Where's Waldo?

After weeks of silence, rest assured we are safe and sound. 


Unfortunately our time in Mali ended prematurely due to continued instability. Leaving was so hard, that explanation is a blog post we are not yet ready to compose. However, leaving was the best decision as the current situation in country did not allow for us to do the work we came to do effectively or safely. 


Peace Corps Mali was evacuated, all volunteers left together and spent a week in Ghana for administrative processing. Our service has officially closed and the PC Mali program has been suspended until the situation in country stabilizes. We spent an extra week in Ghana on the beach with friends and a weekend enjoying the best of Accra with George's high school prom date, Victoria. We are en route to America visiting family and friends along the way.


We are currently enjoying WONDERFUL hospitality, chocolate, wine and cheese at James and Claudia's in Basel, Switzerland. We continue on to Paris and Washington DC before arriving in Bozeman in early May. Planning many road trips this summer to visit family and friends. Have a place on your couch for two? -we just might show up at your house

Waiting...for now

While the initial 30 hours of this coup were intense for those of us in Bamako, the past week has been rather un-extraordinary in the neighborhood where we are in Bamako.  We are in a comfortable house with a number of other Peace Corps volunteers, vacillating between boredom and anxiety.  The anxiety comes more from an uncertain future than from any safety concerns.  This coup has been relatively non-violent in southern Mali.  One wonders how a small number of junior soldiers could pull off a coup.  By most reports, it appears that there was little resistance.  Many average Malians we have encountered in the past few days are in support of the ideals that drove the coup, which initially surprised me, since the aims of the coup - to put someone else in power - could have been attained at the end of the April with the planned presidential election.  It seems that Malians are fed up with the government, corruption, and had little faith in the upcoming elections, or maybe more generally were upset about chronic poverty and challenging lives.


For those volunteers who were in their respective villages at the time, they learned the news from texts messages or the radio, though their villages continued to go about their normal life.  We have been in touch with our friends and host families in our village and they are all well and continue to be optimistic that we will be able to return as daily life and work in village continues to move forward.


Northern Mali is a different story right now, and the rebellion there appears to be taking ground and quickly winning battles working toward their objective of securing the entire North to be an autonomous state of its own.


While we do not know the outcome, and much of the past week has been full of political events that do not look promising, we are invested in waiting here for the time being.  It is a fluid situation, and things could improve or get worse in a hurry.  If it gets worse or becomes dangerous for us, we are confident in Peace Corps pulling us out.  For those of you who have not been here, it is impossible to explain the reasons we have for waiting for this to play out.  Beyond the 41 years that the Peace Corps has been here in Mali, and the staff of Malians and Americans it employs, there is a human element in our village.  We have friends, co-workers, neighbors, and a home in our village, and while we are safe and a chance remains that things could return to normal we want to wait here.


Thank you all for the prayers and concern.

Holiday fam, Diane L, and 36th Street Cunninghams - you can be relieved that your goodie packages were not in vain, our pal Miriam picked them up in Segou for us yesterday.  Thank you!


Here is another perspective on what's going on here.  This blog is written by a Fulbright scholar (former PCV in Mali and a Carleton College grad) and has some more eloquent details on the political situation here- perhaps can put some context on how/what happened here in March:
http://bamakobruce.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/good-riddance-att/

Coup d'Etat au Mali

This is not a post to cause drama but to provide information. A Coup d'état was declared by members of the Malian military last night in Bamako, Mali's capital. For information or background on what transpired yesterday, check news coverage online (BBC, Reuters etc).


George and I are currently in a very safe location. We are not afraid for our safety and will continue to stay where we are until we receive further direction from our superiors who work closely with the US Embassy on security matters. As far as what may happen in the long term, resolution of the coup remains uncertain. Our lives as Peace Corps Volunteers could easily return to "normal" or on the opposite end of the spectrum, we could be sent home. I want to emphasize that we do not yet have confirmed news one way or the other. Most importantly, we are safe where we are. We will keep you all posted if we learn of any new developments.


Pray for peace.    

Guest Author: Michael Comes to Town

Travel Warnings Be Damned

            First things first:  George and Anna are great, remain in wonderful spirits and look healthy.  If you’re worried about their well-being, stop - there’s not much need.  They’ve adopted well, have meaningful friendships, and know how to navigate daily life very well here.

Now for my actual post:

“Mali, eh?” was the standard response when I told people I was visiting Anna and George.  Most Americans know next to nothing about Mali.  Admittedly, I didn’t know much about Mali myself.  I still don’t even after spending eight days here.

            I came into this trip with few expectations.  Don’t misunderstand that as low expectations.  I was very excited to see George and Anna.  I was curious to see how they lived and for them to show me around Mali.  But, beyond that, I really didn’t know what to expect.

            As my trip grew closer, a flurry of articles regarding the ongoing Touraeg rebellion in Northern Mali worried me.  George and Anna assured me I would be safe.  Plus, I don’t believe the Peace Corps would put their volunteers in harm’s way.  My worries proved completely unfounded.  The travel warnings issued by various countries seem almost silly compared to the situation on the ground in Southern Mali. 

            A short blog post can’t adequately describe the thoughts and emotions I’ve experienced here.  I’m incredibly grateful for George and Anna for showing me around this astounding country.  Though Dogon Country was an unbelievable experience, I am most grateful for the visit to their village in the Segou Region.  George and Anna’s friends and neighbors in the village are so incredibly generous, even though they are quite poor by American standards.  I wonder if I will ever experience the generosity offered by the villagers ever again.  It’s unlikely I will, but I hope to replicate it throughout the rest of my life.  Also, I am still astounded by how happy the villagers seem (and most likely, are), despite conditions that seem insurmountable by most Americans.  Malians are a resilient people and know how to make the best of the many obstacles that pop up daily. 

            This has been an incredible trip.  It’s renewed my appreciation for the US and the many opportunities afforded to me there.  Though I know I’ll quickly return to complaining about some of trivial annoyances that daily life in the US presents, I hope the memories of the many struggles faced by Malians on daily bases remind me that I don’t have it so bad after all.  Thank you, George and Anna, for this completely unforgettable experience.

Day Hike in Dogon Country

Segou at Sunset

Village 

Le Festival sur le Niger

 The main stage sur le Niger

Confession - this photo was taken at the festival last year and I pulled it off of Google Images. Same look this year.

The biggest music festival of the year in Mali wrapped up yesterday in our very own regional capital, Segou. We spent 4 nights in a row listening to musicans on the banks of the Niger River and catching up with friends who came to town for the show. This year has been a particularly tough year for tourism in Mali, so it was fun to see Segou come alive with people, food stands, outdoor patios, dancing, and a pop up market. The festival draws primarily a Malian crowd and pockets of toubab festival junkie tourists. Unbeatable people watching.

Before coming to Mali people would always tell us that Malian music is world renowned. While I knew next to nothing about Malian music, the festival was a way for us to see all of the big names at once. Our personal best in show award goes to:

Kar Kar

Baba Sissoko

Pape Diouf (of Senegal)

Habib Koite

Sauti Soul (of Kenya)

Nafi Diabate

Cheik Tidiane Seck

Salif Keita

I am sure you can find some of these musicans on You Tube...if we tried to find videos for you the internet files would still be loading by the time the festival gets underway in 2013. For more info - festivalsegou.org

Naturally at a music festival in West Africa, we ran into a St. Olaf connection. Prior to coming to Mali, we learned about Cherif Keita, a professor from Carleton College who brings students here on a study abroad trimester every other year. Cherif's daughter also happens to work in Admissions at St. Olaf. At a late night performace we ran into Cherif's brother-in-law Oumar who runs a hotel in Segou. Oumar invited us to lunch the next day to meet Cherif, a wealth of knowledge on Mande history and culture and a friendly face who also allowed us to reminice about Northfield. Small world. Cherif has recently published an English version of his book on childhood friend Salif Keita (Outcast to Ambassador: The Musical Odyssey of Salif Keita). Salif Keita is THE most accomplished living musican in Mali and he brought down the house at the festival on Saturday night.

Thanks to our gracious host in Segou, we washed our clothes in a washing maching for the first time in over a year. What a treat. No need for a dryer though, clothes dry in no time when it is 100 degrees outside. I guess "cold season" is over.

The World Map Project - A Peace Corps Classic

When we are not at our "jobs" (Anna at one of four weekly women's savings group meetings and I at our local health clinic), drinking tea with the neighbors, hauling water from the pump down the street, or at our host family's house hanging out, we try to keep busy with other small projects.  One such small project was painting a world map.  One time-honored Peace Corps tradition is to paint a world map in a local public space or school.  After getting permission from the school director, we were given the wall space in the sixth grade classroom to paint ours.

Why a world map?  Other than the fact that we like maps and it was a good way to keep busy for quite a few weekends, it creates a simple educational tool that will stick around in our community for a handful of years.  Education in our town is quite robust compared to nearby villages and towns, but is nothing like what we have in the States.  Most classrooms are spartan cement buildings.  This particular sixth grade classroom holds 74 students, 1 teacher.  Students copy all subject matter by hand from the blackboard into a notebook.  Textbooks and other materials are almost non-existant.    Couple that with most peoples' lack of travel, and you get a limited geography knowledge.  For example, I am frequently asked questions like, "how long is the bus ride to America?" or when gone for a long weekend, "how was your trip home to America?" and even more frequently villagers confuse the United States and France as the same place.

We spent quite a few weekends working on our map.  Like most things here, it ended up taking longer and being harder than planned.  I have to admit that I thought my geography was pretty good before this, and was a little surprised by how little I actually knew.  Here is a quiz for you - Without looking, name the following: one island between the African and South American continents; which countries replaced the former Yugoslavia; where is Azerbaijan; what countries border El Salvador; and which US state is closest to Bermuda.  If you got two of those right you know more than I did.

A Pic for Alex