So I have officially moved into Bamako as of August 16th. As I mentioned before, I will be extending for a third year in the capital of Mali to serve as the PC Volunteer Leader in my region and work in a WATSAN Women’s Cooperative in Bamako. It was difficult leaving village and has been an adjustment living in the city but I think this year will end up going by very fast.

FAREWELLS

The Sunday before I left village, my community had a big farewell ceremony for me. We couldn’t invite the whole village since they wouldn’t be able to provide food for everyone (each committee I worked with pitched in the equivalent of $20 and I bought the sheep ~$60). There were over 70 people including the WATSAN, Garden, and Shea committee officers, the village chief, the mayor, his wife, and the people that work in the mayors office, teachers from Torodo I worked with for teaching English, two representatives from PC, my replacement, my site mate, people originally from my village that live in Bamako, and people from the neighboring village I worked in.

The program included speeches from each association, the mayor, village chief, etc. The village presented me with a “Chiwara” statue which symbolizing hard work which was very special for me. The mayor also gave me a framed certificate of appreciation for my work. They reserved the last speech for me and I was pretty nervous to give a speech in front of that many important people let alone in Bambara but I think it went well and I gave key people that I worked with in the community each certificates. It made me realize how far I have come in two years with language and integration. I described in my speech how I had changed and how I felt I owed them more than they did me. How though life is difficult in Mali there is the community, family, and happiness.

The whole event put some of my accomplishments in perspective since near the end of leaving I felt that there was so much more to do and so many things I should have done but you only have so much time and resources available. It seems that finally after you figure things out and have good language skills, you need to leave. After all the speeches we took many pictures and planted 5 trees thanks to my site mate’s project that has been growing trees to sell (he is an environment volunteer). They had me plant a Baobab tree which can get very large and they said even 100 years from now they will call it “Mariam ka Zira” or my (Malian name) tree when they cut the leaves which are rich in vitamins for their sauces. Altogether, I know the day will be one of my most cherished memories in Mali.

REPLACEMENT

I was lucky to be able to overlap with the volunteer that will be replacing me (PC usually tries to have a series of three volunteers in a community). I helped her during site visit in the middle of her training, and I stayed a few days after she was installed into my village to help explain the village and the work I had done. She seems like a really intelligent and motivated person and (Ni allah soona) she will do a great job. I told her I am always available to her for any help and we will also be teaching the women how to make Soap at the end of September.

BAMAKO LIFE

After the farewell ceremony and market day on Monday, I took a more permanent trip to Bamako on Tuesday, August 16th. We visited my apartment in the afternoon to sign the lease and there were some issues with squatters still in the apartment and it was filthy. I found it pretty quickly there isn’t as much of an expectation to move into a clean apartment. After we paid for the cleaning products, the guard cleaned that afternoon and it looked much better the next day when I officially moved all my stuff and went to the Women’s cooperative to announce that I would start work the next week.

The apartment is pretty simple: two rooms (bedroom and a living room), a bathroom (with a real toilet and a shower), and a storage room that is my kitchen. I have electricity, running water, and fans which are all pretty exciting. It is in a small “complex” with only about 7 other families who are mostly from Cote D’Ivore but speak pretty good Bambara. My apartment is on the second floor which is fun for taking my bike up and down but good airflow). I bought furniture and a mini fridge from a volunteer in Bamako that will be leaving so I feel pretty spoiled with that and a store next to me with cold sodas, bread, Malian spam, etc. every day.

My apartment is in a section of Bamako on the outskirts since that is where the women’s cooperative is that I will be working. It takes me about an hour and a half in public transportation to get to the PC office. This makes things a little challenging since it is an expensive cab ride if I am coming back late and my apartment is off the main road and it is unpaved and almost impassible as well as dark but I’m sure I will get a schedule worked out.

COFESFA (Cooperative of Women for Family and Health and Sanitation)

The first week I spent most days at the cooperative’s office. Since it is August, most people are on vacation so there is only the secretary and accountant. I have mostly just been getting to know the office and asking a lot of question of the secretary to get to know the cooperative and their history.

1989-The cooperative was started by 16 women who had graduated from University but couldn’t find work in Bamako. At that point the trash collection system in Bamako was basically non-existent though money for the service was taken from peoples taxes. They did a feasibility study and determined there was a need and willingness to pay for trash collection services. The cooperative was granted two dumpsters from UNIFEM for their business. They spoke to the governor but he said they would not be able to charge for services that people were being taxed for so the Women kept being persistent but, in the mean time, transported sand from the river to make money.

1991-The governor agreed to pay the women the tax money allotted for trash collection and they started their business. They were also granted some money to help with educating women on water, sanitation, and hygiene. The cooperative members would collect the trash and drive the dumpsters themselves in the morning and come back in the afternoon to individual households to hold talks about these issues.

1993- Young men in the area the cooperative was working in noticed that they could make money by collecting trash instead of sitting around all day and making tea. Thus, the governor did not renew the Women’s contract and gave it to the young men in the area. In the mean time, they went back to transporting sand and some of the women would be hired by projects for sensitizing communities on water, sanitation, and hygiene issues but business was slow.

1995-Present- The cooperative received major funding for the UN and a foundation in Luxembourg and they sold the original dumpsters for larger ones and built their office. They began work in outside villages of Bamako including building pumps, two hospitals, working in slums outside of Bamako, and were turned over the management of a center for HIV/AIDs. They also received several volunteers from Canada annually.

They still continue trash collection and also own three public latrines in Bamako, sell water at two taps (one of which is working), work in surrounding villages, and offer cleaning services for offices (has been difficult since the companies/government, doesn’t always pay for their services).

So far I am very impressed with this cooperative and I think that there needs to be more of these such cooperatives and organizations in Mali that are founded and managed by Malians instead of people from other countries (yes, I know that means PC). They have two major project ideas that have not received funding but seem like very good ideas: one is to sort the trash they collect and turn it into compost which they would apply to crops and sell and the other is to have a center for women that have had early pregnancies and provide literacy and small business training so they can support their children.

Working with this more “advanced” cooperative compared to the village committees where only a few people could read and write is certainly be different and I will need to find how I can help though they seem to already have great ideas and practices. They said that soon I will go out with the dump trucks and see the trash collection in action (sadly, I’m excited about this) as well as visit the public latrines and their work outside of Bamako.

PCVL

As for the PCV Leader position, I will be slowly incorporating those responsibilities as I adjust to Bamako and get to know operations at my cooperative. I will be providing support for the WATSAN sector and PC trainings as well as peer support to fellow volunteers.

RESEARCH

Part of why I extended for a third year was to continue my research towards my PhD which I have three topics developed and have written draft reports: 1) Human and Embodied Energy in Shea Butter Production, 2) Hand washing Monitoring, and 3) Latrine Usage in schools. I will also be taking an online class in Biostatistics and going to Tampa for a week to defend my PhD proposal during my month leave in December.

CULTURE SHOCK pt. 2

Overall I am very excited for the work I will be doing. It has been a little difficult adjusting to living in Bamako. I was so focused on making sure all projects were closed and everything was prepared for my replacement that I didn’t really think of the next chapter in my service. This first week I have missed my village. Electricity and running water aren’t worth the constant “Toubab” (white/french person) chants from children and adults alike as well as people always speaking to me in broken french, traffic, people asking for money, and spending a lot of money myself. Sometimes I wish I had a shirt/sign on my head that said “I lived in a village for two years, I speak Bambara, and I have no money.” I know it is just because I miss my host family, work partner, and friends from village and I don’t have a host family in Bamako yet. As time goes on, it will get easier.

So I think that should catch everyone up on things and I now I should be able to update more often since I have more internet access. My third birthday in Mali is coming up (August 29th) and it’s hard to believe but I will be 25 (quarter of a century). My Aunts, grandma, and mom sent me two packages which I have been waiting to open until the “big” day. I also went to a smaller city outside of Bamako for a Harry Potter party and finally watched the last movie (so good!). There is another Colleen in PC Mali and it is her birthday on Tuesday so we shared a funfetti cake which was really nice 

Lunar Eclipse

There was a lunar eclipse on the night of June 15th (sorry, those in America didn’t get to see it since it was still daylight) and I think it will be one of my most memorable nights in village. I heard about the eclipse several weeks ago but totally forgot until about 5PM that day at which point I got up and told my host father “kalo be datugu shuena” (tonight the moon will be covered since I didn’t know the word for eclipse). Accustomed to my primary school (or maybe at least 6th grade now) bambara, he understood. There is no word for eclipse in bambara but they refer to it as “jakuma ye kalo mine” or the cat took the moon.

They were in awe that I could predict such an event and sure enough we watched the moon closely that night. At first we didn’t think the moon had come out but realized it had already been eclipsed (the eclipse started at 5PM and the sun sets at 7PM). We were probably the only family to know there was an eclipse in my village but later the rest found out. Since they think the cat took the moon (cats are sort of regarded as “shubaka” or sorcerers here) the children in the village gather together and must make lots of noise or risk the cat never returning the moon. At least 50 children toured the village and sung a song about the cat stealing the moon while I explained how an eclipse “really” happens to an avid audience though I think I prefer their explanation.

Third Year

So it is finally official with my medical clearance, I will be staying another year in Mali. I will be changing sites from my village to the capital, Bamako and working with a women’s water and sanitation cooperative and serving as the PC Volunteer Leader (PCVL) for the Koulikoro region. In these last months in village I find myself really excited for the change and nostalgic. I know I am going to really miss my village however much Bamako is appealing for electricity, running water, and the food. The most challenging things for me in PC have not been related to lack of amenities which have become second nature after two years so while it is a comfort it isn’t a necessity. But at least I will have internet more to update my blog though I need to think of a way to reengage my previous audience…I think writing more often will be part of that.

Things I will miss about Zeala:

-Runs in the early mornings just around or to other villages to greet people

-Market days with my site mate eating bruchettes for lunch (my only meat for the week) and frozen juices (probably not that sanitary)

-Living with my host family that have been so easy going and gave me space during my service at the same time supporting me especially in those early stages with basically no language skills

-Drinking tea and chatting for hours with my homologue. He has really become a close friend.

-My language tutor and the director of my school. We also have long conversations about Mali, politics, education, etc.

-Rainy days in my mudd hut reading or just watching the storm from my window

-Nights during cold season spent by the “camp” fire

-Cutting okra, shelling peanuts or beans, etc. for hours

COS Conference

June 22-24 what was left of the Risky Business training stage met at Hotel Residence Bouna for our Close of Service Conference. Though the hotel didn’t have a pool, very warm food, or water pressure it still felt like luxury with air conditioned rooms, meat at every meal, and two pause café’s a day (tea and pain du chocolat!). The hotel aside, I really enjoyed the time to spend with people from my training class whether I spent a lot of time with in my service or not still had a deep connection because of our two years of service together. It was a little sad that it was our last time to probably all be together in a group. We had sessions on resume writing, interviewing, applying to grad school, life after Peace Corps, etc. Though these sessions didn’t necessarily apply to me since I will officially be spending a third year in Bamako and I have at least two years ahead of me in grad school when I return to the states to get my doctorate it still was an excuse to update my resume and get motivated for my future. We heard from an impressive panel of RPCVs (Returned PCVs) who have basically never stopped working abroad since then. I asked them how they made the decision to continue to work internationally since I still haven’t really decided on that one but I guess it is not such a black and white decision.

It is hard to believe that my two years of service is over so I am glad to be pursuing another year here since I’m just not quite ready to leave.

At the end of the conference we had a prom which included a flash dance and the announcement of prom king and queens (there was a tie for queen at which point we did a dance off but decided since we were in Mali it was appropriate for the prom king to be polygamist). Though I do have an extra year left it is going to be difficult without my fellow Risky Businessers to share it with.

So, once again, it has been a long time since I have written and I apologize. Things have been really busy with the project that many of you helped make possible. The only things left of the project are one soakpit, 4 latrines, and mosquito net distribution. Though we are not quite on schedule, much has been accomplished in the past several months: the pump structure was destroyed and built anew, a pump training was held with five people from my village and two from a neighboring village, 15 soak pits and 6 latrines were built, and, most recently, 81 mosquito nets were purchased.

Overall this project has been a valuable learning experience for my village and I; bigger than we anticipated. My village and the WATSAN committee worked extremely hard throughout this project but, ofcourse, “fien tunbe yoro dow la” (there was wind in some places). So I guess I can break it up into The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

The Good

-All the cement arrived on time and under budget

-All the village showed up to pick up good quality sand we purchased in a nearby village about 6 miles away. About 20 donkey carts made 4 trips in two days to collect over 200 wheel barrows of sand. It was a long way and a heavy load. PETA may have something to say about using pregnant donkeys…

-The soak pits have been a big hit and relatively easy. People have noticed a difference and constantly remark in the amount of mosquitoes.

-Most everyone on the WATSAN committee shows up each week for 2-3hour meetings on project updates and makes plans for moving forward.

-Everything was basically on schedule except for the latrines

-I learned a lot from the pump repair training held by a person from Zeala that had worked for the National Hydraulic Agency.

The Bad

-Getting ripped off: Shipping the pipe and rebar was about $30, way overpriced…This resulted in me throwing a hissy fit at the car station which resulted in only $1 off. When my homologue and I arrived to buy the sand the guy we originally talked to said he can’t sell it by the wheel barrow and we have to pay for a big silo which we did not budget for. We then went to the guy next to him and convinced him to give us the original deal.

-Groups were not coordinated properly for when the mason was in village to rebuild the pump structure so few people showed up to work after the first three days except for one family. I would often be doing hard labor and when the women also didn’t show up for watering the concrete, I would make many trips to the well myself. This resulted in work stretching 6 extra days outside the budget and me being very discouraged. This was a very difficult time for me but I made my disappointment very clear to the village elders and committee so that this does not happen with the next volunteer.

-Pump rules were created and read at a meeting with the elders with things such as not wearing sandals inside the pump structure, not jumping to pump water and breaking parts, not eating inside the pump walls, not giving animals water right next to the pump so that they urinate and defecate in the area, etc. In the beginning this seemed to all fall on deaf ears and people continued with their old practices though they would shout my name when I came to the pump and quickly take off their sandals and stop jumping…This was very frustrating since the pump was repaired like new and I guess I expected a rapid behavior change. I worked with the committee and we continued to reiterate the rules at village meetings and members would watch the pump more closely to educate villagers. Lesson learned: Behavior change is difficult and can not change over night.

The Ugly

-The mason I was given by Peace Corps to repair the pump structure was illiterate and not very skilled outside of building walls. Thus, not everything turned out like the plan I drew, some things aren’t very level, and places do not drain properly. However, it works…so far. We’ll see in several years but the proper cement mix ratios were used so that concrete should last for a long time!

-We found during the pump repair training that the neighboring village’s pump both did not have a plastic lining so would bring up dirt from inside the forage and that the major pump piece replaced by a project last year was a old piece (the new one was probably sold and the Malians working on the project probably pocketed the money). I ended up applying for $500 from Water Charity to replace the pump part but, really, the village needs a new pump. Without the plastic lining, the water is not up to quality and the mud gets into the pump parts and breaks them early. It was really upsetting to see the corruption in projects in Mali especially having to do with something so essential to life, water.

Here is a link the project if you would like to donate: http://appropriateprojects.com/node/631

COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION

It is important to note, and something made really evident to me through this project, that other projects/NGOs have created a dependence in villages that they will do and provide everything making community contribution and labor difficult to coordinate. I thought a lot about this during the project and whether community contribution will lead to project sustainability or not. Really, these are services the government should be providing anyways. Though they may be working to give equivalent to 33%/25% of the project total, a project is a project and it is still a discount. That does not automatically ensure future community buy in and maintenance. However, as Malians say “little by little, the bird builds its nest.”

SHEA ASSOCIATION

I’ve been working with the officers of the shea association to plan for a training on how to make soap in September and to purchase a grinding machine for shea nuts to alleviate the work of pounding or traveling to the next village to use their machine. There is a machine in village but it is constantly breaking down and has management issues, including people stealing money. We plan to provide intense training on machine operation and maintenance. They have already cleared a field to farm in rainy season so they can get extra money for their association.

FOOD SECURITY

I’m still continuing to work with the food security committee in my village. Meetings are basically every two weeks with everything else that is going on. We have been working on a comprehensive, food security plan to improve the situation in my village. Basically July-September families run out of grain from last harvest and have to buy it at expensive prices on credit. They also have begun clearing land for a community farm and hope to store their harvest in a cereal bank next year so they can provide grain to those that run out during the difficult months.

THE GARDEN

So I have not said much on the progress of the Women’s garden project that I started last year. We’ve encountered many setbacks with finding dependable well diggers (we are now on our fifth and he stills asks for money all the time though we have not reached water yet). The rock inside the wells is very difficult to dig. We have decided to put all our money into just trying to get water when the rest was supposed to pay for concrete well tops and seeds. The time is ticking down until rainy season and when the project really needs to be closed. I’m crossing my fingers and saying many blessings in Bambara. I will let you know what becomes of the current fenced in area with two, 10 meter deep holes in the ground.

Overall, this project has been very wearisome for me and the women who have put in many hours of labor pulling dirt for the well diggers. Some of the previous well diggers that just stopped showing up or basically lied about money they were “spending” for digging materials were even from my village. Project money here is often seen as a free for all or never-ending which makes Malians ask for more than what they would work for for another Malian by factors of 2-100 and change their price half way through working. A lot of times I think of America’s tax dollars or the donations from hardworking people to help those less fortunate and how that money is regarded. This is not an obligation for other countries and they work for the money as well. Then I just think of the women in the association and the work they have put in above their contribution and know why it is worth it.

THE YEAR OF ANNIVERSARIES

On a happier note, as some of you may know, this year is the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps and 40th Anniversary of PC in Mali. The major celebration we had was that the swear in of this years stage was at the president’s residence. He gave a very encouraging speech about PC even stating that if he was an American he would be a PCV. It was great to get the chance to meet an African president (a democratic one…at least for now. Election in 2012) . The security was sure a lot different from what it would be for Obama. We didn’t even have to do a security check and afterwards the president, Amadou Toubmani Traore (ATT) walked amongst the PCVs and staff as we mobbed him for pictures. He provided tasty treats, pop, and dessert! I , unfortunately, wasn’t lucky enough to get a picture with ATT.

It is interesting thinking back to how service in the PC was in the beginning compared to now; without cell phones or internet. Though I sometimes feel very disconnected from America and my family and friends at least my correspondence with them can be online every 3 weeks instead of writing a letter and waiting over a month to two months for it to get there and then get a response.

SECOND YEAR THOUGHTS

It is hard to believe that in two months I will have been in Mali for two years. So much is different and easier from when I arrived, not least of all language. So much is easier but as you may have read from above, there are many challenges. Already at meetings we are planning for when I won’t be here and mentioning “the next volunteer” and how I’m “taa tow” or on my way out. The time really went by fast and it is going to be really difficult to leave. I will provide you more updates on my plans for next year soon.

Thanks for reading if you got this far! I apologize if I may have seemed negative towards the project and development in Mali in general. This does not mean I think my time here or the project has been a waste or that aid should be ceased. At times I catch myself noticing the sanitation differences in my village and it really gives me a sense of fulfillment but I find as an American or just me it is easy to spot the imperfections/faults.

So things are going well with the Zeala WATSAN improvement project and so many of you helped make possible. 5/15 Soak pits are mostly complete, we have started one latrine, all materials have reached Zeala (which is not easy or cheap), and we have made the bricks for the pump. We are behind schedule with the soak pits and latrines but on time for the pump. We hope to get a mason in the next two weeks to fix up the pump structure. I've really been enjoying site and have gotten back into the grove. Everything is moving so fast!

Here is a link to some pictures I posted on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2900244&id=13705312&l=2283fb1bb6

Hope to post more later!

So, it has been ages with a formal update. I swear it is on my New years Resolutions...Need to get on that. I was writing a paper for my research, I swear.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

This will be a quick update but I just got back from being home in Royal Oak, MI for three weeks minus the two days I was stuck in Paris due to weather and cancellations. Though when I finally got in my family was dressed in christmas hats and gave me balloons, flowers, and hugs. It was amazing to be back with Family and America is amazing. I gained 12 pounds and the time flew; most of it was spent eating. It was a white Christmas and I helped decorate my Mom's tree with snowflakes and listen to Christmas music. I was truly in the Holiday spirit. I went to Wings and College Hockey games, Outback twice, hot tub night once, Frankenmuth, and more. My first meal was nachos and a vanilla milk shake :) Though I talk mostly about food it was about being back with family, catching up, and really just picking up where we left off.

It all feels like a different world now and it is not easy coming back. I know once I get back it will be great to see everyone in my village again, go running in the mornings and start work on projects and such but part of me still is back home and I seemed to have left more when I went back. Sometimes I wonder why I am here with the family and life I have at home. It would certainly be easier and make more sense. On the car ride to the airport they all said to thank my Malian host family for welcoming me and keeping me safe, and it really meant a lot that they are willing to support and even be proud of my crazy ways. I feel bad for not shedding tears of joy coming back, or tears of sadness leaving to go back, but it didn't mean those times were any less emotional but I am crying now and miss you all.

PROJECT FUNDED

Before I even got home my project was completely funded which was the best Christmas present I could have ever asked for and I think all of you that donated to the cause. You all were extremely generous to those in need at the Holiday season. Hopefully PC will be sending me your addresses sometime soon so that I can write proper thank yous. Send me your name and address to ccnaughton@gmail.com and it will get there quicker. I will certainly post updates on how the project goes. I'm sure it will not be without delays or frustrations but will be of great benefit to the people of Zeala. Some have even started getting their parts of the community contribution while I was away.

INBETWEEN UPDATES

Otherwise, I had fun with building handwashing stations with people in my village, celebrating Tabaski again, teaching english to a group of 32 once a week, painting a world map with fellow volunteers, conducting a baseline survey in the next village, organizing and running the IST Half-Marthon and more. More updates on those in the next update which will hopefully be before Valentines Day.

Thanks again for all your kind support, donations, e-mails, letters, prayers, etc. I could not do this without my friends, family, and friends and family of friends. If ever you find yourself in Mali, you are all welcome. Aw Bismillah!

After many months of meetings and planning, the WATSAN committee in my village and I have finally finished the budget and schedule for the project to be completed February-April 2011. I know it has been a long time since I have written and I have been keeping busy. I promise updates soon but I am leaving for Sikasso (another region in Mali) to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Here is a small summary of the project and a link to donate online:

Many people in my village suffer from diarrheal disease and malaria every year. I am trying to raise money for a project to fix and maintain two water pumps, build 11 latrines and 15 soak pits, and distribute 100 mosquito nets to the village to help prevent these diseases. I am asking for your assistance even if just a few dollars towards this project that will have a major impact on the lives of the people in my village to provide a sustainable drinking water source, sanitation facilities, and bed nets. You may make donations online at this website: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=688-342

July 10th was my one year anniversary in Mali which I realized half way through the morning. It's really hard to believe and I'm sure this year will go even faster. Looking back and especially having the 80 new PCTs to compare to, I have come a long way...

-I've become mostly fluent in an African Language, Bambara -I've mastered eating with my hands -I'm a lot more comfortable bargaining and get upset if someone cheats me even 50 fcfa (5 cents...) -Squatting has become normal -patience, patience, patience (meetings, transport, banking, projects, etc.) -pants? Wrap skirts all the time -I really like bucket baths -Had my first donkey cart ride -pooped my pants and my bedroom floor…and often swap similar stories with PCVs over dinner -Totally normal to see a woman breast feeding...actually prefer it to shut up a screaming baby -head feels naked without a headwrap -Rocks, old car batteries, logs, etc. all look like chairs -I love beans...though you're not supposed to admit that here -Live chickens look good to me -It is weird to drive in a car with my own seat and, not to mention, a seat belt -gas stations overwhelm me -I live in harmony with cockroaches, flies, and spiders -Things I find delicious: beans, mayonnaise sandwiches, mayo and fries...,MEAT, slim jims, HAMBURGERS, shots of strong, sugared tea -Things I have eaten and truly enjoyed: jams plain, kool-aid powder plain, mayonnaise plain... -Deodarant? Washing my hair? Toilet paper? Washing machines?

MAJOR LESSONS LEARNED Most significantly, I believe I have gained a much larger appreciation for America, my family and friends. I know before I came to Mali and even now I can be a pretty big critic of America and our often times wasteful way of life but I really am lucky to have been born in America. A country with not just abundant running water, electricity, and health care but an amazing education system. I still can’t imagine growing up without tons of books to read let alone all the toys, movie, television, and delicious and mostly nutritious food. Yet, often times, I wanted more since others even had more than me. On top of all that I was able to go to college and get a world class education and then go back for more. I’ve had amazing opportunities to travel the world to Costa Rica, China, Guyana, Ghana, France, Germany, Senegal, and now Mali. All this and never being second guessed because I am a woman and I should really get married, have babies, and clean house like so many Malian women. Ofcourse being away from my family has made me appreciate them more and they have been a constant base and support for me thousands of miles away through phone calls, e-mails, letters, packages, and just knowing they are rooting for me. I’ve also gained at least two other Malian families (my first host family during pre-service training and my village host family) that adopted me as their own despite being from such different cultures and not speaking the same language. Also giving me so much in food or money when they themselves have so much less than me. Yet though they have so much less, you wouldn’t know it since, they are some of the most happy and loving people you will ever meet.

11 STEP TIMELINE/REVIEW So much has happened in a year, making it difficult for a review. 1. PST: Started with 9 weeks of, as promised, intense language, cultural and technical training and was elected the village chief. 2. SWEAR IN: Swearing in at the American Embassy was followed by less intense/scheduled but still challenging three months at site adjusting more to the language, culture, food, and way of life in a Malian village (drank many cups of tea, ate a lot of To, interviewed each family about WATSAN practices, shelled lots of peanuts, beans, and corn). 3. IST: All of Risky Business came back to Tubaniso in December for In-Service Training (IST) (I was one of three that came on foot in the IST Half-Marathon) which was more technically focused and preparing us for when we could officially start projects. 4. DOGON CHRISTMAS: Before going back to village I spent one of my most memorable Christmases on an amazing three day hike through Dogon country with fellow PCVs. 5. Once back in village immediately formed a WATSAN committee and began participatory hygiene and sanitation education activities and tried to understand more Bambara. Also, under a little too much pressure to start a project, worked with the women’s group to plan a garden project. 6. BODTWD: Brought five of my girls to Kati for Bring Our Daughters to Work Day with girls of three other villages to show them they can do anything they want to do. 7. SENEGAL: In February I traveled over 30 hours on a bus to Senegal to participate in an International Softball Tournament with volunteers across West Africa but mostly to see one of my best friends from high school, Megan! It was so great and inspiring to travel to her village, see where she had served, the difference she had made and how integrated she had become in her community. 8. Back at site I continued to work with the WATSAN committee and women’s group. I received money for the garden project and we began digging our first well. Though we were mostly busy with PHAST activities, I worked to construct a soak pit and latrine in my homestay family’s concession. I visited a fellow PCVs site twice to help with a water system project and headed a topographic survey. 9. I was accepted to pursue my PhD at University of South Florida (USF). 10. Hot season came and went. I developed bad heat rash near the end, but ate countless, delicious mangos. Our well digger for the women’s garden stopped showing up but we put up the fence. Also started planning next years project with the WATSAN committee and finished my first “toilet”/latrine and soak pit in Africa. 11. I put in an application and was selected to be the WATSAN PCV Trainer (PCVT) for the new stage that arrived July 3rd where I got to see the other side of training and help prepare for their arrival by participating in a Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop and revising lesson plans.

GOALS So far I would say I am satisfied with my service. It has been extremely challenging and rewarding (“The toughest job you will ever love”) Language has been the most difficult part of my service but that has become much easier. Otherwise it is amazing what you can get used to living without, I enjoy being in my village, and miss when I am away. This is a good place to be and I look forward to this next year which promises to fly by. Though I made New Years Resolutions in January, I think they are appropriate to state here as well: 1. Get More Involved- I have a number of things planed since I feel much more comfortable with my language and integration: · Life Skills in my commune capital, Torodo · World Map Project in Torodo · Continue with World Wise Schools (WWS) including a new match · Conduct baseline survey in neighboring village, Nci’Bugu, form, and start working with a WATSAN committee there · Neem Cream (natural mosquito repellent) formations · Urine fertilizer formations for women’s garden · English group-Torodo · Teeth brushing formation at school · Girls group at Zeala school · Improved Shea butter formations · Radio show with new site mate in Faladie · Finish Women’s Garden Project · Plan and execute WATSAN project in Zeala · Budget, plan, and repair water system in other PCV’ · Potential sanitation competition amongst the 16 villages in my commune 2. Improve Language 3. Communicate more back home (letters, skype) 4. Improve Organization (e-mails, paper, money, etc.) 5. Update and continue journaling and blogging (used to keep a daily blog but two months behind now) 6. Focus more on research (Gender, WATSAN)

RECENT NEWS 1. Lap top!!! Recently I just got a lap top computer to make work, research, and communication easier since there are few computers at the PC office. Unfortunately when the computer arrived and I turned it on…it was only a white screen. After having it fixed w/out my permission I paid $100 and have had my first skype conversations with my Aunts and Nana which have been amazing to see and talk to them FOR FREE. So feel free to skype me at ccnaughton86. 2. Nigeria As I said me and Justin will be heading to Nigeria for an engineering conference at the University of Illorin. We leave July 24th and come back July 31st. The conference is the 26-28. We are really excited to go and hope that things people say about Lagos aren’t completely true… Otherwise after that I will be basically at the training center (save 2nd week of August for site visit) until Swear-In on September 3rd. 3. Ne bena taa Ameriki ka si min Literally, “I am going to America to breast feed” has been repeated to me by more than three Malians when I say I am going home for Christmas July 17th!!!!! So excited. Best Christmas present EVER JJ 4. Marathon Training Ran 17 miles today after a heavy rain last night and it was perfect weather. I think I will be ready for the race but the visa for Burkina just sky rocketed so it looks like we will be flying both ways which is also very expensive…hopefully we can work something out. 5. PST 2010 Otherwise, training is going well and WATSAN and HED will come back from their first stint at homestay tomorrow. I have really enjoyed being a trainer so far and it is hard to believe I was in their exact same position last year at this time but now I can answer most of their questions. Their stage seems to be very motivated and excited and have elected an awesome Dugutigi and Vice Dugutigi. Plus there are about 20 runners and about that many from MI!!!

Wow, well that was really long. Bravo if you made it through! Probably won’t be updating for a while but maybe after the Nigeria conference. Thanks again for all your support this past year. I couldn’t have made it this far without family and friends and I will repeat that again and again.

PST

In less than 4 days, 84 or so PCTs (PC Trainees) will be arriving in Mali for their Pre-Service Training (PST). Hard to believe I was in their shoes this time last year where my life was consumed with packing and spending last moments with family and friends. It is too bad that they will not get to spend the 4th of July at home like we did but we will try our best to celebrate.

I'm excited to be a trainer for WATSAN (18 trainees) and I expect to learn alot and gain a fresh perspective on my service. I am sure I will be updating more with details. Already it has been an intense preparation period (including two week long training workshops) and interesting being on the other side of training.

SITE

A. GARDEN

Though my current location is Tubaniso and I will be spending very little time in the next two months in Zeala, progress was made on the garden before I left. Most of the fence has been built though I need to buy some more materials and send them soon. Digging the 56 holes in a straight line, to the same size, in rocky soil was not easy for the women and the posts are by no means the same height but we were still able to hang the griage. I also don't think any cows will be getting through.

Unfortunately, problems with the first well digger persisted and he will not be finishing the first well he started. Mogo nenaman te ani a ka maloya ka dogo (He is not a good person and has little shame...) We hired two more diggers from village to start the second well but progress has halted for the rainy season and we probably will not be able to start digging until January or February. Not exactly to the timeline planned for project but that is how things go sometimes. I have learned a lot from this project and it was a good starter.

B. WATSAN Committee

The past two months we have held several meetings to start organizing a WATSAN project in the village (repair pumps, get a pump repair kit, top well repair, soak pits, and latrines). This is a tall order but we have been going item by item and I think we will be able to pull it off. Plus my homologue is really motivated and understands project planning.

In other news we did finally finish the soak pit and latrine in my landlords concession after such a long process. I'm really excited to have my own soak pit now and not be contributing standing water into my concession :) However, they do not sweep the latrine regularly which I have been trying to reinforce.

C. Cooperative Multifunctional

Me and my homologue made a program together for all our work through Januray which has been really helpful. We hope to still work to establish a multifunctional cooperative with shea butter, womens garden, food security, and WATSAN in it.

D. Rainy Season

Otherwise, hot season is officially "over" and I found the transition from hot to rainy season the worst and had some pretty bad heat rash for a several weeks. Though I at least had mangos and slept outside a lot. In my village, we have had a few storms but not much yet while villages closer to Bamako have already started planting their millet and peanuts. It is the fantayan waati (poverty season) where many people have run out of grain and are forced to buy it at high prices with credit. So hopefully the rains come soon and they can start planting.

TOP WELL REPAIR

Traveled to another PCVs site to help evaluate her top well repair project basically checking if they were following the improved practices shown to them (closing the door, washing clothes far away, hanging the well bag, treating the well, etc.) A lot of the wells were following the correct practices but some were not and needed to be reminded. It was a very positive experience and gave me ideas for top well repair in my village and also project evaluation.

NIGERIA

Me and Justin should be going to an engineering conference on sustainble development in Nigeria at the end of July. We will both be delivering a presentation and it should be a great opportunity to network and see what research is being conducted in W. Africa.

MARATHON

Otherwise, been training for the Ghana Marathon September 26th with a several other PCVs (some running, some cheering). It should be a really good experience and great to see Ghana again and hopefully up north since I didn't really get up there. Helps to be at the training center with protein in my diet.

This past month I have been honored to be selected to pursue my PhD in Civil Engineering and become a PCVT (Peace Corps Volunteer Trainer) for WATSAN.

PhD.

First, regarding the PhD, instead of pursuing research for my master's thesis I will be doing research towards my dissertation. When I return to America and eventually USF, I will take classes to complete my masters and continue research to complete my PhD. This will decrease the amount of time to pursue my PhD and I am excited to continue work with my current adviser.

PCVT

Second, I applied for and was accepted to be the WATSAN PCVT for the 84 PCTs (PC trainees) arriving July 3rd. I am currently in Bamako helping plan the learning objectives and training schedule for Pre-service Training (PST) 2010. If any incoming PCTs are reading this, you are welcome to ask me any questions (ccnaughton@gmail.com) you may have!!!

Being a PCVT, I will be pretty busy during the rainy (and farming season) for July and August. At the end of July, me and Justin have been invited to attend a Civil Engineering conference in Nigeria. Also, I have currently started training for the Accra International Maration (AIM) on September 26th. We have a pretty sizable group of Mali volunteers going running the full, half, relay or going to travel and cheer us on.

Time really is moving incredibly fast and I can't believe I am only 2 months away from completing a year in country.

Wow, so it has almost been three months since my last post!! I really apologize for that but things have been busy and computer time has not been the easiest to acquire. That should be changing since I am having one sent by the end of June!

Garden Project

Since my last post, I wrote a proposal and secured funding from the PC and USAID Small Project Assistance fund. I worked closely with the women to design the project and create a budget. Project funds of just over $2,000USD will go towards buying metal fencing that will prevent the cows from eating their vegetables, digging two wells, cement, well covers, seeds, and water cans. The women will also each be contributing the equivalent of $4 USD each towards the project and have already provided labor by clearing the land of trees, providing food and pulling dirt for the well digger. They will soon be digging holes for the fence posts. Me and the school director (also writer for the women’s organization) bought all the fencing materials in Bamako last Saturday. It was an experience for sure but he went into the market first to bargain and we ended up coming under budget which was a relief. So far I have a learned a lot from this first project. Project timelines are really difficult to follow here. Unfortunately, the well digger we hired is not very reliable and will not be able to complete the second well before rainy season. We will have to wait until next January or February to dig the second well so the women will not be able to garden next dry season. However, they should be able to garden during this rainy season.

WATSAN Committee Meetings and work continued with the WATSAN committee I started with my homologue. We completed the participatory , learning activities (PHAST) and made a three year plan for WATSAN projects and behavior change. We began and mostly completed a soak pit and pit latrine in my host families concession. My latrine and his will feed into the same soak pit. This usually would be a relatively quick project but has taken now going on two months to complete since things keep getting pushed back with lack of planning, funerals, or my travels. However, we should finish soon. Most of the rocks have been put in the soak pit and the latrine slab has been made.

Robine Project As I mentioned last time, I would be traveling to a fellow volunteers site to help him with a water project. Currently there is a water system in his village consisting of a water tower and 13 tap stands. It has been inoperational for several years since bandits stole the solar panels that powered the pump. However, even before then, water did not reach all the taps since the tower is placed at a low elevation in the system. My second vist, me and another WATSAN volunteer administered a topographic survey to get the elevations of the different parts of the system. Currently I am working on calculations and mapping to fix the system. Ni allah soonah (god willing), by October/November we will have submitted a proposal to fix the system and will be asking for donations to the project. So far this has been a very exciting project to work on since I didn’t think I would get the chance to work on one so technical in Mali.

Shea Conference

Me and two women from my village attended a conference sponsored by PC on shea butter networking. The women from my village were really excited to learn about shea butter improvement and marketing. They also came from the conference really desiring to read and write and hope to go to classes with a NGO working in my village. Since we have returned from the conference, we have met twice with interested women in the village and will soon start to collect money and elect officers of a shea association. Food Security During April I attended a regional IST with my homologue. Presentations were given by NGOs for potential partnerships and we learned more about food security and how to address the problem in our village. We also explored ways to improve our working relationship and wrote action plans. Since then, me and my homologue have begun to form a food security committee (yes, another committee) where we hope to address some of the food security problems in my community. Already people in my village have run out of their millet (main grain) including my host family and are forced to buy mass amounts at inflated prices until their harvest comes in. Cooperative Multi-Functional Currently my homologue came up with a great idea to create one cooperative that includes 4 committees (WATSAN, garden, food security, and shea butter) to lessen the paperwork and funds to officialize the organization through the mayor and higher government officials. This will be complicated to do but I think it will really help my village develop in the long run.

ERAD(Equipe de Recherche et d'Appui Pour le Developpement) This NGO has been working a lot in my village with baby weighings, literacy training, improved stoves, and installing a large diameter well in my village. Unfortunately the well project is not going well and has been difficult to dig despite the daily usage of dynamite that usually makes me jump. Some people in my village say it is because the devil does not agree since the well was placed closed to a fetish. SUMMARY So, those are the main things I have been up to the last several months. It has certainly been a busy time, not without challenges but still gratifying. I have really learned a lot which will help for my second year of service. It is still mango season which has been amazing to have delicious fruit everyday. I actually bought a solar dryer from a PCV during regional training and have been drying some slices that I may send back to the states. It is the hot season and, as expected, it is really hot but not as miserable as I thought it would be though I have been sleeping outside. I think I prefer hot season and mangos to rainy season with mosquitos but it is nice when have gotten sporadic rains.

Ne menna tuguni (I have been a long time again). I apologize but I think every 6 weeks is what I am shooting for at this point. So since Jan. 3rd I have accomplished a lot of what I set out to do before I went to Senegal. I have yet to dig a soak pit, well, or latrine but you really need to take things slowly here. (sometimes you can't help it either) Here are some highlights of the last 6 weeks:

BODTWD (Bring Our Daughters to Work Day)

Through a "essay" contest, the teachers in my village selecting 5 girls from the 5th and 6th grades to attend a sort of camp/event in Kati (largest city out side of Bamako) for 5 days Jan. 17-21. This was an event to help promote Gender and Development in Mali. Three other PC villages participated, each brang 4 girls. The main events included a work shadow, visit to a technical school, trip to the zoo, life skills lessons, games, ice breakers, goal making, and a candle light ceremony.

There were four main work shadows; each with a woman mentor who acceled at that profession: radio, mayor's office, pharamacy, doctors. The girls were split into groups based on their occupation preference that was part of the essay contest. I chaperoned the girls that went to the Mayor's office which was a really great experience. The woman mentor, Umu, had gotten her PhD in Russia and spoke french, Bambara, and Russian. From her own personal experiences and struggles, she encouraged my girls to study hard so that they could get a job and provide for their children besides living in village.

The visit to the technical school included a panel of female students that talked about how they overcame hardships and discrimination to attend a higher level school after high school. The zoo was a fun experience for the girls as well as for the volunteers. As you may expect, zoos in Africa and in the U.S. are not the same. I at least got to see a lion eating a piece of donkey meat.

On reflection, the event was a great experience. I was able to get closer to the girls from my village especially since I acted as their chaperone too. (proving I am not ready to have children yet though at least mine may speak the same language) It was difficult to work with the girls at first since they were all so timid and were afraid to speak up or elaborate. But as the formation progress, they gained more and more confidence. This was the first time we did such an event in Mali and I look forward to doing it again next year with what we have learned from this year.

WATSAN Committee

With the help of my homologue and the village chief, the Zeala Water and Sanitation (Ji ni Sanniya) Committee has been formed. There are 7 men, including my homologue, and 7 women including me. We have only had three meetings so far. The first was an organizational meeting where they elected officers and decided to have a kesu (each member contributes 50CFA every two weeks, 50 CFA if they are late, and 100CFA if they miss a meeting). The next two meetings we worked on PHAST activities which are interteractive water and sanitation exercises to identify WATSAN problems and solutions in your community. The last meeting they split into two groups and mapped the community and put different color papers on areas that they thought were good or bad.

Though, I must admit working with the WATSAN committee has been a challenge. Me and my homologue meeting for 3 hours on Tuesdays to prepare the meetings and the activities have been difficult to explain with my language ability which is even worse infront of an audience at the WATSAN meetings. But we are all learning together. I hope that the next meeting we can start on time since we started over an hour late the last time but such is Africa.

Women's Garden Project

I have been meeting every Sunday with the women's group that I contribute 100CFA every week to their microfinance kesu. Through participatory assessment tools they identified that they would like to start a community garden. Now we are in the budgeting and planning stage to find the land and price out the well, fencing, and other materials.

Food Security Surveys

As part of a large grant that PC-Mali received from USAID, volunteers have had to interview 10 families on food security issues. The surveys have been an eye opener into problems of hunger in my village that I was previously unaware.

Cooking

I have been cooking more at site, included a sweet potato and plaintain chicken dish the day before I left for Senegal which was AMAZING. I saw the process through from purchasing to killing and cooking the chicken. (See facebook for pictures).

Radio and BBC

My life in village is forever changed and improved by my solar radio. I listen to BBC during breakfast after my morning run. I bring out the radio to listen to the local station with my family at night. It has a solar panel so I'm not going through too many batteries. THANK YOU!

Christmas in February!

Right before I headed to Senegal I received 5 belated Christmas packages!! (Ana, the fam, Dad, Vickie, and Jim). I was so overwhelmed and had to give up some cookies to help transport to a fellow PCVs house for "safe" keeping. But there were oreos, slim jims, nutella, marshemellow fluff, reeses, dried fruit, ranch packets, wheat thins, Sustainable Field Engineering book, tons of magazines and beads!!! Also some stuff I don't even know since I didn't want to risk repacking all that stuff. Really thank you all so much for your thoughtfulness and love!

WAIST (West African International Softball Tournament)

So, on Feb. 10th over 80 PCVs from Mali left for Dakar. We filled 1.2 buses and I was on the bus with 0.2 toubabs (white people) but that was okay. It took us 30 hours which I passed by making a stick horse (our theme was the cowboys), sleeping, and chatting. It was amazing to finally arrive in Dakar and their American club which makes ours look like kiddie land. My feet looked like they had been bitten by something but just swollen from the ride.

On arrival, we chilled out at the pool and I had a screaming, hugging reunion with Megan who I had not seen in 2 years. It was amazing to meet up on another continent and catch up. Over the next two days we had softball matches; two a day. There were 5 teams from Senegal, 3 from Mali, one from the Gambia, a Refugee team (made up of volunteers relocated from Guinea and Mauritania), and also a team made up of missionaires and one of Senegalease students (who were pretty intense). I played for the C-team since I am well aware of my lack of hand eye coordination and never playing softball before. We had a lot of fun but the first few teams we played were a little too serious for us (one of them, the Gambia A team went on to win the tournament). We made up for it in our last game by playing "kick ball" instead against the Refugee team.

During and after WAIST, I got to explore a bit of Dakar which is about 10-20 years ahead of Bamako in development (think of Dakar as New York and Bamako as Detroit...no offense, Detroit). It really helps to not be land locked. The ocean was beautiful and they have a lot of amazing restaurants. I ate thai food, mexican, italian, hamburgers and hot dogs at the American club of course, and pizza. Dakar really seemed like America but things were also really expensive (especially getting around with cab rides) and it was difficult getting around since I don't speak french or Woolof.

I attended a West African Gender and Development conference at the PC-Senegal biro along with representatives from Gambia, Niger, and Togo. It was a bit informal but we were able to share a lot of ideas for projects and committee organization.

Megan and I went to Goree Island the day after the conference which was a former slave island. It was a touristy but fun thing to do and I got to swim in the ocean!

At midnight we got a "cette place"/busch taxi to take to Kolda (regional capital near Megan's village) which took 10 hours and included crossing through the Gambia and a Ferry ride. We spent the night at Kolda and headed to her village the next day. Her village only has 130 people and feels like a big family. Megan and her village speak Pular which I understood none of but could say good morning and thank you. They killed a chicken for me for lunch the next day and then we had to head back to Kolda since we would catch a car back early in the morning to a city I could get transport back to Bamako. I really wish I could have stayed longer but I needed to get back to my village. Still great to connect back with Megan. The last night together we watched Moulin Rouge, killed a pack of oreos, and ate velvetta.

It was sad to say goodbye but Megan should be coming to visit once her service ends in October. Travel back was an adventure. We got stuck at the Senegal-Mali border for 3 hours since they apprently didn't open until 9am and we got there at 6am. 200k from Bamako, our bus broke down from 11AM-4AM when they tried to fix it, got another 100k where they just gave up and I had to pay to take a taxi to get to Bamako. Once in Bamako, I was surprised to find that all public transit was on strike since a bus driver was shot but a police man so I had to wait for PC transport to pick me up. So in total probably over 40 hours to return when it should have taken 24.

But now I am back and heading to my village tomorrow. I feel refreshed and ready to dive back in even in the midst of hot season (it has already been getting up to 105 during the day). Before WAIST I was going through somewhat of a rough spot, unsure of how to correctly launch projects and under pressure to produce results. There isn't too much time before rainy season to get projects done but I will try my best.

Here are some things I plan to do in the next month:

-build my own soak pit combined with my host families

-budget out the garden project more

-teach more WATSAN at the school

-continue to do PHAST with the WATSAN committee

-help a fellow environment volunteer with his water system

Thanks again for all your support both material and emotional.

Yes, I know it has been FOREVER since I posted and when preparing for the PC I always wondered why people didn't update their blogs more often but internet is both slow and computers are hard to come by. I was going to update before I left on Christmas holiday but I got strep throat which almost kept me in Bamako but luckily the drugs worked.

So, my apologies! Here are some updates since my last post:

THANKSGIVING

As I think I mentioned I had Thanksgiving dinner at the US Ambassador's to Mali's house which was amazing! Turkey, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, AND pumpkin pie with REAL whipped cream! There were over 30 volunteers and some high school exchange students. Overall a really great time, great food, and I had a lot to be thankful for but still missed my regular thanksgiving in MI (cranberry orange relish!).

TABASKI

It was only a there and back trip to Bamako (so I didn't bike) and the following day was a big muslim holiday, Tabaski. People in my village stayed up until 5 or 6AM the night before while I was still recovering from Thanksgiving (my body doesn't like good food...) and then we ate basically all day! There was lots of rice AND meat. The day after Tabaski was pretty amazing.

Apparently every year some people from Turkey come in and give meat to each person in our village. We had a big ceremony at the school with costumes made out of trash and dancing to welcome them. It was an interesting experiencing watching "tubabs" come into the village and being more apart of the village than the strangers. They even leant me a rice sack shirt with

cigarette and tea cartons sewed to it. Next year I have to make my own. They get really creative and call themselves "Ngolomas", basically stupid/useless people. Made me think of my days in Tau Beta Sigma with our "pots" and random things attached to them. At that moment, it made me feel like they found the perfect village match for me.

The people from Turkey that could speak some english overwhelmed me with questions on how I could live in my village? was I scared? What did I eat? Did I eat with my hands? How did my parents let me come to Africa? I was overwhelmed since I am so used to being among other PCVs that what we do does not seem so out of the ordinary. I was just really happy to eat really

good beef for about 3 days.

IST

A. Half Marathon

After Tabaski there was not too much time before I headed back to Bamako for our Inservice-training December 7th. I headed back early to bike the half marathon route from our office to Tubaniso and back. In three days I biked 70 miles and ran 13.1 which went pretty well. Me and three others ran the half marathon on the morning of training along with 3 people on bikes with

water :) We had enough time to walk into the dining hall to cheers, grab breakfast, change clothes, and go to session.

B. Training

December 7th-20th was spent in training but this time a lot more technical and not much language training. I got to go down a

well, down a latrine, help construct a latrine slab, help with top well repair in a nearby village, disassemble an India-Mali pump,

learn about rope-and-knot pumps, and built half of a mini-cistern. Altogether very hands on and useful. I did post pictures of Tabaski and IST on Facebook, here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2626400&id=13705312&l=a4f972522b

Other training focused on HIV/AIDs education, project design and management, radio, urine fertilization, and Incoming Generating Activities (IGAS)-learned to make natural mosquito repellent, soap, mango driers, and mud fabric :) Overall, I think training went really well but I am a PC dork so my opinions are bias. It was quite overwhelming with all the project opportunities and that our "real" work will be starting soon. However, our "stage"/new PCVs felt closer. I still had my dugutigi duties and we got some pretty awesome shirts made.

We also had a Holiday party complete with paper snowflakes, a white elephant gift exchange, Home Alone, and hot chocolate and mini marshmellows courtousy of my Mom, Aunts, and Nana w/ Package Billi Billi Ba #5 (still the biggest of all X-mass packages! Radio, velvetta!, M&Ms, running shoes, fabric, oh my). I made about 25 friendship bracelets the colors of the Malian and American flags and gave them to the volunteers in my region (Koulikoro) and sector (WATSAN) as Christmas presents and they were a pretty big hit. If I get more colors I will make them for all of our stage. I am wearing one as an anklet and apparently that is a foreign concept to Malians and they keep asking why it isn't on my wrist. It has been weird and kind of nice not being surrounded by Christmas decorations, music, and advertisements but the party put me in the holiday spirits.

Last part of IST the WATSAN volunteers went on a trip to a village 2 hours away to see some ECOSAN projects done by an NGO CREPA. They had built some compost latrines, wash areas, soak pits, a mini-market for school children, water cisterns, and some hand washing stations. It was great seeing the technologies in the field but some were, unfortunately, in disuse or disrepair. There was also another Gender and Development (GAD) meeting and I was honored to be elected the new National Coordiantor/President. I had put together a manual before and during IST for volunteers to get project ideas and learn how to incorporate GAD into their service which is still a work in progress but a good start. I'm excited to serve in this new position but I have some big shoes to fill from the previous National Coordinator.

WWS (WORLD WISE SCHOOLS)

I also wanted to give a shout out to Mrs. Edginton and her 5th grade class ( Robert, Clayton, Hannah, Lily, Dalton, Josh, Charlene, Darien, Ethan, Katelyn, Amber, Jasmine, Sarah, McKayla, Taylor, Maggie, Albert, Keaten, Erik, Lindsey, and Zack). I received individual letters, two pictures of their class (one in Halloween costumes), and a letter about how they spent Thanksgiving (made my mouth water with the list of food) during IST. I don't know if any of them this read this (I will send an e-mail) but a general letter to the class is on its way and individual letters should be coming shortly as well. I just ask to be patient with the Malian postal system. Hopefully you get them before Valentines day, but I really enjoyed reading all your letters and look forward to more correspondance :)

DOGON CHRISTMAS

I decided to join 15 of my fellow volunteers to go up to the Northern reaches of Mali (close to Timboutou/Timbuktu in Mopti region) to another volunteers site to spend the Christmas holiday. It took 12 hours to get there but we got PC transport (air conditioned and all Americans blasting various tunes from portable iPOD speakers.) but we arrived at the PC house in Sevrai and the next day took our own bashee ("malian bus"), 4 hours to Sam's site. Northern Mali is completely different than my region and resembles the American west, plateaus, cliffs, few but large trees. We spent a few days at her site where we had an AMAZING christmas dinner of corn bread, green beans, deviled eggs, stuffing, candied yams, and goat fresh off the spit. I will admit on Christmas day I had saved Sara-Janes and my Mom's Christmas cards (since I couldn't wait to open the package), and my Mom had included a snowflake in her card that made me cry just a little. (but it was a happy cry just the same) Needless to say, I have daydreams of going home for Christmas next year :)

The day after Christmas we set off on a pretty rigourous 3-day hike up cliffs and through Dogon villages where we slept under the stars on hotel roofs. It was amazing and beautiful though the kids were somewhat oppressive (Ca Va Bon Bon/ l'argent/biki/bidon, Hello candy?money?pen? bottle?) near the end and I missed being able to somewhat speak the language. I returned to Bamako on public transit this time (half spent sitting on a leaky 20-L water bottle) on the 29th, spent the 30th in Bamako and finished my Master's International quarterly report.

NEW YEARS (Trente ni une ke, literally 31sting) On New Years Eve I decided to head back to my village. I had been gone for over 3 weeks and was feeling guilty, low on cash, and missing my village. I had told them I would be back the 4th so they were surpised when I showed up early (there is no reception at my site still so I couldn't call). I spent the day greeting, unpacking, and drinking tea. I was surprised and pleased to discover that my house had not been destroyed by termites, just a thick layer of dust, and that my cat was still alive (so now I will need to name it and take it to the vet). Though I tried, I fell asleep before midnight since they don't really celebrate the new year but I was still happy I went back. I made some New Years Resolutions in my journal before I crashed: 1. Take my vitamens (Aunt Lori will be happier with this one)2. Try to eat healtheir (I must have gained 10lbs from training and even hiking...)3. Get better at Bambara & hopefully start learning some french too 4. Integrate more 5. Handle my living stipend better6. Keep up letter writing, running, biking, organization, etc.

WHAT'S NEXT (Mun ye kofe ye)

So as Aunt Lori asked, when do you start doing real work? The answer, doni doni (little by little). Just in the two days that I got back where I was resettling in and having to answer the countless questions and exclamations that I had been gone a long time, my homologue wanted to start the WATSAN committee and my tutor's women's organization wants to know what they can do with their 175,000 CFA( $350) they have saved over the year. So here is the general goal in the next six weeks before I got to Senegal for the West African International Softball Tournament (WAIST) and GAD conference and spend a week traveling with MEGGIE!!:

•Form a WATSAN committee with my homologue and village chief based on my site mate’s model of 6 women and 6 men.

•Participate in pilot project “Take your Daughters to Work Day” in my region which includes selecting 5 girls from my village’s 5th/6th grade to travel for a four day formation where they will shadow working women of Kati/Bamako Jan. 17-21.

•Conduct PHAST(Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation) activities with the new WATSAN committee and begin to prioritize, select, and organize our first projects in the community

•Conduct PHAST activities and other health and WATSAN formations at the school in my village

•Conduct PACA(Participatory Assessment of Community Activity) such as seasonal calendar and community mapping with the WATSAN committee and some of the women’s organizations in my village

•Complete food security baseline survey in my commune capital (part of pilot project with USAID and PC-Mali)•Complete the GAD baseline survey in my village and CSCOM (health clinic) in my commune capital

•Explore project possibilities in Life Skills (HIV/AIDs) education at the higher grade levels in my commune capital and radio shows in my site mate’s village at the catholic radio station.

So, wish me luck. I am a bit nervous/excited/overwhelmed. There is pressure to get things done but it needs to be done sustainbly so I don't waist PC, my village, or other money. Thanks again for your continued support, letters, and packages. I just got a package from Kay and Mike (two soccer balls, a pump, lots of magazines, yarn, Trader Joe's CHOCOLATE!, and dried fruit!!!) THANK YOU. Apparently there are more on their way!!! I hope a lot of your received my Christmas cards and post cards. I sent a lot via returning volunteers for the holidays with US postage.

So this is going to be a super fast update since I need to get back on transport to pick up my bike and bike 70k back to village. I will be back on Thanksgiving to have dinner at the U.S. Ambassador's house (Delicious but not as good as America).

Here are some things I have been up to:

-termites ate a hole in my nice mattress and otherwise invaded

-termites were followed by bats. One dive bombed me and I ran screaming from my house. My host dad killed 3 by literally picking up and throwing on the ground. Malians apparently aren't that scared of bats but are really afraid of frogs.

-I have a cat now...In Bamabara to say you like something and want something is the same thing so...someone showed up with a cat for me one day and I didn't refuse. Just my luck it is more annoying than my grandma's cat snickers but looks like my Aunt Lisa's cat, Manard

-I have cooked several dishes for myself that weren't half bad and made Guava Jam

-attended a traditinal ceremony at night in my village with men dressed in animal skins doing Circus Soleil caliber moves

-shelled countless peanuts, beans, and corn (engineering degree is coming into good use)

-went to the fields a few times and harvested peanuts

-ate mayo, jam, and kool-aid powder plain....

-ate the fried whole fish at market and liked it...

-eaten countless meals of To and beans and actually started to like the beans

-planted some Miranga trees

-conducted hand washing sessions at the school that actually went pretty well and teaching them how to filter and treat water tomorrow

-learned more Bambara...

-Finished all the baseline water and sanitation surveys, analyzed the data, wrote a report, and translated it into Bambara

-Have had countless glasses of tea and have actually started liking it and learning to make it

-Got lost on my first bike ride back from Kati (70k) and almost got stuck sleeping outside but was miraculously rescued by PC transport

-wrote and sent lots of letters

-stalked by a 19 year old boy that has now become the younger brother I never had

-attended many funerals and am witnessing the hardship that families go through when members are stick

-saw a day old baby

-have put in a lot of miles, run 6 days a week

-ran my first two hash runs in Bamako with some amazing views and met some amazing people from all over the world that have been all over the world and have committed their life to service

Alright that is a pretty good summary of things so far...I may expand later and I'm sure there are many things I forgot.

On the right hand side I put a wish list in case you are interested in sending anything but again, letters more than suffice.

Also my sitemate and his girlfriend have two projects in their villages that need funding. If you are feeling in the Holiday giving mood this is a great opportunity to do so. Here are the links to their projects where you can donate online and read more about them. I will have similar projects in the early spring that you will be able to donate to as well.

Women's Fabric and Dye Shop

Shea Butter Production Building

Thank you so much for your continued support, letters, e-mails, phone calls, and packages. It really means a lot. I am happy here but do miss family and friends. I have also be relatively healthy ::knock on wood:: Keep the letters coming. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and hope you had a Happy Halloween!

So I am in Bamako for the weekend. It was an adventure getting here on my own for the first time. I have to take a car ("bush Taxi") to Kati which means they stuff it past capacity. 4 in front, 4 in middle row and 3 in back, 4 on the roof. It started pouring rain so I felt really bad for the Malians on the roof. The car broke down after going through a sizable puddle for an hour. At one point everyone besides me and the older man had to get out and push the taxi through a river basically. Once I finally got to Bamako I ended up getting on the wrong transport and had to call a PCV three times...This was all compounded by a fever and cold I acquired in village with little sleep the night before. But I arrived around 11:30 after leaving at 6AM and had a chicken sandwich and fries for lunch and then ice cream later :):)

Bamako is a little overwhelming after being in village. Here is a bit of what an average day has been like:

6AM- Wake up with roosters and wind up alarm clock and go for 5-8k run (Sundays-20k)

7AM- bucket bath, sweep house (the mudd and stick ceiling is really dirty...not to mention cricket, spider, and termite infested)

7:30AM- corn porridge for breakfast in my house

8AM- language tutoring in the three room school house in my village

9AM- language class abanna(over) and sit for an hour with my teacher, listen to BBC on his radio, and chat. We are becoming really good friends. He is also a pretty good teacher. Mostly been reviewing parts of the language structure that I didn't understand during PST.

10AM-return home, eat a granola bar

10:10AM- Do various work: shell corn, baseline surveys, and measured all the wells in my village

12PM-12:30PM- lunch. Usually Tao, or a corn kus kus with a red, oily sauce

12:30PM- More work (baseline surveys, some tea drinking, more surveys, chatting)

6PM- Fetch water from the well with my own well bag and carry it back on my head (luckily the well is only a block away but it has earned me some brownie points)

6:10PM- Bucket bath #2. I've come to look forward to thee

6:30PM- Sit with landlord aka "Jatigi", chat and wait for dinner to come

7:00PM- eat dinner (either tao or a corn siri again)

7:30PM- hang out and chat with family for a little while

8:00PM- eat another granola bar or bread and mayo if it is Thurs-Sat since I have bread from market day

8:10PM- write in journal, write letters, prepare for language lesson, sometimes read a little

10/11PM- Bed time!

MARKET DAY

I think I did some sort of timeline like that before so sorry if it is repetitive. That is like everyday except market day on Thursdays. I've come to really look forward I bike 10k to my site mate's village around 9:30AM and spend the day at the market, shopping and eating good/better food :) They have bread and street food (meat!). I purchased more cooking supplies, another trunk, a table, and chairs. It all gets transported back ON bike, usually my jatigis since his bike rack is bigger which as an experience.

CEREMONIES (JAMA, TABASKI, FUNERAL, INDEPENDENCE DAY)

Otherwise, there have been a number of big ceremonies in my village in just a short amount of time:

1. Jama-naming cermony/circumcision for girls and boys

I did some intense dancing with only the women who would run to each concession, dance and pour buckets of water and smear mudd on each other. They had belts made of bottle caps that jingled and funny hats. At one point this woman dressed up as a witch doctor type smeared ash all over my face as part of some initiation, I think...I didn't understand their singing. But needless to say it was a lot of fun even though it reinforced that I can't dance.

2. Tabaski-the end of Ramadan where they usually slaughter an animal and eat a lot

This was actually not much of a celebration in my village both because they are very poor and 1/2 catholic. My teacher did give me some goat and rice and it was delicious!

3. Funeral- Unfortunately the same day as Tabaski there was a death of a 15-20 year old boy. I spent several hours sitting and mourning with the women; some were crying and it was a very somber occassion. I am not sure the cause of his death

4. INDEPENDENCE DAY(Sept. 23)-Mali gained independence from France in 1960

There wasn't much of a celebration in my village but apparently there are parades and parties in Bamako. There was a big soccer game that all the kids went to but I wasn't told about. The night before there was a dance that I went to for 20 minutes but it, sadly, got rained out.

SURVEYS

As I said I have been working on the WATSAN surveys with my homologue. It is going extremely well though the WATSAN situation is pretty dire in my village. I will post more once I total the results. But we have done over half the househouds in my village (31 of the 45) in 4 days and usually this takes 2 months! He also said we are going to do the closest small village too. I hope my homologue's work ethic reflects that of the community...ni allah soona (god willing)

INTEGRATION

So altogether I am having a great cultural experiences and integrating well into my community. I try to be as outgoing as possible and I think my language is improving. I have not had much time to read and relax but I like to keep busy. I'm sure a lot of that will come later. I will probably not be back to Bamako (so internet or cell access) for another 3-4 weeks. I will try sending out lots of letters tomorrow if I get to the post office in time! Thanks for your continued support!

So as most of you know, I was sworn in as an official PCV on Thursday, September 10th at the American Embassy. Thank you for all of you that congratulated me on FB!

It truely was a magnificent and perfect day. The embassy actually has American grass in it (totally unsustainable but cool...) and automatic flush toilets. Most all of the PCTs dressed in fancy Malian clothing, myself included. It was purple of course! (pictures to come soon). The ceremony was very nice and included speaches from our PC country director, the US Ambassador, a representative of the Malian govt., and PCT speeches of each language we learned. Justin gave a speech in Dogon! We took an oath to obey the constitution, protect, and serve.

It felt similar to graduating HS/College. I felt extremely happy and proud to have made it through training and to become an offical PCV. It still is taking some getting used to.

Afterwards we went to the American Club where I watched a movie, ate a delicious lunch (cheeseburgers were consumed along w/ chocolate mousse), swam in and slept by the pool. Pure Heaven! Closer to the evening we went to a hotel in Bamako where we had rented some floor space. I was in a room with 5 mattresses on the floor and 12 people, which was fine since we were out to some clubs in Bamako until 3AM. I danced the night away...and had a blast!

So what is next?

I leave for my site on Tuesday!! A lot of people left this morning already which was actually pretty sad. Our class has really become a family/support system. But we will all see each other at the end of Nov. for Inservice Training (IST) which will be much more technical and some language.

Today I went shopping in Bamako to buy some things for my new site. I am the first volunteer so I need to get EVERYTHING including a mattress, stove, and pans. They have stores called "Tubab Stores" that are like a mini Meijers. I find it difficult to go to those stores now with so many choices. I get overwhelmed. Also, things can be expensive. A rolling pin costs the equivalent of $60 when a wine bottle/nalgene will work just fine.

I will buy a lot more at the market in my site mate's village and also get furniture (chairs, bed frame, and table) made their. I'm going to try to live as frugally/close to Malians as possible though I have a gas stove... I'm still trying to figure out how often I will cook for myself and how often I will eat with my family.

The next two months will be spent getting to know my community, conducting a baseline survey of WATSAN and gender, studying Bambara with a local language teacher, and conducting some participatory assessment tools to get to know my village's needs. I'm both excited and nervous! I probably won't have internet access for another 3 weeks, so a bit less than the past 2 months have been.

Thanks again for all your support! I received package #3 billibilliba (BIG in Bambara) which had TONS of goodies (granola bars, drink mix, magazines, wash clothes...) I think I am set for another 6 months! I'm going to have fun packing tomorrow and Monday ;) I can't replicate the original packing job... Also received a letter from Adam and package from Ana. THANK YOU! I have not received any other mail (that means you Dad...don't know what happened to your letter :/) Some of you should be getting letters if I can purchase stamps.

My apologies but this post is sort of random on some last sessions we had before swear-in.

WATSAN in Mali

On Wednesday the WATSAN volunteers had a field trip in Bamako to: the Direction Nationale de L'Hydraulique (DNH), CREPA (Centre Regional Pour L'eau Potable et L'assainissement/ Regional center for portable water and sanitation), and Deptartment of water and sanitation (DNACPN). This was an extremely informative trip and we learned more about how the government of Mali enforces and promotes water and sanitation. I was impressed at the level of organization and legislation that DNH and DNACPN have.

CREPA is seperate from the government and is a non-profit WATSAN organization in 17 West African countries. They provide training and funding for wash areas, latrines, hand washing stations, sewers, etc. We get to visit their site where they have ECOSAN latrines during In Service Training (IST) at the end of November. I am really excited!! ECOSAN latrines have seperate urine collection, compost in the pit, and the wash water runs into a garden.

TWO EARS OF CORN

One of our last sessions as PCTs really stuck out to me that I thought I would share. It was referring to a book on development called Two Ears of Corn. One of our cultural trainers was sharing what he learned from the book through his PC service. The book talks about approaching any development by: starting simple, starting small, and nuturing enthusiasm. These seem obvious but many NGOs, development organizations, and PCVs fail to do this again and again. I plan to read the book in my first two months of site. I think a lot of these steps are what I am going to have trouble with since I like to be productive and get things done. Our first 2 months at site we are not allowed to do any funded projects since we are supposed to integrate into the community and learn the language more. Also, here is a significant quote from the novel that resonnates with PCVs:

"It is only when we have spent all day stooped over while transplanting rice in flooded paddies, [or] when we have raced into the familiy courtyard to rescue drying millet from a sudden rain...that we can come to speak the villager's vocabularly, understand their priorities, and fathom their wants. And it is only then they will truely come to trust us."

PC JOKE

Our cultural trainer told an interesting anecdote that I thought I would share:

A man fell down a well/pit and he can't get out so a missionary walks by, hears the man's cries and drops a bible down the well. Next, a NGO (non-govt. organization) worker walks by and throws some money down the hole to the man. Lastly, a PC volunteer walks by and then runs away...only to come back an hour later with his/her backpack and mosquito net tent. The PCV jumps in the hole with the man and says "I'm here to live with you."

FULBRIGHT

Over the last couple days I had the pleasure of meeting some fullbright scholars in Mali. Fulbright is a grant you can get to do research in a developing country for a year during your doctorate. The two students we met seemed really impressive. One was studying the history of art in Mali and the other was studying political activism in Mali. The girl researching political activism also had done research on feminism. I took down her contact information and may meet with her soon.

FOREIGN SERVICE

On Wednesday we also got to meet with Ambassador to the US in Mali which was cool. She talked a little bit about the foreign service and her background. It felt a bit like Model UN meeting her and asking her questions related to her position/duties. I, ofcourse, was in dork heaven! (Thanks Chisnell...) However, I don't think the foreign service is something I am going to consider but it is a facinating career.

THE FAMILY CODE

I don't know if any of you have heard but there has been a big political debate and rallies going on in Mali (all peaceful). The president was trying to pass a law amending the family code to give women more rights where they would no longer be required to obey their husbands and the marriage age would be moved up to 18. This has met significant resistence and their have been massive demonstrations in Mali against it so it has come under reconsideration in their parliment. If you are interested about reading more here is a link to the article on BBC.

This past Sunday I returned from our last homestay and language training (Weds Aug. 26-Sun. Sept.5, 11 days). Everything went pretty well and it was a bittersweet depature. Here are some of the highlights:

RAMADAN (Sunkalo)

Right now, most Malians are practicing Ramadan since they are mostly muslim. Ramadan is basically a month of fasting. You wake up around 5:00 and eat a huge breakfast before sunrise and then do not eat or drink water until sunset (some people go longer) which is around 6:45PM. They still go to the farm during the day as well. They also pray 5 times a day. It is quite a sacrifice. They do tend to be crabier and go to bed early.

Some volunteers fast as well even if they are not muslim to share in the cultural experience... so I decided to try it but my family only let me do it for two days. They were worried about me losing weight and I wasn't praying so they said it didn't count. I probably won't have a chance next year since my host family at site is catholic but that is fine.

PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation)

After a few days at homestay we practiced some participatory, community assessment tools for Water and Sanitation on some members of our homestay village. Basically PHAST is a progression of exercises to help teach and plan health water and sanitation practices and technologies. It includes lots of pictures (I colored some of mine in with the crayons I brought) and interactions. Even asking people how they eat poop (fingers, fields, flies, food, fluids).

It went pretty well though we didn't get a lot of people and it rained really heavily; making it hard to hear each other. Most of the participants in Soundouguba knew what were good and bad sanitation practices and technology. For instance they know they should wash their hands with soap but they say they are "not accustomed to it". Also, the most difficult part is that they would lie about having soak pits or children wearing sandels or defecating in fields unless you called them out on it. Malians in general don't like to answer questions negatively so you need to keep things open ended. Hopefully they become more honest when you are better integrated.

I am excited to start the activities in my village though it may not be until after the first 3 months and I potentially form a water and sanitation committee. Other volunteers have also done the activities in schools which I think is a great idea.

BIRTHDAY

The day we did PHAST in our village was also my first birthday in Mali. I am now the ripe old age of 23...and things feels exactly the same. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. My inbox was successfully inundated with FB wall posts. I waited to open two birthday cards that my mom, Nana, Aunts, and Sara-Jane sent. They happened to be the ones you can record a message in, or in this case the Happy Birthday song. It was a real treat to listen to their voices so far from home.

Birthday activities included "good ol' American Saladay"...which is when all of our homestay trainees get together for good food (shish kabobs, salad, cucumbers, tomatos, fried eggs, melon, cokes, and...this week there was laughing cow cheese from Bamako :):)) Later we went to the next village for more celebration. Overall, a great day :)

MUSEUM

The day after my birthday we had a field trip to the Malian museum in Bamako which was actually really nice and we got to see some African artificats, masks, and cloth. Other volunteers chose to go to the "zoo" where you can apparently poke a dead manitee...guess I will need to visit!

RUNNING

After the museum visit and some delicious food at Broadway Cafe (another cheeseburger and coke float!) we returned to our homestay villages and I went for a 2 hour run in the light drizzle. I had rice patties on one side of me, green and lush, and a canal on the other side. It was amazing and now I know I can run distance in Mali :) Though I did see a 4-5ft long black snake in the middle of the road which was a bit scary.

SOAK PIT AND WASH AREA

After several more days of language training we constructed a soak pit and wash area for a family in our village to pratice. A soak pit is used to infiltrate excess wash and latrine water into the ground instead of the street. A simple soak pit for a single family is about 9 ft deep (don't worry the family dug the hole), 3 ft in diameter filled with rocks, and has pipes running into it from the latrine and wash area. It is covered with plastic and earth at the end.

The wash area is basically a cement slab with a drain/pipe that goes into a soak pit so that the wash water from dishes and clothes doesn't just pool in their concession (courtyard). I posted some pictures online (finally got a chance...internet is fast at 4AM) if you would like to see. I'm excited to build wash areas and soak pits in my village if that is what they decide is important and are willing to contribute labor and rocks.

NEGEN CAVE IN

The night before the soak pit construction and the following several days it seemed that rainy season had arrived and the streets turned into rivers. This also apparently did not bode well for one of my homestay family's latrines (the one that I use ofcourse) since the wall caved into the pit and rendered it useless. Luckily this was on the last day since the other latrine was a bit less improved.

SAYING GOODBYE

So it was bittersweet having to pack and leave my first family and home in Mali. It seems like they get the short end of the stick from PC since they have to put up with us (we are a bit high maintenance...) but don't get the benefits of having a volunteer. Sure they get paid and a room fixed up but that seems small compared to how much time and effort they spend helping us learn the culture and integrate. Thus, it was sad to leave but I was happy to be done with homestay and closer to becoming a volunteer and going to my actual site. I plan to come back and visit though since my homestay village is pretty awesome. A lot of volunteers return from time to time to their homestay villages.

The morning I left we took lots of pictures together (even with the family cow). I gave them gifts I had brought and sent (MI picture book, softballs!, mini frisbees, a few American dollars, Malian cloth, sugar, tea, charcoal, bracelets). We went through the MI picture book and they really liked seeing all the pictures of big buildings, bodies of water, snow, and farms (there was a pumpkin patch).

Upon deptature, I made my actual host mom and togoma (woman who cooked for me) cry which is really rare in Mali (it is culturally inappropriate to cry in public besides funerals). A lot of my family shook my left hand with theres (you may remember me saying it is culturally inappropriate to do things with your left hand since that is the "dirty hand"). This is actually a sign of respect meaning you must come back to right the wrong of shaking with the left hand.

WHAT'S AHEAD

We returned to Tubaniso on Sunday and took our final culture and technical tests. On Monday we had our final language tests. We have to test at a certain level (intermediate-middle) to become volunteers. Most of you reading this know that I don't like tests so this was quite a stressful experience for me. Luckily I had M&Ms and oreos left over to console me after I failed at the scenario of reserving a hotel room in Bamako for my parents.

After coming to terms with my performance, and realizing that I am still going to be a volunteer but I may need to stay an extra week at Tubaniso for language training; the teacher who administrated my test said that he accidentally taped over it and I needed to do it again. This kind of sucked but I did much better the second time around. I found out today that I indeed achieved INT-MID!! So life is good.

SWEAR IN

So on Thursday all of us Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs) will be taken to the American Embassy and sworn in as volunteers and become PCVs. We also get to spend the night and celebrate in Bamako. I am extremely excited and can't believe the day is almost here! Thanks again for all your love and support to get to this point.

I have returned from site visit alive and well and excited to return!

PACA (Participatory Approach to Community Assessment)

First, we left Friday and spent that day and Saturday morning working with a current PCV's village, women's group on PACA. The village was only 8k from my actual site so I got a chance to work with my future site mate. PACA is a community development tool to assess the capacity of organizations and assess their needs. We were practicing this tool with our homologues which mostly involved them actually running the sessions in Bambara and us helping with flip chart paper. Which went really well and demonstrated that our homologues were trained well at Tubaniso and will be able to implement PACA at our sites. My homologue was especially awesome and was kind of a leader near the beginning of the session. He actually explained to the women at one point that PC is not here to do the project for them but to show them how!

The woman's group we worked with was actually really impressive. They had a woman's garden and earned money by sweeping for other people which they would put towards their childrens school. A project they were really interested in was dying and sewing this special formal fabric called Bazin. My site mate is going to work with them more to develop this project and I may help him too.

CLOSEST VILLAGE

It was great to have my PACA site at my site mate's village since we are so close and will probably be working on projects together. His village is much larger than mine (about 2500). It has a CSCOM (medical center) and huge catholic church that puts a lot of money into the community. Worldvision also does a lot of work in his village. My site mate has built a number of soak pits (sealed place for excess latrine water to go into instead of in the road) and has a model WATSAN committee that does trash collection. Here is a link to an aritlce on his project.

TRAVEL TO MY SITE (FIRST IMPRESSIONS)

I spent the night in his village with the intention to leave early in the morning but that didn't end up happening since it poured down rain. We spent some time waiting in the butiki (store) with my site mate's friend who also has a new kitten that fell asleep in my arms. (I really think I am going to get a cat...) Around 11 or so the rain stopped and I strapped on my huge backpacking pack and set out on the saturated roads. The 8k felt like it took forever since the road was bad, my bag was heavy, and there were hills. I will definitely need to either pack less or get better endurance on a bike. We made it though and I was really mudd caked at that point which was great for first impressions at my site. I thought they may ask to return me. But I quickly showered and changed into a Malian outfit.

Me and my homologue then met with the dugutigi and village elders. I presented him with lipton tea, sugar, and Kola nuts and he seemed really happy. My site mate did most of the talking with his homologue since my Bambara is still in the elementary stages. But I was at least able to say I was happy because I was in Zeala.

MY HOUSE

Following that meeting and formalities I got to hang out with my homologue and his family and also my "Jatigi" or host father whose concession/compound I am living in. My jatigi is my homologue's older brother. My house is two fairly small bedrooms made of mud bricks with a thatch and mud roof that, luckily, doesn't leak. I have a small wall enclosing the front of my house which I like. As required by PC, I have my own Negen(latrine) which is MASSIVE but really nice. (Latrines can be considered status symbols here) However, it doesn't have a soak pit so that will be one of my first projects. The hole actually has a lid which means many less cockroaches than homestay which I am really happy with. Moroever, it was really nice to see my eventual house and I'm excited to return and stop living out of bags. It really felt like home.

The next 4 days at my village were spent:

EATING: Plenty of To and rice and very little protein. Also, eating twice each meal (once with homologue and once with Jatigi)...that is going to need to change when I get back. But I also plan to cook a little for myself. I actually found myself missing my homestay food since the sauce for the To was better and I got french fried sandwiches. I found myself getting hungry shortly after meals (thank goodness for granola bars!). I was REALLY happy when my homologue took a day trip to Bamako. He brought back bannanas and apples which I devoured! Plus the next morning I had bread and mayonnaise (trust me, it is goood :) ) CHATTING as much as I could with my limited Bamabara and french. My french-english dictionary actually came in pretty handy. My limited french skills have really deterioated with learning Bambara (only so much room in my head apparently...) I met the teacher who is to be my language tutor and he seems really nice. He knows like 4 languages including Bambara and French but he also wants me to teach him some english. I actually think my Bambara improved a lot during site visit and I got more creative with my limited vocabularly. I was able to find out a lot about my village. RUNNING. Yes, I ran every morning and only on the main road. They are totally fine with me running but made sure to show me the route and which way to go when the road forks. The road is actually pretty hilly but nice and there seem to be plenty of other paths and roads to run on and explore. It is 50k (about 30 miles) to a major city and I actually plan to run there by the end of my service :) FARMING. Yes, farming. I went 3 out of the four days. It is a bit of a hike even on a bike to my homologue's farm and they walk it every day. They farm peanuts, millet (No), a little cotton, beans, and corn. I can actually distinguish between all of them now. (they are not all just green stuff) They let me weed a little bit but would constantly ask if I was tired or needed to sit. I even used the cow plow (pictures to come...). One day I went out to the farm of the woman's organization and there was music and dancing which was really awesome. The people of my community really appreciated that I went to the farm with them. ASSESSING WATSAN Ofcourse I took notes and asked questions regarding the water and sanitation in my village. I knew a little information going in but it was different to actually see it. They have 8 wells and only 2 have covers. The other 6 only have steel barrels and a concrete apron but most all 6 were within two feet of where they kept animals and washed dishes and clothes. They do drink the well water since one pump is broken and the other is really slow. The water is not treated. There are no soakpits in my village and the excess wash water and urine runs and pools into the roads. A lot of the latrines do not have holes so they are most likely practicing open defication. I witnessed a teenage girl squatting in the middle of my concession before a big rain storm. The school has latrines but they do not have holes and there is no close water source. The waste management in my village seems pretty good since there is not a lot of trash lying around my village but I don't know if that is because they clean it up or just don't have much trash coming in since the butiki (store) is REALLY small and the people in my village can't afford much. My homologue and host dad are really good at washing their hands with soap before they eat with me which is very refreshing compared to my homestay village. I actually got my homologue's wives to yell at him if he does not wash his hands!! Scaring kids with my hair...I made at least 3 kids cry at the sight of me and they said it was because my hair was so long and big. Altogether, my site visit went really well and I'm excited to come back and have a place to live. I already have plans to possibly have a cat, start a garden, compost, try urine fertilization, farm with my family, cook for myself, possibly form a WATSAN committee, do PACA, work with the woman's organization, teach water and sanitation at the schools, build a soak pit, etc.

What was surprising was the difference between my homestay and village. My homestay is more of a town with a larger population but also with a higher level of income, it seems. There are different levels of poverty that are apparent and my village seems to be lower than my homestay.

KOULIKORO COW (They call the different regions cows)

On Friday it was time to leave for Bamako and meet up with current volunteers and PCTs in our region, Koulikoro. Once in Bamako, me and my site mate got breakfast at the delicious meatball sandwich lady. I had a delicious meatball sandwich with plantains and some hot pepper followed by a yogurt sachee. I was in heaven! I then spent some time on the internet and went to lunch at "Le Relax" which is a white person's restaurant basically. There I had my second cheeseburger and shared a bannana split with another PCT. It was delicious!! After lunch we set out for the regional city, Koulikoro and the volunteer house there. This involved filling a Malian bus with all white people which is a site to behold for Malians. Our bus ended up getting a flat tire on the way but only delayed us about a half hour.

I spent two nights at the Koulikoro stage house with 30 other PCVs and PCTs (all the floor space was taken at night). We had music and dancing as well as good food in the evenings. It didn't even feel like we were in Mali at times. It was cool to meet everyone that will be in the region and hear about their experiences and projects. Also, it was a good time to relax and unwind. I met, Emily, who will be running the Ghanain marathon this september and we went for a good run one morning together and discussed the race that I will do next year. It will be her first marathon but she competed in college.

RETURN TO TUBANISO

Sunday was time to return to Bamako and the the training camp, Tubaniso, but not w/out having a delicous chicken sandwich and coke float for lunch. It was great to see my fellow PCTs again and learn about their site visits. It seems like everyone had a real positive experience.

CHRISTMAS!!!

Monday was more sessions at the training camp, but we also received...PACKAGES! It truely felt like Christmas. I got massive box #2 filled with drink mix, a soccer ball, softballs, granola bars, gum, letters, dried fruit, triscuits....mmmm :) I got a bracelet and ear rings from Colombia from Ana. AMAZING!!! Thank you all so much! It is amazing how little things; e-mails, letters, and FOOD make me so happy. (e.g. I was really looking forward to the oreos and M&Ms after site visit :) )

WHAT'S AHEAD

So Wednesday we leave back to our homestay villages for 11 days of language training. After that we return to Tubaniso for a week of training and our final test. September 10th is the magic day that I will potentially be sworn in as an official PC volunteer. By September 20th I will move into my site. Things are really moving fast! Thanks for your continued support by either reading this, sending electronic, and snail mail :)

Today after our language and mid-training tests we received our site assignments!! I'm both nervous and excited.

Where?

-region: Koulikoro (the captial, Bamako, is in this region). If you want to know more details, I can send you an e-mail or call because of safety and security reasons.

Who?

-population: 700

-homologue (who I will meet tomorrow and will help me with my service and projects) is Jena/Jean Claude and holds a few positions in village associations and cooperatives. He is married and has two wives and 10 children (4 girls). He is fluent in Bambara and French.

-Closest PCV I know of so far is 45k (27 miles) from me. He is also a WATSAN volunteer.

-There are some pretty cool PCTs and PCVs in my region that I am happy about including the current president of GAD :)

What?

-a new site, I will be their first volunteer

-language: Bambara

-2 pumps, one broken

-6 wells, only three covered

-basic pit latrines and no soak pits

-I will live in a "concession" with a family but have my own room

-no cell phone access unless you bike out 7k but there is a satallite phone

When?/How?

I will leave for my site this Sunday to visit for a week. I was told to bring my bike since I will be dropped off at a station and then need to bike to my village. Thus, I need to pack lite for that first stay...

11 more days at homestay and I have survived:

-hair braids for one week (Actually was cooler and easier to maintain. Taking them out was another story though. Totally want to get the purple extensions next time)

-7 morning runs (Even one 45 min run. I'm getting more energy!)

-planting 1/100th of a rice patty while dancing to traditional music and drums (schitosomiasis and HUGE spiders be damned)

-riding my bike around Mali (We finally got our bikes. Mine is in pretty good shape despite being used by a previous volunteer because of budget cuts)

-a mosquito breeding ground in my water filter :( (not without significant damage to my butt...)

-washing my own clothes (well...mostly...they still help me and laugh at me

-carrying two buckets of water (one on my head)...like two blocks...it was hard!

-another traditional dance (this time played bowl drums and they tried to get me to sing)

-drinking countless glasses of tea with tons of sugar (just how the Malians like it)

-at least 5 rain storms (I love them, they really cool things down!)

-11 middle of the night Negen (latrine) trips...Not technically sick but not at all regular...When you gotta go, you gotta go. For those of you in the US...be thankful for a bathroom in your house.

-walking in the village in a "tafe" (basically wrap around skirts. Most popular clothing worn by women. They tied mine a little too tight for walking...)

-one marriage proposal. My younger sister has actually gotten more than me. I'm an old bag here...Michelle, if you ever want to marry a Malian man, there are a few ready for ya.

-well treatment (our well was only like 10cm so only required 1/2 a tea glass of bleach). The depth of the well is measured using your forearm (basically a half meter) for the wet part of a rope dropped down the well. For each "1/2 meter" you insert 4 tea glasses of bleach if it is a certain concentration.

-2 baseline surveys (37 questions about water and sanitation. Asked and recorded in Bambara. Malians like to lie about things like washing their hands with soap...and having soak pits)

-countless card games of keme ni bi duuru kelen since they realized I could play

-11 lunches of Tao (pounded millet) and sauce. Actually not too bad.

-countless carbs...bread for breakfast, macoroni and tao for lunch, potatos, macoroni, and some sort of meat for dinner...I am fed too much but I am able to tell them I have a small stomac and large stomacs are bad in America since I will not get a husband

-probably a weight loss of 5 pounds since my appetite has been really low (one PCT lost 30lbs in about a week...)

-countless chatting with my "host mom" (technically my niece but basically my mom since she cooks for me and is about the only one that can understand me). I'm getting better at making conversation and basic sharades. My favorite conversation is that all American men are womanizers and all Malian men are womanizers...thus, all men are womanizers.

As a side note the entire village thinks me and another PCT, Matt Clemente, are "together". His host father even asked when/if he was going to get me pregnant. This is only after walking to class together 3 times...

I actually really enjoyed this last homestay and it was hard to leave since I was really getting close to my family. I bought all the women in my concession head scarves and one for myself. I think all seven of us in our homestay village would love for Soundouguba to be our actual site since it is so awesome.

THE AMERICAN CLUB

Though I sort of forgot about missing my homestay family on Sunday since we were taken to the American club in Bamako where I swam in an inground pool, drank a COLD coke and sprite, ate a cheeseburger (with real cheese), drank two beers, and spoke in english all day :)

THE PACKAGE

When we arrived back at the Tubaniso we had a stage meeting and I received a HUGE box. I almost cried when I opened it!! Full of M&Ms, oreos, cheez wiz, ritz crackers, dried cherries, a stuffed monkey, two books on how to shit outdoors, a world map, AAA batteries, and a family photo album :):):) Oh, and my research manuals...Jim Mihelcic's textbook printed out. Nana, Aunt Lori, Aunt Lisa, and my Mom rock. I am saving the birthday card for my birthday :) Apparently there is ANOTHER package on its way already with powdered drink mix..mmmmm. I am WAY too spoiled for my own good. Thank you SOOO much!!!

POTENTIAL REQUESTS

(really, I feel set with what I have. I brought WAY too much stuff for my own good)

1. Letters and updates on what is going on

2. Book: Monique and the Mango Rains (I think it may need to be ordered...)

3. News, news, news (time magazine, burned CDs of BBC and NPR podcasts)

4. Burned CDs and AA batteries (batteries here are explosive...they dent when you touch them and leak battery acid in electronics. I would like to go the rechargable route but I don't get much electricity access)

5. Powdered drink mix (grape/blue/strawberry gatorade)

6. Granola bars (chewy, cliff)

DUGUTIGI

Our PCT class (or "Stage") had our first meeting together where we talked about some basic business and elected a "dugutigi"/chief/president. I am very honored to be the dugutigi of our PC Mali 2009 Training class :) They are really an amazing conglomeration of people!

The title may take some getting used to...My duties are to be the go between between our training class and the staff as well as organizing meetings and overseeing the committees. (That sounds a lot more official than it really is..., don't worry)

BACK TO HOMESTAY

Anyways, tomorrow morning we return to our homestay villages for 9 more days. I am both ready and nervous to begin again. I hope I graduate to at least a 5 year old's language level?

WATSAN

The past few days we have been doing more safety and medical sessions as well as some technical training sessions. The WATSAN sector learned about soak pits, wash areas, water treatment and water related disases. We also mixed concrete and made some bricks!! ::excited::

During homestay we will treat a well with chlorine and conduct a baseline water and sanitation survey to practice. That will be both exciting and interesting with our limited language skills but we should get some help from our teachers.

GAD (Gender and Development)

Also this evening I attended the GAD (Gender and Development) committee meeting for PC Mali. The committee is in a reorganizing phase but sounds promising. They plan to conduct a silent auction soon and want to host a celebration for Intl Women's Day on March 8th. They also want to compile handbooks on GAD and potential projects. SENEGAD is the Senegal version of PC GAD for Senegal and simlar to what PC Mali GAD wants to accomplish (http://www.senegad.org/ ). I want to get really involved in this committee since this is what I want to focus my research on.

This will be a challenge and is sorely needed in Mali. Mali ranks as one of the lowest countries on the gender and development index. Some facts on women in Mali:

-Total fertility rate: 7.29 children/women (2.05 in US)

-The Malian marriage code allows girls under age 15 to marry if they have parental consent and special permission from a judge. Otherwise, you can marry as young as 15

-The most disturbing of all- 95% of adult women have undergone Female Genital Mutilation

-Domestic violence against women is common

Sorry to end on such a note, time to get some rest before departing for Soundouguba!

So I and the 65 other PCTs that arrived in Mali just two weeks ago have survived our first week and a half homestay village experience!!! (This is not w/out some medical conditions such as Amoebas, giardia, swolen feet, heat rash, and food poisoning to name a few) Besides a little Mr. D and Mrs. C, I'm keeping in good health, don't worry ::knock on wood::

Phone!!!

Here is my phone number as promised: 011+223+78455446. 1PM-5PM EST is the best time to call. It doesn't cost anything for me to receive calls but is about $1 a minute to call the U.S. Usually I can call really quickly and then you can call me back. My phone is usually off in village since I do not have electricity

Anyways, so much has happened since I have arrived in Mali that it feels like I have been here months instead of weeks. I don't know where to begin...

Soundouguba, First Impressions

Me and 6 other WATSAN volunteers arrived in our homestay village via a white PC minivan to music and dancing. We greeted the dugutigi (chief) and elders and presented a gift of Kola nuts. Each of us was presented to our host families and given new Malian names. My name is Mariam Doumbia and my host father is Arauna Diarra (most everyone in the village has the last name Diarra).

Where I am living

I was then taken directly to my room which is one room among a dozen in a rectangle facing inwards called a concession. My host dad lives there with his two wives, 6 children, two mothers (his father had two wives and is now diseased), older brother's son and wife and three kids, along with two of his brothers, their wives, and children. I have a family tree drawn out but don't have the total online. The family tree was really fun to figure out with limited language, but my host dad is very patient and actually pulled out everyones Malian birth certificate to help me understand and get ages. The oldest member of the family is 77, my host dad's mother.

My room is simple but has a relatively comfortable bed with a mosquito net. Ventilation is sort of an issue but I am so tired at the end of the day that it doesn't matter. The bathroom is a basic pit latrine, no cover, complete with cockroaches at the bottom. I like to aim for them when I brush my teeth in the morning, but have learned not to go in after it rains since they all exit the pit....There is a seperate wash area where I take my bucket showers twice a day (once in the morning after my run and once before dinner). My host family would like me to shower at lunch too but, nope. (Malians think Americans are dirty since we rewear clothes and don't shower that often. Yet they don't wash their hands after the bathrooom).

My Family

Altogether, my family is really nice, patient, and not suffocating in comparison to others. My host dad gave me a childrens Bambara book and reads with me every day when he comes back from the fields. I don't even really understand the book but he goes to great lenghts to explain in his limited french and by acting out things (even getting children to fetch certain items so I understand). Ofcourse, there is a fair amount of laughing and staring at me. Bascially I have the language level of a two year old in a 22 year olds body. I am learning slowly but surely. It is the most frustrating aspect of PC so far but I am really enjoying Mali and learning about their culture.

The Food

The food actually has not been that bad. I was sort of afraid the first day since I had rice for lunch, and just rice water for dinner. However, there was food of more substance the next day. Breakfast consists of coffee (with lots of sugar and concentrated milk), a loaf of bread (literally), and rice poridge. Lunch consists of Tao (pounded millet type substance that is gray...) and a green, okra sauce also spaghetti noodles with a tomato type sauce. (Yes, two meals...) Dinner consists of boiled potatos and beef (misi in Bambara), more spaghetti, and sometimes rice and a peanut sauce. The woman that cooks for me (host dad's older brother's son's wife/my niece who is 24) has also taken to knocking on my door around 11/12 at night to give me 3 hard boiled eggs even when I am asleep. So, they are really trying to fatten me up. Though, I have not had to go to lenghts to hide my food like in Ghana.

I have not had any really bad food cravingings yet except for something cold to drink. Our village doesn't have electricity, therefore no refridgeration. We have walked the 2k to the nearest homestay village which has cold drinks but really annoying, stalker children. I also went through all my grape, gatorade mix since that is much preferable to warm, chlorine water. (MI water, I miss you!)

Water and Sanitation

The sanitation situation in Soundouguba is pretty low. The latrines are basic pit latrines and the excess wash water from both the latrine and wash area enter right into the street (no soak pit let alone sewer). The animals have free reign and deficate everywhere. Dishes and clothes are washed on the ground or in the canal. There is no real waste management system and this is a city just outside the capital, Bamako. I am curious to see what the sanitation situation will be like at my actual site that will most likely be more remote.

As I mentioned before, no one washes their hands after the bathroom and/or before eating. I eat with "my niece" and she only rinses her hands...I'm trying to get her to use soap but I like the company more than when I was eating alone. Though, that did coincide with the start of Mr. D...They really do believe that washing your hands brings bad fortune ("washes away your wealth") and really think we (white people) are weird for doing so. Don't get me started on their reaction to brushing teeth...(they usually only use sticks).

The water situation is much improved from sanitation (as usual). They use three different water sources in my concession ( one of the three India-Mali hand pumps, personal well, and private tap in concession). They pay for the private tap (about $10 US a month) and it is supposidely treated and they use it for drinking. The well and pump water are used strictly for washing and cooking. I did wash my clothes once in homestay and the women and girls in my host family really had a kick out of that one and basically did it for me but I'm still going to try to learn.

Typical Day

5:00AM-Awoken by call to prayer on loud speakers from the mosque right across the street from my concession

5:45AM- Bathroom trip, changing for running, and washing face (you can not greet people until you wash your face...)

5:55AM- greet everyone in my host family that is awake starting with the oldest

6:00AM- Pick up Matt and go running for 30 min (damn it is hot and I'm not really acclimating that well. Combination of dehydration and poorer nutrtion I am sure)

6:40AM- Return to concession, greet everyone, and basically get thrown in the shower.

7:00AM- Eat breakfast in room (they don't let me eat outside for breakfast anymore because of the flies). I usually review a little Bambara before class

8:00AM- Time for language classes with three other volunteers in my village.

12:00PM- Morning class is over and time for lunch and sitting around with family, mostly studying. I used to take naps but not so much lately

2:15PM- More language classes

5:00PM- Back to homestay, shower, dinner, studying, sometimes watching bad TV (battery powered), teaching english of the words I know in Bambara

9:00PM-11:00PM- Time for bed. Sometimes studying and journal writing

Joking Cousins

There are many different ethnic groups in Mali but most distinctively 8 from the 8 different regions. Each region has common last names. People of certain last names joke with others of a different last name. This is actually really fun and you can say and call them anything; mostly donkey (I ye foli ye) and that they eat beans (U be sho dun). (Don't worry, I am learning some useful Bambara too.

Gender

Ofcourse the rights of women here are very limited. Polygomy is legal (up to four wives) and womens work is womens work (washing, cookings, cleaning, etc). I did have some fun conversations with my nephew and aunt when I told them that American men only had one wife. My nephew proceeded to say that that was bad and you need 4 wives and many children. I said, I would like to have 4 husbands and that got a laugh from both of them. I did explain to them that my parents were divorced and they were very somber on that subject (culturally sensitve). They were also really surprised that my Mother's sisters were "so old", unmarried, and had no children not to mention that I only have one younger sister.

I did tell them that I was single with no children. Some PCTs and PCVs create husbands but I decided I wanted to sort of educate them on that aspect of American culture. So far I have only gotten one marriage proposal anyways. Though, I will get a ring for whenever I travel.

Also, when a man and a woman get married in Mali there "honeymoon" is spent in a special house in the village for 7 days. The man is allowed to leave after 3 days and visit friends but the woman is not supposed to leave for the entire time.

Dancing (Donke in Bamanankana)

Some of my favorite moments at homestay have been dancing. There was a random traditional dance for a few hours on Weds. similar to our welcoming dance and music. Me and the other girl in my village tried to mimic the Malian moves but mostly proved that white people can't dance. However, it is still a great experience to listen and watch. The drummers are amazing with no sheet music and women dance with sleeping babies on their backs.

Last night (Saturday night) we had a dance in our village but a little bit closer to an American dance. It took a while to get started (we showed up at 9 and it didn't start until 11). I was really surprised to see young, Malian girls dressed in outfits that you would see clubbing in the states...We did get our chance to shine on the dance floor after they spent an hour replaying the same 2 minutes of song for random people to dance...We showed them some "American" style dancing that probably wasn't too culturally appropriate for Mali but hilarious. Apparently many pictures were taken... After we did our American dance, the party really got started and I had a great time. Stayed until 2AM eventhough the dance ended at 3AM since we needed to return to Tubaniso (the PC training camp/little America) at 8AM.

What's Ahead

Wow, this has been a long entry. I really need to get to bed. As I said we are back in Tubaniso (little Ameriki) for some technical and cultural sessions. I now realize why all the PC volunteers love this place. I do feel so much more comfortable here surrounded by americans and provided with better food (Salad and fruit!), as well as fans in our rooms. We go back to our homestay villages on Wednesday after a short tour of the capital, Bamako. We will be in our villages for another week and a half. We return for a week in Tubaniso where we will receive our site assignments and then visit them for a week (that will be a major milestone).

Again, everything is going well but I just wish I was better at picking up the language.

Thanks to everyone for all the e-mails and, hopefully, soon to arrive letters and packages (yay!). Really I don't have any requests besides grape gatorade which I believe my Aunts, Mom, and Nana will be sending.

Things I have learned in training:

-how we will filter and treat our water (bucket filters and chlorine)

-all about malaria and even how to do a blood smear

-all about "Mr. D" aka diarrhea (it WILL happen and many times)

-how to use the bathroom w/out toilet paper, squat and aim better

-basics on how to maintain a mountain bike (we get our bikes tomorrow!!)

-about the different stages of culture shock (it will be a roller coaster of emotions)

-what to do in emergencies (anything from natural disasters to political instability). You can all rest easy now!

-how to eat with my hands around a bowl, sort of...

-basic Water and Sanitation overview and tour :) Learned about the objectives of the WATSAN sector of Peace Corps

-how to conduct a baseline survey in village to assess their level of water and sanitation

-how to wash my own clothes ( I washed my first pants by hand!)

-basic greetings in the main language of Mali, Bambara

-to have a brief conversation in three different languages (Bambara, French, and English)

-never wave, eat, pay for things, or much of anything besides wipe with your left hand

-most Malians don't wash their hands. They believe it will wash away their wealth.

-if you get a pet cat, Malian kids may like to sling shot its' eyes out

-it's not okay to smell your food

-you should not compliment a Malian woman for being pregnant

-the rains and Africa can be wicked (well, I already sort of knew that...)

-posting pictures on PC computers is pretty much impossible...(I will try..)

-plenty of other things but won't bore you with too many other details

MISC TIDBITS:

1. I'm going to run a marathon in Ghana next September with a few people in my "stage" (PC training class)!!

2. I got a cell phone and will get my number tomorrow. It is free for me if you call me. I don't know what service will be like in my site but while in training it should be good. Look up skype if you are interseted :)

3. There is a girl, Sarah, in my training class that graduated from Purdue the same time as me. We sung Hail Purdue today!! :) Wonder if that has ever been sung in Mali....

HOMESTAYS

We will be leaving for our homestay villages tomorrow morning (so far all the PCTs have been staying in Tubaniso, a training camp outside of Bamako). The homestay villages will also be located outside of Bamako but we are each placed with a seperate Malian family (some with the chiefs of the villages). I am in Soundougouba (Soon-dugu-ba) with most of the other WATSAN volunteers!! We will be there through next Sunday, so no blog postings until then. During homestay we will have intensive language training everyday. I will be learning the most commonly spoken language in Mali...Bambara (no, not French). I'm really excited!

PACKING & GOODBYES (July 6th and 7th)

So Monday and Tuesday were spent hurridely packing and spending last minute time with friends and family. A string of bad luck seem to hit me from Monday evening into Tuesday but, so far, has seemed to run its course. Monday my stomach became upset after a few mohitos and crab claws with Aunt Lori followed by locking my keys in my car at Meijer (thanks Frank for helping me!). Tuesday began with a parking ticket at the post office and then my Aunt Lisa's dog Ripley getting hit by a car (luckily she was okay!). Then we had my final goodbye dinner with my family at Outback Steakhouse where I had Wahalla Pasta and cheese fries (mmm!). It was really nice and that is when I think I started realizing I was actually leaving.

I preceeded to stay up all night packing, re-packing and cleaning; wishing I had gotten a lot of stuff done sooner ::sigh:: Oh, plus I had one last night at National with some high school buds :) It was quite a challenge packing for 2 years and eventhough I really tried to limit myself I ended up packing way too much still :( Though it is comparible to other volunteers but I wish my duffle had wheels.

My Aunt Lori, Mom, Nana, and Dad drove me to the airport for my 8:55AM flight on Weds, July 8th. I was a true deer in headlights the whole time. I didn't cry upon leaving my family at security but I think that was because of the lack of sleep and daze I was (and still am) in. However, it was really nice to have all of them send me off.

PHILIDELPHIA AND STAGING (July 7th and 8th)

My flight went well and I ended up spotting Justin (other MI from USF) at the airport and tackling him. It has been really nice having someone I know in this large group of future Mali PCVs (66 in total). Me and Justin preeceeded to the Hotel in a shuttle filled with other PCVs, easily spotted with their large amounts of luggage.

Once in Philly we dropped of luggage, grabbed lunch, and started orientation. Orientation included paperwork, icebreakers galore (introductions, skits, sharing anxities and aspirations etc.), and overview of PC policies, goals, and mission. It was really great meeting everyone and sharing past travel expieriences, why we joined the Peace Corps, and our histories. It looks to be an amazing group of people and the WATSAN group promises to be great! Plus, there is a girl that went to Purdue the same time I did and a returned volunteer from Thailand.

On Thursday we had an early morning where we all received Yellow Fever shots but I didn't have to since I had it from Ghana :P Then we ran a few more errands (post office, rite aid, stopped by Independance Hall and glanced at the Liberty Bell) and were off to the airport.

TRAVELING (July 9th-10th)

At 6:50 we all left for an 8 hour flight to Paris followed by a 8 hour layover and a 7 hour flight to Bamako. Made for pretty long travels but the flights went smoothly enough. Air France has individual screens on each seat where you can play games, listen to music, watch the plane take off, and watch movies. Totally watched Grease in French and that made me super happy!

TUBANISO AND STAGING SITE (July 10th)

Once we landed in Bamako we collected our luggage (not as efficient as other airports), loaded some buses (with air conditioning!), and headed to the training camp area in Tubaniso. We have been escorted by current volunteers who have been really helpful. The camp is pretty nice. I am sharing a thatched hut with 2 other girls.

We immediately received tutorials on using the toilet. The toilet is basically a pit latrine (hole in the ground) that you squat over after you kick the metal cover. We have toilet paper but are suggested to use a sallie dalla (spelling?) which looks like a tea kettle and you fill with water to rinse yourself. Toilet paper is actually sometimes seen as a dirty way to clense yourself. I used the pit latrine for the first time and, not going to lie, took a little practice to aim. You are also supposed to use your right hand as the clean hand and the left to wipe. Will get some getting used to, I guess. Also, we will be taking bucket showers :) Hopefully I will post pictures soon.

Malians are very clean and professional. All the clothes I brought are either pants or skirts that come below the knee (even when sitting). They really stress cleanliness and you are not supposed to greet someone in the morning until you have "washed your face".

We will need to wash our own clothes or possibly pay someone to do so. Either way it is rude to give someone your underwear to wash and they should not be hung to dry in the open. The PCVs suggested washing them while in the shower everyday.

After receiving the tutorials we had a small meal of potatoes, meat, peas, and bread. I gave some of the current PCVs chocolate which I think they appreciated but I may have wanted to distribute more evenly :)

FINAL THOUGHTS

From packing up until stagining I was really numb to the whole experience. Mostly just going through the motions and trying to get everything done. When we finally started getting our tickets and checking in, I started to get really excited for everything. I thought things would hit me more (like AHH I'm here for two years) when I got to Mali but I'm still really excited even with all the bathroom stuff (I was expecting it anyways). I think it has really helped that I was in Ghana before and that I'm in such a large and supportive group of people all going through the same thing.

I know things promise to get more busy and stressful. Training will certainly be intense; especially learning a new language (Bambara). I probably will not be able to post such long entries from now on. Actually I should probably get going since I need to get up for breakfast at 7AM and take a bucket shower in the morning still :) Sorry for the longwindedness...Miss you all and thanks for all your support which includes getting to the end of this post.

UNE SEMAINE

Today marks one week until I am on a plane to Philadelphia for three days of staging and then off to Mali, West Africa. It is hard to believe that it is actually happening. I have spent so much time preparing for this and now it is upon me. I still feel like something is going to go logistically wrong with medical paperwork or passport since I have that kind of luck...but let us hope for the best. Hard to say what I am feeling. Thought I would be more excited than I am but I think that is mostly numbness due to nerves and trying to get everything done.

GARAGE SALE

In somewhat old news the Peace Corps Garage Sale June 18-20 that was hosted by my Nana went extremely well!! Here are the numbers:

Sales = $417.52

Donations =$220

Total== $637.52

Thank yous...

Special thanks to my Aunt Lori, Nana, Aunt Lisa, Sarah-Jane, Erika Lessien and her mother as well as Kay and Kelley for their contributions and donations. Thanks to Ana for her super organization and presentation skills!! She came all the way from Tampa to help me with my garage sale... As well as anyone else that donated and/or attended (Adam! and Nicole). Oh, ofcourse, thanks to Jenn Woodham for being my inspiration for the garage sale :)

Money from sales has gone to purchasing items I will need in the Peace Corps (new backpack, bug spray, flashlight, sleeping bag, nalgene bottles, etc.). Donations will be kept for future projects.

I am still really blown away by how supportive friends, family, and strangers have been of my service. I feel unworthy of such praise and generosity at times but am very thankful and hope I can live up to it.

Well, time to get back to work. It is going to be a busy week! I'm excited for the 4th and spending time with family and friends.

PS: Before I leave I will be sure to post a link to my packing list for future PC volunteers. I received a lot of feedback from current and returned volunteers and believe the list is pretty complete.

Welcome to my new blog!! I will post random updates on my future experiences as first a Peace Corps Trainee and then a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in Mali, West Africa. Let me start by answering a few frequently asked questions. I know some of you will already know the answers so feel free to skim...

FAQS

1. Where are you going?

I will be serving in Mali, West Africa (see map on right hand side). I am not entirely sure where in Mali yet. I will spend three months of intensive language, technical and cultural training in the capital, Bamako where I will live with a host family. When I pass training I will receive my assignment for the next two years. I will most likely be placed individually in a remote, rural area/village.

2. When are you going?

Leave Detroit 8:55AM, July 8th for Philadelphia for three days of "staging"(briefing on PC, logistics, and vaccinations) and then we depart for Mali.

So, yeah, less then 3 weeks away! I can't believe it. I go between very excited to nervous to excited. Mostly just want to get all the logistics taken care of before I leave!

3. What language do they speak?

Mali is francophone (french speaking) but there are a number of native languages. The most popular being Bambara which I will most likely end up speaking.

4. How long will you be there?

Peace Corps service is 27 months (3 months of training and two years of service). There are options to extend service for an additional year or more.

5. What will you be doing?

My official assignment is a "Water Sanitation Extension Agent" which means helping build things like wells, latrines, soak pits, wash areas and also provide hygiene education. The projects I am involved in will depend entirely on the needs of the community. Volunteers also participate in secondary projects such as agriculture or HIV/AIDS education in addition to their primary assignment.

Moreover, I am part of the Peace Corps (PC) Master's International (MI) program at the University of South Florida (USF). A link to the program is on the right. This is a very unique program that combines the PC and a Master's degree in Civil/Environmental Engineering. I spent the past year taking courses in environmental engineering, anthropology, and public health. Throughout my Peace Corps service I will need to conduct research for a thesis. I will finish and defend my future thesis at USF when I return to the United States. I hope to focus my research on Gender, Water, and Development. Basically, increasing the participation of women in water and sanitation projects to complete more successful and long lasting (sustainable) projects. More details to follow in the future.

6. What will your living conditions be like?

As stated in the first question I will most likely be placed in a rural community. Transportation will be limited but PC does provide volunteers with mountain bikes and helmets. I will most likely not have electricity, cell phone, internet, and running water in my "house", . I will have to shop and cook for myself. I will be able to travel to the capital or nearby "major city" to use internet cafes to update this blog and answer e-mail. This will be on a limited basis possibly every six weeks but maybe shorter.

7. How do you contact me?

My mailing address and e-mail are on the right hand side. The mailing address is only good for my first three months of training. (June 11-Sept 11) I will let you know what my more permanent address for the next two years of service will be as soon as I know. The primary e-mail I will use is ccnaughton@gmail.com.

Letters, e-mails, and packages are welcome and much appreciated!! I really wantto stay connected to everyone to the best of my abilities (thus, letters are probably better). As far as packages are concerned, I will update my blog with items I am craving since I will need to carry and pay for packages that arrive.

8. Why are you doing this?

I probably should have began with this question but I thought I would get the logistics of PC service out first.

SHORT VERSION: Since high school I have been passionate about the environment, service, and those less fortunate in developing countries. PC encompasses all of these passions. I would regret it for the rest of my life if I did not do the PC. I feel extremely lucky to have this opportunity to serve.

LONG VERION

I became intensely passionate for international affairs through my participation in Model United Nations (MUN) in High School. I traveled abroad for the first time the summer after I graduated to Finca La Flora, Costa Rica with members of the MUN team. Part of the trip we volunteered on a sustainable organic farm. I caught the travel bug and passion for service then and there!

I chose to go into engineering at Purdue University after HS instead of international relations since I wanted to solve problems, not just talk about them. It was difficult at first to find the connection between civil engineering and humanitarianism. But everyone needs clean water to drink and be healthy. Civil Engineers design water and wastewater treatment systems to do just that! 2.6 billion people on this earth lack proper sanitation. There is a need! More lives have been saved by engineers with wastewater treatment than lives saved by doctors....

I had always been interested in Peace Corps but wasn't sure of all the logistics and attended some information sessions at Purdue. Then I wasn't sure about the 27 month commitment until I volunteered in Ghana, West Africa through Global Volunteers Network for 7 weeks in the summer of 2007. I fell in love with Africa and the people in my village. It changed my life and I realized you really needed 2 years to get anything accomplished. (Time moves a little slower in Africa it seems and you really need to gain the trust of the community you are working with).

Thus, I was all gung-ho about the PC but didn't feel that confident in actually building anything despite my engineering degree since I had more theoretical than practical knowledge. While web surfing I found the Master's International program at Michigan Tech. In my senior year at Purdue, I applied and was accepted and nominated to Tech and the PC respectively. Through a chain of events the director of the MI program took a job at USF (University of South Florida) and I ended up going to school in Tampa instead of the Upper Peninsula (pretty good deal!). The MI program helped better prepare me for PC through the coursework and research especially in the sustainable field engineering class where our class built a compost latrine. Plus I met some amazing people and was able to become a member of Engineers without Borders!!

9. Who else is going?

PC sends a training class once a year to Mali. We will all meet at staging July 8th. There will be about 70-75 of us. One of the guys in my program at USF, Justin Meeks, is also assigned to Mali. So I already know one person in my training class. Also, there are currently at least three master's international students stationed in Mali from Michigan Tech. I will know people in the country but I will be serving in a community individually.

10. 11What have you been up to this summer?

Since school got out I have been in Royal Oak, MI spending time with friends and family, learning french through Rosetta Stone, and preparing for the PC. I am extremely lucky that my family has been very supportive of my choice to serve in the PC.

11. Do you get to go home?

PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) get about 2 days a month off. You can save those days and take longer vacations. If you want to go home you need to pay your own way (plane ticket is about $1600). My family does plan to meet up with me somewhere in the world my second year and possibly fly me home for Christmas my second year. We will see. I also plan to travel around Africa with my "vacation time". (VISIT MEGAN in SENEGAL!!)

12. Are you paid?

We are paid at the standard of living of those in Mali which is sufficient for food and transport.

13. How do you get funding for projects?

PC, other government agencies (USAID), and non-government organizations provide funding for small projects. Your community is also required to raise a percentage of a project. However, I may call upon friends and family to contribute whatever they can to make up some of the difference that is not provided by the other sources mentioned.

14. What do you think you will most miss?

I know I will really miss family and friends. It is hard to entirely predict what I will crave foodwise in the PC. Mostly likely chocolate, cheese, and ice cream. Those seem to be the top of people that have returned. I know I will miss the conveniences of home at times but that is what I signed up for.

Wow, I have certainly written a lot for the first entry. I can't promise that all my entries won't be this boring and long but they should get better. (Well, at least more interesting...) Thanks for reading! If you received the link to this blog please respond with your address and best e-mail address to contact you with!!