Fali Family Reunion

Fali Family

All of last week, my first homestay in Mali turned into a donkey corral. Of course there normally are a decent number of Eeyores passing through, braying at all hours, but even this was excessive.

My homestay father, Souman, who I got to see at least once a week when in my original homestay for market, passed away on Monday, March 16 at around 11:00 am. This was the closest relative of mine that I've had die within the past few years and definitely the first "funeral" I've attended in a while. I think that I jinxed myself by telling friends of my surprise that I had not yet experience a death in Mali.

So, donkeys (fali in Bambara)? No, there is no Bambara tradition that calls for rallying around donkeys or pin the tail on the donkey or even donkey basketball. Rather, my whole family (at least those decended from Souman, as all children take their father's last name and not mother's) are all donkeys.

There is a conflict resolution technique used here called "joking cousins" that I might have referred to before. In general, it's pretty ingenious for diffusing tension between groups of people in Mali. Depending on last name or ethnic group, there are other last names or ethnic groups that are your "joking cousins" (ex. Bagayogo vs. Doumbia or Bambara vs. Fula) and with that title, become the butt of any and all jokes you would want to make: bean jokes, you aren't real jokes, you're my slave jokes, you're a donkey and I can't understand your language jokes. Some are pretty hilarious and others get annoying, but I couldn't go wrong when my entire homestay family had the last name of my joking cousins.

The entire family tree of Doumbia donkeys (He had over 20 children!) gathered quite informally throughout the concession for the entire week following Souman's death. We shared stories of his life and ate plenty of good food while the colts and foals (baby and adolescent donkeys) played with the real cousins they had not seen in years. Although I was not one bit happy about this necessary congregation, it was comforting to be with the people I truly see as my family here- those people who didn't mind holding my hand through all the mistakes I was trying so hard not to make and laughing at me as necessary.

Souman's body was buried (along with his donkey cart... haha... um, you might have to be here to laugh at that) in a cemeteryish location in fields on the outside of town. Monday meant dispersal of most of the donkeys to their own homes. While it was phenomenal to see all of my relatives, I surely hope the necessity does not come around again for some time.

Here my two mothers sit inside for the first week of grieving.

Also, a picture of my siblings.

You All Deserve An Update
In general, not much has been going on. I recently completed a two day refresher formation at our training center again. It was great to share stories and advice with other volunteers living in the central part of Mali.

The women's association in my village received legal recognition in the form of their "recipisse," which now will allow them to establish themselves and take advantage of opportunities for similar groups, including the possibility for loans and other funding sources. We are now working toward hosting a formation on making good shea butter in our village. While they seem pretty excited for it to happen, they are also excited about the wedding that was originally scheduled to take place the same day (we just postponed the formation for a week... :-/). I plan to head back and stay at site for a few weeks at least to prepare for the formation.

Hot season has begun and that means sleeping outside, although I had just adjusted to sleeping inside on my new bed and hanging mosquito net. The metal roofing allows for my house to act like an oven and I find my self sweating at all hours of the day and night and any time in between. Luckily, my roof is pretty high and my windows provide a decent amount of circulation.

It's crazy to believe that I have been in country for 9 months now. While the days are long and drawn out, the weeks and months have flown by... and I'm hoping hot season will also fly to move us into rainy season.