Transition

i can't believe everything that's happened in one week.  last week this
time i was biking back to my village thinking i was going to work in
the community garden and teach english classes once again.

i've never had my life change so dramatically in one week.

packing for an emergency evacuation must be what it's like when your
house is on fire.  grab only the important things like photos,
paperwork, ID cards, etc.  turn off the gas on the stove.  don't take
anything that's too awkward to carry for long distances while walking
or riding your bike...good lord.

after an administrative version of hell on earth, a giant fire at our
training center which required us to become instant volunteer fire
fighters, a bus breaking down in the middle of bamako, and an insane
chartered plane ride with an Ethiopian airliner, we are in Ghana, only
to find ourselves back in an administrative version of hell on earth.

we are here for a transition conference.  all the volunteers from
Mali, all 200 of us.  some have been in country for 25 months, some
for 14, and then some, like me and my group, only 5 months.  we are
here to close our service in Mali.  it's hard to believe that after a
short 5 months, i am completing my close of service paperwork.

i have some options, the next 4 days will determine where i will go
next.  some people who have been in the peace corps for a longer
period of time are just calling it and going home.  most of the people
in my group are looking to transfer to other countries seeing as we
were just getting started with our service.

i am currently on a list hoping to be placed in either burkina faso,
cameroon, or senegal.  it's strange because it's quite possible that a
week from today i will be in another country going through peace corps
training AGAIN.  deja vu.  we've gone 'round in a circle sweetie
dahling.

i have an interview later today that will determine if i qualify for a
transfer position.

if i could write a letter to the coup leader in mali, this is what it would say.

"dear captain amadou sanogo,

thank you for getting your shit together and relinquishing power the
exact day that we evacuated your country. thanks alot asshole.

sincerely, goundo suko"

although i'm not quite sure how i would say that in malinke.

we'll know more information by friday.  we're all fine here, just
missing mali and feeling a little heartbroken.  it was really hard
saying bye to all the friends we've made in our communities.  eh,
allah.  insert big sigh.

i'll send another message as soon as i get news.  thanks so much for
checking in with me.  it was so great to hear from you when we got to
the hotel.  the internet service here is great, so i'll be in touch.

big love,
bevin

Mali Evacuation

it makes me very sad to tell you that we are being emergency evacuated from mali.  we received news this evening and are leaving in a few hours.  the details are in the works, and apparently we are traveling to a neighboring country to take care of all things administrative and logistical. 

i do have a little good news.  i did have the chance to bike back to my village this morning and spend the day walking around talking with people and i sort of had the chance to say goodbye.  the evacuation was not confirmed until after i left this afternoon, but i had a sneaking suspicion. 

i'll let you all know where we end up and where in the world this peace corps adventure will take us next. 

the peace corps application said, "peace corps, how far will you go?"  well, i know the answer to that now.  far.  beyond the beyonds apparently.  i feel like my life is an etch-a-sketch right now.  and somebody just shook it up somethin' awful.  

thanks for all your encouraging messages, good wishes, and prayers for safety.  we are doing well, just sad to be leaving such a wonderful country knowing that the people have such a long road ahead.  and to top it all off...it's just the beginning of hot season. 

talk to you soon-ish,
bevin

Guitar Good Times - A couple cover tunes for you

Peace Corps Mali - March 2012

Photo Time

well, since i have so much time on my hands AND internet.  i thought
i'd upload some photos from the past couple months in my village.  the
link is included below.  enjoy!  picasa is so great.  i actually had
time to add captions to the photos this time.

abrazos, bevin

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=bevin.luna&target=ALBUM&id=5721180109277979553&authkey=Gv1sRgCIGXx_3kn-iVRw&feat=email

Mali Ultimatum

Hello all! 

I am reporting from our Peace Corps safe house and I'm happy to say, it's doing a great job of keeping us safe. 

Sane however, is a whole other story.  Imagine being on house arrest in an oven set at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Yeah, that's what it's like. We're finding interesting ways to entertain ourselves for sure.  Like impromptu dance parties, dressing up in all the random clothes we've found from previous volunteers who have lived here, which proves to only worsen the hot factor, but hey, when you're bored.  Um, arts and crafts, guitar sing alongs, re-arranging furniture, banangram championships, sit-ups, push-ups, lots of reading...

One of the other Peace Corps safe houses has even made a zombie apocalypse short film, to be released only God knows when and where.  But the photos are hysterical.  I'll keep you posted on that one. 

The latest news here is not all that great because yesterday a group of leaders from the West African group ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) tried to land in Bamako in an effort to resolve the crisis, but they were forced to take a mid-air U-turn because a group of protesters flooded the runways preventing the plane from landing.  The ECOWAS leaders were forced to land in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire where they could decide how to proceed. It was definitely not a positive sign that the military leader who took control of the country could not secure the airport for the arrival of these regional leaders, sooooooooo as a result, ECOWAS has given Mali an ultimatum.  They have given the coup leaders 72 hours to step down or else sanctions will be imposed and borders will be closed, from the outside.  In other words, "get yo shit together y'all," as my mama would say.  :)

So, for the time being, we are on standby over the weekend, hoping the situation improves by Monday.  I've attached some articles for those who would like details.  Please know, we are doing well, just overwhelmed with the uncertainty of it all.  I'll be in touch as soon as we receive more news. 

Please keep Mali in your thoughts and prayers for a peaceful resolution to this crisis.  The people here are incredible.  They are dealing with enough as it is with all the poverty, poor access to healthcare, harsh environmental conditions, and gov't corruption that has led to the poor distribution of wealth.  It makes me sick inside to think of this already struggling nation to fall into a complete economic freeze.  That's the last thing on earth they need right now. 

Miss you lots and love you even more. 

Bevin     

Associated Press Thursday March 29, 2012

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jBJP9cscHHhz0YrBbzoPs-cbgFtg?docId=2cd42445afee4d35973e385df7361508

Al Jazeera Thursday March 29, 2012

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2012/03/2012329214032818296.html

Associated Press Friday March 30, 2012

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jam51r7NoZo465qsO9NnUTTve4CA?docId=e0ac562cccd24ce2801b50c06794e60f

Oh Mali

hey y'all,

how's it going?  i saw a super cool chameleon in a mango tree yesterday morning.  we had a staring contest.  he lost every round with those shifty eyes.  also, yesterday afternoon i transplanted some onions in my garden with my gardening friend gesa.  oh village life is so lovely.  

other minor news, two days ago, a mutinous group of malian soldiers overthrew the government of mali, removed the president from office and declared the malian constitution to be suspended until further notice.  seriously. 

this is all over the news in the states i'm sure.  i just wanted to let y'all know.  we are all safe and secure here.  please don't worry!  the peace corps is taking excellent care of us.  we have an excellent emergency action plan in place, and at this point we are waiting to see if everything calms down over the weekend.  we have our bags packed in case of an emergency evacuation, but we're all really hoping we can stay.  mali's a wonderful place and it would be a shame if we had to leave. 

supposedly, the military group is planning to hand back power to civilians on tuesday march 27th.  we're all hoping and praying everything stays peaceful and we can all go back to normal life.  as for now, please know, we are in good hands.  here's a link to a new york times article that covers the situation. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/world/africa/mali-coup-france-calls-for-elections.html?_r=1&ref=mali

i appreciate all the sweet messages and prayers.  y'all make a girl feel awfully special. 

i'll keep you posted with more news as it becomes available. 

as always, i miss everyone LIKE CRAZY.

lots of love from mali,
bevin    

What is your job anyway?

Someone asked me the other day, “what exactly is your job as a Peace Corps volunteer?”

That is a really good question.

Answering that question is an ongoing process.  I’m learning more and more about what my job is every day.  I think for each individual volunteer the answer to this question is very different, but I’ll try and explain to you what my job is and what it will be over the next couple years. 

First I’d like to share with you the Peace Corps Act.

“The Congress of the United States declares that it is the policy of the United States and the purpose of this Act to promote world peace and friendship through a Peace Corps, which shall make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the United States qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower, particularly in meeting the basic needs of those living in the poorest areas of such countries, and to help promote a better understanding of the American people on the part of the peoples served and a better understanding of other peoples on the part of the American people.”

Now, here’s a little about the early stages of actually becoming a volunteer.  During our first 9 weeks, we completed an intense training that focused heavily on language and cultural aspects of living in Mali.  Then, in January, we held our swearing-in ceremony after which we were all sent to our individual villages to begin our work.  For the first three months, we have been instructed to focus on getting to know our community, building good relationships, drawing community maps, learning peoples’ schedules, identifying resources available, and identifying people in the community who are motivated and ready to help implement sustainable projects that will meet community needs.  Integration is the key word during these first three months.  We are also learning how to live and complete simple daily tasks.  Needless to say, it’s been an adjustment living without electricity or running water.  Simple tasks that are taken care of at home in the US are all of the sudden, not so simple anymore.  But you know what the best part is…it’s do-able, and it’s really helping me realize how little I really need to use in a day as far as resources are concerned; fire, food, shelter, clean water are the main 4 items.  I think freedom from violence and access to education are other important ones too, but I’ll write about those another day, another blog. 

As a volunteer we have been given a number of responsibilities.  I’d like to talk specifically about two of them that are very important to me. 

1)      I will become an integral member of a Malian community where I will spend the majority of my time working and living with the people I’m serving.  I will strive to integrate into my community spending more time with Malian colleagues and counterparts than with other Americans and expatriates. 

2)      As a development professional, I will embrace a grass-roots, community-based approach to development, working to meet the needs and wishes of as many community members as possible.  I will support Peace Corps objectives of capacity building and sustainability by working with Malian community members and counterparts on all projects, ensuring that they are active participants at meetings, planning sessions, project implementation, and evaluation activities. 

These are the two responsibilities I’ve been keeping in mind as I learn more about my community and what my job will entail as a volunteer.  With these responsibilities I’ve recognized many areas where my village needs assistance.  People in my village regularly express to me their concerns, and the main ones that continue to be brought to my attention are lack of water, lack of health care facilities, and lack of resources for the school.  My job here will be to capacity build, help people recognize resources available in their community that can help generate income and initiate development to improve living conditions.  Through my experience and training I have been assigned as an environment volunteer to place priority on gardening, farming activities, and natural resource management, but I think I will be working a little in other sectors as well.  In addition to my focus on environment, I will be working to help connect my community with local resources and form partnerships that will facilitate further development with regards to water and sanitation, public health, and education.  These partnerships will be with local associations, NGOs, government representatives, and others.   

The key to all of this, of course, is keeping the community involved.  If I want any of the projects I’ll be working on to succeed, I’ll need to make sure that motivated and qualified people in the community are identified and willing to take on roles and responsibilities to keep the projects alive long after I’m gone.  Two years really isn’t that long in the grand scheme of things, and more than anything, I hope to help people in my community recognize their strengths and help them see their village through a fresh set of eyes.  I am almost positive I will not undertake some hugely funded project while I’m serving my community, but I want them to see that infrastructure and living conditions can be improved little by little when you can devise a method for maintaining the projects to keep them running efficiently and effectively.  Really, it’s not all that different from maintaining heavy machinery in a factory to keep production going smoothly.  It requires qualified persons to accept responsibility,  project structure and design, setting goals, establishing time frames, determining budget limitations, acquiring resources, providing a means for producing tangible results, and conducting project evaluation to make adjustments when necessary.   

My community already knows where they would like help.  Now it’s just a matter of getting to work.  First and foremost, they want another water pump installed in the community.  There’s only one pump in the village and it’s privately owned.  People have to pay to access this water, and most people just opt to drink the well water for lack of funds.  This is problematic because the well water is prone to contamination AND during the dry season, the wells dry up, so people are forced to travel multiple kilometers, on foot, in the heat, to fetch water.  It’s a bad situation.  

On the positive side, my village has a number of motivated people and they’ve started a pump association.  They have already started saving money to have a pump installed.  We have a rough idea of the total cost, and in the coming months, they’re going to continue saving until they’ve put aside enough to have the pump installed.  This will be a pump used by the entire village, free of charge.

 

Community members have also told me that they would like to boost income generation for our mango plantations by drying mangoes and selling them in addition to selling fresh mangoes in the market.  They also want help organizing the women’s gardening associations.  My village is known in our region for having very talented gardeners; however, they want to be more organized.  I can definitely help with this.  I’ve already got my foot in the door because I’ve been working in a community garden with a number of women, and I’ve been meeting many of the key members of the gardening community who sell their products in the local markets.  They are showing me all of the gardening techniques for the region, and this is helping me integrate on so many levels.  Not only am I building solid relationships with people, they’re paying me in greens!!  After every shift, they load me up with buckets full of the most delicious lettuce.  Seeing as I only get a small stipend as a PC volunteer for a living allowance, these greens are well received, and well devoured at the end of each day.  It’s so nice because I can share with my host family and they LOVE, LOVE, LOVE salati.  It’s always a treat because normally, our meals consist of grains and sauce with very few vegetables.  The greens definitely bring a smile to everyone’s face, not as much as Rambo does, but they’re a close contender. 

So this is my job.  This is my task; capacity building, forming relationships, being an integrated member of this community.  Honestly, I’m scared shitless.  And I’m beside myself with excitement.  I guess you could say I got a skin full. 

The Boob Tube

Lately I’ve been reveling in the peace building aspect of my volunteer responsibilities.  I am so proud when I get tell people I’m from the United States.  As part of our responsibilities to create a better understanding of American people on the part of Malians, I really enjoy talking to people here about Ameriki and how life here compares to life there.  People in my village always ask me about the States.  They want to know how far away it is from Mali, what we eat, what is our religion, have we seen Rambo lately, do we like soccer, and so on.  I find it ironic because here I am on this peace building mission, but I’ve talked with multiple people who associate America with guns and violence.  I find that strange because, a lot of people in the States would say the same about Africa.  Oh the television is a powerful thing.  People in my village don’t have the opportunity to see television on a regular basis, but when they do, what they see, they take for truth.  And what are they watching?  Action flicks.  Rambo, Commando, Predator - I’m just waiting for them to get a load of the A-team.  Mr. T would take Mali by storm.  

Lots of people tell me how it must be so hard to be so far from home, and I agree with them.  It is hard to be away from home, but I’m gaining so much by being here, it’s worth the sacrifice of missing out on life at home for a couple years.  I am learning so much about Mali, its people, the traditions, and how to live a different way of life.  I’ve been given the opportunity to help people here in ways that I feel I’m truly contributing.  I’m also learning so much about myself and how I can be a better community member both here in Mali AND back home in the United States.  I understand more and more about how just being present and willing to help builds trust and forms peaceful relationships no matter where you are in the world.  

So not only am I glowing because I have this opportunity to represent my country, share stories about life back home, and lend a helping hand for a couple years, I get to hopefully help people back home to understand a little more about the world outside of Ameriki.  I have plenty of friends who travel the world, but I also have lots of friends who would rather just stay home because there is no need to travel outside of the States.  That’s fine.  I have no problems with that.  Some people would rather just stay home.  By being here, I hope I can give people, both in Mali and America, an insiders’ view of life, from both sides, that’s not solely based on the boob tube. 

Rambo, African Feet, and Dirty Peanuts (This one's out of order, sorry)

hey family and friends! 

how's everyone doing?  is it freezing cold there?  it's actually a
little cold here.  i never thought i'd say that, but i've been wearing
my hoodie for the past two days.  it's an african cold snap.  who knew
such a thing existed?  i sure didn't.

well i'm happy to report that i'm finally living in my permanent site
and i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it.  i'm in the wild west of mali where there
are lots of guns and gold miners.  no, please don't worry, the guns
are for hunting game, and scaring pests out of the farmers fields.
please mama, don't be worried.  you don't have to show up with your
gun, i promise.

anyhow, i'm on the border of senegal and i am constantly having these
rasta type dudes stroll through my village singing or selling things
as they travel around africa.  my village is adorable and it's like
stepping back in time.  no electricity, no running water, everyone
cooks on open fires outside, and our staple foods are rice, millet,
corn, and peanuts.  i've actually had the opportunity to start
gardening with some women lately and it's been kicking my ass.  i see
now why african women are so ripped.  they work and work and work like
i've never seen people work.  i've been helping them by spending lots
of time pulling water from wells and carrying water to the gardens or
to the huts to wash dishes or bathe.  i love my little concession.  i
have two huts and it's definitely the coolest pad i've ever had in my
entire life.  i'm surrounded by gorgeous mountains, beautiful trees,
and the stars at night are mesmerizing.  i sit in the darkness and
stare up at them every night and feel so calm and feel i can finally
hear myself think.  i've been surrounded by a lot of noise in my life.
 a lot of chaos.  it's been very healing to be here and find a little
more of myself, even though now i'm surrounded by more chaos ever.
it's funny how that works.

life here has been mindblowing.  it's challenging.  it's hilarious.
it's dangerous.  it's engaging.  it's humbling.  it's terrifying.
it's full of joy.  it's full of sadness.  it's everything.  i'm
finding that soon i will no longer have a reference point.  anything
goes here and i'm slowly getting used to it.  i have dance parties on
a regular basis with the kids and the local women at all hours.  we
had a dance party at my house the other day before 10am.  they kicked
up so much dust i was coughing for the rest of the day, but it was so
worth it.  i'm happy to say i finally bought a guitar and that serves
as great entertainment for all involved.  i also play soccer with the
boys, and garden with the women.  my feet are slowly turning into the
typical african feet, that are cracked and dirty ALL THE TIME. when i
visit with people, i spend lots of time digging my hands into dirty
peanut piles, so i can shell peanuts and have something to do while we
sit around for hours and just chat, or not chat at all.  i find myself
not thinking twice about seeing kids playing with batteries, rusty
knives, or dead animals.  i still get a little scared when i see how
my host family prepares my meals for fear of food poisoning, but
slowly those fears are dwindling as
well.  oh life is so different these days.

my language skills are coming along and that makes me super excited.
yesterday i spoke 5 languages, ha.  or hardly spoke them, i can't tell
which. either way, i spent the morning in my community where they
speak malinke, later i came into my market town where you have to
speak bambara and french to get by.  Then i went to a fellow
volunteer's house where we spoke english, then later in the evening we
went to a birthday dinner which was thrown by a group of spaniards who
are here gold mining. it was so nice to spend the evening speaking
spanish with them and drinking delicious vino tinto de espana.  plus
it was a bit of a confidence booster because aside from my english, my
spanish is a million times better than any of the other languages i'm
learning.  :)

for the next three months i'm tasked to get to know my community, and
help them understand why this random white-ish girl has come all the
way from ameriki to live and work with them.  it's challenging i tell
you. identifying what the villagers think is needed in the community
as far as development is concerned is going to be a long process.
income generation is high on their list as far as selling fruits,
vegetables and grains, but also lack of water in the hot season is a
major concern.  i'm the first volunteer in my community and oh do i
have my work cut out for me.  i've been spending lots of time with the
kids and they know exactly where their interests lie.

the latest development has been this.  all the little boys love, love,
love rambo and ask me on a daily basis if i know him.  at first when
the little boys were saying rambo, i thought they were saying a
malinke word and i just kept saying, "no, I don't know what rambo
is?!" i was very confused as there are no televisions near my house.
it was so out of context i didn't even pick up on the fact that they
were talking about good old sylvester.  then it hit me, they had seen
an 80's rambo flick and they LOVED it!  yesterday a little boy asked
me if rambo was coming to our village to visit.  i didn't have the
heart to tell him no, so i just said, "tuma do" which means, maybe.
oh sylvester.  they wouldn't even recognize him these days.

The Name Game

It’s absolutely incredible that a month has passed since we swore in at the Ambassador’s house.  I arrived in my community on January 10^th and it’s been a roller coaster ride of a month let me tell you.  There are only 500 or so people living in our village and you would think it would make life easy as far as getting to know everyone is concerned.  I’ve discovered I can remember a face, but all the names go in my good ear and then get lost somewhere in the bad one.  

It’s tradition for all the villagers to stop in to greet the new person in the community, and so far there have been an endless stream of people coming to my house to say hello and check in with me to make sure all is going well.  It’s very kind of them.  Though, I have to admit, every morning I get a little bit of anxiety because I know I’m going to forget more than five people’s names.  This starts to get to me after the third or fourth person.  

I would like to add here that Malians LOVE to joke.  And when I say joke, it’s more of a teasing or messin’ with like we say in the south.  They mess with everybody; their families, their friends, their neighbors, and man oh man do they absolutely LOVE to tease the new white-ish girl who’s just moved to town.  I, like them, also take time to do the rounds to greet people, say good morning, and see if everyone has slept well.  They KNOW I can’t remember everyone’s names, and they get a big kick out of me when I get their names wrong.  Typically, when someone arrives, the person arriving will say the last name of the family they’re stopping in to visit.  In my case, no matter if I’m the one who’s arriving, or if they're arriving, they’ll yell my family name, “SUKO!”  Sure, it’s easy for them to remember my name, but good lord, there are just so many new people for me to remember, and FAIL.  It’s like a game to them.  They yell my name, rush over to me, and they just smile and wait with this teasing, shit eating grin on their faces.  What I’ve found that works to my benefit is that about 90% of the people in my village are either Sissoko’s or Keita’s, so now if I just guess one or the other I have roughly a 45% chance of being right.  They throw curve balls at me though and they sprinkle in a Djarra, Damba, Kanute, or Fofana from time to time, and there again, FAIL. 

 

Oh you just wait, it gets worse.  The women will have different names for specific families, but not all families.  Take my family name for example, Keita, all the men in my family are Keita’s but because I’m a woman I go by Suko.  And if you are a woman in the Sissoko family, you go by Sakiliba.  Sometimes family names will even have two different names for women.  Like some Keita women will go by Coulibaly, and Coulibaly and Suko are the same, duh.  Everybody knows that right.  Yeah, everybody except for the confused Peace Corps Volunteer who’s still struggling to recognize when people are talking to her because she has an entirely new name.  I’m convinced they think I am mentally challenged.  Sometimes they’ll call my name for a solid minute and a half before it registers that they are talking to me.  “Goundo, Goundo, Goundo, Goundo!” Nothing.  Then they start mumbling something about the silly Toubab and I realize, oh yeah, they’re talking to me.  By then it’s too late and they’re just shaking their heads smiling.  They always finish it up with a heartfelt, “Ah, Goundo.”  This is the routine.  Lately when people greet me and wait for the great name FAIL, I just run through the list of ALL the family names I can remember until I get it right.  But remember, this is only for the family names.  

It dawned on me the other day, “shit, people here have first names too you know Luna, I mean Suko, f@#k!”  See, I’ve gotten comfortable in the neighborhood of family names. With this first name business, I’m a little nervous, like I’m moving into a whole new neighborhood all over again.  My strategy is, I’m starting with the little kids, like ones that can barely speak.  They tend not to get their feathers so ruffled over this whole name game business.  The other day I was sitting in our concession with my host brother, Fasago Keita.  I got his name down after about two and a half weeks.  Not too bad.  Anyhow, we’re sitting there chatting and there’s a little girl in our family, she’s like 2 years old, and her name always escapes me.  I pointed at her and asked, “hey, what’s her name?”  He looked at her, then looked at me, and there she was just staring at both of us. There was a pregnant pause, then Fasago sheepishly smiled really big, and admitted he didn’t know!  Ha!  But then he quickly told me her family name was Suko in an effort to make himself look better.  Duh!  We’re all Keitas and Sukos here!  I gave that boy so much shit.  I gave him enough shit to make up for every single person who’d given me shit over the past month for getting their names wrong.  He just laughed and said, "Ah, Goundo."

Other than my daily rounds of playing the name game, I’ve been spending my time learning how to do the simplest of life’s tasks living in a village.  I’ve been adding to my furniture collection little by little.  I now have a table, a chair, AND a bed.  I’m happy to say I’m not sleeping on buckets any longer.  There are a few furniture makers around and I’ve been amazed at seeing how they piece the furniture together with strands of cowhide and bamboo.  I’ve also been sitting with the women learning how they cook our staple meals such as tiga dega na (rice and peanut sauce) or kabo tuwo (corn toh).  The peanut butter is made by roasting peanuts in a kettle over a three stone fire, and then the women either grind them between two smooth rocks or they use a hand crank grinder.  The peanut butter is then used to make the peanut sauce for the rice.  

We eat a lot of peanut butter here.  I mean a lot.  It’s funny.  I didn’t like peanut butter before I came to Africa.  Never ate the stuff.  I would even go as far as saying, I hated the stuff.  I’ve changed my mind about that though.  When I realized, oh, that really is all I’m gonna get, I shifted myself around a little bit and I’ll be damned if I don’t love the stuff now.  Like my mama always says, “I put on my big girl panties and dealt with it.”

 

I’m learning that over the next two years, “just dealing with it”, will be a daily activity for this American girl spoiled by a life time of modern conveniences.  In village, we pull our water from wells and carry it to a variety of different places depending on the task at hand.  It might be needed for bathing, washing your hands, washing dishes, washing clothes, cleaning a chalkboard, making tea, shelling peanuts, cleaning grains, washing lettuce, watering the garden, making bricks, building a house, putting out a brush fire, the list just goes on and on.  I’m interested to know how much time in a villager’s day is spent moving water from one place to another. 

If we were chatting on the phone or skype right now, you might ask, “what other daily activities are there?”  Well, our fields are farmed using hand “dabas”, gardens are fertilized with cow and sheep manure that is carried in giant baskets on women’s heads for multiple kilometers at a time, donkey carts are used to move larger items from one village to another, but you’ll still find people carrying 50 kilo bags of rice or millet, or GIANT bundles of firewood on their bikes.  Tools are still made by blacksmiths, bricks for building structures are made individually and dried in the sun for one week before they are put to use, and musical instruments are still made using goat skins, such as drums like the djembe, the dun dun, or the traditional Malian harp-like instrument called the kora.  

There’s one particularly interesting activity that a large percentage of my neighbors perform on a daily basis, panning for gold.  Apparently, Mali is Africa’s third leading gold producer, and my region just so happens to be THE gold mining region of Mali.  Day in and day out people in my village forgo gardening work to pan for gold.  From time to time they come home with a few flecks of gold that you can barely see in a tablespoon, and they are so proud.  They spend hours panning for this precious metal, and I have a very hard time understanding why.  To me it’s kinda like the lottery.  They spend hours looking for this element that we’ve assigned value to because of its rarity, but when it comes down to it, the gold itself serves no purpose in immediately sustaining life in a region where people are faced with food shortage challenges on a daily basis.  And they're definitely not guaranteed to find gold.  I feel like people’s time would be so much better spent working to produce food and nutrition for their children, especially given the fact that the resources here allow people to grow such a great variety of foods.  Instead, people spend their days searching for this elusive metal that does indeed bring money, but also brings so many problems. 

From what I've seen so far, it seems like the majority of the people working for the larger mining companies here are foreigners while the local people are panning for gold or they are working on small scale mining projects, which aren't necessarily raking in the BIG BUCKS.  I’ve been through some of these smaller mining areas where they pan when we are walking to collect composting materials for the gardens, and it looks quite dangerous.  They dig holes sometimes up to 15 feet deep searching for gold flecks in loose soil that could cave in at any given moment.  Often times, people will work alone in these places increasing the level of danger even further.  I’ve heard rumors that the working conditions in the larger operations are somewhat awful. Children are often employed in these terrible conditions, and the actual gold refining/smelting process has the potential to expose all the workers to extremely high levels of mercury.  I find myself wondering, what are the benefits for the local people of Mali, when it comes to gold mining?  I'll continue looking for more answers as it's a controversial issue that I know I will not understand anytime soon.  How many benefits can there be, really?  I’ve only been here for three months, so what do I know?  At this point, I’m gonna concentrate on this.  When I am in the garden working and people passing on their way to pan for gold greet me with a friendly face, I'm gonna do my best to actually remember their names.  Dondi, dondi Maningamuso.