Not All at Once!

Here are the pictures and a video from the day after we received 145 mm (and more) of rain. This is almost as at least as bad as the day I described last year, but it still amazes me how the one route we have to get out to the main road becomes a (sometimes impassable) river. We had been receiving small amounts of rain (1-2mm) pretty regularly since mid-June and our villagers were becoming worried about the crops they had planted (mostly corn, millet, sorghum and peanuts). This rain followed another significant rain and drenched the fields. I thought that this was just the storm we had been waiting for, but my farming friends said, "We needed all this rain, but not all at once!"

The water (over-)flooding the rice fields to the left.

This "dike" was built back in 1985 and was meant to control the water flow in this area (completely dry most of the year). The idea was that this built up area could keep an adequate amount of water on the rice fields and allow the rest to pass without impeding transport from all of the villages that use Keleya as their portal to the main road. I think that after 25 years, there needs to be some reconstruction- local resources (including a construction team) have yet to be identified. I do not regularly encourage infrastructure construction as a solution to development issues, but knowing that roads like this (and worse) exist throughout Mali makes me advocate for at least a decent route to market (for the transport of goods), to health facilities (the transport of people), and to services, like government offices, youth clubs, and good schools (the transport and dispersion of ideas). Before the "dike" was there, my villagers told me that they simply would not go to Keleya or would use a makeshift boat.

Here are two places the "dike" has been overcome by the water it holds back on the left. The one in the foreground was relatively tame, but the other, moving much faster and being much deeper, pulled at my bicycle... and at me... (it took my host father's sandal). And yet, I watched 2 women cross with grace- with a punch-bowl full of shea nuts balanced on their head and another medium-sized bowl on their shoulder. I was amazed, but also upset that such effort needs to go into the collection of inputs for one of their best income-generating activities.

This is the "diked" area in village next to fenced in garden-- the road to the next village is completely submerged under at least 1.5 ft of water. During dry season, men from my village will make bricks from the mud under the water in the picture.

Here's the video of the water. Take a listen to the frogs!

I'm headed on a trip to visit some other friends in West Africa. This will be my first time out of Mali (except for my trip home in winter) since I arrived. I hope to see Burkina Faso, Ghana and Togo over the next few weeks and share my stories after I return.