I attended mass today in the big town. The church was about 10 times the size of the one I attend in village and was packed with parishioners. In my village the women all sit on the right pews and men sit on the left, but here its reversed; anyway men and women do not sit with eachother during mass. The pews are wooden benches with no backs, also we do not kneel during anytime of the mass. My church in village is quite plain on the inside and the same goes for the larger church except that behind the altar there is a large carved wooden picture of Jesus and the Disciples that looks really cool. I forgot my camera so next time I'm here for mass I am going to take pictures. Right after mass I set on my quest to find a Bambara prayer book. I was directed to a man outside selling rosaries, rings, and books. Unfortunately they were all in French, he did have some sweet hologram ring that alternated between a picture of Mary and Jesus, but I refrained from the purchase and was directed to another man (Ji Bee). He told me to sit, so I did. I explained again what I was looking for, I guess they have no Bambara prayer books at the church or maybe none for sale, because he gave me a number to another man named Laurent and had some girls escort me to his house. He wasn't home so the search continues for a Bambara prayer book. I'd like to be able to recite the Our Father in Bambara during mass rather than whisper the words in English.
Well this morning I got a call from my post office guy, and he said I have a package to pick up. So right after I left Laurent's house with no book, I went to get my package to lift my spirits. Thanks Rosa I love the shirt cannot wait to wear it this coming week at the Segou Music Festival.
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| Happy Face UCSC Grateful Slug shirt |
I called my homologue (work counterpart) on the way back to the Peace Corps house and she gave me good news. When I get back from the Festival we are going to another town on my list of towns in which I will be working, I have been to 2 of the 5 towns that would like to work with a volunteer. I only know one towns work schedule so for every Wednesday and Friday I have been going to this town to sit, chat, and watch them work. The villages have machines used for the purpose of grinding shea nuts into a paste that will be beaten and heated to extract the shea butter. I noticed many women use methods to store and produce shea butter that can affect the quality, so eventually I'd like to request a formation (presentation) on shea collection, storage, and production methods. All in due time though, I would like to meet regularly with all the different women's associations in all the villages so we can schedule a large meeting in my centrally located village. My work counterpart is the president of an organization that is connected with all the women's associations from the smaller villages. Maybe we'll have a soap making party, we'll see what happens.
Here are some picks of the shea machine work place.
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| left: shea machine; center: storage room; right: my bicycle |
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| shea nuts |
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