Growing Cement

Did you know that in order for cement to properly form and solidify, to be structurally sound and strong that it must be watered? Of course all of my engineer, water sanitation and otherwise technically inclined compatriots are shaking their heads in disappointment. Well, I'm sorry I didn't. When they told me to budget in a community contribution for barrels upon barrels of water, I took their word. And now I wish I could have given them more credit for the amount of water they are using and physical labor associated with carrying gallons of water on your head for quite a distance. Watering cement is just one of the things that I've learned about during the last 3 weeks at the construction site of Bassa and Folona's joint community maternity. I know I owe you all a nice, lengthy, informative post- and it is in the works, I promise. For now, take a peek at how this project is proceeding. So far, everyone is well pleased.

Preparing the site and outlining the foundation.

A woman from our association empties her tub of water onto the cement/sand mixture that produced the first bricks. While the men are helping the mason with the construction, the women are diligently carrying water to the work site each day.

The first brick!

Making the bricks. Along the road, you can also see a line of water-carriers.

Everyone comes with whatever container they are able to carry without spilling. In the background, the women take turns filling their containers at the pump.

The village imam and my host uncle watering the bricks while one of the oldest men in village stands by and directs.

The hole being dug for the pit-latrine. Seriously. Hard. Work.

This is the picture I left with on Sunday morning. Since it was Sunday, some of the school children wanted to come and help out, so they were carrying bricks and gathering stones and in general, loving being a part of the process. I am sure that by now it is even more complete than this, leaving the roofing, the furniture, doors, windows and other randomness to fill in.

Okay... so I have to get back to site and transport is leaving from the auto-gare (bus station) pretty soon. Forgive me for the gap in the photos... I left out the actual building process pictures because of lack of time (and the connection keeps cutting out). I hope that you have at least a basic idea of how it is going. If all goes well, the next entry will be too long for one sitting.

The 10 Reasons I Love Cold Season

1. School is in session (fewer screaming children)
2. Lots more corn and rice instead of just millet
3. Better vegetables in our sauces
4. Getting a good night's sleep in the cool air
5. Talking with friends late into the night next to a fire
6. Having to wear multiple layers to bike in to market in the early morning
7. Leaving a water bottle outside over night and waking to have it refrigerator cold
8. Perfectly clear night skies and better than planetarium stars
9. Sleeping in because everyone thinks it's tooo cold to get up before 7
10. Getting to enjoy hot drinks

Groundbreaking News

It was just last Thursday that the villagers of Bassa and Folona broke ground for their joint community maternity. After only a short month and a half of fundraising, over 100 generous contributors donated the total amount of around $7,500. I seriously think the giving time may be a new record. Yesterday was the happy conclusion of months of anticipation and planning. The planning and organization will continue, but it is a break from the anxious waiting to "get to work" and put our ideas into action.

Aw ni ce Aw ni baara
A huge thanks goes out to everyone who contributed to our project and to everyone who has supported our efforts in other ways. Like I've written before, we're are just getting started with this- only one step toward the long term goal of improving maternal health in the region. There are new pictures, but I'm too nervous to use my USB in this virus-infected computer in this internet cafe where I'm writing from.

Happenings
In the time between the last entry and now, much has happened: Thanksgiving, Eid (Tabaski), preparation for the new volunteers' In-service Training, the passing of a host brother, and going home to the United States of America. For Thanksgiving, I invited 5 of my closest friends from village over for a Malian variation of the Thanksgiving theme (think: using millet as a carb substitute). It was deliciously thankful. Malian sweet potatoes may just taste better- even without brown sugar. Eid is the yearly celebration of the story of Abraham and his son, Isaac. As in Christianity, the story reminds us of the value of unquestioning faith. Here, we celebrate in many ways that Abraham's decendants became as numerous as the stars, especially by slaughtering and feasting on lots of delicious mutton. My host brother passed away in a tractor accident while working to 'find money' in Algeria- as of now, there are at least 8 of our young village men who have left for Algeria. More about this later when I'm typing on an English keyboard and the keys are in the places I'm familiar with.

After a week of greiving with my host sister-in-law, I left for home. Home, home. I was lucky enough to spend two amazing weeks with my extremely supportive family and friends in America. This meant Christmas and the New Year and putting on 16lbs by eating delicious food- lots of cheese and other delicacies that are difficult to find here in Mali. I returned without my checked bag that had been misplaced in transit through Chicago. Other than that, my vacation went relatively smoothly. I waited 3 days in Bamako, making me even more excited to get back to site, until my duffel surfaced. It was a fantastic feeling, knowing that even after such a pleasant time at home that I could still be excited to return. My time (and long hot indoor showers) was more rejunvenating than I could have ever expected.

Make a Contribution to Our Community Maternity!

Here's the link again if you don't want to wade through that last post:

Bassa's Maternity Project

The way this program works, each donation made to the above address will be added up until we reach our goal. Technically, I cannot say that so-and-so bought this or that for the maternity, but I definitely think it's so much more fun to visualize. I'll try to give photo updates of the building as soon as it gets started. To get started, we need to talk about funding.

The total is just over $7,614. That means that if we even got 76 people to donate $100 each... but I know, the economic crisis is still going on and many of you, my friends, are poor college students. We'll just lay it out easy, starting at the foundation.


-A donation of $5 will cover the cost of a brick. And we need them!

-We want it to be pretty, so $10 will cover each day's labor for a painter.

-Next up is $15 metal sheet roofing, if that just about covers it for you.

-Or $16 is for our mason. He'll be our main go to guy and he needs to get paid well.

-If $20 is your ceiling, each ceiling tile is $20.

-It would brighten my day if you wanted to donate $25 for the lighting and wiring.

-I would sleep well at night knowing that someone gave $25 for a mattress ($50 for 2!)

-Those mattresses aren't much good without a bed. It's good they each only cost $75!

-Also, the maternity will have to breathe without doing Lamaze, so if you contribute $75, we'll put in a window.

-Let's take a rest, a nice bench is sitting at $85.



Don't let that discourage you from contributing more!

-Leading to Bassa's future, a door is $100.

-The battery (for the solar panel) at $175 keep me going.

-For the paint itself, $200. Who would have known paint was so expensive!

-Loving the sun here (not getting burnt), the solar panel is $300.

-For all the masonry or carpentry, their work works out to be $500.

-You'd be a big supporter if you provided for a $750 wall.

-I'm not full of poop when I say that the latrines cost $1,500.



There are other things I haven't mentioned and much of that is the community's own contribution. They'll be supplying the rocks and gravel and much of the unskilled labor going into this project. There's a lot yet to be done, so please help us out by taking a few minutes to visit this address and donate! Or you can go to www.peacecorps.gov, click "donate" and then enter my last name (Snider) or the project number (688-319).

Bassa's Maternity Project

Noah's Ark Pictures (I promised)

So go back a few entries (to Riding Against the Current) and make a comparison. I didn't have my camera the actual day when this is the area almost whisked by bike away. Think knee deep (this is ankle deep) and moving relatively fast (considering the small area it has chosen to flow from one side of the dike to the other...). The middle picture shows the area full with water that is completely dry (already) today and therefore our non-rainy season bike path.