First weeks at site

I know it’s been a while since I’ve last written, and so much has happened these last three weeks I have almost no idea where to begin. I guess I’ll start by saying that these last weeks have been the hardest by far for me. Someone told me before I came that the first six months at site would be hell, and at this point I can believe it. Everyday though has incredible ups and downs. Overall, I really like my site, most everyone is super friendly, and I’m improving my Bambara each and every day. There are three main frustrations. The main one is that I’m replacing someone. A lot of people seem to forget that she wasn’t fluent in Bambara when she got to site. Another part of Malian culture is that people compare you with other people right to your face, and they aren’t meaning to be rude. Every day I’m told how much everyone misses her and how good she was at Bambara. I just try not to take it personally, although I occasionally have to remind people that we’re two different people and that she lived here for two years. A major plus came last week when I was walking around town. A group of little kids saw me from a distance and started yelling “Awa” – MY Malian name, not the name of the previous volunteer. It lifted my spirits a ton. Language in general is another major but obvious frustration, although the other day a lady told me she thought I could speak Bambara, which made my day! In my village, Senofu is also the main language, so while most everyone understands and speaks Bambara, a lot of times they’ll have conversations in Senofu which I obviously can’t understand. I do know how to greet in Senofu though which everyone likes! The third frustration is that I have felt completely unproductive – but I get to start baby weighing in two weeks which I am super excited about.

So I thought I’d write about a typical day in the life of a Kourouma volunteer thus far. I get up around 6 or 6:30. I’ve gotten up and run a little bit which I really enjoy because I can watch the sun rise which is absolutely beautiful. After exercising, I take my bucket bath and then eat breakfast of fruit or eggs. I also have a little short wave radio so I can listen to BBC news in the morning (I’m so upset about the Marian Jones deal by the way). My language tutor comes around 8 and we talk for a while, although I feel like he doesn’t help that much so I’m probably going to tell him to come only twice a week from now on. Then, I go to the CSCOM to greet the doctor, nurses, my homologue who is a matron at the CSCOM and who I will go to with work issues, the pharmacist, and anyone else who is there. Then I have been picking out a part of town and just walking around, greeting people. While Kourouma isn’t too big (around 2500 people), it is very spread out and the compounds are huge with maybe 50 or more people in a compound. Unfortunately, people go to the fields very early and are there all day, but I always find some women and lots of children to greet. I greet for about an hour and a half and then go home and study until lunch. I’ve started making lunch for myself, and then I go to my homologues house to hang out for a few hours. There are always lots of people at her house, and a lot of times I help the women to shell shea nuts. Mid-afternoon, I go back home to read, sweep, wash clothes, do dishes, get water from the pump, etc. Then I usually read until someone’s gets me for dinner, which I eat at my homologues house as well. After dinner we listen to music, watch TV, or just hang out. Then I come home, read some more, and go to bed. I spend the entire day outside. I have a wonderful front porch and only go inside to sleep at night. This also means that kids often stop by my house which can be really annoying, but I don’t feel bad about telling them to leave if I want to be alone. So the pace of life is very slow and laid back and you can probably see why I’m itching to start actual work. Oh, on Wednesday’s I have been biking the 12 km to the main road and catching a bus to a neighbouring market town, where other volunteers in the area also go. They are all really nice and it is an opportunity to buy fresh produce that I can’t find in my village, along with cold drinks. Plus, it has been a wonderful opportunity to speak in English!

My village is mostly an Animist and Muslim community, which has produced some interesting stories thus far. Every once in a while, fetishes come out at night. I don’t really know what fetishes are, but if a woman sees one, she will die. Fetishes have come out 4 times since I’ve been at site, and so far, every night I’ve been scared to death. The night that fetishes come out, everyone tells me that I have to go home, close and lock all my windows and doors, and go to bed as soon as possible so I won’t see a fetish. One night, I woke up periodically and heard drums and men singing somewhere for the entire night. The next morning I got up to go running. The sun had come up some but not all the way. I saw two old women who basically made me turn around because if I had kept running the way I was going, I might see a fetish and die. So I turned around until the women were out of eyesight and then turned around again and kept going.

I also have an interesting story about the previous volunteers cat. His name was Motobo and I had told her during site visit that I didn’t want a cat. She found someone to take him, but he just kept coming back to my compound. I told my language tutor about the problem, so he brought one of his friends to come get Motobo. The friend turned out to be a fetish creator. He came to my compound with a burlap sac into which he stuffed the cat, and walked off. A few days later I asked my tutor if he’d seen Motobo and he started laughing because apparently the fetish creator had taken Motobo to kill and eat. So Motobo is no more, but I told the previous volunteer about it and she actually had wanted someone to take the cat to eat. So it all worked out in the end!

While there are a lot of annoying people who like to compare me to the previous volunteer all the time, I have also met some incredibly generous folks as well. I love my neighbours. There is a dad with one wife and four kids. The kids come hang out at my house a lot, including 3-year old Adia who is adorable. Since I’ve come to site, they’ve brought me an appetizer-type dish almost every night, from french fries to porridge. There is also a really nice lady who sells fried dough balls and sweet potatoes outside the doctor’s office every day. I always greet her and she often gives me free food as well. On Friday, which was Seli, the day after Ramadan when fast ended, the doctor and his family brought me an entire plateful of couscous with chicken and fried veggies. Needless to say I have definitely not been in lack of food.

I’m getting pretty good at carrying water on my head (using both arms of course). The first few days at site were incredibly rough. I went to get water one afternoon and ended up spilling a lot all over myself. Everyone was laughing at me and I laughed too but then got back to my house and just cried for 30 minutes straight. Since then though I fill the bucket a little bit less full and have been getting water later in the afternoon when not many people are out!

Oh, I also discovered the alcoholic part of town a few weeks ago. I was walking and greeting people when I ran into a guy who asked me if I knew what millet beer was. I didn’t know the word in Bambara so I said no. He told me he’d show me and led me to another compound where I saw a huge cauldron full of the beer. This was at 9:30 in the morning and I could tell they’d already started drinking. Anyway, it was pretty funny and now I know where to go if things get too rough in Kourouma (j/k)! In other random news, I have killed about a hundred spiders since I got to site and even killed a scorpion that was in my bedroom! It’s the only one I’ve seen since I got installed but it was still pretty exciting.

These last few days have been great in Sikasso. I have gotten to meet up with a lot of other volunteers and we spend time eating good cold food, going to a nearby pool, and hanging out at a bar at night. While I do like my site, I truly look forward to the times when I can see the other volunteers. Okay, goodness. I’ve rambled on enough. As always, hope everyone’s well, I miss you all. It’ll probably be a couple more weeks until I get to write again but still send me emails with lots of news that I’ll have waiting for me!

Banankoro bana

Homestay is officially over and we're all back in Tubaniso 'til next Sunday when we depart for site! Swear-in is Friday - I am getting increasingly nervous about being dropped off at my site, although very excited as well. This last week has been fairly eventful. Wednesday night we hosted a dance for Banankoro. On Thursday we got together with some women and children and demonstrated making oral re hydration salts, which is good practice for site. Thursday also, I went to the one restaurant in Banankoro to eat lunch with some other trainees. We had to wait two hours for our food because they had to go out of town to get the ingredients, but it was totally worth it. We had cous-cous with an onion and pepper sauce and chicken. It was delicious and I ate every single bit of meat on the bone (M&D it reminded me of Shonda A. eating at our house that one time!).

Ramadan started on Thursday, so many members of my family and all over Mali will be fasting from dawn to dusk for the next month. Fasting is different than say the 30-hour famine because no food or drink (not even water) are allowed. Gum chewing and even smoking are not allowed. My family kept asking me if I was going to fast and so on Friday I did! For the whole day! I woke up at 4:15 to eat rice, bread and coffee with my sisters and then went back to my room and drank a ton of water before going back to bed for a few hours. It was tough not being able to drink water, but I did it and I think my host family was really proud of me. As soon as fast was over I chugged a liter of water and got to eat not only macaroni for dinner, but porridge and coconut as well, a nice bonus. My family thought it was really funny that I was only fasting for one day but I told them that next year I'd do it for two! On Saturday the PCT's and our professors cooked our own dinner at the school and each invited a couple members of our family to come. I invited my two sisters who I always eat with. We made a wonderful feast (including ketchup bought from Bamako) although I kind of felt bad because my sisters saw me eat about 20 pieces of meat whereas at home I avoid it altogether or only eat one or two pieces. Oh well! Afterwards my sisters took me to a photographer on the main road and we got our picture taken in front of a corny scenic background. Yesterday morning I gave gifts of rice and fabric to my parents and a deck of cards to the kids (although I think they lost half the deck within 10 minutes). Most of the kids walked me to my professors' house to say goodbye. When they left, Salimata lagged behind and kept turning around to look at me. Even though she's driven me absolutely crazy the last two months, I'll definitely miss her along with a couple others. So that's it until I go back to Banankoro in January to visit. As always, miss you all and hope everyone's well!!!

Den kundi (Baby naming ceremony)

Hi everyone! Hopefully you can see some of the pictures that I’ve put up – they take forever to download! So, I finished Harry Potter (of course). Luckily, another trainee had already read it so I immediately had someone with whom I could talk about it. However; if anyone wants to talk about it further with me, let me know.
The last week in Banankoro has gone very well. We’re at Tubaniso until tomorrow and then we’re only in our home stay sites for one more week! I’m not really going to be sad to leave, just because I’m so ready to live on my own and cook my own food – I will miss some members of my family and will most of all miss having other trainees right there. For health education practice, we got to hold a porridge-making session and baby weighing this past week, both of which turned out well. A lot of women and their babies came to each event, and we got to practice doing everything in Bambara. The most exciting news from my site was that two sisters (whom I hadn’t yet met but live on the same street as me) both had babies within a few days of each other. The baby naming ceremony for one was all day Wednesday, in my concession. Tuesday night, I was trying to sleep but there was a sheep outside that kept me up half the night. I was so confused because there isn’t usually a sheep that lives in my concession. Then I remembered that the baby naming ceremony was to be held the next day and sure enough, I woke up the next morning and the sheep’s skin was lying right outside my door. So, I got to eat some nice lamb for lunch on Wednesday. Then, yesterday morning, I went to greet my dad and he was eating something. I asked him what it was and he replied that it was sheep’s head, and then asked me if I wanted any. I said I was full. The baby naming ceremony was fun. I missed most of the dancing because I was in class, but still got to dance a little bit. I also wore one of my new Malian outfits which everyone loved. That’s it for now. As always, I hope you all are well!

Harry Potter

I just wanted to write that I am the happiest trainee in the world right now because I am holding my own copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in my hand. I love you Emma, you're the best sister in the world! Thank you thank you thank you!

Kourouma!

Aw ni wula!

I hope everyone's doing fantastic. I got to Sikasso, my regional capital, this morning after three full days spent in Kourouma which will be my home for the next two years starting at the end of September. On Monday I met my homologue, or counterpart whom I'll be working with in Kourouma. She is a very nice lady and works very hard at the CSCOM (medical center) doing pre-natal counseling. On Tuesday, we rode together on a bus from Bamako to Sikasso, which took about 6 hours. The bus ride wasn't bad, although it was incredibly sad because I sat next to the most malnourished child I've ever seen in person. He looked to be around 8 years old but was just skin and bones and could not use his legs at all. He seemed to be happy though and laughed at me when I made silly faces at him. We got off at Sikasso and caught a Sotroma which is a very ghetto bus to a town about seventy minutes north of Sikasso. From there, I met Elizabeth, the current Kourouma volunteer. Together we biked into Kourouma which takes about 40 minutes after getting off of the main road. While that sounds like a lot, really it's not bad at all and I figure I'll be able to come into Sikasso once every week or two.

It was actually dark when we biked into Kourouma, but over the next few days I was able to gather that it's a very beautiful village, with a road going through it and lots and lots of trees all around. There are about 2500 people living there, and it's fairly spread out so I'll probably be biking a lot. I love my future house. Sorry Kevin, but it's no dung hut. Quite the opposite actually. It used to be the mayor's house, and it is a concrete structure composed of two large rooms (living room and bedroom) and a small room for the kitchen. Elizabeth is leaving me all the major furniture as well along with most cooking supplies. There is also a nice covered porch. There is a front courtyard where Elizabeth has planted cucumbers, tomatoes and flowers. I have my own deep negen, although at night there are still roaches. All of this is enclosed, although the wall is short enough to look over and see the neighbors who are seem very nice.

So basically, the last few days have been spent going around the village and greeting people. I met the chief of the village, who is ancient, doesn't really speak Bambara, and seems to have no clue what's going on. Because it is rainy season, most people spend the day out in the fields, so I didn't get to meet a lot of people. It also rained during much of my visit, so a lot of the time we just hung out at home, reading or washing dishes and clothes. My favorite day was Thursday because I got to actually do some work. We went to the CSCOM, where there was someone doing vaccinations and Elizabeth did baby weighings, which I helped with. There were probably about 30 women who came in with their babies, and we would weigh them and record their weight. Most of the babies were underweight, in which case Elizabeth would talk to the mother and find out the diet of the baby. Babies are supposed to start eating porridge after 6 months of age, but many women only give breastmilk until about 1 year. Overall, the baby weighing was really fun and I'll probably do it in Kourouma every Thursday. Two or three other mornings every week I'll probably bike to nearby villages to do weighings in those places. My first three months at site though will be dedicated to Bambara rather than health work, because without knowing the language I won't be able to do anything. Another major highlight of the week: one morning Elizabeth made pancakes and someone had sent her real maple syrup. It was delicious! It was a good but awkward week, as I can really only greet and say simple things in Bambara. I just can't wait to swear in and move in and be completely immersed in everything! As always, I miss you all and hope you're well. Send me emails letting me know what's going on!

Anna

N ka kan ka Bamanankan kalan (I must study Bambara)

Aw ni sogoma! Try saying the title five times in a row. I’m back at Tubaniso until Tuesday, when we have…site visits! We’ll spend about five days at our future sites, meeting people, being forced to speak and learn more of our respective languages, and seeing a piece of what the next two years will be like. I’ll have plenty to write about then.
The last week in Banankoro hasn’t been too incredibly exciting. We had language tests and I did well and am at the place I need to be at in order to swear in as a volunteer next month, which is a huge comfort. Although, even though I feel like I do pretty well in class, I go home and can hardly understand what my family’s saying because they do not slow down for me at all! Let’s see, I’ve been to two Malian dances in the last week! Last Saturday night, most of the trainees in Banankoro met up (we all had a sibling that accompanied us) and walked down the main road to a dance that was happening. It was the strangest thing. There were about 100 people there, ranging from 10 year olds to 50 year olds. Everyone had formed a circle with a space in the center. There was a DJ, and every song that he played (some US rap included; Malians also love “Gasolina”) about five girls and five guys would go out to the middle of the circle, stand across from one another, dance by themselves and then periodically each pair would switch sides. It was also about the same 10 people that danced the entire time (except when they got all us female Toubabs to go out and dance for one song). The other dance was pretty much the same. Hopefully they won’t all be like that, because for me, the point of a dance is for everyone to dance. We shall see! I went to a baby naming ceremony for one of the trainee’s sisters new baby. In the morning, the men gather to slaughter a goat and drink tea and in the afternoon, women gather to give gifts of clothes and soap, and sing and dance a little bit.
In other news, I definitely ate some piece of organ last week, maybe liver, maybe heart. My family had been tricky and cut the meat into small bits and dispersed it throughout the pasta. I took a handful of pasta and there was organ in it, but my sister was looking at me so I couldn’t put it back and had to eat it. It wasn’t good, to say the least. And I ended up accidentally eating more later on in the meal. As far as good food news, we discovered yogurt at a gas station in a town nearby Banankoro. It was cold and delicious and after site visit I’m probably going to bike there every day. That’s about it from here. I’m going to go because there’s a line of people waiting to use internet, but I haven’t forgotten about Malian names and I’ll give them to those that wanted them later!

Culture Shock

So the reason I'm able to write so much now is because we came back to Tubaniso on Monday and are here 'til tomorrow. We've had lots of random sessions, and it's a good chance to take a language break and see all of the other trainees. Also, tomorrow we're going to find out where our site is!!! I'm so excited because we all thought we wouldn't find out for two more weeks.

One of the sessions today was on culture shock so I thought I'd write some about that. For me, one of the hardest adjustments has been to observe the treatment of animals. I knew coming to Africa that cats and dogs aren't seen as pets, but my host family literally beats up on the puppy in our compound. Sometimes they'll just pick it up and throw it. I've started asking them to stop and once I learn Bambara I'll explain how animals are treated in the US. The puppy always hides under my chair because he knows I won't hurt him, which is so sad!

The second problem has been trash. Most villages don't have any formal trash removal system so there's often a lot of litter everywhere. I'll probably start bringing trash from Banankoro back with me to Tubaniso where they'll burn it.

One of the nice changes about Africa is the slow pace of life. There are no awkward silences here. It was pouring rain last week so my family and I came inside from the courtyard and just sat quietly in the dark and drank tea until the rain stopped. It was really peaceful. I love the tea here by the way, probably because it's mostly sugar. It's mainly made for social purposes, because it takes about an hour to prepare and drink (Argentina people - it kind of makes me think about how you describe maté).

Joking cousins are another huge part of Malian culture. No one seems to know the history of it, but basically the family name determines who you're joking cousins with. For example, Coulibaly's are joking cousins with pretty much everyone, including Samaké’s. One of my neighbors is a Coulibaly so whenever we see one another, he'll go "Oh, Samaké, i be sho dun" (you eat beans) and then I'll respond that no, he eats beans. Then we'll laugh, and sometimes I'll say that Coulibaly's are donkeys which is another way to joke. You can do this about five times a day and it never gets old - it's a great ice breaker.

Another cultural difference I've noted is the treatment of kids. First of all, children have more responsibility at an earlier age. One of the girls in my compound who is only about 8 years old is always carrying her baby brother around, strapped to her back. Aminata and Dje'naba, both in their early teens, almost always prepare the meals. I always see my brother Nu, who is 11, wandering around town on a donkey-pulled cart selling wood. Parents also watch their kids less. Every day I come home and even the toddlers are wandering around on the street. Basically you're not a child of just two parents - you're a child of the village and everyone watches out for everyone else. One funny story happened last week between Salimata and Abu, who is about eight years old. Salimata threw a rock at Abu and he retaliated by smacking her on the thigh with a branch. She immediately started bawling, Abu ran away, and her parents and sisters basically just started laughing at her, because she deserved what she got. The parents definitely let their kids make and learn from their own mistakes. Abdoulaye finally pulled her onto his lap though and held her until she calmed down, which was sweet because I usually don't see the father being that close with his kids.

Alright, that's definitely enough for now. By the way, Emma, I'm going to give you Bintou for a Malian name (pronounced Bean-tu). If anyone else wants me to name them, let me know! And for your question about ages of other volunteers, most are recent college grads. There is one 60 year old man, a woman in her 30's, and 3 married couples who I believe are all in their 20's. Oh and Bailey, the alphabet's mostly the same except for about 3 characters which are slightly different. Hope you all are doing well, thanks for all the comments!

Anna