasoning, salt and pepper, and one scotch bonnet hot pepper. While the meat was slowly cooking, we sorted and cleaned the beans and rice (technically class was happening during this time period. Obviously we learned a lot - haha). We cooked the beans with onion and garlic, and then made legit Mexican rice using tomato paste and some seasoning.
Now, for the best part: the pseudo-salsa. And I'm not just saying that because it's what I helped with. We mashed tomatoes, cucumbers, and red onions together with a little bit of lime juice, sugar, salt and pepper, and garlic. Then, we added the only avocado we could find in the entire market. It was so delicious. Words cannot describe the fabulousness of fresh veggies in salsa form.
Next, we made tortillas from scratch using flour, water, and a teensy bit of oil. We made them as we needed them, so they were fresh and warm when we were eating. And voila! the final product...a burrito made with a fresh tortilla, fabulously seasoned goat meat (it tasted like pulled pork), rice and beans, fresh lettuce, hot peppers, our salsa concoction, and lime juice! Wonderful.
I haven't been away from the States long enough to forget that most of you reading this have access to burritos almost 24/7, and thus might not understand the pure joy garnered from this meal. So just imagine that you've gone without your absolute favorite food for four weeks, and are at the point where you're having vivid dreams about it - a side effect of the antimalarial prophylaxis. Then, you have the opportunity to make it, but things rarely if ever go as planned here. So you have incredibly low expecations but are still secretly harboring a hope that you will succeed...and then you succeed in such an epic way that it's beyond amazing! Gassi sanne! (very good) What a great night, with such great friends. I haven't laughed so much in a long time. Fabulous. :)
Monday, August 10, 2009
Bisimila!
August 2, 2009
Wow, today was such a high-low day! I started off the day with a bad case of stomach cramps, but Pepto saved the day. What a great medicine. But THEN Eliza and I went to lunch with one of her professors from SIT. He is originally from Mali, but has worked in the US for a while. We ate at his brother's house in Bamako, which was nice by Western standards. It was made of stone, 4 stories tall, air-conditioned, no flies, super nice furniture, and a real toilet!! It was incredible. Lunch was delicious. We had fried rice, fish from the Niger, eggplant, onion, cabbage, and potatoes. For dessert there were mangoes - oh, so good! After the meal, he let us relax on the couches for a bit. He was so kind. It is rare to meet a Malian who understands the culture shock and adjustment, and he did perfectly.
Wow, today was such a high-low day! I started off the day with a bad case of stomach cramps, but Pepto saved the day. What a great medicine. But THEN Eliza and I went to lunch with one of her professors from SIT. He is originally from Mali, but has worked in the US for a while. We ate at his brother's house in Bamako, which was nice by Western standards. It was made of stone, 4 stories tall, air-conditioned, no flies, super nice furniture, and a real toilet!! It was incredible. Lunch was delicious. We had fried rice, fish from the Niger, eggplant, onion, cabbage, and potatoes. For dessert there were mangoes - oh, so good! After the meal, he let us relax on the couches for a bit. He was so kind. It is rare to meet a Malian who understands the culture shock and adjustment, and he did perfectly.
On the way to lunch, he gave us a bit of a mini-tour of Bamako. The University is on one of the hills, and is called the Hill of Knowledge. ATT's (the President) house is directly across from it on another hill, the Hill of Power. Protests often happen at one of those two hills, which he said are traditionally in conflict with each other. Makes sense, n'est pas? I had a great conversation with him about women and power in West Africa, which he is co-writing a book on right now. After lunch, we saw part of an amiiri (village chief) inauguration. It was so interesting - they had a 21-gun salute, lots of dancing, and I think we may have ended up on Malian TV. We also met one of his friends, who taught at IU for a while! He knew was Noblesville was! It was so funny to meet someone that knew I was from (well, almost). What a small world moment.
I was completely overwhelmed by the hospitality shown to us by Eliza's professor, though. It is true what they say about Malians - that they are the most hospitable people in the world. By the end of the day he told us we were family. This sense of hospitality just doesn't exist in the US. Or perhaps more accurately, it exists, but it is very rare for it to be genuine. In Mali, though, it's the norm. Everyone is so warm and welcoming.
As for the low of the day - when we were driving back to my homestay village, we passed a boy who had just been hit by a car. He was maybe 10 years old, and completely unconscious, just lying on the road. We saw a man pull him up by his right arm, and there was absolutely no response. If he wasn't dead before, he certainly would have been soon because of how that man picked him up. So sad. But no one could have called an ambulance. It was too late. I know I will see death a lot more frequently here than in the States, as 20% of children die before age 18. But it is still hard to see.
Despite that though, when I got back home, it turned out that there was a wedding while I was gone! (Language barrier: 1 million points. Jenny: 0 points.) I got there just as the bride was being carried out the room, completely covered in black fabric, and then thrown into a car to be driven to wherever her "wedding night" is taking place. So funny to see--lots of shouting and dancing and running around! Weddings are a big deal here, so my entire extended family was in for the night. We had lot of fun talking and chatting after dinner.
Transition what what
July 31, 2009
I talked to some people from home today, and for whatever reason, their lifestyles just seemed so foreign to me. Things like going out on the weekend, grabbing a couple drinks with friends, living maybe a bit excessively in general - I just feel so far removed from that lifestyle. It's just so incredibly different from what I am experiencing day-to-day. And the weird thing is, I know that I would be living that same lifestyle if I was in the US. Or I would want to be living that lifestyle, at least. It seems like a part of the past to me. But it's a lot of my friends' present. The transition and culture shock I went through in the past month has been rough at times, but I can tell that transitioning back to life in the States is going to be so much harder.
I talked to some people from home today, and for whatever reason, their lifestyles just seemed so foreign to me. Things like going out on the weekend, grabbing a couple drinks with friends, living maybe a bit excessively in general - I just feel so far removed from that lifestyle. It's just so incredibly different from what I am experiencing day-to-day. And the weird thing is, I know that I would be living that same lifestyle if I was in the US. Or I would want to be living that lifestyle, at least. It seems like a part of the past to me. But it's a lot of my friends' present. The transition and culture shock I went through in the past month has been rough at times, but I can tell that transitioning back to life in the States is going to be so much harder.
There is just an overall change in what brings me joy. It's odd to think that in just one month in Mali, I'm questioning things that once made me happy. Something as simple as sharing a joke with my host family, or having a good discussion with my host brother in French, now makes my day. A good rain makes me smile for the rest of the day. I've always valued the simple things in life, but after living with the rural poor of Mali for a month, I feel that they have even more meaning.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
A Day In The Life
Jam nyelli! That's good afternoon in Fulfulde, the language that I'm learning here. I've had a couple requests for the description of an average day, so I thought I would give y'all a brief description of what I do here most days. Tomorrow I go back to my village, and will be there for the next twelve days. Most of my days will be almost exactly like this, with the occassionally variation and French fry goodness surprise.
Around 4am, the call to prayer at the mosque across the street sounds. Now I sleep through it, and barely notice it even during the day. At 5am, the rooster starts crowing and the donkey in my family's concession starts hee-hawing. I had no idea donkeys could be so loud! The pigeons that live in the coop beside my room also wake up around this time and start dancing through the roof. I also sleep through all of this. Finally at 6:30am, my alarm goes off, and I get out of bed to give my bucket to my host mom to fill for my morning bucket bath. So I take my bucket to the nyegen (hole in the ground bathroom, like an outhouse but with no roof) and "shower." You can't greet anyone until after you bathe in the morning, so after I get dressed and everything, I walk around my concession and greet my family members individually, starting with my host dad. Then I eat some bread and cirre (rice cereal/porridge) and drink some powdered milk with chocolate added in (yummy!).
Around 7:30am, my friend Eliza comes by to pick me up for our walk to language class - it's a twenty minute walk, and one of my favorite parts of the day. They're kind of my rock. It's a nice time to just be quiet, but more often it's our chance to laugh and forget about whatever is stressing us at the moment. Eliza's going to be a really good friend of mine here - we are in the same sector, and both going to the Mopti region. She's from Ohio, went to OSU, and just finished her first year of grad school at SIT in Vermont. I'm glad we ended up in the same homestay village.
Anyway, I then have language class from 8am-12:30pm. Then we walk home for lunch, which is usually toh and fish sauce. So I eat some fruit, and my family brings me a soda, which is really nice of them. Afterwards, it's back to language and/or culture class from 2:30pm-6 or 6:30pm. Then we return home and I take another bucket bath - it's really hot here, so it's usually necessary! Then I play with my host sisters and brothers for a while, until the totally awesome French soap opera comes on TV at 7pm. It's the corniest, most ridiculous thing. Naturally, I'm totally addicted. Then I eat some rice and sauce for dinner with my host brother, who is one of the only ones who speaks French in my family. He's about 16 and really into soccer. By the time I finish thanking my three host mothers for dinner, it's about 8pm. I go read, study, or listen to some tunes for a while, and am usually asleep by 9pm at the latest. I know, I live such a wild life! But by 9pm I am out for the day. My family watches a DVD of Bob Marley in concert every night though after dinner, which is pretty sweet.
So that's basically my day here! Sorry if it was excessive detail, if you have any questions or want me to write about anything in particular let me know and I'll do my best when I return to the internet in 12 days. Photos are a no-go for right now, sadly, because I don't have a laptop and I can't use the PC comps to upload them. I'll figure something out though for the future. Miss y'all :)
Around 4am, the call to prayer at the mosque across the street sounds. Now I sleep through it, and barely notice it even during the day. At 5am, the rooster starts crowing and the donkey in my family's concession starts hee-hawing. I had no idea donkeys could be so loud! The pigeons that live in the coop beside my room also wake up around this time and start dancing through the roof. I also sleep through all of this. Finally at 6:30am, my alarm goes off, and I get out of bed to give my bucket to my host mom to fill for my morning bucket bath. So I take my bucket to the nyegen (hole in the ground bathroom, like an outhouse but with no roof) and "shower." You can't greet anyone until after you bathe in the morning, so after I get dressed and everything, I walk around my concession and greet my family members individually, starting with my host dad. Then I eat some bread and cirre (rice cereal/porridge) and drink some powdered milk with chocolate added in (yummy!).
Around 7:30am, my friend Eliza comes by to pick me up for our walk to language class - it's a twenty minute walk, and one of my favorite parts of the day. They're kind of my rock. It's a nice time to just be quiet, but more often it's our chance to laugh and forget about whatever is stressing us at the moment. Eliza's going to be a really good friend of mine here - we are in the same sector, and both going to the Mopti region. She's from Ohio, went to OSU, and just finished her first year of grad school at SIT in Vermont. I'm glad we ended up in the same homestay village.
Anyway, I then have language class from 8am-12:30pm. Then we walk home for lunch, which is usually toh and fish sauce. So I eat some fruit, and my family brings me a soda, which is really nice of them. Afterwards, it's back to language and/or culture class from 2:30pm-6 or 6:30pm. Then we return home and I take another bucket bath - it's really hot here, so it's usually necessary! Then I play with my host sisters and brothers for a while, until the totally awesome French soap opera comes on TV at 7pm. It's the corniest, most ridiculous thing. Naturally, I'm totally addicted. Then I eat some rice and sauce for dinner with my host brother, who is one of the only ones who speaks French in my family. He's about 16 and really into soccer. By the time I finish thanking my three host mothers for dinner, it's about 8pm. I go read, study, or listen to some tunes for a while, and am usually asleep by 9pm at the latest. I know, I live such a wild life! But by 9pm I am out for the day. My family watches a DVD of Bob Marley in concert every night though after dinner, which is pretty sweet.
So that's basically my day here! Sorry if it was excessive detail, if you have any questions or want me to write about anything in particular let me know and I'll do my best when I return to the internet in 12 days. Photos are a no-go for right now, sadly, because I don't have a laptop and I can't use the PC comps to upload them. I'll figure something out though for the future. Miss y'all :)
Monday, July 27, 2009
Back at Tubaniso!
I just got back from my homestay village and am back at Tubaniso for a couple days! It is absolutely wonderful to be back here - eating yummy food, hanging out with people, no donkeys and roosters waking you up at 5 am...haha! First round of homestay...complete! I'm at Tubaniso for two more days, than back in village for another 12. So if you want to reach me via email and get a close-to-immediate response, then now is the time.
Below are two entries from when I was in village that let you know a little more about my life there. I will update a little more with some more blog-ish entries if I have time, but there are 66 of us and two computers for three days, so we'll see what happens.
The letters, package, and huge amount of emails from home have been great though! I love hearing stories from home, no matter how random they are. Know that you all are in my thoughts every single day. :)
Below are two entries from when I was in village that let you know a little more about my life there. I will update a little more with some more blog-ish entries if I have time, but there are 66 of us and two computers for three days, so we'll see what happens.
The letters, package, and huge amount of emails from home have been great though! I love hearing stories from home, no matter how random they are. Know that you all are in my thoughts every single day. :)
"I'm not settlin, for anything less than everything"
July 19, 2009
After four days at homestay, I am feeling more and more like Mali is home. The routine helps, as does the little bit of language I've learned. We have language class eight hours a day - very intense! Some days we have environment training as well, and we have a practice garden at one of the other PCT's houses in our village. The garden is coming along very well for the moment. We made five raised beds to plant veggies in, and one pallpaniere (which I'm not spelling correctly, but it's like a nursery for our lettuce and cabbage). So that's exciting, hopefully it will work out and the chickens won't eat everything. We start our tree nursery on Tuesday, which I'm WAY excited about - that's what I'll be doing for the next two years! Yeah reforestation! :)
Communication is getting a bit better - my family is so funny. Every night, a guy comes over who speaks French. And every night, he says I should learn both Bambara and Fulfulde. "It's easy!" he says, but it's not at all. Relearning French, learning Fulfulde, and Bambara on top of that? Nope, too much. So I tell him that my brain is too small to learn both at the same time, and he dies laughing every time. It's like our nightly ritual - he checks to make sure that my brain hasn't grown, and then laughs his head off when I tell him it has not. Pretty funny.
My host sister, Sali, is pretty much the cutest kid ever though. She's probably a little less than a year old, and just learning how to walk. So everyday we walk around the concession together until she gets tired, and then we sit and I talk to her in English about my day. I've started singing her Sugarland songs too, which her mom is greatly amused by. Settlin is her absolute fave - she always starts giggling during the chorus, and it's adorable. I probably sing it at least ten times a day. We have a dance and everything to go with it. The kids here are so great, and we've been having fun coloring and looking at pictures together. I showed them a picture of the White House, and said "Barack Obama lives here" - and they love Barack Obama here - and they were floored. That huge house is Obama's? Crazy!! I couldn't communicate that every president lives there, but they understood the general concept. Language success!
After four days at homestay, I am feeling more and more like Mali is home. The routine helps, as does the little bit of language I've learned. We have language class eight hours a day - very intense! Some days we have environment training as well, and we have a practice garden at one of the other PCT's houses in our village. The garden is coming along very well for the moment. We made five raised beds to plant veggies in, and one pallpaniere (which I'm not spelling correctly, but it's like a nursery for our lettuce and cabbage). So that's exciting, hopefully it will work out and the chickens won't eat everything. We start our tree nursery on Tuesday, which I'm WAY excited about - that's what I'll be doing for the next two years! Yeah reforestation! :)
Communication is getting a bit better - my family is so funny. Every night, a guy comes over who speaks French. And every night, he says I should learn both Bambara and Fulfulde. "It's easy!" he says, but it's not at all. Relearning French, learning Fulfulde, and Bambara on top of that? Nope, too much. So I tell him that my brain is too small to learn both at the same time, and he dies laughing every time. It's like our nightly ritual - he checks to make sure that my brain hasn't grown, and then laughs his head off when I tell him it has not. Pretty funny.
My host sister, Sali, is pretty much the cutest kid ever though. She's probably a little less than a year old, and just learning how to walk. So everyday we walk around the concession together until she gets tired, and then we sit and I talk to her in English about my day. I've started singing her Sugarland songs too, which her mom is greatly amused by. Settlin is her absolute fave - she always starts giggling during the chorus, and it's adorable. I probably sing it at least ten times a day. We have a dance and everything to go with it. The kids here are so great, and we've been having fun coloring and looking at pictures together. I showed them a picture of the White House, and said "Barack Obama lives here" - and they love Barack Obama here - and they were floored. That huge house is Obama's? Crazy!! I couldn't communicate that every president lives there, but they understood the general concept. Language success!
Gift registries and dancing
July 16, 2009
Well, I moved in with my host family yesterday! I am officially a part of the Coulibaly family, and was named Sitan after my host mother. My host dad has at least three wives and many many children. He is a traditional healer, and it's really neat to observe his work. Women bring their sick babies to him, and he says a blessing over some herbs, and then gives them to the woman, who will make tea for her baby out of them, or bathe her baby in them. I really want to know what the herbs are. I think they are more for peace of mind and mental health than an actual medical solution, but any little bit helps here. People go to him instead of a medical center because he doesn't charge them if they can't afford it. I think he refers bad cases to the medical center though. Either way, he's a pretty cool guy.
I have my own room with a bed, screened-in window, screened-in door with a lock (and metal door on the outside - hot!), PC trunk, and...wait for it....electricity! My family lives right by the main road, so in addition to having light and a plug in my room, there is also the light from the street lamps in our concession (courtyard). It's very nice. My host family are incredibly nice and do a great job of taking care of me. Despite that, though, they speak Bambara, and I'm learning Fulfulde. And only one person, my host brother, speaks French. So it is a pretty extreme language barrier, which can be pretty isolating at times. I like to call it confusion immersion instead of language immersion. It really makes you realize how fundamental language is in our lives. How many things a day do I say just to say them? You don't realize that until you can't talk at all. But I go over to my friend Eliza's house a lot - her family speaks Fulfulde, so I get a chance to practice, and she lives right across the street.
Last night there was a huge dance on the village's soccer field. My host sister grabbed me after dinner and we ran down to the field. We had a great time dancing to what seemed like Malian rap music. They had certain groups of people stand up and perform this one dance - about 200 people were seated aruond them in a circle watching. About five girls in one line, then 5 guys across from them a little while away in another line. When the music started, they would dance across one by one and trade places. My host sister convinced me to dance once, and now everyone in the village knows my name and starts dancing when I walk by. It's pretty comical.
One more quick story - today at cross-culture training, we were discussing American and Malian practices of gift-giving. And Eliza, Emily, and I literally laughed until we cried - about the idea of gift registries! Try explaining a gift registry to someone from another country - and the third poorest country in the world at that. It still makes me laugh. Think about it - could Americans be any more lazy AND efficient at the same time? Lazy - the gift-giver has to do nothing, you can just order it online if you want to. You don't have to leave your couch. Efficient - the gift-receiver gets exactly what they need/want in an orderly fashion, and doesn't get more than one of the same gift. It's great, in the most ridiculous fashion. Maybe you had to be there. :)
Well, I moved in with my host family yesterday! I am officially a part of the Coulibaly family, and was named Sitan after my host mother. My host dad has at least three wives and many many children. He is a traditional healer, and it's really neat to observe his work. Women bring their sick babies to him, and he says a blessing over some herbs, and then gives them to the woman, who will make tea for her baby out of them, or bathe her baby in them. I really want to know what the herbs are. I think they are more for peace of mind and mental health than an actual medical solution, but any little bit helps here. People go to him instead of a medical center because he doesn't charge them if they can't afford it. I think he refers bad cases to the medical center though. Either way, he's a pretty cool guy.
I have my own room with a bed, screened-in window, screened-in door with a lock (and metal door on the outside - hot!), PC trunk, and...wait for it....electricity! My family lives right by the main road, so in addition to having light and a plug in my room, there is also the light from the street lamps in our concession (courtyard). It's very nice. My host family are incredibly nice and do a great job of taking care of me. Despite that, though, they speak Bambara, and I'm learning Fulfulde. And only one person, my host brother, speaks French. So it is a pretty extreme language barrier, which can be pretty isolating at times. I like to call it confusion immersion instead of language immersion. It really makes you realize how fundamental language is in our lives. How many things a day do I say just to say them? You don't realize that until you can't talk at all. But I go over to my friend Eliza's house a lot - her family speaks Fulfulde, so I get a chance to practice, and she lives right across the street.
Last night there was a huge dance on the village's soccer field. My host sister grabbed me after dinner and we ran down to the field. We had a great time dancing to what seemed like Malian rap music. They had certain groups of people stand up and perform this one dance - about 200 people were seated aruond them in a circle watching. About five girls in one line, then 5 guys across from them a little while away in another line. When the music started, they would dance across one by one and trade places. My host sister convinced me to dance once, and now everyone in the village knows my name and starts dancing when I walk by. It's pretty comical.
One more quick story - today at cross-culture training, we were discussing American and Malian practices of gift-giving. And Eliza, Emily, and I literally laughed until we cried - about the idea of gift registries! Try explaining a gift registry to someone from another country - and the third poorest country in the world at that. It still makes me laugh. Think about it - could Americans be any more lazy AND efficient at the same time? Lazy - the gift-giver has to do nothing, you can just order it online if you want to. You don't have to leave your couch. Efficient - the gift-receiver gets exactly what they need/want in an orderly fashion, and doesn't get more than one of the same gift. It's great, in the most ridiculous fashion. Maybe you had to be there. :)
Monday, July 13, 2009
We made it!
Hello all! I made it to Mali two days ago after goodness knows how many hours traveling...the highlight was that almost the entire group of 66 PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees - what I am right now) slept for eight hours on the floor of the Paris airport! It was pretty hilarious to see, I'm sure the French were appalled. We did see the Eiffel Tower from a distance though just as we were leaving, after we ate our last Ben & Jerry's ice cream for the next 27 months (I had cookie dough and phish food, if you were curious).
In Mali, we are at the PC training center, called Tubaniso. It is a beautiful place, and very green!! I have two fabulous roommates in my hut, and it is actually pretty cool in the evenings. Yesterday morning we woke up to a rainstorm so it was cool all day. So lovely! We have classes all day, every day - in technical aspects (that's environment for me), language, cross-cultural, and health. Today in my environment sector classes we learned how to conduct a Farmer Field School (FFS), where we would act as facilitators to a farmers group - it turns the farmers' fields into classrooms. Instead of the old top-down approach of development, the FFS acknowledges the knowledge that people already have and the skills they bring to the table. Hopefully I'll be able to implement a group like that in my village. We also learned about gathering seeds and creating plant nurseries.
Speaking of my village, I have a very very tentative site placement! I will potentially be in the Mopti region of Mali in a small village 20 km outside of a city. I will be working with a NGO worker in the areas of reforestation and agricultural ecotourism. It sounds really cool, so I hope that it works out! I would speak Fefeulde (I'm not sure if I'm spelling that right, sorry). Apparently it's a little harder to learn than Bambara, but the language teachers are great, so hopefully I won't have too much of a problem.
In other news, I saw a monkey today!! And I bought my first pagne (like a skirt) yesterday and love it, I plan on wearing it when I go to my host family on Wednesday. I will be there for a week, and am very excited to meet them and hopefully speak a little bit!
To answer some questions I've got via email:
- The time difference is 4 hours
- I am not sick (yet)
- I am not sunburned
- Only 2 mosquito bites! The bug zapper thing that my Uncle Ron gave me really works - they don't itch at all!
Hope you are all doing well, the emails and fbook posts from home have been great. I know I've only been here three days, but with all the things we've been doing, that feels like a long time! So thanks for all the support :)
In Mali, we are at the PC training center, called Tubaniso. It is a beautiful place, and very green!! I have two fabulous roommates in my hut, and it is actually pretty cool in the evenings. Yesterday morning we woke up to a rainstorm so it was cool all day. So lovely! We have classes all day, every day - in technical aspects (that's environment for me), language, cross-cultural, and health. Today in my environment sector classes we learned how to conduct a Farmer Field School (FFS), where we would act as facilitators to a farmers group - it turns the farmers' fields into classrooms. Instead of the old top-down approach of development, the FFS acknowledges the knowledge that people already have and the skills they bring to the table. Hopefully I'll be able to implement a group like that in my village. We also learned about gathering seeds and creating plant nurseries.
Speaking of my village, I have a very very tentative site placement! I will potentially be in the Mopti region of Mali in a small village 20 km outside of a city. I will be working with a NGO worker in the areas of reforestation and agricultural ecotourism. It sounds really cool, so I hope that it works out! I would speak Fefeulde (I'm not sure if I'm spelling that right, sorry). Apparently it's a little harder to learn than Bambara, but the language teachers are great, so hopefully I won't have too much of a problem.
In other news, I saw a monkey today!! And I bought my first pagne (like a skirt) yesterday and love it, I plan on wearing it when I go to my host family on Wednesday. I will be there for a week, and am very excited to meet them and hopefully speak a little bit!
To answer some questions I've got via email:
- The time difference is 4 hours
- I am not sick (yet)
- I am not sunburned
- Only 2 mosquito bites! The bug zapper thing that my Uncle Ron gave me really works - they don't itch at all!
Hope you are all doing well, the emails and fbook posts from home have been great. I know I've only been here three days, but with all the things we've been doing, that feels like a long time! So thanks for all the support :)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Aspiration Statement
PCVs are required to write an aspiration statement a week after receiving our invitations to serve. Mine is below:
A: Professional attributes you plan to use and aspirations you hope to fulfill:
I plan on using several professional attributes in my Peace Corps service in natural resource management (NRM), from my skills learned at a development internship at an NGO to my experience working in agriculture. However, the core of these attributes is my educational background. At Xavier University, I majored in the unique Philosophy, Politics, & the Public Honors Program. This interdisciplinary program studies the unifying concepts of civic engagement and the public sphere with an international focus. Through taking classes in philosophy, political science, economics, and history, I have synthesized new ways of thinking regarding public life and service. My experience in bringing together ideas from many different disciplines provides me with the necessary critical thinking background to achieve my goals during Peace Corps service.
Personal Aspirations:
B: Strategies for working effectively with host country partners to meet expressed needs: Working on a farm has taught me the importance of focus, dedication, patience, and a sense of humor, qualities which lend themselves well to working with host country partners. I am a hard worker, and my background in music has given me the creativity to think outside the box to find solutions. There are many challenging situations I might find myself in, but I plan to enter into them with an open mind and ready to ask questions – many questions.
C: Strategies for adapting to a new culture with respect to your own cultural background: Before leaving, I plan on learning as much as I can about Mali, its people, its culture, and its traditions. If there is one thing I have learned from my diverse internship experiences, however, it is that all things are subject to change. For this reason, I will enter into my service as well-prepared as possible and with an open mind and heart. Through immersing myself in Malian culture with an accepting and nonjudgmental attitude, though not forgetting my own culture, I believe I will more quickly adapt and become an active member of my new community.
D: Skills and knowledge you hope to gain during pre-service training (PST): During pre-service training, I hope to gain a solid foundation for my work as a PCV. While I know I will not learn everything, having a deeper grasp of Malian culture, NRM in Mali, and language will give me knowledge that will be vital during my service. I expect PST to be demanding, challenging, and incredibly engaging.
E: How you think PC Service will influence your personal and professional aspirations after your service ends: It is hard to say how PC service will influence my aspirations after service, as the one thing I certainly expect from being a PCV is for it to challenge and change my worldview and life goals. Whether I further pursue an international path of development work, attend graduate school, or something else entirely, I hope that as a PCV I will acquire knowledge and experience that will assist me throughout my entire life.
A: Professional attributes you plan to use and aspirations you hope to fulfill:
I plan on using several professional attributes in my Peace Corps service in natural resource management (NRM), from my skills learned at a development internship at an NGO to my experience working in agriculture. However, the core of these attributes is my educational background. At Xavier University, I majored in the unique Philosophy, Politics, & the Public Honors Program. This interdisciplinary program studies the unifying concepts of civic engagement and the public sphere with an international focus. Through taking classes in philosophy, political science, economics, and history, I have synthesized new ways of thinking regarding public life and service. My experience in bringing together ideas from many different disciplines provides me with the necessary critical thinking background to achieve my goals during Peace Corps service.
Personal Aspirations:
- Learn about Mali, its culture, and its people
- Master French and gain a solid grasp of the local language
- Make new lifelong friends and be accepted into a community
- Learn from the challenges I face in patience, dedication, and with an open mind
- Bring what I learned back to the US to share with family and friends
- Avoid snakebites and sunburns
Professional Aspirations:
- Teach my community about sustainable development as it relates to NRM
- Develop long-term NRM plans that positively impact a community
- Gain a better understanding of the environmental challenges in Mali and West Africa
- Participate in secondary projects involving gender and development and HIV/AIDS education and awareness
- Learn more about international NGOs and the complexities of development
- Determine how best to use my skills to positively change the world after service – whether through graduate school, NGO work, or something completely different
B: Strategies for working effectively with host country partners to meet expressed needs: Working on a farm has taught me the importance of focus, dedication, patience, and a sense of humor, qualities which lend themselves well to working with host country partners. I am a hard worker, and my background in music has given me the creativity to think outside the box to find solutions. There are many challenging situations I might find myself in, but I plan to enter into them with an open mind and ready to ask questions – many questions.
C: Strategies for adapting to a new culture with respect to your own cultural background: Before leaving, I plan on learning as much as I can about Mali, its people, its culture, and its traditions. If there is one thing I have learned from my diverse internship experiences, however, it is that all things are subject to change. For this reason, I will enter into my service as well-prepared as possible and with an open mind and heart. Through immersing myself in Malian culture with an accepting and nonjudgmental attitude, though not forgetting my own culture, I believe I will more quickly adapt and become an active member of my new community.
D: Skills and knowledge you hope to gain during pre-service training (PST): During pre-service training, I hope to gain a solid foundation for my work as a PCV. While I know I will not learn everything, having a deeper grasp of Malian culture, NRM in Mali, and language will give me knowledge that will be vital during my service. I expect PST to be demanding, challenging, and incredibly engaging.
E: How you think PC Service will influence your personal and professional aspirations after your service ends: It is hard to say how PC service will influence my aspirations after service, as the one thing I certainly expect from being a PCV is for it to challenge and change my worldview and life goals. Whether I further pursue an international path of development work, attend graduate school, or something else entirely, I hope that as a PCV I will acquire knowledge and experience that will assist me throughout my entire life.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The Beginning
Hey all--finally received my invitation about a week before graduating!! I'm going to be a natural resource management (NRM) volunteer in Mali. Here's a bit from the Peace Corps about what I'll be doing:
"Volunteers in Mali work with communities to reverse the effects of desertification through reforestation, agroforestry and environmental education programs, but most importantly, through the development of village-based natural resource management plans.
The NRM program in Mali is designed around the corner stones of sustainability - economics, ecology, and society.
"Volunteers in Mali work with communities to reverse the effects of desertification through reforestation, agroforestry and environmental education programs, but most importantly, through the development of village-based natural resource management plans.
The NRM program in Mali is designed around the corner stones of sustainability - economics, ecology, and society.
- Economics: Volunteers educate individuals and associations about the importance of sustainable resource use, raising their capacity to generate income while protecting their resource base
- Ecology: Volunteers enable communities to evaluate the current status and threats to their natural resource base, raising their capacity to design and implement appropriate strategies to restore and preserve their natural resources.
- Society: Volunteers seek to understand local traditions and indigenous technical knowledge systems in order to inspire culturally appropriate innovation and empower underrepresented groups (women and children) to become participants in NRM.
NRM Volunteers are essentially extension agents who work with local communities and individuals in reforestation, soil conservation, forest management, and/or environmental education efforts. Volunteers are assigned to work with the Malian government's 'Forest and Environmental Service' and other Malian organizations involved in integrated rural development efforts."
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