Figures...

Through out my service, I have had one true enemy. Yes the heat is bad and the littlest Malians that run through my closed concession gate at full speed drive me bonkers, but they are not worth more than a sigh and a stern face. And while the rains that come through my roof in rainy season irk me, and the yelling of "tubabu" by the street children and sometimes even the adults make me cringe, they are also not at the top of my list. Long lines at the bank only to be cut by the old man who ignores the bright red numbers atop the cashier's window that conveniently correspond with the number on the slip of paper in my hand and use instead the Malian hierarchy of old over young are frustrating. And barking dogs, crowing roosters, donkeys braying with all their might and guinea fowl clucking along the outsides of my walls, all adding to the before-dawn prayer call are rather bother-some. But all of these things, and everything else that I have found less than pleasant about Mali are nothing, NOTHING, compared to the item at the top of my list.

Scorpions.

From the first time I saw one trying to join me in the nyegen for my evening bath back in homestay my first month in Mali, to the almost 60 others I have seen and killed in my house, they have been my worst enemy, loathsome, awful creatures who inspire the fear in me like no other thing here in Mali. So how fitting it is, that as I am spending my last night in village, up on my roof taking in the brilliance of the stars in such a wide open sky that I would feel a pinch in my upper left arm. Of course, thinking nothing much of it, i brushed at what ever was causing me trouble. "Ugh, stupid dugu mene (biting tiny ants)," I was thinking. But the pain would not abate and began to get hot and spread through my lower arm and up into my shoulder. Henry looks for a mark, a bite, something. And as he sighs, telling me there's nothing much to see, his eyes wander to the spot on the roof I had just occupied. "Well," he says, "there's a big ass scorpion right there...."

He got the CHACO of justice, that bastard, and still I have the last word.

Did I mention....

My flights home are booked, and as the days winde down it is slowly becoming all I can think about. What will I do my last few days in Mali? What will they serve on the airplane between here and London, where I am meeting Rob, my little brother for a week of exploring? How amazing will the "foggy London-town" weather be when I get there? What will we do when we get to Paris and I STILL can't communicate with anyone? What will I do first when I get home to Seattle? What will I eat first? What will be the first caffeinated beverage I consume courtesy of good ol' Sbux? Will Simon, my dog, snub me like he did last July, barely giving me a hello before he runs off, just to prove to me that he's been fine since I left him behind, THANKYOUVERYMUCH!

With my time here coming to a close, of course I am faced with the fact that I must leave behind people I have come to think of as family. I will no longer be the focus of attention among a village of people (probably more good than bad) and people will not be awed at the fact that I speak their language instead of French. No longer will I use charades to get my point across (also a good thing?) or will I have to explain items I don't know the names for in terms of other items. (fen ka fen were tege.....? the thing that cuts that other thing?) I will miss a whole community of people: young people who will go through school and in sh'allah help to change the ace of Mali; old people who will continue to cling to their ways because really, they have been doing it that way their who lives and what is wrong with it anyway? children who will brighten the lives of other volunteers to come with their smiles, karate moves and warm and slightly sticky hands perfect for holding. I will miss the people I have shared my experience with, the other volunteers who left before me and those I will leave behind, a whole network of extended family, crazy cousins, wise aunts and uncles, brothers-in-law twice removed, that will support me and seek my support for years to come. I look forward to joining the thousands of returned volunteers before me who all have stories to rival my own.

I will miss the brilliance of the night stars with no light pollution. They really do twinkle. I will miss the beautiful colors that the women here wear and the way that they carry their babies, the way they let their children roam through village unsupervised (I was certain this was a huge mistake when I first arrived!), the way they find time to do everything that they have to do to keep their homes in order and still find time to laugh. I will miss the Malian tea and how it is a cure-all for just about everything from upset tummy and sleepiness to heat-exhaustion and the grumpies. I will miss the way Malians treat each other guests and otherwise. A 'hello' to everyone on the street, a joke between arguing parties is quelled by the exchange of last names (called joking cousins, something the US should seriously consider adopting), the offer of foo or drink or shelter or anything else you may need even if the giver doesn't have enough for two.

While I look forward to he next chapter, all filled with good cheese and beer, I will miss it all. The thought that calm my heart being of course that I am not leaving Mali forever; it is not done with me.

thank goodness for great friends

I made Thanksgiving dinner this last Tuesday at the San house. After Thanksgiving this year, we have been talking about how much fun we had and how great the food was, and how surprisingly easy it was to make it all. So through out my last few months, I have slowly collected random ingredients to go into our feast. Of course, it helps when my mom sends me a large Trader Joe's box of instant mashed potatoes, or when past volunteers send us pie crust and filling in a well thought out care package. Add to that a box of stove top that Alyssa offered up, an extra large can of green beans from the boutiki (local store), and some je (pumpkin) from my favorite vegetable lady in market, and you've got yourself a feast.

Knowing that Henry and Alyssa would most definitely be in San, we decided to get Lindsey to come in as well. And by chance, our three newest volunteers Hannah, Chrissy, and Michelle were also in. With seven of us, I had decided to pick up some extra mangoes in town and so we had a mango pie and a raspberry pie with mango on top. At the last minute, just as we were about to start dishing up, Tom came back from having tried to catch transport out to his village all day. (Africa wins again!)

With the boys out on the front porch, us girls had a great time catching up on village stories and each others' lives. When I let it spill that my conversation with my mom earlier that evening brought the unfortunate news of my school plans not coming through, it was my great friends who were there for me. "Well, lets have another drink!" said one. Others offered sympathies and support, helping me to see the bright side of it all, and letting me know that it was ok to be sad about it. And to top it all off, every one of them said "well, that means you can stay in Mali!"

I can't write the right words to convey the way it made me feel, to be surrounded by so many great people. People that a year ago, even months ago, I had not known. Is it the way that this experience throws us all together and makes us form quick bonds? Or is it that the people that choose to volunteer 2 years of their lives to a group of people half-way across the world are of a like mind and would bond together anyway? What ever it is, I thank who ever is responsible for the opportunity to make life long friends that are great for a good laugh, and a good cry, and who I could never have done this with out.

Complete!

The addition to our CSCOM (health center) is complete, we have a new maternity in Niasso!

Thank you to everyone who helped, through all forms of support, to complete this project. The women now have a brand new facility for their pre- and post-natal appointments, birthing, and child vaccinations and baby weighing, and they are beyond thrilled.

This project has been at times trying and at (most) other times eye opening and inspiring. Before the money we needed to collect was even guaranteed, the village had already gathered the materials they were supplying and had begun to make the bricks that constituted part of their community contribution. Before the project had the go-ahead, they already had faith in it.

When things began to look less positive, when our budget was about to be cut or when we had a change of Chef de Poste (director/main doctor at the health center), those involved in the project still held fast. They pushed on and held my spirits high when I was unsure of the future of the center. A community I was sent here to help helped me in the long run.

In addition, thanks to extra donations from an anonymous donor, we were able to give the women's Savings for Change group a large donation. This group was established through Oxfam in order to work with women's groups at the village level. The group provides small loans to women in the community on a quarterly basis. The group meets weekly to collect a small amount of change from each woman to put into the communal pot. When the time comes, women can petition to receive a small loan, which they then have 3 months to pay back little by little.

These loans can be used for anything, and usually are used for securing initial materials to begin an income generating activity such as soap making or selling of treats at market. These IGA's (income generating activities) help to provide women with a personal income, something many women cannot count on. They use funds for things like new fabrics for clothes for themselves and their children or paying for adult literacy classes. Some even to purchase birth control and other birth spacing tools at the CSCOM pharmacy with out having to ask their husbands for the money since many might not approve of it.

Maternity Update

One more time, I'd like to thank all of the people who helped to make this wish come true. We broke ground on the Maternity in Niasso and already the building is making its way up. The head of our ASACO (the governing board of the health center) and I have been working together on San market days to pick up the supplies for the maternity, dooni dooni (little, by little.)

We have purchased the wood and supplies to make a table for the newborn babies as before they were placed in sheets of fabric on the floor while the motther and matrone worked to finish the birth. We have also assembled a new shelf to house al of the malnutrition and birthing records for the mothers and children of the surrounding villages.

I have been away from my village helping with training these last few weeks, but I have been kept up to date with the progress the village is making to continue the project. I have been told the building itself was completed two weeks ago and the electrician has been out to price and install lights to be set up with our solar panel and car battery. This means mothers who go into labor between the hours of 6:30 pm and 5:30 am won't continue to do so in the dark or by wobbly flashlight.

As soon as the building has had sufficient time to settle, we will begin to move into it.. Already the relais (community health workers) have completed a series of trainings on health talks that they will give each week at the new maternity and each Sunday at our small village market.

36 killed in Mali stampede

By MARTIN VOGLThe Associated Press Monday, February 21, 2011; 10:53 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/21/AR2011022104121.html
BAMAKO, Mali -- At least 36 people were killed in a stampede Monday when a crowd surged against a metal barrier after a Muslim ceremony, Mali's minister of interior security and civil protection said.

Sadio Gassame said the stampede at Bamako's Modibo Keita Stadium took place during a ceremony marking the Muslim holy period of Maouloud. The incident occurred as tens of thousands of people were attempting to leave through a metallic enclosure.

Anguished families gathered outside the capital's Gabriel Toure Hospital where the staff was preparing to post a list of the dead. At least 64 others were wounded.

Sidiki Coulibaly was visibly shaken as he waited for the dreaded news. "I've already had it confirmed that my aunt died. We are now trying to find out what happened to her daughter. She's just 10 years old. They go to this event together every year," he said.

At the place where people had been crushed, security personnel were collecting piles of shoes to put into a waiting van. A young girl sat on a bucket at the edge of the scene, crying. She had lost both parents and didn't know her way home.

February News

Hey all, sorry this blog is so late in coming. These last few months have been a bit busy. I have been helping to prepare for the arrival of a new group of trainees and now that they have arrived, I have been involved in their training. They seem to be a great group of new soon-to-be volunteers; it'll be exciting to see how the rest of their training goes and to see them swear in this April.

Last night, around 1am, I was lucky enough to get some rain. A very big surprise to me, and then a big surprise to the guard at the house here in San when I proceeded to get up and stand in the rain. We're coming into hot season right now and I definitely wasn't expecting any rain for a while, but perhaps this is the first of the Mango rains. Either way, I am not complaining.

One more big piece of news; my project to build a maternity and women's center was fully funded. A huge thank you to all that helped with this project! It is because of donations and support from you all that this dream is becoming a reality. We have started the meetings to delegate tasks and as I write this, our new bricks are baking in the sun. I'll try to keep you all updated on progress as the project picks up.