17 Toubabo in Kamona for our 1st Annual Cotten Picken' Fete!
The villagers LOVED it. It was like the circus was in town!
Brian picking some cotton in my friends field.
He and I both picked 2 kilos each!
Not bad, but for 2 of us, 1 Malian picked the same amount! haha
Take Your FlipFlops Off!
Sign for our newly fixed pump at the school.
Our finished map of the world at the school.
I make Brian do good deeds on his vacation!
These girls have become my best friends out here, they are Awesome!
Hannah is missing from the photo.
Pictured: Terese, Jenn, Brian, Shelby, Me
Our finished shea storage facility.
The women of Kamona have wanted this for 3 years!
Brian finally made it out to Mali, and he's doing so well here! I put him through the toughest parts first, and now it's just vacation from now on...kind of. We spent 5 days in my village and during that time Brian was able to help us paint a world map at the school, and also pick cotton. Brian's trip coincided with my big Cotten Picken' party that I had scheduled for the volunteers. There were about 17 of us total in my village,and they couldn't have been more excited. I must say, I think Brian has been given the royal treatment since he arrived. The first night here in Segou, they had a lamb killed and we had a nice big family dinner, drinking homemade Lebanese Arak (it tastes like Sambuka). Then, once we arrived in Kamona, Brian was given 3 chickens as welcoming gifts. We also had a pig killed for the cotton party. The other volunteers were excited for this because pork is so rare to eat here, as Mali is a Muslim country.
Now, with all of this going on, I have SOOOO much work to do! We just finished our storage building, but I still need to do the closing paperwork for that, there is another pump in the village that needs to be repaired and the villagers already raised 1/3 of the money so now it's up to me to get the 2/3rds. My women would like pumps for their garden work, and gardening season is starting soon so that needs to be done. I am taking on another project by a volunteer that got medical separated from Mali, but it's really important that this project get done as it involves cotton spinning work. The time crunch is because I will be going home early Dec. for 1 month vacation, and this is just the season for work. I'll get it done. Inshallah!
Brian and I are off to Dogon Country this week (UNESCO World Heritage Site). I have my friend Chrissy thats on her way to meet up with us in Dogon, she will be spending Nov. here in Mali. So that adds to my already full schedule. It's ok, it's GREAT to have visitors. Time is flying by, and I know these next few months are going to FLY by!
Today is river day, so Brian will get to experience A Day on the Niger. Sundays are nice days here in Segou. Off to the pool! It's in the 90's here. Temps have cooled off! hahah, Brian was telling me about the cold in the US, and I am scared to go home now. It's so great for me to have my brother here. My life here is so different from home, and as he said "there's no way you can explain this to people Mon, you're life out here without really getting the meaning across" and so now, Brian is here. Eating with his hands, squatting over a hole to poo, greeting people in Bambara, meeting my friends, and experiencing life in Africa! It's great.
2 comments:
Hi Monica/Brian - I am so happy that you two are spending time together and experiencing/seeing how most of the people in the world live! Monica, have you convinced Brian to sign up for P Corps so he can take over once your tour is done in Kamona, Mali? If not, Brian can certainly pick cotton in our hot Texas cotton fields. The pictures are great; thank you for sharing. And I do understand your world in Kamona because I grew up in poverty and these are also things of the spirit. De tout facon, j'aime vous deux et je suis toujours votre pere (dad)
Que feliz estoy por ti y por Brian. Esas experiencias solo se pueden vivir para entenderlas. Su perspectiva de la vida va a ser enriquecida con este viaje. Hija, estoy tan orgullosa de ti no me canso de decirlo.
Bendiciones para los dos.
Kanki (mom)
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