Holiday Message from The White House

International Volunteer Day

On Saturday morning I was sitting in the In-Country Resource Center checking e-mails and scanning the articles posted on the New York Times. A PC staff member walked in with a large bag of t-shirts, he greeted me and asked if I was interested in playing a soccer game with a group of international volunteers. “Yeah I will!” (Eyeing the large bag of t-shirts). He handed me a few and asked if I knew anyone else in town that would be interested. The next volunteer I saw, Henry, was also equally excited as me to play and to get a free Peace Corps t-shirt. After that it was easy to find two or three other volunteers to participate.
Monday morning I arrived at the Peace Corps Bureau in Bamako to travel with Peace Corps staff to the International Conference Center for the inauguration of 100 Malian volunteers. We set up a PC info booth and then sat in the conference room for an hour and a half waiting for the arrival of Malian’s President Amadou Toumani Toure (A.T.T.). Guest speakers from various organizations gave speeches. Peace Corps was represented by a Peace Corps Response Volunteer working in Bamako. She did a wonderful job; the crowd was pleased and surprised by her ability to speak Bambara, as she spoke of her experience as a PCV in a rural village near San, Mali, and gave blessings to the future Malian volunteers. During the event there were several animations, one that stands out the most was a Malian rapper that gave a lip-synch performance. It was riveting. I have only seen lip-synch performers briefly on ORTM (a Mali television channel) so it was a treat to watch one live.

Standing for the President A.T.T.'s entrance

Malian lip synch rapper

The Malian volunteers stood and took an oath swearing-in to serve their country.

Immediately after, Peace Corps staff and I along with other volunteers present scurried down the stairs to the Peace Corps booth to wait for A.T.T. to pass by with his entourage. We all got to shake hands with the president and offer a Peace Corps pin that he placed on his suit. Enjoy the following pictures below.

the hand shake

Peace Corps booth: Volunteers and Staff with U.S. Ambassador on far right

We then had 2-3 hours left before the volunteer soccer match scheduled at 4 p.m. So we grabbed lunch and rested before getting PC transport to Stade Coulibaly. The field had real grass! The 4 other volunteers and I ran on to the field to kick a ball around.

Around 4 p.m. they begin passing out blue and yellow futbol uniforms. The teams consisted of a mix of Malian men and women, British volunteers, Japanese volunteers, Chinese volunteers, and Peace Corps volunteers. I was on the blue team. With in the first 5-10 minutes the yellow team scored, but by the half it was 1-1. The game ended in a tie so there was a shoot-out and my team blue won. Some guy then grabbed me and said I was going to represent my team as the captain to receive a trophy from the president of sports. It was all a little over-dramatic in the way it was being presented and with the tv station recording the event I decided to be a little over the top. When the trophy was presented to me I kissed it and raised it into the air and then some guy next to me grabbed my hand to bring the trophy down to a level that he could kiss it as well. It was too much, but awesome at the same time as we cheered to our small victory. Then sadly as we were leaving we had to return our yellow and blue jerseys. “What we don’t get to keep them, lame.” Walking out to the car we passed a row of photos on the ground taken from the event, there were some good ones, but as usual the price per photo was more than what any of us Peace Corps Volunteers were willing to spend. Which is sad, because they were only $2, what the hell are we going to do when we get back to America and are expected to pay 4x that for a similar sized photo.


Dancing during the half



The Start of Something Special

Monument 1: Large Soccer Ball Roundpoint

Bamako is a city of many interesting monuments, statues, and structures. I am hoping to take some time to travel around the city and document as much of the monuments I can. Here are some of the first photos of my mission.

Don Don Donkey Face Don Don Donkey Face

"Sitan, we arrived to the field."

"Sitan, An sera forola." Yes indeed, Captain Obvious, I can see that we have arrived to the fields. The many rows of millet and sorghum kind of gave it away. The first time I came to these same fields was during planting, which coincided with shea collection. So while they ploughed the fields and planted I walked around in circles collecting shea fruit through out the day or searching the trees for ripe zaba fruit. Last year I went out with a group to cut sorghum, but they didn't have me do anything, but take pictures. This year I took a little initiative and went with my friend to her husband's field and worked. Word spread fast that the Toubab-muso (white woman) was cutting sorghum and so I got a lot of praise for my work and everyone was surprised at how fast I learned and my work pace. We took breaks for lunch and tea was brought to us as we went down the rows cutting away. They would lay the stalks to the ground and we would bend, cut, and hold bundles of sorghum in our left hand before one of the children came by to collect and place them in piles. Or we would walk through the rows cutting the sorghum from the top looking up to the sky considering many stalks were over 8 feet tall. So I either had a sore back/thighs or sore neck. The sorghum also makes you really itchy, there is some irritant on the plant that caused bumps to form on my arm like a small rash. Of course, the treatment for that is to just rub shea butter on your arms.
I plan to use shea butter for the rest of my life, I use it as a nightly moisturizer and its great to rub a little in and around your nose when you have a cold/stuffy nose.


I would prefer not to work with this huge baby on my back, but sometimes its the only way to continue working and get the baby to stop crying.




Zoumana a.k.a. Bubba he was smiling, but his mom told him to shut his mouth




He worked hard




Fatoumata and I

  

A Malian Grandmother

Occasionally something happens that I get a good laugh out when thinking about Malian and American culture. Sitting outside holding the baby or watching my host mom toss her around singing songs, made me think of my grandmother that used to rock us singing "Ling-Lang" and a variety of other ryhmes or Spanish songs. Or how fun it is to put make-up or clothes on the baby.


Baby made to look like an old Fulani woman



woman's head wrap

My second and perhaps last Tabaski in Mali

Sunday, November 6, 2011, get up and get ready for prayer. On Sundays I attend mass at the Catholic church, but since this would be my last Tabaski in Mali I decided to skip mass and go to the Mosque with my host-mom. The 'under construction for a long time Mosque' so we gathered outside in rows, the lot directly next to the grand Mosque.

The men were seated in the front and women towards the back. There was a large gap between each row that was frequented by 'garibous' Malian boys begging, and twins wearing matching outfits accompanied by their mother. It is very common practice to give money or gifts to twins. One Malian's reasoning was that it is bad luck if you don't, another one was because they just look so adorable you feel like giving them something. As time passed it was getting hotter and hotter. It seemed shorter than my previous times attending Mosque, but I believe it was on account of the sun being hot.
I sat on the left-side of my host-mom and the right side of her friend. As we were dismissed many people came around to give greetings and blessings for a great year and a long life. A next door neighbor came and grabbed our prayer rugs to carry back for us as we walked back to the house to prepare for our feast.
The slaughter of the sheep. Sorry for the following picture.

about to place the head and feet onto the fire



All dressed in their best



new hair-do



Tying baby onto back to visit her "god-mother"
Stephanie and Jessica don't be surprised if you catch me baby-sitting with your baby tied on my back



Amineta and Amineta a.k.a Ta
When babies are born, they are given their name on the seventh day announced at a naming ceremony
It is a source of pride to have a child named after you, for all time it is your namesake (i togo ma)

Well the day was good and the feast was great. A lot of sheep meat served with sauce and couscous and for dinner more sheep meat. For the last fete I made a huge batch of banana treats, but this time I just gave 5000FCFA (about $10) to show my appreciation for everything my host mother has done for me. Welcoming me into her family as one of her own and being such an incredible support for work and living in Mali. I am so thankful to her and everyone that has made these last 16 months in Mali the most unforgettable and exciting times of my life. As she said to me the day we met "You have left your home, to come home" Amen!

Funny, You Know video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4swOWhsaQg

Env-PCVT

I am back at the Peace Corps training center. After 16 months of living and working in Mali, I am joining several colleauges to be a 'Peace Corps Volunteer Trainer' for the Pre-Service Training group entering Mali the end of this month. The "new kids", a total of 41, now have less than 7 days on American soil. Get ready! In Bamako, as a future trainer we attended meetings to discuss the objectives of the training program and to plan the Calendar of Training Events (C.O.T.E.). Most recently we had a workshop titled the Training of Trainers (ToT). All training staff were present and we had sessions reviewing learning techniques and theories, towards the end of the week each sector presented on a topic in order to put into practice the techniques and receive feedback/comments from the rest of the training staff.
The tech trainers and I are all pretty excited to welcome the new group of future Mali PCVs. We all remember our first few hours/days/weeks in country and how intense an experience it was for everyone on different levels.

[We landed in country after 1 A.M., stepping off into the muggy heat of Mali, greeted by our Training Manager. All 80 of us Peace Corps Trainees huddled around to turn in our Passports and WHO cards to get through as quickly as possible and then wait an hour for our luggage in a small terminal with one swamp cooler. We were exhausted, after an unexpected change in flights we ended up with an 8 hour layover in France. Once we finally received our luggage we were told to walk outside to be greeted by current Mali volunteers. The volunteers led us to the shuttles and gave us a bottle of water and a bottle of mosquito repellant. On the ride to the training center there was nervous laughter and excitement. The volunteers at the head of the bus were telling stories and answering a number of questions from people in our group.
Once we arrived at the training center we received a brief tour by flashlight, "a how to poop in a hole"]

Now I am in Bamako, working on session plans etc. in preparation for the newbies, eating good food, exploring the city and watching movies.
p.s. Since I am in the capitol I have access to reliable internet so send me e-mails or let us set up a skype date.

Sitan, Koniba ye den-muso soro!

I helped present a country for an international fair in another volunteers' villages. The plan was to attend the international fair prior to going to Bamako for a 'Training of Trainers' (ToT). The international fair was great, majority of the Ktla Ladies (volunteers in my area) attended. We left town early morning for the 50+km bike ride into the small village to get ready for the day's presentation.

presenting to the first group of kids

I talked about Mexico. The flag and what it stands for, common field crops in Mexico, common food, sports (bull-fighting and futbol), music (played a mariachi song so they could hear the different sound of instruments), and where the country is located and its distance from Mali. Unfortunately the next two-days of the event were canceled due to unfortunate circumstances for another volunteer.

With the event canceled my plan for the rest of the week fell through, but that same day on my return to Ktla (banking town) I received a call from my host mother. "Sitan, Koniba had a baby girl!!!" I got the call on Monday evening. I had only left my village two days before, but I had no idea when she was due so I just said call me as soon as the baby arrives. Well I was 2 hours closer to Bamako since leaving village, but decided it would be such a surprise for my host family if I came back to see the baby. [I spent my free day in Ktla playing basketball with a bunch of Malians, men and women, my age. It was a welcome change to the group I normally play with in my village. We ran actual drills and played three on three. I was exhausted by the end. The great thing is they gave me an invitation to come back anytime.] The next day I woke up early purchased bars of soap, baby powder, and a baby wrap and headed back to site to see the newborn babe.
I didn't call anyone in my village ahead of time to let them know I was coming so it would be a surprise. It was awesome, my host mother and everyone was so glad to see me. I came into the concession gave a hug and then my host mother proceeded to tell her friend in the compound that she called me the day before yesterday and that I came back even though I had work to do in the capitol.

Baby and Grandma (Mo-muso)



My Malian Caleb, his mom tied a headwrap worn by Malian women on his head. We laughed. When I told her I was going into my house to grab my camera, she re-tied it to make it look better. Let the good times roll. : )



first time momma

"We got shafted!"

Paying 1000 FCFA ($2) more than every other passenger on the bus and we did not even get a seat. I turn to Paula and say "we got shafted!" Though we both were getting over a case of the West African cold we still had a good time. Catching up on each others village life and activities, eating beef jerky from my most recent care package, and I had someone to listen to my complaining; concerning public transport, mostly about the lady in front of me that kept invading my space (her behind kept hitting my knees!).

my shirt has faded

It was hot, stuffy, smelly, and bumpy. After riding on an empty water container for 3 hours at the lunch stop we insisted on getting the seats from passengers that got off at that stop. Unfortunately my seat was at the very back of the bus and was much worse than siiting in the aisle. One, it was more hot with less of a draft could not believe that possible. Two, some kind of hot vent was near my feet I felt like my feet were going to catch fire. Three, there were chickens on the other side near my feet. After sitting for about 30 minutes to an hour while my feet slow roasted I decided to swap seats with a fellow in the aisle. Though not the best seat in the bus it sure beat my alternative.

Walking in Mali

After picking up my book package (thanks Darien Book Aid), that weighed over 20 lbs., a guy insisted I get on his moto for a ride. I refused and walked the five minutes to drop it off with my bus guys. "All right, I'll be back at five." After being with Americans 24/7 for the past week and a half I felt I was experiencing a mini-culture shock walking through the city alone, running errands and giving greetings. I even ran into a friend from my village that I play basketball with, he was like "Where have you been? I haven't seen you playing basketball."  I was excited to say, I am going back to my village today and will see him on the court tomorrow.
Walking back I saw a woman, with two kids on a moto, about to enter traffic. She dropped a coin under her moto. She didn't notice so I stopped her, picked it up and gave it to her. She thanked me and I contiued on my way home. A few minutes later the same woman pulls to the side of the road where I am walking and starts speaking to me in French. "Sorry, I don't understand French." She says thank you again and offers me a ride on her already semi-full moto, one kid is tied to her back and another about 5yrs old sits behind. I thank her for the offer and tell her my boss does not allow me to ride a moto, because I may get in an accident; if I did I would have to go back to America. She understands but asks if I live far away. "No, just down this road in the Medina Koura district." Well she said she would like to chat with me sometime.
I love my job.
Pay it forward.

My free time in Bamako

I came into the city to get things done. I completed my mid-service medical exam (took less than 10min) and went to a local dentist for a cleaning and check-up. I also finally received my atm card! Hooray! After being the only Mali volunteer without one for a whole year, every atm withdrawal has been an amazing experience. Usually, I have to get to the bank 30 min before it opens to get a ticket to wait to withdraw a large sum of cash so I don't have to wait again or sometimes if I'm not there when it opens I may have to wait up to 3-4 hours to get money. Argh! Not helpful considering I have no bank in my town so I had to travel to a town two hours away, but no more because I have an atm card!
While in Bamako I visited the National library, but it was closed so I'll have to go again another time.
On Friday, I visited a Malian family in Bamako and watched The Forbidden Kingdom dubbed in French. After I met up with my friend to caravan to our homestay village to visit my first Mali family and village. I was nervous/excited to see them.



We were a little delayed and distracted in the city by ice cream and super market stores so we left town a little late and did not arrive in our homestay village until well after dark. We stopped by his host family first for greetings and dinner. I was not able to contact my host family in advance, because all of the cell numbers I used were inactive. So I just hoped for the best, that I would have a place to sleep with a mosquito net. The homecoming was great my host-father was delighted to see us and they prepared me a very comfortable bed with net in one of his family's bedrooms. As Matt and I were chatting with the family a man came to see my host father (medicine man) to have his fortune read. Matt was very much intrigued and asked to have his read as well. My father explained he can only say what he sees that is good, when they read your fortune and if they see something bad or negative they will not tell you. So Matt felt a little cheated when all he could tell him was that he will have a peaceful time in Mali and the session was over. So he asked more specific questions and received these answers. His first child will be a son and he will have three kids, only time will tell.
The next morning I woke to a rain storm that lasted until 8am. I was told to bathe and then given a cup of warm milk and bread for breakfast. I wanted to do something for my family to show my thanks for the two months I spent as a trainee living in their family. That morning I told my host mom I am making lunch, what do you want to eat rice and peanut sauce or zame? It was unanimous everyone wanted zame.

 I also went to the Mali v. Cape Verde soccer game with a great group of people.

Mali won 3-0! Now Dan wants to travel to the final in Gabon. After the game we had pizza dinner.

The next day a couple friends and I went on an exploratory stroll through Bamako and sought out the location of a nine-hole golf course we heard was near the casino. We found it! Located behind the large Libya Hotel, we were excited to play, but all agreed on what we were willing to pay before we saw the actual price for a game. We felt 5000 FCFA (about $10) was a fair price. Turns out if you are a member you get a better price, though not by much, and if you are a guest playing it is 15000 FCFA not including the extra 5000 FCFA for club rental fee. Lame-sauce, so we just walked around and sat by the pool planning our return trip to Bamako to play golf.

The last few days in Bamako I went to the National Parc du Mali. We had a picnic and strolled the park trying all the excercise stations and people watching.

Geoff is a climber so when we come back in November, he is going to scale some rocks.

The Shea Business Boot Camp

The S.B.B.C. was held at Tubaniso, Peace Corps' training nest located 30 minutes outside of Bamako. A total of twenty-two volunteers came to give it their all. It was strange getting back into a full day work routine, but a welcome change. We were divided into groups of 5 to 6 volunteers, each group was given a case study of a village(s) that were at different levels of shea production. We assessed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of our case study and began drafting a business plan. Through out the week guest speakers came to discuss; business plans, cost benefit analysis, shea politics in Mali, financial management, outreach, monitoring and evaluation, publicity, and small business marketing. Also we had several field trips into town to attend a mini shea fair with local shea producers displaying their products, a production facility, and the I.E.R. Mali's testing facility for agricultural products and understand the testing process for shea butter. At the end of the week we presented our business plans and performed a flash mob to Shakira's cover of Waka Waka (this is for Africa).

we all handle stress differently

The Boot Camp was organized very well and was quite successful. I think everyone is looking forward to the end of November. We will be bringing work counterparts to the training site for another boot camp specifically designed for our host-country work counterparts. Women from different regions of Mali coming together to discuss shea! 

You bathed.

~Yes, I am clean.
You washed your hair?
~Yes.
Did you comb your hair yet?
~Yes I did, why do you always ask if I have combed my hair??
Because, it is still wet.
~Ohhh, well my hair takes a while to dry.

Hunger Awareness Week

Participate and Share Your Story"  The Peace Corps Mali Food Security Taskforce has planned Hunger Awareness Week in order to raise awareness and personal understanding among Peace Corps volunteers and their friends and families in the United States of the difficulties Malians and millions around the world who live below the line of poverty ($1 a day) face daily combating food insecurity. Please participate, invite your friends and family participate, and send your thoughts and reflections on the week to mariofromero@gmail.com.
As Volunteers, we do live a somewhat uncomfortable life, but with gas stoves and a living allowance, it is still not truly near living at the level of our neighbors for most of us (and if it is living at the level of our neighbors, it isn't at the level of the majority). This is an exercise in reminding us of this, hopefully gives a small taste how just how far so many must go, on so little.
Rules:
The Hunger Awareness Week will begin at 12:01 AM Sunday September 11th and will last until 11:59 PM September 17th.
Peace Corps Volunteers
For one week, all participants are asked to live with only $1. Due to fluctuations in the FCFA, we will use 500 FCFA/person as the established $1/person a day.
Those volunteers that eat with a host family are asked to:
- inform their family
- try not to surpass the 500 FCFA quantity
- or abstain from eating with their family and cook for themselves as this will be easier to control.
For those that will cook and want to be strict with themselves, remember that gas used for cooking, soap bought for laundry, or any activity that involves spending additional money should be included in the 500 FCFA.
Participants with electricity and running water are asked to limit this use.
All food and consumed throughout the day should be estimated as closely as possible within the 500 FCFA (including food from care packages).
Participants in the United States
It is understood that it is significantly easier for volunteers in Mali to follow the under $1 a day rule because food is cheaper and it is easier for us to monitor our electricity and water usage.
For participants in the U.S., we would like to challenge you to eat with under $10 a day for a week.
The electricity and running water rules do not apply to you and neither does driving affect your $10/person a day allotment.
* The degree of strictness to the 500 FCFA (or $10) rule is left to the discretion of the participant. Remember that the health and welfare of the participant is our top priority and recommend that if a participant is feeling ill or is finding that participating in the event is compromising their health to stop altogether or reschedule a personal Hunger Awareness Week.

We are also encouraging participants to write stories, blogs, or poetry about their participation and submit it to mariofromero@gmail.com to be added to our Peace Corps Mali monthly newspaper or on our blog.
http://pcmalifoodsecurity.tumblr.com/

Aw sambe sambe!

Everyone meeting up at the mud-brick kitchen house

The last friday of the month of Ramadan, nearly everyone in village was making 'momi' (fried rice cakes). The children go from concession to concession begging for momi. Very similar to 'trick or treat' during Halloween.

Monday evening, August 29, was the announcement that the fast was officially ending the next day.

Day of Selifitini, Shaka wearing his new outfit with inflatable guitar

The kids walk around with groups of their friends or family, wearing their nicest outfit to say blessings and receive change and/or treats from adults. My host mother and I went to the prayer place (local school grounds) in the morning. Through out the entire day your pretty much giving and receiving blessings left and right. It is great when every once in a while people change the script and add a unique prayer. It is almost like a competition between people and how many prayers they say. 'Ala ka san were yira na' May next year be better than last; 'Ala ka here caya' May God increase your peace; 'Ala ka batow mine' May God answer your prayers'; 'Ala ka ce numan soro, ka den soro' May God give you a good husband and children; 'Ala ka keneya soro' May you be healthy.

I had village henna applied to my feet for the special occasion.
Everyone made a big deal about it, and I got compliments everywhere I went.

My shea is better than yours...

I could teach you, but you'll have to sit through our broken bambara presentation. I really enjoy working with shea and hanging out with the women who have been working with shea for years. So when I was asked to help three other PCVs with a shea presentation in a nearby village I was happy to jump on board. A lot of the women that attended the meeting had not received any prior training before on how to produce shea butter from a raw nut, all the practices they currently use have been passed down from generation to generation of Mali women. Producing shea butter is a very long process.
Women collect the shea and store them in pits or large piles in their concession. This is bad, because it can lead to rot (bad odor butter) and many of the seeds may germinate which leads to bitter butter.

pit to store nuts (bad)

De-pulp the fruit and wash it before boiling the nuts to prevent germination.

this part takes long and is gross, because it attracts so many flies

nuts boiling

lay them out to dry in the sun

This is the hard part, because of the humidity and high chance of rain it is very difficult to dry the nuts in the sun, which is the best practice. Unfortunately many women place the nuts over a fire to smoke them dry.

bad burned/smoked nuts

de-husking the nuts after they have been boiled and dried in the sun

Currently I am past the dehusking part and waiting for my nuts to dry completely. Then it is off to the grinding mill (or pounded with mortar and pestle) to pulverize the nut into a paste that is later beaten by hand with water to extract the butter. That is then washed five times, boiled and filtered into a container to cool. Then the butter is sold or used for household consumption (cooking, moisturizer, or soap making).

shea paste and nuts to be grinded

to be continued...