N bora so, n sera so

N bora so, n sera so
I left home, I arrived at home

The last 4 months have flown by in a way unexplainable. After returning to Mali from the United States back in December, I had been anxious for the last push- knowing that it would be filled to the brim with activities in order to prepare myself and my community for my departure- the last steps to complete our work together and make our efforts sustainable. And that's exactly how it was. Every day contained a meeting, a planning session, or an activity that kept Bassa so busy and me so proud to be a part of it. Before we get there, though, there's much to catch up on-

To celebrate International Handwashing With Soap Day (way back in September/October), we had a day of activities at the school and the madrassa (Koranic school). With the help of the teachers, we talked about the importance of hand-washing and followed-up by making paint hand-prints and washing our hands with soap. Something little that was a lot of fun!

I wrote my last entry while I was home in the United States in November. Beginning on October 31, my brother and I roadtripped down the Oregon coast to San Francisco and back to Seattle. It was a fantastic trip and we were able to meet up with family that I have not seen in forever. I cannot wait to do the trip again when the weather is better.

But the main reason I went home was for the wedding of my best friend of almost 20 years. I was honored to be a part of the wedding party for a wedding that went off without a hitch (except that of the bride and groom...)

Shortly after returning from the US, I was asked by some of the Peace Corps staff if I would give a session on radio in Mali at the In-Service Training of the new volunteers who arrived last July. Of course, I gladly agreed, and was able to give a presentation with the assistance of the same radio manual that helped me get started on radio almost two years ago.

Another wedding!
My good friend Ami, who has been in Bassa since I arrived in September 2008, got married in December. For my first two years at Bassa, it was Ami who had gotten matching outfits made with me for the celebration of Seliba or Tabaski. She was also the only one patient enough to attempt to braid my hair and one not upset when it would fall out. Her firey comments convinced any number of people to allow me to participate in activities that they normally would have deemed "too difficult" for me. But she was the one who pushed me to join in when I said that I would like to try, and the one who lovingly refused to let me leave when I said that I was tired or really could not do whatever it was they were doing. In this picture, we were going through the legal paperwork part of the marriage at the mayor's office.

The book of marriage licenses. The bride and groom each pick a witness who will also act as a counselor in case of problems. My host father (far-right) is often chosen as people's witness because of his level-headedness.

On the Radio
Between the time that I came back to Mali and the time I left Mali, I think that I only missed one Friday at my Radio show. The topics ranged from American weddings vs. Malian weddings (in honor of my friends), New Year's celebrations to some improved gardening techniques using natural fertilizers and pesticides I read in the PC-Mali Environment volunteer's handbook. The gardening shows went over very well and everyone was asking me to work with them on their plots.

Unfortunately, I had no real experience with the methods I had proposed, but we got to experiment together to see which ones worked and which ones were ineffective. Since the methods were used by volunteers before, I felt comfortable using them in my show, with a proper disclaimer that the effectiveness depends on the soil and plants you are applying it to and not to be discouraged if it doesn't work- just try something else! What's best for Bassa would not necessarily be best for the entire listening area.

This is a picture outside the radio station "Radio Djitoumou" with the radio technician and my fearless co-host, Crosby.

I gave my final radio show with help from my teammate- the PC volunteer who lives closest to me. We met at the studio and gave a joint show on Moringa- an awesome plant that is super nutritious.

Our Rural Maternity

Just before Christmas, we were able to have the first muso konoman peseli- the weighing of and check-up of pregnant women, a pre-natal consultation- at the maternity in Bassa. We were assisted by another matron or trained midwife from Keleya (where the larger health center is). The following month, my host-mother, Babintou (the one who trained at the Regional capital), was able to hold the weighing by herself and I assisted by writing the information down on the maternity's copy of the paperwork, in notebooks and on cardstock records for each woman. In my absence and before the arrival of Ami, the younger matron, the health relais from Folona has agreed to help. This relais can write in French and is qualified to administer shots and IVs. Normally, a relais is someone who lives in village who attends weekly meetings at the nearest health center and then relays necessary information back to their villages, improving village awareness of pressing health issues. All information for the maternity is collected- recorded in one of 6 notebooks.

There is a general registry that keeps track of all activities taking place at the maternity, including things like the weekly cleanings of the maternity and visits from other doctors coming to do regular inoculations. Of course the registry also records the information for those visiting the maternity to give birth or to talk to the matron. Then there is the accounting notebook that records the money flowing through the maternity (another copy with the accountant).

Also, there are notebooks specifically for accouchement, or births, and CPN, or the information collected from those pre-natal check ups. This includes the date, the name of the woman, her husband's name and their home address (or the town they're from), then their health report- that is, if they gave birth to a boy or a girl, the time, any comments on the birth, how many prior pregnancies she has had. Or for the CPN, their blood pressure, the height of their bellies, and then a bunch of other things that the matron can check and diagnose, as necessary.

The final two notebooks collect information regarding the maternity's health association members. There is a "members card" that you can buy that discounts all services at the maternity. So the notebooks collect data- the number of cards sold to date. Another, super-thick notebook has written in it: all services provided at the maternity, noted under the card number for each card owner (each card can have 10 people attached to it). This keeps track of the health activities of everyone on that "members card". Thus, when someone comes in for their pre-natal check-up, the information is noted in three places: the registry, the CPN notebook and then, if the person is a card-holding member, in the association notebook under their specific member number. The association cards were completely the idea of the maternity committee members- I just helped them set it up. The cards were printed at shop in Ouelessebougou and then a team of sellers sold them in Bassa and Folona, explaining the benefits. Currently, only women benefit directly from the services at the maternity, but these services will increase when the health students return from Bamako!

In early February, we began a number of "advertising" visits to our surrounding communities. These visits were meant to inform our closest villages about the work of the maternity and to encourage them to come check out our facility. For many of these neighboring villages, Bassa is a much shorter trip than the next nearest health center, making it more convenient and safer than traveling to the other places with pregnant women. Also, the bi-weekly muso konoman peseli, pre-natal consultations, provide a local option for pregnant women who would often choose to go without these check-ups.

The maternity management committee has also selected teams to do village analyses to identify key health issues in the area. I am really excited for these teams to begin their work- first a group will do awareness in Bassa and Folona about the importance of these self-analyses and what would come of the information, followed by a series of questions about sanitation, common health problems, and how the people of Bassa and Folona deal with and treat sicknesses. I hope to receive updates about the work of the maternity and the maternity committee when talking to my homologue and other counterparts. It seems like so far, so good!

Our health students

Whenever I passed through Bamako, I made sure to stop by and visit the two villagers we have sent for health schooling in Bamako. Their midterms happened mid-January and I'm glad to report that they both passed! The young woman dressed in the school's uniform to my right is studying to be the matron who will work next to my host-mother Babintou. She'll offer a fresh set of eyes to the activities at the maternity, becoming the main person in charge of operations. The young man sitting on my left will be the nurse. He will be tasked to address minor illnesses and ailments and to act as the main point of contact with the health center in Keleya. Ideally, they will work together to move the maternity to the next step, progressing to be an even better facility, offering a variety of services beyond births, pre-natal consultations and baby weighings.

They will also involve the surrounding communities in health-awareness activities, helping the villages to identify strengths and weaknesses, sicknesses that need to be addressed in the home rather than waiting until it becomes more serious (prevention and outreach). Yes, I may have high hopes, but I also feel very confident in these students and their gracious sponsor, Madame Sangare. She is in the picture on the far right. I wrote of her before when she righted our relationship with the local health network. She has continued her amazing relationship with our village and has promised to act as the guide and main reference for the maternity. It calms me to know that she is willing and excited to develop this facility, guaranteeing its successful continuation.

In the Garden
Although I did not plant anything the garden for myself this year, I was kept busy with the chores of watering and weeding to help out my host-family with their plots. The NGO who helped provide the fencing and the two wells for the garden came back this year with improved seed types that villagers divided amongst themselves. So we benefited from delicious improved varieties of green peppers, onions, eggplant, lettuce and tomatoes, an amazing salad. There was also another root plant that I did not stay to see the harvest- manioc, or cassava, bananku in Bambara.

Christmas and the New Year

With so much going on, I decided to stay at site for a stint of 6-weeks that included the celebration of Christmas and New Year's. Although my community is completely Muslim, they gladly took the morning of the 25th off to celebrate with me, dancing, singing, preparing our Christmas dinner. The afternoon, I went caroling from household to household, sharing my version of Christmas. For their feast days, people usually get dressed up and go greeting at each household, but those being greeted are supposed to give a gift those those who come greeting. I told them that for Christmas, I didn't expect those small gifts of recognition.

Making "Christmas dinner" with my host family. We had delicious garlic mashed potatoes, among other things.


The paper snowflakes we made together and hung under the hangar at my host family's house. It made it feel a little bit colder, maybe. Even now, snow is almost impossible to explain, but cutting out the paper was fun.

The following week, I decided to spend New Year's Eve with my original host family that lives in my market town of Keleya. They welcomed me, just like they did for the New Year's I spent with them 2 years ago (The New Year 2009.) After doing a radio show in Ouelessebougou, I raced back to Keleya to help my host-mother shopping. We bought the ingredients for a salad with fried plantain, pasta with meat. It was a calm evening that I spent chatting with my host family. At 11pm, we moved into the next stage of the celebration where my host brothers came out with the second round of pasta and chicken (or guinea fowl) and another salad! In addition, they all chipped in to buy cold soda's from the one soda shop in town. I shared a pineapple soda with my host sister.

Like I said, I had spent the New Year's Eve with them two years ago as well and that year we had gone early to the dance club. But this year, my two younger host sisters (see photo below) had decided to go to bed early! I have no idea how they managed to stay up to ring in the new year two years ago when they were 5 and 11, but could not keep their eyes open past 9:30 this year.

Instead my host brother who is the same age as me (far left in photo) and I spend the last hour of 2010 drinking tea and dancing with an 'exclusive' group of his friends. They were too cool for the dance club and so we played music on a stereo and danced in the 'downtown' of my market town, next to the main road that runs between Bamako and Bougouni.

The next day, my younger host brother 'drove' my two host sisters the 5 miles from my market town to my site and we had a slumber party. My host sisters (ages 13 and 7) had been asking me forever when they could come visit- neither of them had ever been to Bassa before and wanted to see where it was that I was living and working. My other host brother picked them up the following day on his motorcycle and took them back to Keleya.

This was yet another "New Year's" party that took place a few days after the new year... in order to spread out the festivities, I'm sure. Another night of eating (massive amounts of fried chicken and spaghetti followed by hot tea with milk and sugar) and dancing, but this time at my village in Bassa with a smaller group of close friends.

Study groupI continued my weekly study group of young women who are no longer attending school because they were needed to help with the chores at home. Studying and chatting with them each week was really enjoyable.

In late January, we moved away from formal study sessions to start a small project. They wanted to organize a sugu, or market, in village. We began collecting items, setting prices, and then decided on a time and a place. They held the market in mid-February, keeping in mind the good business practices we had been discussing in our study sessions. We have added my host brother, Papa, to the team and he will act as our cashier, noting what items are sold and at what price. After the market day, we held a few meetings to discuss how the market went and what improvements could have been made, specifically for our marketing and publicity. The proceeds from this garage-sale-ish market were donated to the maternity.

The Daily Grind
Just a disclaimer about this section: you may be upset or disappointed in my choice of action, but please realize that I feel I made the best decision for myself as a Peace Corps Volunteer and for the community I was serving. I would be up to talk about this and larger development issues with anyone and everyone now that I'm back home!

We held a food security formation in village the last week of September. I wrote a little about it in my last entry. We invited a formateur, or specific trainer, to come and speak with 24 villagers. Using PACA tools, they discussed local food security issues and devised a plan for how Bassa and Folona would work toward their priority needs. They agreed that a grinder would be the most useful and effective way to improve their food security in village- freeing time for women to do other work and set to writing an action plan. This is a machine, run on gasoline, that will grind grains into different consistencies of flour- a food processor for grains. There is also another machine grinder that de-husks rice and millet.

Not a few days after the conclusion of the formation/training, the community held a meeting and chose a committee to work on the grinder project.

In the month of October, the committee held two meetings to discuss the project. They discussed possible locations for the grinder, and did some searching for the prices of the grinding machines and the generator needed to run them. Before I left for the United States in November, I clearly tasked them with meeting regularly and also finding the reminding prices for the project. This included items such as the price of the building materials for the building to house the grinder (did they want cement or mud, metal roofing, how big? how many doors/windows?), the price of gasoline and other inputs to run the grinder, the price for tools needed for fixing the grinder if it ever broke, the price of installation, for transporting the grinder from Bamako where it would be purchased, the price of a training for the women who would, in theory run and manage the grinder after installation. By meeting regularly, even bi-weekly, they could discuss organizational issues, like how they wanted responsibilities to be divided, who they wanted to select to learn to run the grinder, who would be in charge of the management and accounts (the money coming into the grinder and maintenance costs), as well as to compare the prices they found for building supplies and materials. I told the committee that we would discuss options that included their estimates on my return from a trip to the United States. I was clear that I would not be doing any work on this project until I returned.

But perhaps not clear enough, for when I returned from the states, no one from the committee approached me about the grinder. They held no meetings and said nothing. Strangely enough, at the same time, everyone in the village was saying how excited they were for the new grinder that was coming. I was disappointed and upset with the committee because it was obviously the assumption that I would just be getting a grinder for them, although I had explicitly said we were doing this project together and had said that we needed to consider financing options that were not Peace Corps.

(For those of you who do not know, Peace Corps is not a financial institution that automatically funds the projects its volunteers are helping communities put into place. There are plenty of development projects that require absolutely NO funding- for instance, a radio show, activities with the schools, sharing improved gardening techniques, doing awareness days with village. Some may even say that these non-funded development projects are more sustainable with potential for greater impacts than say, a building project. Peace Corps does offer a few financing options- like the Peace Corps Partnership Program that I used to help raise money for the maternity. At the end of the development day, however, it is more effective and efficient to search out local funding options, putting communities in contact with organizations in their area that are already willing to sponsor grants- they are just waiting for a worthy proposal. So that's why I was insisting on Bassa doing the legwork for their project. Once they have practice writing and submitting proposals to local financing organizations, they will have more confidence in doing the same thing again when they come across another project they need help funding, instead of waiting for an NGO or Peace Corps volunteer to come along.)

I waited a month and a half after coming back from the States (January) before letting my homologue/counterpart remind the grinder committee that perhaps they should meet and let me know about their efforts. At the meeting I was very straightforward with the committee, expressing my disappointment. I asked if they had found the remaining prices and they had not. They had told the women's association that soon enough, they would be getting a new grinder. They also had requested and prepared a location for the grinder and began moving in materials, such as rocks. I emphasized that what they had actually done was good, but I had been very specific about the tasks that needed to be accomplished in order for the committee to move forward with the project. Detailed project design and management needed to take place.

They regrouped and began holding weekly meetings. The grinder committee researched the remaining costs and devised a proposal. They asked around about grinders in neighboring communities and found a private contractor who does this for a job. They considered many possible funding options that were not through me or Peace Corps.

They are still meeting and trying to decide how to continue with the project. I consider it a success, although it might seem that I was harsh. I believe it was a lesson that my community had to learn-- that not all formations lead to the NGO or trainer just giving the community what they want. Truly, my community was disappointed, but I think they understood better what Peace Corps is all about.

Full Circle
Towards the end of January, the Utah Alliance, an American/Malian NGO with a presence in Bassa, came to give the third year health training to our community members. Luckily, I have been able to participate in all three of these trainings and have seen the progress, things good and bad, this group has made. It was this group that insisted beginning a weekly village clean-up and now is looking to construct soakpits that will collect dirty standing water that runs out onto the main paths in town. I wish I could be a part of this project, because soakpits seem like such a fantastic idea for improving village sanitation!

Segou music festivalI was able to take a short break from site during the first week in February and travel to Segou for the international "Festival Sur le Niger." During this festival, artists come from all over Mali and West Africa to perform for an international audience. There are also art exhibitions, dances, masks and puppets, fantastic avocado sandwiches and lovely bogolan or mudcloth creations. Last year, my parents and I were able to attend the first few days of concerts and performances before making our way back to my site. This year, the highlights in my opinion, were the superstars Oumou Sangare (a diva from Mali) and Femi Kuti and his entire band from Nigeria. And their dancers. Now back in the United States, I plan to spend a good amount of time collecting my favorite Malian hits and listening to them on a boom-box, just as if I were back in Bassa...
This was a great group from the Bambara (Jula)-speaking area of Burkina Faso called Badenya (perhaps meaning childhood? Or the relationship between parent and child?). They were fantastic!

Replacement
My village requested that another volunteer be placed in Bassa to continue Peace Corps work, specifically focusing at assisting the development of the new maternity and improving village health. This new volunteer will hopefully be a part of the next group arriving in the fall (due to a high demand for volunteers, one will not be placed there right now)!

Peace Corps requires that the community who requests a volunteer provides the housing for that volunteer. The house that I have lived in is wonderful, but it is only "on loan" from someone currently living in Bamako. That's why Bassa villagers decided to build my replacement volunteer a brand new house that is absolutely gorgeous, in my opinion, with a brick wall/fence surrounding it. This house is also closer to another concession, or group of houses, unlike mine, which is set back from the village a little bit.

Donkeys standing in the shade of an old house they tore down in order to built a beautiful new one.

Making the mud bricks for my replacement's new house!

The almost-finished version of the replacement's house. About a month ago, they finished the brick wall/fence. The windows, doors, roofing and front screened-in porch were completed this past weekend. I'm sure that it is gorgeous and wish I were there to see it!

Aw k'an ben

Let us meet again

The end of my service was absolutely packed full of activities... each and every day we had a meeting of some sort (shea butter, grinder, village laws), a visit or fieldtrip (to projects that we were interested in- e.g. a fish farm), or activity at the maternity (CPN or publicity). For that reason, I made a list of people that I needed to say farewell to and started that process early. It may have seemed silly that a month ahead of my COS-date, I had already said goodbyes to those in Bougouni, our regional capital, but because it involves a full day of transport and walking around town, I needed to schedule it to make sure that it happens- that I wouldn't forget anyone. So on a Monday in early February I took transport to Bougouni in the morning, saying goodbye to the family who hosted the two women who participated in training in Bougouni, the doctors who facilitated the trainings and my Keleya host sister who is there studying to be a secretary.

Because greeting is so important in Malian society, I found it necessary to put a lot of effort into making my farewells count- trying to spend a decent amount of time really reflecting on the relationships that I had had with a certain person or family, instead of a just a quick wave. These are the people who have been gracious enough to host me for the past two years and eight months, to patiently deal with my lack of language or cultural sensitivity, and to invite me into their lives on a level that I do not know that I will ever be able to achieve with a large number of Americans (and that's okay!!).

I also had a final day in Ouelessebougou- the town where I do my banking, pick up my mail and have my radio show. Early in the morning, I had to close my post office box, then my bank account, and then I flew to the radio station to be on time for my last show (which I wrote about). I was really glad to have my teammate there to help me on my last show because I did not want to get emotional on-air. From there, I dove into market to search out everyone who I needed to greet- NGOs who I have worked with, families who have connections to Bassa, other friends who I have made from participating in Ouelessebougou activities. It took me until 4:30 in the afternoon to make all the rounds.

There's something really touching about Malian farewells. I'm sure if you are reading any other PC-Mali blogs, that you've already heard about the lefthandshake. For those of you who have not, I've previously mentioned that the lefthand is considered dirty or wrong, so all actions are done using the righthand- people eat with their righthand, they shake with their righthand, the give and receive things (money, items) exclusively with the righthand. Therefore, if someone gives you their lefthand, it is considered an insult.

When leaving, Malians offer you the lefthand. This time, it is not meant to offend, but rather to say "You must return to correct this. We cannot part on bad terms." A simple gesture that brought me to tears each time.

In addition, when saying goodbye, there are a number of phrases that regularly come up. Many of them are blessings, "May god protect you during your travels home, " "May god allow you to return to your family safely," "May you return soon." But the phrase that really meant a lot to me was the request for forgiveness. Before the blessings, the person leaving asks for forgiveness for all they have done to their hosts during their time as a guest and the host says they are forgiven, also asking the guest to forgive them. Another wonderful tradition that provided me with a refreshing sense of closure.

On my last day in village, Bassa had invited (hired) a local singer, her drummers and masked dancers to come entertain us. The masked dancers are called "Sigui" and are supposed to represent the spirit of an antelope-like animal that lives in the forest (I have included two short videos of their dancing below).

The celebration took place in the morning. It began with dancing and singing, followed by speeches from a number of village representatives: the chief of the village, someone from the mayor's office in Keleya, someone from Folona, the two health students, the health promotrice, a Bassa rep from Bamako, the women's association president, and a Malian staff member from Peace Corps, who had agreed to come along.

Then they began to fasa da, or to basically sing the praises of anyone, telling of that person's history and good deeds. Usually this involved a monetary contribution to the entertainers on behalf of that person. That person is pulled from the audience and brought to center stage, where everyone then goes to thank that person, raising their arm in the air- the women drape their scarves on them. And then a dance. We, the women, made one large circle and danced while the singer named off the next person. This went on for quite awhile until everyone had been recognized for their efforts, this time especially for the work that we had done together. I made sure that my homologue/counterpart and my host-mother received the thanks they deserved.

Lunch was served for everyone. Bowls of food were distributed to different households were the crowd then dispersed to go eat. They agreed that after the selifana prayer at 1:30, we would meet again to say a last goodbye.

But of course, it was not the last goodbye. While in Bamako, completing the necessary paperwork, a received daily, if not hourly, phone calls from Malian friends from Bassa and elsewhere who were calling to say bye, to wish me luck on getting into grad school, to give me blessings that would ensure my safe arrival back in the States. It seems that their farewells have done their job!

N sera so

Now I'm home and readjusting back into a number of things. This is a process that will take awhile, so bear with me. I'm definitely willing (and looking forward to!) sharing these experiences and photos with you all in person!