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