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.