It’s February! I’ve been back in Mali for about a month and a half. I was so excited to go back to my village, unpack all of the fun American things I brought back with me to make my living a bit more comfortable, and to hand out my gifts that I had brought back. This baggage weighed about 50lbs. Not bad when one has a car and can easily transport it from airport to home. Not I. My transportation from the city to my village is myself, and my bike. 6 miles on an uneven dirt road, under the strong African midday sun that I had not seen in 2 months.
My story I will try to keep short, but I feel the need to tell it…
On my 1st bike ride back to village after being away for nearly 3 months, I had a rough time. It was hot, I had very little water, and I was carrying a very heavy load on the back of my bike. Stupidity. My bag kept falling off the back of my bike because I was trying to balance my big travel bag! 5 min. into my ride I started praying to please please get me to Kamona safely. Rode again to my midpoint, sat under the Baobab for about a 20min. break so I could recover from the sun. I was running out of water, and only half way. Again, started pleading to get me to Kamona safely. Around the 5th break I took, a nice young girl- Cita biked up to me. She was also going to Kamona. Well, she was my little angel! She stayed with me for the whole ride. Stopping with me when I told her I needed to stop because I was tired, stopping with me when my seat kept falling down, and stopping with me when I needed to fix my bag because it was falling off! Her mere prescience helped me to get back to the village. I had run out of water 3/4ths of the way there. The ride that normally takes me 40min. took me 1.5hrs. Double the time. I felt like I could have passed out at any moment during the whole bike ride due to the heat and lack of water. Cita saved me.
This story is not only about my own little survival, but also of Malian culture. You see, here, when they see someone in trouble, they don’t think twice about stopping to help. Cita could see that I was really having a hard time with my bags and the heat. She accompanied me until she knew I was safely in the village. A Malian, someone that I had never met before cared for me. I wish it were more like that in the US. Life would be a whole lot more enjoyable if we did. Also, ask and ye shall receive. Here is a first hand example of my prayers being answered.
I am heading back to my site tomorrow. I have a lot of ideas of what I can be doing to help my village. Unfortunately with me being in the states for 2 months my Bambara has taken a bit of a step back. I have so many stories to tell of my adventures here, but this one I really wanted to pass on. I truly believe that Cita was sent to me…without her coming I think I really would have passed-out in that heat, and who knows what could have happened after that. The hospital systems here aren’t very modern. There is no 911 service.
