A Malian Adventure

Since I came back to Mali in January I have been at the Peace Corps training center in Bamako.  I am surrounded by other PCVol's.  Monday we went on a field trip!  I have always loved field trips!  We went to a village about 40k from our training site.  In the US frame of mind, one would think 40k is not very far- that it should only be about a 20min. car ride.  Well, I'm in Mali.  That 20minutes turned into 1 whole hour of sand hills, bouncing, cramped conditions, and sun.  The road was not paved.  It was sand.  It reminded me of the roads in Philly after a “snow storm”...horrible.  I could say at points the sand was about 4inches deep.  Enough complaining.  I basically got to go 4x4ing!  My stomach is paying the price right now.

On to my main event.  There were about 20 white people in my party, accompanied by 1 person each from our respective villages that are here for 1 week of training.  Upon our 2 hour late arrival there were drummers, dancing, and singing.  It was a grande celebration!  We went this village observe a shea nut formation.  Mali is the 2^nd largest grower of shea nuts. The shea nut can be used for many different things.  

To get back to my African moment;  after our festive greeting, we had to walk to the village chief’s house.  We gave our thanks and respect for letting us come to his village, and from there we paraded through the town.   We proceeded to the shaded mango grove to where the formation was to be held.  It was quite the experience, and sometime in the future I will write about Malian gatherings.  Goodnight for now.

This picture posted is how the Malian woman carries her baby.  They can do everything with the baby on their backs.  I admire Malian women for their strength.