Is Irene in jail?

No, she’s not. And she’s not going to be. But there was a question that she may be up for it. Is she going to be fired? Possibly. If she isn’t, she is going to quit and leave her job as a midwife, and leave the town of Dombila for good. At least that’s what she says now.

Irene was involved with what us as Americans would understand as a medical mal-practice civil case. Not quite as technical in Mali, but still gave her a bunch of problems. I’ve tried to act dumb and stay out of it but I’ve caught the drift and it’s not good.

It was revealed after a medical examination at the CESREF of Kati that Irene pushed on the stomach of a woman in labor so hard that she broke the umbilical cord. Irene didn’t call the ambulance for three days. When the women went to Kati and had 2 operations, her and her husband blamed the death of their child on Irene. “And-” as it’s always emphasized when a Malian is telling this story, “the baby was a BOY!” Oh no! Not a boy! If it was a girl, well, maybe we’d forgive her.

The father has demanded that Irene be fired from her job as a midwife. She took off to Kati for a week while ASACO had a series of meetings about it. Because there is no hard proof that she was responsible for the death of the child, she is probably not going to be fired. But according to Irene, the father said that even if she is not fired, he is going to kill her.

After all this I came to visit Irene in Kati on my way to Bamako. I was surprised to find her in good spirits. She said if it wasn’t for me, she’d call her daughter and have her bring her things and never come back. “The people of Dombila don’t trust me. The doctors in Kati say hat I’m mean and lazy and that I do not do my job well. If this is resolved, something else will come up soon. I’m done with midwife work.”

My shocked face also didn’t surprise her. “I’m not leaving you now. Once your service is up, I’ll quit. But we work together and I made a promise to Peace Corps that I would work with you and look after you. So don’t you worry. I’m not going anywhere. But when you go to America, I’m also leaving the village.”

I’ll be the last to stop her. I enjoy working with her, but her passion for the job has waned as she gradually looses her connection with the community. She is always speaking of how the Dombila women are lazy and stupid and impossible to work with. And apparently, they think the same about her. I love Irene, don’t get me wrong. She’s taken me in as her own daughter and has been enthusiastic about my projects and aspirations for Dombila. But I want to work with someone who isn’t going to walk out at the same time I do. Talk about sustainable development. If I work with one person closely for two years on improving the village, who is just going to leave the village, well, where does that leave our work?

So pray for her, and for the family of the dead child. It seems optimistic now that this situation will blow over. But the lasting effects it will have on the relationship between Irene and the community are yet to be told.