Some Pictures and a Thank You

First of all, I would like to thank Catharine Parker and 'The Reach Club' at Milton Academy for the fundraising that they did for the literacy center. These high schoolers raised $800 selling purses made by Malian woman in my village. The village of Farakala and myself are very grateful to you. Thanks Catharine!!!

And now some pictures as promised :

The literacy center with director Bocar posing in the doorway and the director's office in the background

Director's office

One of the classrooms (We got electricity installed)

Me and my beautiful host mother, Kadiatou

Me at my best friend, Bocar's, wedding with his charming new bride Korotumu

Easter egg hunt in Farakala. The kids loved it. Decorated with permanent marker and pastels

The winner of the hunt: my little host brother Olivier

Spaghetti night at my friend's house!

I showed the old man (village chief) in the pink shirt the digital picture after it was taken and he looked astonished while he said "wow, I have a white beard, I am an old man!!" (apparently he hasn't seen a mirror in quite some time)

More wedding celebrations

Me and my little Malian buggers

Salimata Sanogo --> Katharine Stofer

Since we’re coming down to my last month here in country I’m basically working on tying up the loose ends for the construction of the literacy school i.e. replacing the ugly weeds in the school yard with new life : mango trees and magenta flowers. The only construction work left is to build the latrine walls (yes, H.M.Rosko, a latrine is not a latrine unless it has walls. Idiot).

In the last couple of months we have completed another teacher training, this time in Senoufo literacy, a follow-up grammar training, the government certification of three more teachers and the start of a new program called “Champs d’Alpha” or ‘Literacy Fields’. For our ‘Literacy fields’ program, each of the 12 villages involved in the literacy program of Farakala will donate between 1 and 3 hectares of land to plant and cultivate either millet or corn. Proceeds will go to the literacy caisse (bank account) and hopefully take care of any maintenance issues that may come up after I leave. The money we have in the literacy caisse right now will be used for purchasing and delivering fertilizer and paying 2 professionals as supervisors of the program.

We’re also in the works of planning the inauguration of the new school, which should happen around June 15 depending on whether or not the minister of education can make it (he’s a Sanogo, like me, so his presence on inauguration day is in my favor). We’ll do the official opening of the center and at the same time it will be my departure party. So basically: music, tears, so many hand shakes, killing of sheeps and lots of eats, cutting of ribbons and so much love. Farewell Farakala ; or love you land of the together-people, free from time and full of freedom.

Birthday celebration was good. Bluegrass, bubbles, banjos (CMC + Sweetgrass), ice. ice. ice., baby (so hot here), inner tubes, flat tires, chocolate creamcheese frosted cakes, tequila, and pizza (Yes, REAL CHEESE!)

Coming home the 23rd of June. Hello shiny America with Cheese. My sweet dirty friend-filled fried-filled sweaty marvelous Mali; you will be so missed. You will be so very missed. But the memories will be in my journey forever.

The past few months...

Me with a couple friends during a Malian holiday

November I found myself caught up in the politics of Farakala. We finally arranged elections for the official literacy committee. I wasn’t prepared for the amount of chaos that went down in the foyer that day; however, it was good to see that people were concerned enough about the program to be that engaged. The election day finally came and 7 hours and a few overturned tables later, the committee was decided upon. Discussions of the elections days’ events and the turnout of the committee are still trickling into the daily gossip in Farakala.

The month of December was one of fun-filled voyages and far too little time at site. I started off the month with a PC-paid visit to Senegal with two other volunteers for a West African Volunteers conference. I did a few presentations on starting a literacy program and witnessed a lot of other successful Peace Corps projects in West Africa. The conference was a great success and many interesting development ideas were shared. Once the 2-day conference was over I went with my two friends to a beach house in a peaceful village called Popenguine. We spent the time mingling with a few sculpture artists and ballroom dancing to djembes on the beach with a Senegalese-French restaurant owning couple.

Upon returning to Mali, I had about a week to get back to site and get forgiven for my absence before I took off to meet the family in Kenya for Christmas. Our safarical journey started off in a Jurassic Park-style tour of the multi-green colored rolling hills of Chylu. While there, we saw many animals but I was most impressed with the enchanted fairytastical landscape. While in the hills, we stumbled upon a young and friendly female pilot who took us for a birds-eye view tour of Kilimanjaro. Our next stay was in the Serengeti where we were showered with wildlife. Our first jeep roll consisted of a run in with a cheetah, a mama leopard n cubs, a giant pack of yawning lions, zebras, lover birds, elephants, the whole gang. We wrapped up the trip with a visit to the spice-filled island of Zanzibar. Hakuna matata (no problems) what a wonderful journey.

All my African mamas dancin' with their grains in Farakala

Come January, I’ve found myself getting more and more nervous about taking care of all the loose ends before my quickly approaching departure. The month got off to a great start with our first literacy class graduating (unfortunately there were no women in this class but they’ll be coming very soon!). This good news was followed by a very successful two-day training for literacy teachers, delegates and the newly elected committee, on assuring the sustainability of the program. Committee members were able to do hands-on activities to prepare themselves for their new roles in the community. When that formation was over, we began planning for the literacy teacher’s training in Senoufo, which will take place in February. After this training, classes will be conducted not only in Bambara (the most commonly spoken language in Mali) but also in Senoufo (the most commonly spoken language in this region of Mali).

January formation led by me Sylvain and Mama

Students of teacher Abubocar Sanogo - our first graduated class!

Right now, we’re on a wild goose chase for funding from the government and or NGOs so that the teachers may be reinforced for their hard work in bringing about a more literate Farakala. In addition to seeking outside funding sources, we will be starting an income generating activity within the program called “Literacy Fields”. In this initiative, each village in the commune will set aside land to cultivate and sell crops to get revenue for the center. Students, delegates and teachers will rotate working in the fields.

The building of the center is coming along slowly but surely. We have finally finished the first building and will be starting the director’s office and resource room next week. I have arranged for a group of 25 highschoolers from the International School of Bamako (kids of expats working in Mali) to come do labor on the center for a couple days. Hopefully this will expedite the process and allow us to do the inauguration before I come home for a visit in March!

Rooftop powow

Veranda/ Sitting area at entrance of classrooms

Finished (besides paint) literacy building - unattached office and resource room to be built on the right

Aw ni che (Thank you/ Hello) from Kat and the Villagers at Farakala

Finally made it to civilization today with the right hookups and gadgets, electricity is a go, and the internet is working – so here I go! The past few months have been exciting and spontaneous at times but slow and hot at others.

Me and the baby I named Amy after my dear friend Amy Levine

A made a swift escape to Paris for a 3-day cheese-eating binge with my PC friend Amanda. We took full advantage of the luxuries of Air France before arriving at the dazzling Plaza Athena Hotel near the Champs-Elysees. While there, we had a well thought-out plan to de-malianize ourselves by dressing up like fairies and hitting up a rave. To our disappointment, raves usually happen outside of the city so we settled on glow copters and a bottle of champagne under the Eiffel tower.

Sully pup !

Back in Farakala, a lot of exciting things were going on including the building of the literacy center and the 50^th anniversary of Malian independence. Speaking of our beloved literacy center, I want to take a second to thank all of you that contributed to the building of Le Centre d’Alpha de Farakala. The villagers are beyond excited about the new addition to their community and literacy is becoming a bigger and bigger deal among them everyday. Today, we got approval to have an official opening during which the center be recognized by the government. In mid-November, we’re having elections in the commune to put our literacy center committee together. We’re now in the final stages of the construction of the main building and are getting ready to move onto the latrines and library/director’s office. (more pictures in the process of construction on another camera - will post soon)

Mayor, Mason, Women, workers, crew, Nelson and me first day of construction

Right before the roof was put up (I'm standing at the door of my concession taking this picture)

My friend Benafou and his buddy working on the roof

Malian independence day was about as exciting as a party gets around here. We had everything from bike races and karate throw downs to hoedowns (literally farmers dancing with their hoes) and hunters proudly shooting off their guns like madmen (closest we got to fireworks). I spent a good portion of the day eating widula, my new favorite Malian dish, with a new volunteer who just moved into the village next door. The day ended with a big soccer game (the students vs. the “uneducated”, no joke) and Senoufo balofon dancing.

One of the independence day bike racers finishing the race on foot (bike broke down)

Then it was off to Ghana for the Accra International Marathon and to spend some time in English-speaking West Africa. The marathon was a bit painful as we started over an hour late and ran right into the heat of the day but I made it to the finish line thinking about the relaxing time on the beach I had ahead of me. After recovering from the run I traveled with 7 of my friends to various places on the coast. We first stopped in Cape Coast where we visited the slave castle and got some amazing footage of Ghanaian fishermen at work (will share that at a later date). On our way to a remote turtle-friendly lodge in Western Ghana we stopped for a touristy trip in the trees with Kakum National Park’s Canopy Tours. Finally, ended our vacation eating fresh tuna and lobster cooked by the turtle-friendly villagers on the beach.

Pre-marathon pose

Post-race sippin on some coconuts

Abana (done)

Onto year number two!

The year mark hit me pretty hard the other day as I saw the velvety bright red brain-like bugs emerge from mysterious places. This crazy pattern of seasons has begun again and Mali is feeling more like home and less like a wild adventure park. Both good and bad. I get annoyed with some things quicker but at the same time I’m comfortable enough here to feel ok about it.

Sully is getting very big and seemingly feeling very entitled these days as he gracefully prances across the road thinking that obviously the 3 ton rice sac trucks zipping by at 60 mph will stop for him. The other day he got his two front paws run over by a passing truck (he’s ok but hopefully learned a lesson)! Sully has also recently picked up the nickname “bandit” in Farakala as he has become known as the village baby chicken thief.

Sideways Sully with neighbor Drahman (sorry slow internet won't upload it again right side up)

Since I last wrote a lot has been happening in my service. My sweet little big blonde brother came to visit and we did a “map tour” visiting 4 different villages to paint world map murals with the villagers and some of my Peace Corps friends. We were hoping that this project would help with both geography and math (as tracing an accurate mural involves gridding) at the same time as promoting education through art and expression. During our map tour we even managed to squeeze in a snowball fight of fake snow that came in a volunteer’s package.

World map mural in Emily's village

Painting map of Mali in my village

Snowball fight!!

I did a “Take Your Daughters to Work Weekend” in Sikasso promoting girls empowerment and encouraging young girls to get out of the house and open their eyes to the professional work world. I brought some girls from my village and other volunteers brought some girls in as well to shadow women in the professional workforce. We topped off the long weekend with some arts and crafts and a visit to the pool. None of the girls had ever been swimming before so you can imagine that this event was somewhat of a nightmare (picture to come later).

Discussion at "Take your Daughter to Work Weekend"

Beading necklaces at the pool

In terms of the literacy program, the project was finally funded!!! Thank you very much to all of you that contributed!! We broke ground the other day and I’m hoping the construction will be done before the end of September. I will be updating pictures as the process goes along to keep you all posted on its progress. Classes are still going on in their respective villages and students will soon be able to move into the new building.

Other than working on the literacy center stuff and trying to get some of the teachers certified in Bamako I’ve been doing a lot of running and gardening. Although rainy season is boring while Malians are working in the field ALL day leaving me lonely in my rainbow nugget hammock, it is also quite fun for me in the garden watching my greens grows. Right now, I have sweet potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, a squash plant, some celery and a papaya tree.

Me watering my greening garden!

Rainbow nugget hammock

Dogon Country and International Women's Day

Quite an exciting last few months here in Mali: took a trip the land of the cliff dwellers in Dogon Country, saw some sacred mask dances, experienced the animists’ fire dancing sorcery festivities in my village, threw a big party in Farakala for international women’s day, and got the literacy classes started in my commune.

Mask festival in Dogon Country

With the literacy center, we successfully got the 12 selected teachers trained in Bambara literacy and numeracy. Very surprisingly for Mali, we had perfect attendance all but one day. After the 10 days of training in Farakala I put the newly trained teachers into groups and had them start literacy circles in their respective villages. It is clear after the training that some of the facilitators are much more qualified than others but either way we’re on our way to making ourselves a more literate Farakala!

Once the classes took off, I decided I had earned a break from the bush and took off to meet Cole in Bamako. We hopped around to the live sounds of the kora with Abdoulaye and Toumani Diabate and then set off to Dogon country (a tourist attracting part of northern Mali). In Dogon country we were tricked into one of the hardest 3 day hiking trips I had ever been on in a place called the 3 Ukas. Although the heat was blistering and the legs were burning the trip was well worth it. We saw some spectacular sites that are truly too remarkable to explain (see pictures below). Each day we took off at about 8 am for a full day of hiking and then crashed on the rooftops of the dogon huts in random villages we stumbled upon during our hike. One of the things that amazed me the most were the abandoned villages in the cliffs (the cliff dwellers) and the good condition that they were in considering how long they have been deserted (“Way back before the Jesus man walked the earth” as our guide, Hassimi put it).

Cole in an abandoned cliff village

One of the villages where we spent the night

Going back a few weeks - I celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8 with the women’s association of Farakala and another women’s association that helps with agricultural development. I forced the women to step out of their comfort zones a by making them paint on canvases their representation of the power of the female. To be honest the paintings looked like they came out of a kindergarten classroom but the women sure got a kick out of it and some of them have even started painting on their own time! The president of the association asked me to give a speech so I put a little something together and included the poem by Sonny Carroll called “The Empowered Woman”. We wrapped up the festivities with balofone dancing and my favorite Malian spread, Zamen and veggies. The whole day was a great success thanks to The Lunas and the motivated women of Farakala.

Fanta (president of women's association of Farakala) and I on international Women's Day

Banner painting with the women on International Women's Day

Women presenting their banners after painting

Me and my new dog Sully in my hammock

Sully!

Festivity, literacy and car rides from hell: livin it up in Mali

Mom and Dad came to visit at the end of January and it was a rough road starting out (literally). It turns out the plane that I was going to take to meet them in the Gambia decided not to show so I had to be creative and find my own ride there. I got someone who worked at the airport to drive me down to the ferry that goes to Gambia. Two really nice guys but this whole thing made mom and dad very nervous. It was a bumpy ride to say the least but I eventually rolled up to the ferry that took me across to this beautiful land stuck in the middle of Senegal. We spent 5 lovely days relaxing on the beach, going horse back riding and eating great. I had a hunk of boneless meat the size of my fist with gravy – something I forgot existed in this world.

Meat and gravy with Mom and Dad

Mom and Dad in their new Malian outfits with Baber's first wife

After Gambia, we took what Mom and Dad called “the bus-ride-from-hell” (truthfully the nicest and most functional bus line in Mali) to Farakala (my village). Dad plugged his ears up by taping cotton balls on them and mom got bored of her Sudoku and asked me to keep her entertained so I bought her a hard boiled egg. In Farakala, the villagers threw my parents a welcome party, which they also called my “initiation”. They thanked my parents for lending me over for a couple years and then said some beautiful words in Senoufo about coming from all 4 corners of the world. After making us sip millet mush from a calabash bowl and handing mom and dad each their very own live chicken, they danced us out of the town hall with a water gong and Malian shakers. A warm and welcoming bunch that Farakala kaw (people of Farakala).

Passing the calabash of Millet Mush to host dad

Once the parents left, it was back to work for a few days before heading to Segou for music and Senegal for WAIST. I went back to Farakala for a few days to plan the literacy march that we were to start after my trip to Segou for the music festival and then Senegal.

Segou is a great little town (very clean and motto taxis flying all around) with a couple good restaurants and some nice river views. The main stage at the festival was a floating stage on the river that faced the audience sitting on the inclined beach. Something I’ve never seen before in a festival and didn’t expect to see for the first time in Mali. I got to hear a whole bunch of great kora and djembe and many more instruments known to West Africa. Some of my favorite artists: Atonga Zimba, Tinariwen, and Salif Keita (arguably the most famous Malian musician, an albino guitarist). Salif Keita ended the festival with a tribute to the albino population of Mali and invited nearly 60 albinos up on stage during the end of his last set. The whole experience was quite incredible and truly too good for these words here. Definitely going next year (good time to visit if any of you from home wanna make a trip out here!)

WAIST (West African International Softball Tournament) was a “back-to-college-life” escape to Dakar where we met up with the rest of PCVs in West Africa to get some salty-air time on the coast. To sum things up, we cheered on the softball teams, did daytime tequila downing (tequila was my new jaggerbomb this trip), went secret beach surfing and turns out did some serious sea urchin stomping. After an attempt at boogie boarding, I fought with about 27 waves before finally making it out of the water, my attached boogie board flailing in the air behind me, my hair plastered to my face and porcupine-like prickles of sea urchin particles sticking out of my toes. Looked like a real beach babe.

WAISTers

Back in Farakala things really got moving quickly. I talked to director of Peace Corps Mali and convinced him to give me temporary motto clearance so that I could do the literacy march/ campaign that we had planned. For the march, me, my counterpart and 3 people from the mayor’s office of Farakala went (by motto) to all 12 villages in my commune to educate them on the importance of literacy, motivate people to become literate, and ask each village to select one person to come to Farakala in March for a training on how to teach literacy and numeracy. I set up a 5-day training session in my village where someone who works for the branch of the government in charge of literacy programs will come to train these 12 villagers how to teach illiterate villagers how to read and write. After the training session, all the newly trained villagers will initiate and facilitate literacy circles in each one of their respective villages. While the literacy circles are going on (if all goes as planned) the construction of the literacy center we are building in Farakala will be getting underway. When the construction is finished, the most dedicated literacy students (those still regularly attending the literacy circles in their village) will come to Farakala and start an official 300-hour literacy program in the new building.

Another new and exciting part of my life in Farakala is my new dog, Sully, named after one of my favorite bluegrass songs “Ginseng Sullivan”. Sully is about 6 weeks old and loves his new home. Everyday when I come back home he greets me at the gate by sticking his little butt up in the air (like dogs do when they stretch) and then pouncing forward at me batting my skirt with his mini white paws. He’s already getting used to a routine with me: when I get in my hammock after coming home from dinner at night, he knows it’s “winding-down-time” so he jumps up and curls himself in my lap and we chill under the stars together. Sully’s obviously no Marley but he’s my perfect little Malian companion. (no Sully pictures yet but coming soon)

Hangin in my hammock with friends and neighbors