For those of you that do read this blog, I'd love your feedback. I know it's important to me to write for myself, but I don't have to publish every boring thing that goes on. What do you want to hear about? Culture? Projects? My personal life and thoughts? Descriptions of people in the village? Let me know so that I try to make this blog more exciting for you all to read. I also have some suggested reading for any of you really interested in this stuff.
Books on Peace Corps Life in West Africa:
-Monique and the Mango Rains (Kris Halloway)
-Nine Hills To Nambonkaha (Sarah Erdman)
Adventures in Health Education in Mali:
- Dancing Skeletons (Katherine A. Dettwyler)
(gives a great picture of malnutrition work in Mali by an American anthropologist)
Books on Development and Health
- The White Man's Burden (William Easterly)
- The End of Poverty (Jeffery Sachs)
- Pathologies of Power (Paul Farmer)
Let me know if you get a chance to read any of these.
Peace,
Emily
Friday, September 11, 2009
Partying
I have stories to write about various festivities- ranging from Peace Corps volunteers, to college-kids from Kati, to Muslims in Ramadan. It is the season! And when I return to my computer this entry will be replaced with all the details.
Andi and Sedou
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Andi and Sedou. Andi is a friend of a friend, and I got her information before heading to Mali. From the Rochester area, she now resides in New York City where she met and married Sedou. Sedou, is a Malian! Apparently there is a little pocket of Malians in NYC. Like a "Little Mali". They speak Bambara, make rice and peanut sauce and everything. Andi told me about how she once made toh on their apartment stove. I can just see Sedou instructing her on how to whip the thick paste just like the women in the Malian villages do.
So Andi has had a bit of exposure to Malian culture. She could speak a little Bambara, new some of the customs. But nothing would have prepared her for her first intense experience in Mali. After Andi and Sedou wed in New York, they planned their trip to Sedou's homeland. When I first got to Mali, I was eased into things. Surrounded by Americans, pizza for dinner the first night, a dooni-dooni philosophy of adapting to the cutlure. When Andi first came to Mali, she was thrust into the center of a traditional wedding, caught in a whirlwind as her new family welcomed their son's bride.
I imagine it somewhat like the other Malian weddings I've been to, except this time with a spunky, excited white girl as the woman of the day. She must have gotten her feet painted with henna, given traditional wedding garb to wear, and lead around all day by old women with a shawl over her head. Sitting in the middle of a circle of women, her head covered a thick scarf, she stared at the ground like she was supposed to. Meanwhile, women danced around her to the slow beat of a drum while a griot sang her blessings. All the time thinking about the next few days of house-arrest honeymoon tradition to look forward to.
"I had no idea what was going on!" she confessed. "All of the sudden an old, calloused hand started washing my face as part of the ritual. I thought, Oh there goes my makeup! Well at least no one can see because of this hooded shawl." Meanwhile, the old woman tore off the shawl to reveal the new, cleaned bride (with her mascara running) to the entire crowd.
If anyone could be a great sport about it all, it was Andi. Though new to the country, she was so genuinely excited and full of adoration. A rainstorm and family obligations kept them from getting out to Dombila, which was too bad. Andi aspires to get her medical degree and move back to Mali to work in health care. How cool is that? Sedou is now doing graduate studies in agriculture, and has actually been to Dombila doing some work while he was still in the country.
What a fascinating and courageous couple! It was a joy to meet them and I wish them all the best in their marriage. I know I'll be making a trip to NYC after my Peace Corps service for some good Bambara conversation and some Peter Pan Peanut Butter Sauce and rice. Thanks for the visit, and the blessings from Joanne and Mary!
So Andi has had a bit of exposure to Malian culture. She could speak a little Bambara, new some of the customs. But nothing would have prepared her for her first intense experience in Mali. After Andi and Sedou wed in New York, they planned their trip to Sedou's homeland. When I first got to Mali, I was eased into things. Surrounded by Americans, pizza for dinner the first night, a dooni-dooni philosophy of adapting to the cutlure. When Andi first came to Mali, she was thrust into the center of a traditional wedding, caught in a whirlwind as her new family welcomed their son's bride.
I imagine it somewhat like the other Malian weddings I've been to, except this time with a spunky, excited white girl as the woman of the day. She must have gotten her feet painted with henna, given traditional wedding garb to wear, and lead around all day by old women with a shawl over her head. Sitting in the middle of a circle of women, her head covered a thick scarf, she stared at the ground like she was supposed to. Meanwhile, women danced around her to the slow beat of a drum while a griot sang her blessings. All the time thinking about the next few days of house-arrest honeymoon tradition to look forward to.
"I had no idea what was going on!" she confessed. "All of the sudden an old, calloused hand started washing my face as part of the ritual. I thought, Oh there goes my makeup! Well at least no one can see because of this hooded shawl." Meanwhile, the old woman tore off the shawl to reveal the new, cleaned bride (with her mascara running) to the entire crowd.
If anyone could be a great sport about it all, it was Andi. Though new to the country, she was so genuinely excited and full of adoration. A rainstorm and family obligations kept them from getting out to Dombila, which was too bad. Andi aspires to get her medical degree and move back to Mali to work in health care. How cool is that? Sedou is now doing graduate studies in agriculture, and has actually been to Dombila doing some work while he was still in the country.
What a fascinating and courageous couple! It was a joy to meet them and I wish them all the best in their marriage. I know I'll be making a trip to NYC after my Peace Corps service for some good Bambara conversation and some Peter Pan Peanut Butter Sauce and rice. Thanks for the visit, and the blessings from Joanne and Mary!
The Rainy Season
I wrote this two weeks ago:
I'm tired. Happy but tired. It's been a good week. We've had two wash-out days, which everyone loves. It's an excuse to sleep in and it quiets the qualms of drought that the farmers have been worried about. Rainy Season got off to a slow start. When I was in Bamako helping with training for the new trainees, I casually mentioned to one of my fellow PCVs, "I remembered the rainy season being a lot more brutal last year." She looked at me like I was crazy- "Where have you been? We're in a drought!" Apparently we haven't seen a drier August since 1976, where millions of people struggled because of the poor harvest.
Luckily, the rain has redeemed itself this September, leaving us with two days this week where I could hardly step out of my house. I was able to do some computer work with my chef de post and catch up on my sleep however!
My thoughts to this day are more rain rain go away. The two wash out days turned into 5, and I found those lovely rainy mornings beginning to get under my skin. There are only so many hours I can sit in my hut keeping myself occupied. Only so many naps I can take, so many lists I can make of things I want to get done once the rain stops, only so much reading one can do by flashlight.
When people aren't waiting out the rain, they are sprinting to the fields to get some farming in. The kids are out of school, helping in the fields, the women have tons of work to do, and are not interested in doing health education or bringing their malnurished kids all the way to the CSCOM for weighing. And any free minute the men have, they are resting to recover their bodies from the daylight fasting of the month of Ramadan. My radio show has been rained out twice. Vaccination Days have been canceled. So again, I must report, work is on the slow side.
I have however, had a pastfew busy days in Bamako. Bamako is way more stressful than village, and I realize how much I love my life in Dombila when I'm swamped with real world stuff. It has been nice though to do some computer work and business networking. I've been chosen as the new National Coordinator for Peace Corps HIV/AIDS Task Force, so I've had a lot of, I suppose, "coordinating" to get started on. I'm also getting my travel plans all squared away for my upcoming vacation to Ghana. I'll be running the marathon there on Sept. 27. We'll see how that goes! Training has been fun- it's kept me focused and motivated, though I am still realistic about how much my body can do in this environment. I'll make sure to let you know how it goes. My first marathon, it should be lots of fun.
As far as other work in village, a couple things are going on. I'm helping with a project called "Keneya Ciwara" which is aimed at improving management in the community health centers. I'm also planning a kid's running relay to coincide with one going on back home at HFL. We're going to center it around Clean Water education, while the kids in the states are going to raise money for the expansion of our well project. I'm really excited that everyone back at home is so into this. Our run in on the 21st and I'll be sure to send some picutres.
I'm also eating cucumbers from my garden :) Ah, the simple life.
I'm tired. Happy but tired. It's been a good week. We've had two wash-out days, which everyone loves. It's an excuse to sleep in and it quiets the qualms of drought that the farmers have been worried about. Rainy Season got off to a slow start. When I was in Bamako helping with training for the new trainees, I casually mentioned to one of my fellow PCVs, "I remembered the rainy season being a lot more brutal last year." She looked at me like I was crazy- "Where have you been? We're in a drought!" Apparently we haven't seen a drier August since 1976, where millions of people struggled because of the poor harvest.
Luckily, the rain has redeemed itself this September, leaving us with two days this week where I could hardly step out of my house. I was able to do some computer work with my chef de post and catch up on my sleep however!
My thoughts to this day are more rain rain go away. The two wash out days turned into 5, and I found those lovely rainy mornings beginning to get under my skin. There are only so many hours I can sit in my hut keeping myself occupied. Only so many naps I can take, so many lists I can make of things I want to get done once the rain stops, only so much reading one can do by flashlight.
When people aren't waiting out the rain, they are sprinting to the fields to get some farming in. The kids are out of school, helping in the fields, the women have tons of work to do, and are not interested in doing health education or bringing their malnurished kids all the way to the CSCOM for weighing. And any free minute the men have, they are resting to recover their bodies from the daylight fasting of the month of Ramadan. My radio show has been rained out twice. Vaccination Days have been canceled. So again, I must report, work is on the slow side.
I have however, had a pastfew busy days in Bamako. Bamako is way more stressful than village, and I realize how much I love my life in Dombila when I'm swamped with real world stuff. It has been nice though to do some computer work and business networking. I've been chosen as the new National Coordinator for Peace Corps HIV/AIDS Task Force, so I've had a lot of, I suppose, "coordinating" to get started on. I'm also getting my travel plans all squared away for my upcoming vacation to Ghana. I'll be running the marathon there on Sept. 27. We'll see how that goes! Training has been fun- it's kept me focused and motivated, though I am still realistic about how much my body can do in this environment. I'll make sure to let you know how it goes. My first marathon, it should be lots of fun.
As far as other work in village, a couple things are going on. I'm helping with a project called "Keneya Ciwara" which is aimed at improving management in the community health centers. I'm also planning a kid's running relay to coincide with one going on back home at HFL. We're going to center it around Clean Water education, while the kids in the states are going to raise money for the expansion of our well project. I'm really excited that everyone back at home is so into this. Our run in on the 21st and I'll be sure to send some picutres.
I'm also eating cucumbers from my garden :) Ah, the simple life.
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