Progress

So to follow up on work in Dombila, there are some new projects on the horizon. I’ve partnered with a NGO that has worked with Peace Corps to help start up a small women’s gardening project in the village of Sidian-Coro. The boss of the NGO, a quiet, content guy in his 40s, is from the commune of Dombila, and was very eagar to work with me when I came to his office in Bamako. He also wants to be my best friend- and gave me a ride in his car all the way to Dio. It was nice, but maybe I shouldn’t have taken it. He followed up by offering to take me anywhere I wanted anytime. When he came to my site, he left shaking hands and giving me a 10,000 cfa bill (about $20) and refused to take it back. It’s so weird to have people offering me stuff when I’m used to people trying to get stuff from me. But, maybe luckily, after visiting the project site, the gardening project is not going to be as big of an ordeal as I thought, so I won’t have to deal with this weirdness too much.

Our chef de post, Bouary is still plugging away on his computer work. He seems to understand quite a bit now. While we work, we talk about projects and such. As for getting the HIV rapid test in Dombila, he thinks its extremely important and knows the CSCOM staff is capable of HIV counseling. “I know there’s AIDS here,” he says, and continues to talk about the mother-to-child prevention drug that can save infant from contracting HIV if it is detected in their mother. So I was sent on a wild goose chase, and talked to some officials in Kati. Man the situation here is terrible. There are no materials. Kati trained 17 CSCOMs in the rapid test, but the Malian government does not have their act together and these places can not be equipped with the necessary materials to continue this group. “We can’t add Dombila to this list unless we can guarantee testing materials.” It seems unbelievable to me that three decades into the AIDS epidemic, poor countries still cannot have HIV tests available to people of high risk. It seems like a deeply rooted problem, in politics and organization, deeper that I can understand right now. But I’m gonna try to dig in the dirt, get as much information as I can, and even if Dombila’s HIV rapid test does not come during my service, Peace Corps should be active in this work- find out what’s going on up there with those people in charge, and see if we can’t voice our opinions.

My biggest prospective project now is a week long school with our 30 community health workers. I’m putting together educational materials, seeking out guest speakers and trying to develop an evaluation system along side the health workers for better quality work. The training school should happen in January 2010, so there’s time, but a lot of work.

I think I’m finally getting into the swing of things with the radio show. My Bambara is comfortable enough that I can be interviewed on-air and not have to stop and ask him to repeat the question 3 times (very embarrassing). We had a great show about water sanitation in which I interviewed some people working on the project. We joked around on-air, and at that moment, I really felt like I knew this language, like I knew what I was doing, and that I was where I was supposed to be.

Handwashing stations: rest in peace. Funny story, I had a little sit down meeting with the new mayor the other day. Actually, he’s a pretty motivated and smart old thin, white haired guy. I explained to him what my job is and has been so far. I asked him for suggestions on small projects. “You know, maybe you could do something with the school.” He is not from central Dombila, mind you, but the tiny outskirt village of Koyan. “Like fix up the latrines or give them a place to wash their hands.” Sounds like a good idea doesn’t it? It’s like trying to fix a square peg in a round hole. Admit defeat?

Binot says he can make new hand washing stations with left over material from the new school. But trouble is, he also says he can do a project with me building some solar fruit mango driers to get ready for next mango season. And to top it off, the whole village is counting on him to fix these damn wells. Of the 19 that were in the project. 16 were done quickly, efficiently, and with good quality. He was a motivated worker. And then he convinced the project committee to give him all of his salary and since then, he’s been a lazy bum! I can’t get him off his feet to finish these darn 3 wells. To his defense, his two sidekicks have since abandoned him to go work in their fields, but come on! There’s only 3 left! Let’s get to it so we can moooove on! I crept up on him one morning with a branch (supposedly to whip him) only to find him listening to Malian Christian xylophone tunes on his cassette player. Darn it, he’s being all religious. I dropped the whip, said a few bean jokes, and tried to believe him when he said he’ll get to work right away.