my face (i am home now btw)

going going back back to america (dun duh da da)

thats a biggie reference for those that dont listen to enough hiphop :)

its true. i am going back to america saturday arriving in nyc sunday. taking with me a huge painted canvas from mopti, a patterned malian hoodie, a dress, music, videos of children "battle dancing" ie break dancing, juice, somewhat better french, some dramatic guy stories, malaria-blood for life, and lots of good memories too. really. lots of good.

i am ready to be home. ready for the comforts. i know i will miss my homestay family and some very ordinary things about mali that don't seem particularly notable now but will when i am back in the states.

i am tired. i just finished my independent study paper tuesday afternoon. it is long. it is on domestic violence in mali and i learned a lot in 2.5 weeks, especially considering that the org was french speaking and most of the resources i used in my research were also french. i didnt think i'd be able to do that. but i did. if you want to read it let me know and i will email it over to you.

i read about the food crisis recently (thanks yoruba!) and lots of west african countries are rioting/protesting. so far mali has not. i hope things in this world do not turn disastrous.

i am turning 21 soon. that is exciting. and i am basically a senior now too. woohoo. i am really excited about my summer internship. i have a lot of good going on in my life and am thankful.

i still have grand excursion photos to share with you.

for now,

here is some but not nearly all of my family at the party for all students and families . it was a potluck. i made a fruit salad that i was very proud of and that was very tasty:


voila

bah and vié . they battle dance.
sidi with one of the books i gave the family, and vié

me in indigo dress from pays dogon with host momtonton (host dad), vié , sidiki, bah, tata (host mom), mama (host sister), big mele and little mele, younger tata, sidi, alassane (younger host bro), batoh, boua.

and of course, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

I don’t have the energy to recount the entire grand excursion. Internet is especially slow tonight but if possible I will upload some photos to explain. The one thing I did want to write about was the poverty. Mali is the third poorest nation in the world however, we are not placed with the poorest of the poor families obviously. All the host students’ families have servants – it is the servants who you know come from even poorer families. My whole family except for one very very old woman is literate and speaks French in addition to bambara, however the majority of Mali is not literate is bambara remains a mostly spoken and rarely written language. There are lots of children begging on the streets and also severely handicapped – often deformed - people that are homeless. I see this every day in Bamako, the capital, but it was even more apparent when we visited the other regions of Mali. It was only there that the poverty really began to get to me. The street kids really.

I guess I have been hesitant to write about Mali’s poverty because I don’t want whatever I say to be misinterpreted. I have had very mixed feelings during my stay here about how to view it – I don’t want to romanticize poverty or paint a picture of pity because noone appreciates being discussed in that light and I want to respect Mali and Malians. Also, there is no point in me living here with the eye of a tragic national geographic camera. You take it for what it is, while remaining aware of the socio-political problems that are very evident and should not be ignored by anyone with any bit of conscience. So please, don’t let my pictures or words feed into any western humanitarian pity instinct that you may or may not have.

kids by the river in djennekids in a village in segou


by the river in segou

by the mosque in djenne

wearing traditional clothes after being circumcised; djenne

mountains of dogon country


Every where we went it was, “donnez moi un bidon/biki/cadeaux/cent francs” – the kids were following us everywhere hounding us for empty bottles, pens, presents, and money. It was easy to just get annoyed but if you stopped to take in the significance of it, and looked at them and really Saw their dusty faces, bald patches and ripped used clothes, and saw that it was night time and they were out, or it was day time and they were obviously not in school … it was hard.

And we as tourists debated what our role was: do I give them cent franc – the equivelant of an American quarter – because with that they can buy peanuts and juice and two mangos and to me it is nothing? Do I give them a pen or my empty bottle or some random something in the bottom of my purse that they’ll appreciate just cuz it came from me? Its instant gratification while feeding the problem in the long term. Though if I don’t do that stuff in the name of ‘not feeding the problem in the long run’ then what am I doing to make that long term better? Really.

End of post. There is no point in rambling. You get it.

advice

i cannot tell you about all of west africa or francophone africa; only about mali. however, i is reasonable to assume that many things are the same or similar in neighboring countries. so, with that said:

if you are ever in mali or a nieghboring country and an organization of any kind invites you to an atelier/workshop/conference; go.

i have been to two thus far with the apdf. the first on prevalent problems facing malian womenand collaborative solutions andthe second on child/adolescent and forced marriages.

both were informative. if you go to an atelier, it will be informative. also you will meet potentially helpful people. also it will be air conditioned and you will most likely be treated to a coffee break that includes pastries and a lunch that includes chicken and sodas of every flavor. also there will be bathrooms, most likely with toilet paper provided (malians use a kettle system instead so finding toilet paper is really really rare). also, they might give you free money. "for transportation". and there might be guys there to take your picture if you want. its like a fair almost. but better.

i realize that besides the free money, probably none of this sounds luxerious but here it really is. ateliers are great.

"j'adore le mentalite blanc!"

a phrase you don't hear often, huh? i walk to apdf every morning now and then walk home for lunch. sometimes i go back to apdf in the afternoon. its about a fifteen minute walk, used to be twenty but i cleverly found a short cut that also takes me past a nice alimentation where i can buy some yellow colored juice in a bag that i like to think is pinapple soda type drink but most likely is something else. its good. juice in a bag is popular here. its on every corner and cheap and cold. other popular bagged items include water, milk, and yogurt. you just bite out a corner and suck on it. the juice in a bag is half frozen and very refreshing. i plan on making some when back in the us. anyway, point being, on my walk i sometimes pass this malian man who is very attractive and also, like nearly all the men i have encountered here, very friendly/aggressive towards us white american women. if he was not so nice to look at i would not talk to him. he is the one that said he loves america. and the white mentality. i am not sure what he meant by this.

on another note, it has started raining here. a few days in the evening between 4 and 7 or in the middle of the night. the first time it rained recently, it started coming down really hard and i danced and showered in it with the 8-12 year old boys in my fam. i dont mind bucket showers for the most part, but it is really hard to wash my hair. so i had to take advantage of the heavy streams of water running of the roof to get in a good (clothed nonetheless) shower. i sort of love when it rains here because it cools things off dramatically (the other day it was 41 c which is almost 106 f! and they say it gets hotter in may). however it really is a pain for the women of mali who have to sweep away the water after to try to expediate the drying process. everything that is dirt becomes mud, in courtyards and side streets and main roads too. so the rain is not all good. i guess i have mixed feelings about it.

my work with apdf is coming along slowly. i am reading a lot and slowly getting up the confidence to speak with the women that work there and ask questions. now that they are more familiar with me they have begun to talk with me and explain some of their work, which is helpful. today i began looking at letters written by women who request mediation services from the apdf. in the letters they describe the problem they have - often they are classified as 'disagreements of personality' with their husbands and less frequently but still a few per every month, phsycial violence or threats of. tomorrow i will go with apdf staff to a big conference about human rights internationally and in mali. hopefully despite the language barrier i will still be able to take something from it.

in other news, i recently made a list of all the kids in my host family: there are at least 23 under age 18, not counting at least one, maybe more, of hte bons (servants) that are under 18. 14 of the 23 are under age 7! its a good thing i like kids. when i came back from my mini usa trip, i brought lots of books wich i read with the kids almost every day. the adults like them too because they have easy to learn english.

in still other news, i have malian fabrics to get tailored into dresses and skirts once i find patterns i like...

what else?

i celebrated passover with a couple other students. made latkes surprisingly sucessfully.

speaking of food, i ate at a restaurant chinoise recently which is the same food as everywhere else in mali haha.

that is about it for my life here.

i am excited for my summer internship in brooklyn and for living in brooklyn and hiphop in nyc. recently bought tickets to the paiddues festival which is about half the price of rock hte bells i think, and almost hte same lineup.

next time i have access to my pix, i will post some from the grand excursion and tell you about it via captions.

a couple fav pix

aicha, our "bon" (servant)'s daughter

me (necklace from grand excursion) with sidiki and beny

more on photo album 5, just added. also see my house, courtyard, and bedroom

photos updated

me and my host sister mama at the wedding in kati


*******check the sidebar links for facebook albums

dont have time now to upload grand excursion pix or write more about it, but one day i will :)

lots of love

heather

grand excursion update part 1

i am back from our grand excursion!
as usual i do not have as much time as i would like to update but since today was our last day of classes and the next month is free for independent study, i am on my own schedule now and will probably be able to update more regularly.

for independent study (isp)i will be interning with the apdf - Association pour le Développement des Droits de la Femme - examining cross cultural approaches to addressing the problem of domestic violence. two interesting things that i plan on looking into are the apdf's strategy of mediation between abusive husbands and their wives, and also the present project of constructing mali's first dv shelter. i will be working in french and writing most of my paper in english though i plan to write up a portion of it in french to present to the organistation at the end. during this time i will be staying with my family in bamako and can walk just 20 minutes to the apdf office so that is great. my family is great too -- upon returning to bamako last night they made me herbed chicken -- real chicken -- and plantains for dinner and then gave me mangoes after that because they know i love this food. especially chicken. we dont even have an oven but we went to someone elses house just to bake the chicken. it was really good :)

speaking of grand excursion, let me tell you about it. be forewarned, i had trouble taking in a lot of hte tour guide info bcause it was in french so most of what i learned from tour guides was second hand thanks to peers of mine that are more fluent and kind enough to translate. still i am sure i missed a lot of stuff. eventually pictures from before the excursion and of the excursion will be posted. i promise. it just takes forever to load that stuff.

*** first we went to segou, then djenne, dogon pays, mopti, and then stopped again at segou for one night and returned to bamako yesterday. we spent lots of time in buses and roughly about two days in each city, visiting historical spots, the grande marchés, and the river and holding lots of little kid hands while telling them that no, we can not give them gifts or pens or water bottles or money. more on that later.

i am happy to be back n bamako where i dont play the role of tourist so much. while touristing was necessary on the voyage and what i wanted for a short time, it got tiring by the end. i do however have many gifts to bring back for myself and for you probably too. every artisans stand is like a museum -- the items are beautiful. unfortunately it is rare that the visit does not include a lot of hassling from vendors.

next time will post a city by city break down. each region was different from the one before it and eachcool in its own way. i especially enjoyed djenne and mopti.

in other news, i heard jayz and beyonce got married! woah!

sometimes i hate cyber cafes

i started a post yesterday but accidentally turned off hte computer with my foot and lost it all. today i spent way too many hours in a cafe researching for my final exams tomorrow and then when i was ready to print, that has taken another 3 or so hours. sigh. sigh again. at least they are relatively cheap.

i am going on a "grand excursion" with our group this sunday for 9 days to visit other parts of mali.
after we get back the rest of hte time here is just independent study. i will be working with Association pour le Progrès et la Défense des Droits des Femmes Maliennes, on what exactly i am not yet sure. i have a meeting with them friday. i am thinking along the lines of domestic violence advocacy, considering cross cultural approaches and the effect of globalisation on exchange and development of ideas in mali, vs traditional customs...etc etc. we'll see.

save the children didnt work out - their project wasnt great for my needs and interests. apdf does not really speak english but are patient with me so thats good.

since last blogging, i went to the states for 5 days to itnerview for truman. it went okay but not great. i did not get hte scholarship. it was a good experience. i dont want to talk about it anymore.

coming back to mali has def been an adjustment. i can do middle class american living and i can do average ie locally fine but globally poor malian living, but to go between the two in such a quick period of time is tough. i am doing alright though. my fam here is great. i brought back books and gummy vitamins for the kids.

i went to a wedding this past sunday. i will upload more photos on facebook.

i am exhausted from internet troubles so am forgetting what else i wanted to write about.

i sat next to a funny woman on teh plane from atl to senegal. the atl airport is great. the senegal one is not.

that is all for now.

lots of love.

oh. hey. send me stuff please.

heather day c/o modibo coulibaly
bpe 2953
worldlearning/sit
bamako mali
west africa

reflections

many people on my program are having a hard time here -- they have complaints about the program, the homestay family, the food, the way malians respond to us in public...for the most part i am doing well. i expected this to be different and it is and thats that. i havent had any really negative experiences with people here, i have been walking a lot lately and enjoy the excercise and hope it helps balance my ridic carbs intake... walking poses a few challenges but none are really grave. it is hot and sunburn weather always; it is culturally polite to greet just about everyone you pass which can be time consuming and awkward; taxis and sotramas beep and yell at you - especially taxis which target white women assuming we always want rides. false. men making kissing and hissing noises which is a little creepy; children and sometimes adults yelling "toubabou" frequently.

the toubabou thing at first make be feel special, then began to sting and i'd resent it, now i just think it is kind of stupid but i can deal. some students want to yell back the bamanankan (that is bambara for "bambara") words for "malian" or even "black". i don't feel the need to yell back anything that would eqaully state the obvious/objectify/categorize/insult. but i have taken to greeting these people with a "ça va" or "ini sogoma". its my way i defying the gaze; of not being silenced and objectified by their calls -- which are for the most part not even malicious but are objectifying. and i know that it is not about me, it is just that i stand out and they want to shout that fact for me and all else to hear. its not that deep, its just weird. but it makes me feel better to speak back -- to let them know i am active and aware and not stupid and even know a little of the same language they scream at me. kill em with kindness, just not in the vengeful way cuz i am not really mad about it. another student with whom i discussed this stuff today asked me how i am always so chill and i said i think it takes too much energy to get upset and angry so i rarely do. its true -- living antagonistically is exhausting. i am pretty good at staying centered and finding a sense of peace anywhere. maybe thats why things are going so well for me in this place that should be so disorienting.

what i wanted to write about though was the one sort of complaint or really regret -besides i painfully small rool with no space to unpack - that i do have: the downsidse of studying in a french speaking and english non speaking country. it was a very intentional choice of mine and i do believe that my french is improving -- however it is at the expense of lots of content information that i do not understand, that i just plain miss out on. lectures, field trips, tours, educational conversations - i intake a fraction of what is said and that is really a hard fact for me to cope with. no matter how hard i try to focus, my comprehension is just not that good and so with a conversation in english i can help further it because basic comprehension is a given, but here, i am stuck on that and my thinking and learning does not advance to any sort of higher level. it is really difficult.

so, when yesterday our group visited mali's save the children office and the director spoke to us in english it was really an amazing experience. i got so much more out of it. i could follow what she was saying, question things, participate, and feel good about learning new info but also about being able to apply the smarts i already have. another student in my program with whom i discussed my frustrations said that often in class she does not feel smart because she cant contribute or participate on an intelligent advanced level do to the language barrier. i wouldnt use the same phrase, but rather would say that i do not get to excercise or share my smarts/knowledge/intelligence much. that is difficult.

and i went back to save the chidlren today because i think it might be a better choice for me to work at a bilingual organisation where i can be most useful to them because i can actually express myself well, and the experience will yeild the most info and understanding for me in return. i am not sure if working with them is possible due to time and programming contraints but i hope it is. i had a really interesting convo with the director about stuff related to my truman and the subject of policy translating to implementation, or not translating. it was so refreshing and innvigorating to be able to discuss critically and really be on on the ball instead of ... under it. it felt so right and i think i want more of that out of my experience here. french is important but is only one facet of hte experience. it cant be at the expense of so many other types of learning. i also chose this proram for its gender health and development theme and want to be able to partake in and enjoy that stuff.