tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2476145800030422222024-03-14T05:18:33.816-07:00My Malian AdventureMonica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-13780872124159828962010-06-15T02:02:00.000-07:002010-06-15T05:53:16.854-07:00A Malian Wedding<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0NQ9C0xbplGzp5QjgiIMBs9FrLUtG3AO69HggCVcG98gRRJrmTGdT2W4pZXMC3edj3aXKAyMyRT1U6_vASjszURY63b4lWelhpeswctMPw5XpXRjBU4hSeF5NSA2JRUNCzBG9Jgmvao3Y/s1600/Monica2010+324.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0NQ9C0xbplGzp5QjgiIMBs9FrLUtG3AO69HggCVcG98gRRJrmTGdT2W4pZXMC3edj3aXKAyMyRT1U6_vASjszURY63b4lWelhpeswctMPw5XpXRjBU4hSeF5NSA2JRUNCzBG9Jgmvao3Y/s320/Monica2010+324.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482955236472899826" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Bride, Fazetti-19yrs old</span><br /></div> This is my friend Fazetti. Her two little sisters, Debora (age 5) and Mari (age 10) are my two best friends in village, and my neighbors. It's normal for us Peace Corps Vols to befriend the little ones because 1-our language level is about the same and 2- they are so curious about us, and are the ones that ask us questions. I formed a bond with these two little sweethearts right away. As a result, I became a good friend of Fazetti. She is 19 and the oldest girl of the family. Fazetti never made it past 3rd grade.<br />In Malian culture, it's so important that a woman finds a man/husband (its the same word in Bambara). My village was so happy for me when I announced to them that I had 'found' a husband (again, literal translation is 'found'). So, when I heard that my friend Fazetti had found a husband, I was immediately excited for her. I was told a month in advance when the wedding would be, and that I better attend.<br />Now, I've been in Mali for almost 2 years and had yet attended a Malian wedding. My fellow PCV's laugh at me, because I've missed out on many Malian cultural things like muslim holidays (my host family is Christian), or wearing the traditional Malian cloths. However, I am really happy that the first time I attended the wedding it was for a good friend, and as a result it ment so much to me and will stay with me forever. When I arrived in Kamona, the festivities had already begun. The whole community gathered to support her and her family. Food was given, family from surrounding villages came to say goodbye, and to celebrate with the family. Fazetti stayed in a room with her friends, and little children of the families to sing and dance for her. But also, just to be with Fazetti, as this may have been the last time they were going to see her. You see, the man chosen for Fazetti is from a different village about 25miles away. Far enough away that it's possible she may only come back to our village 1 time in her lifetime.<br />It was a long and hot first day of the wedding. I had a Malian outfit made specifically for the big occasion. My first and prob. last Malian outfit, but all my friends and family in village were so excited to see me in their traditional cloths. Here in Mali, when a person gets married, it is the responsibility of the couple to transport all of the guests to the site. In our case, there was a 25person van that came to pick us up to make the 30mile journey to Diaramanna. Fazetti's new home.<br />Just before we were going to pile into the small bus, Fazetti came out of the house, covered from head to toe in an all -cotton blanket. She was wailing. I've never seen a Malian so upset like this, not even at a funeral. I felt her pain. She was sat in front of us (I always sit with the old men), and they waited for her to calm down a bit before they gave her parting words and prayers. This was the most touching moment for me. I didn't expect this. Fazetti was so devestated to be leaving her home, her family, her life. She was literally in mourning. I could relate her pain to mine when my grandma died. She just kept crying and crying and crying, covered up in her special wedding blanket. I couldn't hug her or hold her or hold her hand to tell her it's ok, because that's not culturally appropriate here. Also because the old men were about to do some serious stuff. So, as I sat next to her, starting with the oldest man of our compound gave her advise, gave her many blessings, and wished her much luck in her future marriage. The same thing went on for 2 more of the old men. Her parents did not say a word, nor were they in my sight. It was done, she knew she was on her way to never come back again.<br />We then piled into the car. It took us 2 hours to get there. It was nighttime and the dirt road was very muddy from a rainstorm 2 days before. Upon arrival,we were greeted with special drinks, and then a dance party. I went to sleep. It was 2am by then! It was a beautiful night though, the Milky Way is above us now, and there were so many stars in the sky! It was a night like that that I know I'm blessed to be living here in Africa, to be able to see such amazing gifts of nature we have been given, but most people don't see.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJwpSUN0bciyWICfUOwgUJ67j1VaBz9emFvdcj5egl7s9cuWkfxixuZFvpwmLTfidToAu69UJcZsPsrhhPRIMZ-lV5F016QaoHGdwrMo4oCMZwPrZeIHljG-0838yLrcDFAHIbH7Y1GIVe/s1600/Monica2010+335.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJwpSUN0bciyWICfUOwgUJ67j1VaBz9emFvdcj5egl7s9cuWkfxixuZFvpwmLTfidToAu69UJcZsPsrhhPRIMZ-lV5F016QaoHGdwrMo4oCMZwPrZeIHljG-0838yLrcDFAHIbH7Y1GIVe/s320/Monica2010+335.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482953543983364338" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">The Wedding Party</span><br /></div>So, this picture is the wedding party at the mayors office the next day. In Mali, the mayor marries you, then you'll have your religious ceremony. There is 1groomsman and 1 maid of honor. Thats all. So, we took this picture after the legalization of the marriage. Fazetti only smiled a few times when prompted. She didn't cry though.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicT1ndl5QXuyp4VMdAcAwHF5OW2j5YStjQ6VZB70qEeCF-z7P9kFuOpQ67WHfmfzruEHmZXnAYgdsaLXmEJFfniUUR-FbsYMWt2g0jWAAWIUzXgiyOcbDrqQN3U0lHLMWf9fDOWjy49uyp/s1600/Monica2010+337.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicT1ndl5QXuyp4VMdAcAwHF5OW2j5YStjQ6VZB70qEeCF-z7P9kFuOpQ67WHfmfzruEHmZXnAYgdsaLXmEJFfniUUR-FbsYMWt2g0jWAAWIUzXgiyOcbDrqQN3U0lHLMWf9fDOWjy49uyp/s320/Monica2010+337.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482953539491882914" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Random Cute Little Girl Riding Her Pretend Horse</span><br /></div>I thought this little girl was just so cute, riding her pretend donkey or horse. There were 2 other little kids on the same stick, but once they saw me they ran away. My host brother and I had to make a pit stop between the mayors office and the house because a part on his bike broke. We ended up staying for about 45 min and chatting with the guys at the mechanic while the fix was done. I always get nervous when sitting with a new group of people, because I never know where the conversation will go- <span style="font-style: italic;">yes, in Mali if you are in a waiting area you actually talk to the people you are sitting around</span>. This conversation ended up as the older man telling us (jokingly) why our last name and the people of my African ethnicity are so horrible. I made it back just in time to present Fazetti to the elders of her new village, and to exchange money. The family of Fazetti had to pay about $10 to the marriage broker, than offer money to the new village elders (about $20). Then, the women from my village presented Fazetti, she got the blessings from the elders of her new village and a promise to look out for her. We also asked for their forgiveness for anything Fazetti may do wrong, as she is still a child and learning things.<span style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHJCxWQmPzMV3P1RinXtTz-V9z5BMNKHFqUvFQIkkXc0a1Kl78fBskBOF5gOwbUG49NEgt-RYalhPrsqeQt_FgXMrIcfqZ15vwXReNtsAy2OTtHRS5_AMIxzpNnCzarDnpWPTolwSJ4mYq/s1600/Monica2010+373.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHJCxWQmPzMV3P1RinXtTz-V9z5BMNKHFqUvFQIkkXc0a1Kl78fBskBOF5gOwbUG49NEgt-RYalhPrsqeQt_FgXMrIcfqZ15vwXReNtsAy2OTtHRS5_AMIxzpNnCzarDnpWPTolwSJ4mYq/s320/Monica2010+373.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482940782772221506" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Fazetti and Siriba- Bride and Groom</span><br /></div>We ate lunch, I took a small siesta then we headed to the church for the church ceremony. I was able to see Fazetti before it started. She had a wedding dress on that she rented that was about 4 sizes too big, but she still made me shed a tear because she was a sad bride. She didn't speak much throughout the day. I think it was all like a bad dream to her. At one point in the day, when I had a moment with her I asked "Fazetti, did your dad find this man for you and tell you you had to get married?" She looked down towards the floor, and nodded in agreement. It all became clear to me at that moment. Fazetti was the oldest girl, an extra mouth to feed, whenever I teased her about going to the new village with her future husband she would always deny the fact that she'd be getting married (I always thought it was modesty), also her age is about the time where many girls get married, if not younger.<br />So, back to the church, the ceremony was nice, it was really hot in the church and I had to leave when the preacher started yelling his sermon at the audiance. They did their vows, and then at the end the whole congregation went up to shake their hands and give them coins. My 19 year old friend was now married. We paraded to her future house, and that was that. The people from Kamona all piled back into the bus and off we went. Little Debora and Mari may never see their sister for years. And so it a wedding in Mali, and for many unwilling brides around the world. I am so lucky to be able to live in a society where we can actually choose who we marry (even though 50% of those marriages end up in divorce......)Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-76428444342528085672010-05-26T11:08:00.000-07:002010-06-15T05:51:28.583-07:00My Last PCorps Project<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_6yJPTuCJwxQRr_8QiuMzwYwATSH2FOvY3CS5MuoL7uSePvxDwB7Ht8IYjUByJogEtAmfpqVUKKfm7wn1XC9TxryIBLI2QYTgkUPT4ZT9GNisNVMDaed9t4Gtyk0HDij3dFhGSAyXkeo/s1600/Monica2010+270.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_6yJPTuCJwxQRr_8QiuMzwYwATSH2FOvY3CS5MuoL7uSePvxDwB7Ht8IYjUByJogEtAmfpqVUKKfm7wn1XC9TxryIBLI2QYTgkUPT4ZT9GNisNVMDaed9t4Gtyk0HDij3dFhGSAyXkeo/s320/Monica2010+270.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482982155304141890" border="0" /></a><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>This is it. My final project of my Peace Corps service. Every year a regional shea butter training is held in a volunteers village. This was the first year it was held in Kamona. Peace Corps likes to hold these trainings to help the women of Mali produce higher quality shea butter that is then used for home use, but also to sell to exporters. <div>The shea tree is found from Senegal all the way to the eastern Africa, below the Sahlian belt. Mali has the highest quality nuts, yet their production is the lowest quality compared to the other countries that export, like Ghana or Burkina Faso. Companies such as The Body Shop purchase the shea butter for their products that women love to use!</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, for my training, we invited women from 9 other villages, 2 women per village. Total, there should have been about 100 participants. The purpose of this training is to show, first through pictures, then by actually producing the good butter/oil. Why pictures? Why show through example? Well, I'd say 95% of the women that attend these trainings are illiterate. Giving the women a hands on training really gets the idea through to them. </div><div>Why train women who have been doing this process for generations? Because their methods include: not washing hands before handling the nuts; using germinated, spoiled or rotten nuts along with the unripe nuts and good nuts all in one. We teach them how important it is to wash your hands with soap before manually whipping the oil, we teach them to not smoke the nuts- (when the nuts are smoked, carcinogens are released). </div><div>Overall, the women that I work with said they really enjoyed having the training in our village and they are already making improvement suggestions for next years formation! It's great to see people motivated from a training that I do. </div><div> </div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-51072360619041649802010-04-14T15:26:00.000-07:002010-04-15T02:28:06.742-07:00Pump #2 Fixed! 600+ Have Clean Water!<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ62UwSchvkb-FOgih9F0bGPciuYSLeDYGUyVt1hV1iebRonEm0r8_JAZsINofaIujr2peG8WQl2v3xWMVtZIN_23wcAtWzLjh1vkaem-54Z0fuPZ91N9GhGwH8vGktyDsNCT_s-LeY1mC/s320/IMG_0241.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460278103559577394" /><div style="text-align: center; ">The kids are responsible for fetching clean water</div><div><br /></div><div>So, as many of you know last year I fixed the school pump thanks to donations sent in from my friends and family through African Sky (www.africansky.org). As a result of this project, I found out that the other Vergnet foot pump was broken in another section of my village. Come to find out it had been broken for 5 years! So, this time I thought that if the village wanted this pump fixed, they were going to have to work for it a little bit. I held a meeting with the Chief of the Village, and the rest of the water committee and presented them a plan. Per Peace Corps rules for projects, the community has to come of with 1/3 of the cost of the project. I like this idea and told them they needed to come up with 98,000cfa, approx $220USD. To my surprise they came out with that amount in 1 week! It was amazing. I just had to wait on funding from the US, and then the work started!</div><div>Now, I have been in contact with a Malian that is in the US playing basketball. He had people that wanted to help out people in his region have access to clean water! PERFECT! So , thanks to Mohamed Tangara, and Ryan Hogue for their contribution to helping 600+ people have access to clean water. The pump is in the center of 6 different quartiers in Kamona.</div><div>What's even more exciting about this is when I initially went to price the parts for the pump, and when we actually went to buy them, the prices went down! So, with the extra money we were able to build soak pits and 2 cloths washing areas! What are soak pits? It's basically a 2 meter hole in the ground that acts as a place for all the run off water go to. If there is not a soak pit, the dirty water collects, mosquitos and bees gather= chance for malaria and other diseases to be contracted. Not good.</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3lqc43mDed5wEVnEpPHsVTbyAUILPXiuXMxngjVPFn7QoKhEMyYVHUy0aWcZx-W6R9_hSOkemwepuvaVSrp8kKvtlElHk8U0g6tv4Y4eCKvvhsPFrwjTxxfCxG5Eb7dP5gxTuao_pj2i/s1600/IMG_0246.JPG"></a><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3lqc43mDed5wEVnEpPHsVTbyAUILPXiuXMxngjVPFn7QoKhEMyYVHUy0aWcZx-W6R9_hSOkemwepuvaVSrp8kKvtlElHk8U0g6tv4Y4eCKvvhsPFrwjTxxfCxG5Eb7dP5gxTuao_pj2i/s1600/IMG_0246.JPG" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3lqc43mDed5wEVnEpPHsVTbyAUILPXiuXMxngjVPFn7QoKhEMyYVHUy0aWcZx-W6R9_hSOkemwepuvaVSrp8kKvtlElHk8U0g6tv4Y4eCKvvhsPFrwjTxxfCxG5Eb7dP5gxTuao_pj2i/s320/IMG_0246.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460292777501504642" /></a><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>The wash area is great because if not in a cemented area, the women are washing their cloths on the ground, in a muddy area. Not an ideal situation for cleaning cloths! </div><div>So, thanks again for everyones support. My time here in Mali as a Peace Corps Volunteer is winding down! Thanks for everyones support while I've been here!</div></div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-64633418630895214882010-03-13T00:14:00.000-08:002010-03-14T13:38:59.634-07:00Maternity Beautification Projectcito<div style="text-align: center;">My friend Shelby (the one that headed the school world map mural in my village) told me many months ago that her artist friend was coming to Mali and they wanted to paint murals all around. I jumped on the opportunity to have a professional artist come to my village to paint an educative message to the masses. Mali is a country with 23% literacy rate. They need pictures to get a message across, as any type of written information is pretty useless. Since we had already done a mural at the school, I figured our village maternity was a good place to create an informative mural. </div><div style="text-align: center;">So, the message that we all decided to convey was about the importance of a healthy diet for the mother when breast feeding. Malians diet is lacking in many vitamins, and it's so important for the baby to receive nutritious milk from it's mother.</div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilKeQZenZZvM-zr0roPnFiv9D3dBXUg4bgteFWzeLwNKDTFmPXpGn0bA5debCcsMWaX-Qz-g6t3oKqVXxmydG6bYbeo-gm45Ared34Lnd6qNQ2leEHbrXHqJlDuEYshXG3xxdzjHAx2WYs/s1600-h/IMG_0007.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilKeQZenZZvM-zr0roPnFiv9D3dBXUg4bgteFWzeLwNKDTFmPXpGn0bA5debCcsMWaX-Qz-g6t3oKqVXxmydG6bYbeo-gm45Ared34Lnd6qNQ2leEHbrXHqJlDuEYshXG3xxdzjHAx2WYs/s320/IMG_0007.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448585889003061490" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Here is Amy starting the picture for the different foods that should be consumed by the mother.</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmC7RYOgH3ZJhnD3H9STg3cEM14q3rVQdFqSpK_4xT00rxgv3466HpQ28fMnVQPTi2-uu8Z_asUX38GaQZzRg-eJ_4NczE5otLCNDtf3pBis09rTtfQjlzBn-T1-OB4JVXEHL6TCJNmWnW/s1600-h/IMG_0010.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmC7RYOgH3ZJhnD3H9STg3cEM14q3rVQdFqSpK_4xT00rxgv3466HpQ28fMnVQPTi2-uu8Z_asUX38GaQZzRg-eJ_4NczE5otLCNDtf3pBis09rTtfQjlzBn-T1-OB4JVXEHL6TCJNmWnW/s320/IMG_0010.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448585885912223938" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">This is Shelby and I painting the beds. I knew I needed to keep myself busy while Amy was painting and I knew I didn't want to ruin the mural by attempting to do any sort of painting on it, so there was my busy work. The two mid-wives were so happy with the new paint job. I figured since we were in Africa, we could use nice, fun colors. Before, the beds were painted black. </div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYDFwkoc4LI58iqLoeWmSt8AnhMlecSrvRJnVtmkFoisqtVJ0iYg1Hkg112A48bNNn1oh41DQbDN9vTxwLSO6JSJ5ioadNu_CfZOS4-y6eT8EdSNBb8Xp4TKrgNb67wy6uLgr7yqH0Mart/s1600-h/IMG_0018.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYDFwkoc4LI58iqLoeWmSt8AnhMlecSrvRJnVtmkFoisqtVJ0iYg1Hkg112A48bNNn1oh41DQbDN9vTxwLSO6JSJ5ioadNu_CfZOS4-y6eT8EdSNBb8Xp4TKrgNb67wy6uLgr7yqH0Mart/s320/IMG_0018.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448585876903887346" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Here is Amy putting the finishing touches on the food picture. I was so impressed that she did all of this free hand! </div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGb4wJ3Pyds7_dIVN2m6pLfGJ0TON8PPT-qsKvfbrrX7x9XEqjjlVqlr0KJ-pOd87pryZ3ahf84QLy3NnamUVly3luxukAbFyjvKcGYY77i63AiLrkXBccNTNiXe7qvlQh3zgE-Hdb3Bh/s1600-h/IMG_0025.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGGb4wJ3Pyds7_dIVN2m6pLfGJ0TON8PPT-qsKvfbrrX7x9XEqjjlVqlr0KJ-pOd87pryZ3ahf84QLy3NnamUVly3luxukAbFyjvKcGYY77i63AiLrkXBccNTNiXe7qvlQh3zgE-Hdb3Bh/s320/IMG_0025.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448585867932277826" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Here is a little bonus painting we did on the opposite wall. Malaria is one of the biggest killers of infants here in Mali. If the parents would only take some preventative measures, such as always putting their baby to bed under the mosquito net, their chances of not contracting malaria would be significantly lower.</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1V6hDuRBX6XMsKwj9NTiRlC5loPflOhQXkXrm64Jfz2qCZ-ZF6FfPxFWHZTu0CuJlJFaWXWR_JKXf7JM3fFdOpd_VtceFw4vZU4C5LjwG-Bboa0oTVqXMfSOQuWb_W7tsLsg74AMQi1y/s1600-h/IMG_0028.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1V6hDuRBX6XMsKwj9NTiRlC5loPflOhQXkXrm64Jfz2qCZ-ZF6FfPxFWHZTu0CuJlJFaWXWR_JKXf7JM3fFdOpd_VtceFw4vZU4C5LjwG-Bboa0oTVqXMfSOQuWb_W7tsLsg74AMQi1y/s320/IMG_0028.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448585864060206610" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Here is our final product! The women were so happy with the change! The understood the mural and can now pass this info onto all the women that enter the maternity to have their babies. I actually have 1 bed and crib left to paint. We ran out, but I'll do it this week. They want to have a little party/grand opening when I return to my village. The two Malian women in the picture are the mid-wives.</div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZuYPAKDMVxGJOyn32EkPl7RAzdP5eBH3PKeMeLKmgeqbNdD2-A4ayuEoiuk9PgMH5grl0RKAiEqysrkaFjbqjDnQW21a4TnNxur7ZSgGD6RTZ6v4RLnf9HjP56KHsPvDx4PDLJ7YfSJTN/s1600-h/IMG_6597.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZuYPAKDMVxGJOyn32EkPl7RAzdP5eBH3PKeMeLKmgeqbNdD2-A4ayuEoiuk9PgMH5grl0RKAiEqysrkaFjbqjDnQW21a4TnNxur7ZSgGD6RTZ6v4RLnf9HjP56KHsPvDx4PDLJ7YfSJTN/s320/IMG_6597.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5448573705112673874" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Here is the before picture when we were cleaning. What a happy difference!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So, this is just a mini- project because I just paid for the cost of the paints. BUT I think we really improved the look of the maternity, which in turn changes the moral of the women. They give birth in a room that looks exactly like the one above pictured, minus all of the beds. Plus the picture concentrating on the mother, and its presented in a positive manner, that hopefully it will make the new mother think twice about eating a little healthier. </div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-65348695772241999892010-02-24T01:37:00.000-08:002010-02-28T12:14:32.042-08:00Quick summary of the past 3 months<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhqDbGrcyuCeSrZzeZJSrV3cH2HaIDO72m8BguwQmyqWG7DgH_c_LZC2_OQ2ZzOblqD_U8dHPH501bH61lzGUTynY8gSv5EDm-gKtnJt8nsfqXLilKJlraELwlbBweX8BWyvTH8jjvNSsP/s1600-h/IMG_6331.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhqDbGrcyuCeSrZzeZJSrV3cH2HaIDO72m8BguwQmyqWG7DgH_c_LZC2_OQ2ZzOblqD_U8dHPH501bH61lzGUTynY8gSv5EDm-gKtnJt8nsfqXLilKJlraELwlbBweX8BWyvTH8jjvNSsP/s320/IMG_6331.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443388751734455490" /></a><i><div style="text-align: center;">Jodie, Kenny and I atop the Falise in Dogon country </div></i><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">(UNESCO WH site)</span></div>Sorry it's been a while since I last updated. I was able to go to the US for one month for the Christmas/New Year holiday, then when I returned I had the wonderful honor of hosting my cousin Jodie and my best friend Kenny out here in Mali. We did the big tour of Mali, went to my village, and spent some nice poolside time in Segou- which was more rewarding than usual because it was so horribly cold in Philly that we ALL couldn't wait to just sit in the sun and soak up some good 'ole vitamin D! <div>It's 2010 now, the last year of my Peace Corps service. I feel that I've accomplished a lot while here, but I still have a few projects to start and complete by June. I am hoping to at least flow $10,000 into projects here and right now I'm about up to $6,000. I have 2 more projects to do SO I can easily get reach my goal. Now, a goal of Peace Corps isn't to see how many projects you can accomplish while here, but my village is really motivated to work, and so am I so I'm taking advantage of my good situation! </div><div><br /></div><div>I am continuing other projects that I've started and now I am working on repairing a second pump that will hopefully provide approx. 500 people with clean water. Another project is that the women of my village will be hosting a shea butter training. They've wanted to be the hostesses for a while, and this year we are finally able to hold it. There is a lot of prep work to go into this workshop, but it will be worth it. The women will learn how to properly extract the shea oil from the fruit/nut. As a result of this the women will have a healthier oil to cook with (as opposed to extracting the oil with dirt/dust and chickens around, unclean hands, and maybe dirty children all mixing in with their product which is typical here in Mali). With a cleaner oil they will also be able to sell their oil at a higher price, leading to many benefits for themselves, their children and the community as a whole. </div><div>Some highlights of the past 3 months:</div><div>*I ate American Fast Food and gained pounds while in the US</div><div>*I saw my Dad</div><div>*I saw almost my whole extended family and attended many wonderful parties which will leave me with many wonderful memories to reflect on when I get homesick</div><div>*I attended the Segou Music Festival and saw 2 awesome groups, and made it on the jumbotron 2 nights in a row for being an awesome dancer!!!</div><div>*Jodie and Kenny did awesome here in Mali- especially proud of Jodie for really never leaving the US before!</div><div>*My birthday is in 2 weeks and I'm planning a really fun party! I can't wait!</div><div>*I am really happy to be back in Mali. I missed my boyfriend and life in general here. </div><div>*I have finished updating my resume and have already begun sending it out. I'm planning on staying here for a few more years. </div><div>I like it here, I love my boyfriend and friends, and I like my work. So, I'll stay.</div><div>I now promise to write regularly again!</div></div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-77986953437716796252009-11-15T01:41:00.000-08:002009-11-16T01:50:31.396-08:00Come visit me, do a project!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7kUoeBm9B_zAE7xph8sIEbjVwTRuNT5VIQPgeFf7-Pj4M2KFg1YRTykCQ0vncjpWV5zTEf633bf5B8zfsXhaW5qf4FNBsnxib2sD_6XffUzLOYyjS4-TZfhQQsrRzsWFDzPTGHESXRyMG/s1600-h/IMG_5946.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7kUoeBm9B_zAE7xph8sIEbjVwTRuNT5VIQPgeFf7-Pj4M2KFg1YRTykCQ0vncjpWV5zTEf633bf5B8zfsXhaW5qf4FNBsnxib2sD_6XffUzLOYyjS4-TZfhQQsrRzsWFDzPTGHESXRyMG/s320/IMG_5946.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404293691244110946" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Chrissy is handing out the t-shirts to the winners we picked, 18 in all. The rest of the 58 students received lollypops. 76- 4th graders. one classroom. one teacher.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Her school wanted to donate their school t-shirts, and I didn't want to just give them away, so we decided to do a little creative exercise on how to keep yourself healthy. We had them all draw pictures of things they could do. Some of the winners drew a bicycle (exercise), some drew fruits (eat healthy), and some drew watering can's for gardening (gardening- exercise and healthy eating!) It was a learning experience, but overall the kids were so happy to get their shirts and to draw!</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSeo83HVZMs6NQzGH_0cS3eJzxHC5f61MAsoM6s7mGi7uLlylJlYZd51srwUMNZDqk-tMQXYs8LTycPoDYS7DLd81fWT9kqxxF-7ZYvap2p4F-EGWEH9ufOGUKhM3ekwoqG24prQXwxhbX/s1600-h/IMG_5942.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSeo83HVZMs6NQzGH_0cS3eJzxHC5f61MAsoM6s7mGi7uLlylJlYZd51srwUMNZDqk-tMQXYs8LTycPoDYS7DLd81fWT9kqxxF-7ZYvap2p4F-EGWEH9ufOGUKhM3ekwoqG24prQXwxhbX/s320/IMG_5942.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404293687014637938" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">I am helping Noeli with thoughts on what to draw here, drawing creativity is not developed here at all for the students, as they have no art classes, and no materials to do art with. Chrissy and I provided the paper and crayons for this exercise.</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDFchtmjZlz0BkDsBXMxi5CIR9j-gIRxJNkzP2WhKIkTZcrWVRiPcQjRezp4Iqf-gvzH2La6mvibEUVJNR7XmeHkm8AcMAcaAbLylF7gTvDp86E2H4nAwHurF95ZvqVhXI3wQ_GQlLCt5/s1600-h/IMG_5909.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDFchtmjZlz0BkDsBXMxi5CIR9j-gIRxJNkzP2WhKIkTZcrWVRiPcQjRezp4Iqf-gvzH2La6mvibEUVJNR7XmeHkm8AcMAcaAbLylF7gTvDp86E2H4nAwHurF95ZvqVhXI3wQ_GQlLCt5/s320/IMG_5909.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404293682284329442" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Here I am with the village mid-wife. Chrissy's students in the US provided sheets for the beds and cribs. They were so happy to receive these gifts, in return Chrissy got a chicken and peanuts as gifts. Chrissy also brought about 20 receiving blankets and 20 newborns outfits as gifts for the new mothers. </div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFXvCHsg-BTLVFWk8ZwdtWqtfM5ab7cazfAjgGQuaVskS_F0D5KgkBb_eVzJfjSEtwZvLw45dco4kVGQBxVHFNr2WPZSpS_vH1F94W4B8xGHmMPtzePrpzeB0ZlzrB0mt5O1zsXGNVf2m/s1600-h/IMG_5801.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFXvCHsg-BTLVFWk8ZwdtWqtfM5ab7cazfAjgGQuaVskS_F0D5KgkBb_eVzJfjSEtwZvLw45dco4kVGQBxVHFNr2WPZSpS_vH1F94W4B8xGHmMPtzePrpzeB0ZlzrB0mt5O1zsXGNVf2m/s320/IMG_5801.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404293678717499106" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Brian, Chrissy, and I with a great view of a Dogon village. Dogon country is on the UNESCO world heritage site list. It was an amazing 3 day hike throughout some of the 146 villages</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJyvMjDA_QD5tLYukk4QfLcBnQA3Zosx6ggMUuP2yn6Ka0gSoEfsElexxL2dlPjbrv77TSPIkLcEd4bszHGE6CLYOmJuqqJFtm993CduBFuSkXb2GKNi6BGil7m8EAAmWPTZaEtgf4pK6A/s1600-h/IMG_5795.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJyvMjDA_QD5tLYukk4QfLcBnQA3Zosx6ggMUuP2yn6Ka0gSoEfsElexxL2dlPjbrv77TSPIkLcEd4bszHGE6CLYOmJuqqJFtm993CduBFuSkXb2GKNi6BGil7m8EAAmWPTZaEtgf4pK6A/s320/IMG_5795.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5404274801339592834" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Brian, Chrissy, and I sitting in the Baobob tree. </div><div style="text-align: center;">This tree is a respected tree here in Mali. It's beautiful!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>It's been a busy busy month and it's really not going to slow down for me until March. Both my brother and my college friend Chrissy have left, but I'm happy knowing they had an amazing time.<div><br /></div><div>Chrissy is a pre-k teacher and she asked her students to bring in cloths and sheets for our maternity that doesn't have any. She got an amazing response and we were able to provide sheets for all the adult beds (6 in all), and sheets for the baby beds to accompany the adult beds. Again, the debate of just giving things away comes up in my mind. However, the whole idea of donating the sheets to the maternity came to me when my host parents were buying new plastic covers for the maternity beds. I asked where the money came from for them, and they said that every time women have babies they have to give money to the maternity. I found out there is a 'maternity commitee' and they are pretty organized! So, because they never rely on outside sources for income or support...even their own government....it was my (and chrissy's) pleasure to be able to give this small donation! </div><div><br /></div><div>So, now both my brother and my very good friend of 10 years has seen a bit of how my life out here is. They both assured me they had an amazing time, and that one can't really understand my life out here, until you live it! I'm so happy to have been able to share this experience with them, and now I have my cousin Jodie and my best guy friend Kenny's visit to look forward to in January! </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-90304544506798278352009-10-24T02:38:00.000-07:002009-10-25T02:29:16.350-07:00Brian is Here! And I'm Workin' Too!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtpmsGNSpGiJSwmpezKQ4bIqKd7WtMoHMKrdH_R42WnB47PSH8yAXSG1MzHNNsp8Juh65quESORu06xoIS2J41FqY2R4G0BrA5QYcHPoC6nhRWfufqgNtJ_vNNMByFNJ-NBK6ljEhBfmrN/s1600-h/IMG_5710.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtpmsGNSpGiJSwmpezKQ4bIqKd7WtMoHMKrdH_R42WnB47PSH8yAXSG1MzHNNsp8Juh65quESORu06xoIS2J41FqY2R4G0BrA5QYcHPoC6nhRWfufqgNtJ_vNNMByFNJ-NBK6ljEhBfmrN/s320/IMG_5710.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396466720127749810" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">17 Toubabo in Kamona for our 1st Annual Cotten Picken' Fete! </div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> The villagers LOVED it. It was like the circus was in town!</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHM2ToQXzQT-MyRb_xR5TVG3c1LG0SiyjVksmZM1eHhXIw80nYsH_K5TvNSkkpJTs97g2HAy-_nwycqyZYULnXQv_YeEdI9IrHpSZJFwGRH39AYtxKb0C_IrhVGLXVhvA_kYb8ewYuo3n/s1600-h/IMG_5704.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHM2ToQXzQT-MyRb_xR5TVG3c1LG0SiyjVksmZM1eHhXIw80nYsH_K5TvNSkkpJTs97g2HAy-_nwycqyZYULnXQv_YeEdI9IrHpSZJFwGRH39AYtxKb0C_IrhVGLXVhvA_kYb8ewYuo3n/s320/IMG_5704.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396460639717640402" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Brian picking some cotton in my friends field. </div><div style="text-align: center;">He and I both picked 2 kilos each! </div><div><div style="text-align: center;">Not bad, but for 2 of us, 1 Malian picked the same amount! haha</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKZ-4wtPRGRMZr8IGWcBccVtV8ikpMRAQNL9HFzQBlv7G0ws39PyuuqnNyzdVRQ851QAakD346v0L92xMZGgvRFCUT5N1nKNFsF1Dt6OfdTa38mv2YIDD-DeCJgxpbu3Tdziz5bSBWvJu/s1600-h/IMG_5700.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKZ-4wtPRGRMZr8IGWcBccVtV8ikpMRAQNL9HFzQBlv7G0ws39PyuuqnNyzdVRQ851QAakD346v0L92xMZGgvRFCUT5N1nKNFsF1Dt6OfdTa38mv2YIDD-DeCJgxpbu3Tdziz5bSBWvJu/s320/IMG_5700.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396456291965778514" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Take Your FlipFlops Off! </div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> Sign for our newly fixed pump at the school.</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFfzvtVA72Ow-WfZWs6pdGIrRHU-B8rAu_aJggKOfuXGNX23pTsLxp0Ug6U52rcdnEQE7_QQ3iey-Omu7u-OakdlyXJjjqN6z9kdMTXPiCsPdCF6ZjQAo_3bqLILy-vlwjMAQCW52xzAFg/s1600-h/IMG_5702.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFfzvtVA72Ow-WfZWs6pdGIrRHU-B8rAu_aJggKOfuXGNX23pTsLxp0Ug6U52rcdnEQE7_QQ3iey-Omu7u-OakdlyXJjjqN6z9kdMTXPiCsPdCF6ZjQAo_3bqLILy-vlwjMAQCW52xzAFg/s320/IMG_5702.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396140967331940146" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Our finished map of the world at the school. </div><div style="text-align: center;"> I make Brian do good deeds on his vacation! </div><div style="text-align: center;">These girls have become my best friends out here, they are Awesome!</div><div><div style="text-align: center;">Hannah is missing from the photo. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Pictured: Terese, Jenn, Brian, Shelby, Me</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX_VGC69u-9Qnq-h4YUMERCj5WzVNn3Xz8JJ-FZ1rGYSLrKCRzYa09SZaOXAy2lDZXSuQ2kIJJGvvfbwr1c64-JXKFE4fSEw4fnYpGWkJdNpX2f2ZIQpk4AbwnbAuAkhyphenhyphenoYPeosTODhiA5/s1600-h/IMG_5634.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX_VGC69u-9Qnq-h4YUMERCj5WzVNn3Xz8JJ-FZ1rGYSLrKCRzYa09SZaOXAy2lDZXSuQ2kIJJGvvfbwr1c64-JXKFE4fSEw4fnYpGWkJdNpX2f2ZIQpk4AbwnbAuAkhyphenhyphenoYPeosTODhiA5/s320/IMG_5634.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396106315360838354" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Our finished shea storage facility. </div></div><div style="text-align: center;">The women of Kamona have wanted this for 3 years!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">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. </div><div style="text-align: center;">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! </div><div style="text-align: center;">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! </div><div style="text-align: center;">Today is river day, so Brian will get to experience <i>A Day on the Niger</i>. 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. </div></div></div></div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-17742953484719603352009-10-12T06:18:00.000-07:002009-10-12T09:09:26.734-07:00School Pump Fixed, 800+students have clean water!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YXzfotycvJPAcBoCHx8iPaoV2OwVELRnUK-SIcph_O-0xXm3HZOrKdcVJIXtOuxGvPsBvFxwdO3pjEFDB-m0Z9L_F-5ex00diynppjD3sIcLlktRti5QhcOP8NlNH5vwAM32RnThcDcv/s1600-h/IMG_5624.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6YXzfotycvJPAcBoCHx8iPaoV2OwVELRnUK-SIcph_O-0xXm3HZOrKdcVJIXtOuxGvPsBvFxwdO3pjEFDB-m0Z9L_F-5ex00diynppjD3sIcLlktRti5QhcOP8NlNH5vwAM32RnThcDcv/s320/IMG_5624.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391738593683238178" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><i>This is the schools Vergnet Pump, you step down on it to push the water out</i></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcXJhJ666qgAZjlWGEeI758Ut7P85R17dC5_mGxP-fkJO0ezgOGtoD4OhRDPt1BUJEESE0_Y6moN4w8bEv6Nzq0EiacscS4VsaZ7HgQkTYGmr1ojbP1pLpNJbAzXoaK5KrquoFcQbAHXyp/s1600-h/IMG_5572.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcXJhJ666qgAZjlWGEeI758Ut7P85R17dC5_mGxP-fkJO0ezgOGtoD4OhRDPt1BUJEESE0_Y6moN4w8bEv6Nzq0EiacscS4VsaZ7HgQkTYGmr1ojbP1pLpNJbAzXoaK5KrquoFcQbAHXyp/s320/IMG_5572.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391728254206825570" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><i>This is one classroom for the 3rd grade. Approx. 80 students.....</i></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDFOZw53KGJHBNaFNDRcVvzqOje_tAwfEtg9uNyojhtXOIGEFA0K1O2qt8gg3ItqkL3e_BgfTO4IJUK7xd3TZkrubeoh8Lc9XiXolEfNM_oVOFSHMtyp8Utt000NkncxmaZeqJIIiHfOq3/s1600-h/IMG_5571.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDFOZw53KGJHBNaFNDRcVvzqOje_tAwfEtg9uNyojhtXOIGEFA0K1O2qt8gg3ItqkL3e_BgfTO4IJUK7xd3TZkrubeoh8Lc9XiXolEfNM_oVOFSHMtyp8Utt000NkncxmaZeqJIIiHfOq3/s320/IMG_5571.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391708087244166690" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><i>This is grade 4-6 school rooms. </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>This is the first day of school so they are lined up for role call.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Ok, so because all of you wonderful people that read my blog and care about the people of Mali, I was able to fix our village school pump. Last July I sent out an email asking people to donate to my women's cotton spinning project. I only needed $500, and I ended up raising around $800! With this extra money I knew I needed to spend it on a project but wasn't quite sure which project to use this money for. So, because of another project that I am working on I had to go look at all of our town's pumps. We have 4 in all. 2/4 were broken. They headmaster of the school said their pump broke the year before and the children have about a 1 mile walk to the nearest clean water pump. I felt bad and said that we needed to work together to fix this. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Well, as most things go on in Mali, it took until 2 weeks ago to get this project rolling, as I was re-motivated to get their pump fixed because classes began Oct 1. Myself and the village water pump repairman had to travel to the closest city with was 2 hrs away to go buy the parts. It was $226 total to fix the pump! Not too bad by our standards, but for them a lot of money. Pump fixed! Clean drinking water for 800+students!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now, a big argument in development work is gifting things vs. making people work a little bit for what they are getting. I am a firm believer in making the people work a bit, as I see first hand the effects of free handouts by the West. It creates a very unhealthy dependance. However I feel the students should not be punished for the adults inaction. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">When I went to the school to check out the newly working pump, the headmaster told me there was a meeting with the chief of village the following friday as he wanted to formally thank me for fixing the pump and go over some other important business with myself and the water committee of the village (we have a water committee? and my neighbor is the president???? I though to myself). Anyway, my main point to bring home was that Yes, it made me very happy to be able to fix the pump, but I'm leaving next year and what will you do then when the pumps break again. So, that got them to think about starting to have everyone pay monthly to use the pumps, they understand the concept of monthly upkeeping, but always with the excuse of "we have no money." Now, this meeting was 20 men or so, and another part of my presentation was to map out our plan for fixing their other pump. I am to contribute 66%, the village 34% of cost per USAID rules for allocating funds. I told them if my women could raise $200 dollars to contribute towards building their Shea storage/workspace, then the men sure can raise $150 to fix their pump. </div><div style="text-align: left;">I believe I'm rambling now, but hope you get the point. I'm really proud and happy for this project and I couldn't have done it without the help of all my donors in the US! I hope to soon be able to fix their other pump. Clean drinking water is a major concern here, as well water is much more dirty, contains many diseases, and is a major cause for infant mortality here.</div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-48309830478117973952009-09-28T16:33:00.001-07:002009-09-28T17:37:46.619-07:00Oops, sorry!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTdKmuel8clyhvka7CBHQFN5Pz2oCt8VkbcU5hkBclb6R0QdrBA1nCmkxCM1LpEO5CZ17Xlqjqvpw5RSdmJa03U6P4uQ5bQCjM0r6uwigWWCNyJTYldUaE0SlcHz0P1YEmgNgXg4NyVUN0/s1600-h/IMG_5476.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTdKmuel8clyhvka7CBHQFN5Pz2oCt8VkbcU5hkBclb6R0QdrBA1nCmkxCM1LpEO5CZ17Xlqjqvpw5RSdmJa03U6P4uQ5bQCjM0r6uwigWWCNyJTYldUaE0SlcHz0P1YEmgNgXg4NyVUN0/s320/IMG_5476.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386681725892645810" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">P<i>ainting with the kid</i>s</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1no1g01fuIiF1kgCvv_lkfR4YNG6gOYaWX8KOq9P9xsP4Yx8ZdFcXr7TWzzh8QmOzKudhlBo1dmRld5J21ko8WiG5jK13H6qWGKjIMWjgXEz6aIgDCjarEDugDfIc01DpZ6icLINBIDqZ/s1600-h/IMG_5458.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1no1g01fuIiF1kgCvv_lkfR4YNG6gOYaWX8KOq9P9xsP4Yx8ZdFcXr7TWzzh8QmOzKudhlBo1dmRld5J21ko8WiG5jK13H6qWGKjIMWjgXEz6aIgDCjarEDugDfIc01DpZ6icLINBIDqZ/s320/IMG_5458.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386678745884995986" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><i>My favorite Debora helping me bring snacks to the worker</i>s</div>Sorry it's been a while since I've last updated. I could give a various amount of excuses as to why I haven't written, but overall I think I've just been lazy and haven't had anything extraordinary to write about. In the last month and a half we've welcomed our new volunteers and said adios to the old ones. I had a little bout with malaria but on the bright side I lost some weight so I look pretty healthy now! <i>Hey, I've always got to look on the bright side of things! </i><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">All of my international friends have returned from their August vacations and now things are back to the way I like them! I got some nice gifts from Lebanon, France, and Cuba! </span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Work wise things are going well. We are almost finished building our Shea storage facility, the cotton project is on a little pause right now. I am waiting for some machines to be built for us, and for my friend to get back to me about purchasing my womens string. </span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Well, yesterday I bought my ticket to come home to the US for the Christmas season. I'm with mixed feelings, but overall can't wait to see everyone and enjoy some luxurious American livin'! I just am thinking of the fact that I'm going to have to deal with the fact that my grandma won't be there to welcome me home and have a nice meal of ravioli's and meatballs waiting for me. C'est la vie. </span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Ok, so for now I will stop. I will have my friend Chrissy from ODU visiting me the end of the month and will hopefully end the trip in Ghana and the beach! Its weird for me to think Fall has started over in the US, and football season is so far away from my thoughts right now! </span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Hope all are doing well!<br /></span></i><div><br /></div></div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-32226137502464469102009-08-20T11:51:00.000-07:002009-08-23T03:41:02.056-07:00Ah, the KIDS!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjt0DdiZ5HpJ6KytUWNxCt-6ZnV0SMoqjOMf6Rs4vQWt-OZ0awwvUaKsIJzPLuD6zzVdFsmweRvwYXik4p2oZ1h700OKE1c10Zd7V90JXKGdFq1CAdoVHvjPCcKCW6FWRh9jgaPE-vyn9x/s1600-h/IMG_5351.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372157679289609970" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 320px; height: 240px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjt0DdiZ5HpJ6KytUWNxCt-6ZnV0SMoqjOMf6Rs4vQWt-OZ0awwvUaKsIJzPLuD6zzVdFsmweRvwYXik4p2oZ1h700OKE1c10Zd7V90JXKGdFq1CAdoVHvjPCcKCW6FWRh9jgaPE-vyn9x/s320/IMG_5351.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim449nD5TWc8yJhfzH9rC9n9XYvp1JO3_ttx69N4RDDTJYQ8LxjwymzTz2LgR7VPxrktkTRTGVwaihmzOSQ8zec_TbmJJgCBmWwLh2naEocm8QfDyVnMEyomY1xo61mnj-GtND8XAVZiSb/s1600-h/IMG_4235.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372157671097274082" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 320px; height: 240px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim449nD5TWc8yJhfzH9rC9n9XYvp1JO3_ttx69N4RDDTJYQ8LxjwymzTz2LgR7VPxrktkTRTGVwaihmzOSQ8zec_TbmJJgCBmWwLh2naEocm8QfDyVnMEyomY1xo61mnj-GtND8XAVZiSb/s320/IMG_4235.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfBTTCYkDLS4uUcOsNd3E4jQVBFedKKiAwmLfpy3UFmjYV2ZomOB3QFEbEjVQBtB1Bcw78OJX_SMnlzqIWY-gHaqy6MdfcIpPKmhQzD6EMjr2LLkJAPMhH2QW7HXL6BfmUIcVRR5-CvtQm/s1600-h/IMG_4765.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372154303530728098" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right; width: 320px; height: 240px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfBTTCYkDLS4uUcOsNd3E4jQVBFedKKiAwmLfpy3UFmjYV2ZomOB3QFEbEjVQBtB1Bcw78OJX_SMnlzqIWY-gHaqy6MdfcIpPKmhQzD6EMjr2LLkJAPMhH2QW7HXL6BfmUIcVRR5-CvtQm/s320/IMG_4765.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSy73IFG9ibMIvWLo6Tnxbqk1jq-39uPcC8SimWLqANdGqP6N02AF9byIHaPatsdLbdSF79DUfiJNhyiPsY9iL78CHqj4YTCwKw8G8brQ3tR9EJhJhw19dgxa9XuPlFjlTYxxt0DqbEHQ/s1600-h/IMG_4426.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372154292483400082" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right; width: 240px; height: 320px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSy73IFG9ibMIvWLo6Tnxbqk1jq-39uPcC8SimWLqANdGqP6N02AF9byIHaPatsdLbdSF79DUfiJNhyiPsY9iL78CHqj4YTCwKw8G8brQ3tR9EJhJhw19dgxa9XuPlFjlTYxxt0DqbEHQ/s320/IMG_4426.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cfduCFDuvrfR7PX2o3D-957qIStKfMfzTXRgdyahPamLPWvWzYaMu0pywOugwp7No35CwOBW7rOwK77mX5RD5wBgURvjsUznVvImJpGWFVRjanQ7PR1xK81t4o3eJF_mcTAoNZPz95sb/s1600-h/IMG_4427.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372128340375723634" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right; width: 320px; height: 240px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cfduCFDuvrfR7PX2o3D-957qIStKfMfzTXRgdyahPamLPWvWzYaMu0pywOugwp7No35CwOBW7rOwK77mX5RD5wBgURvjsUznVvImJpGWFVRjanQ7PR1xK81t4o3eJF_mcTAoNZPz95sb/s320/IMG_4427.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><em></em></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><em></em></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><em></em></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><em></em></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><em></em></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><em></em></div><br /><div align="center"><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><em><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></em></div><em></em></div><em></em><em>entry</em> <em>orginally written on Aug 13th</em><br /></div><div>Today was truly an “I live in Mali” day! I woke up thinking I was going to take a nice daylong bike ride to wherever the paths took me. It didn’t turn out that way. My host mother came to my house, as usual to say goodmorning to me and ask how everyone in my family is doing, and if I am ok. After the greetings were answered and asked in return she invited me to go out into the fields with her. They were going to the women’s field to plant sesame and some beans. Going to the fields is always an experience and I don’t always get specially invited so I decided to go….the bike ride could always wait. I got dressed and one hour later we were on our way. This time I said I was riding my bike, and not taking the donkey cart since last time I ended up walking the 5mile journey and couldn’t get back home because I would have gotten lost in the cornfields! So, off we went, I followed behind on my bike, myself and the baby donkey that didn’t want to leave his mother.<br />We arrived at our destination to find that field hadn’t been plowed yet! All that way for nothing. So, we sat, the ladies ate their lunch and then we chatted for a bit. They said the field couldn’t be plowed until it rains again. This is rainy season, but it hasn’t been raining too much here. So, back to Kamona for me. I came back home, and sat on my hammock to read. As I was reading I heard the laughter of little kids coming….’ugh’ I thought. I just wanted to relax and finish my book I was almost done with. Then I see legs, and 2 little girls sitting in the wheelbarrow! I couldn’t help but start laughing. How much fun they were having! Pushing each other in the wheelbarrow! Then I stopped to think how lucky these kids are! They have a rough childhood, no doubt, but they also have a childhood that I never had, or that I know my kids probably wont have. They have the freedom to walk around in their village knowing that they are safe and people are always looking out for them. They have the blessing of being able to play with their cousins 24/7. Family. Something that is so important to me. I remember as a child growing up I would love the time I spent with my cousins, which I was lucky that we were all the same age and girls! Poor Brian stuck with 5 screaming young girls when we all got together! Hahaha!<br />Well, later that afternoon I decided I should entertain the kids and myself and I brought out bubbles left over from Janels visit. They absolutely LOVE the bubbles! Both the adults and the kids think they are just the coolest things! I remember also as a kid enjoying bubbles the same way. We just had to pop all of the bubbles that came floating our way! I think we did this for about one hour! What fun!<br />That was my day more or less, or what is worth writing about at least. As I’ve said before, everyday in Mali- but especially in Kamona is a surprise and I never know what will happen.<em> </em></div></div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-45755119060874071612009-07-31T08:34:00.000-07:002009-07-31T09:51:01.858-07:00Rain, 40+miles, Bamako,and New Vols<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSM9y5xd0vTwf0BcoMs9WQK3SOA4V3XQAdFtPD3C2awMpRHFdcODw2a9sn3TcisXcHKnK-IshnSzGKWUJ5e2N4wY1S-f8F2sid4Xhrfp3il250886iotfVBTjte526ZJMY2FbnkBT6p89t/s1600-h/IMG_5327.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSM9y5xd0vTwf0BcoMs9WQK3SOA4V3XQAdFtPD3C2awMpRHFdcODw2a9sn3TcisXcHKnK-IshnSzGKWUJ5e2N4wY1S-f8F2sid4Xhrfp3il250886iotfVBTjte526ZJMY2FbnkBT6p89t/s320/IMG_5327.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364653285667189330" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">A break in the storm on the Niger, Segou</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS14xp7bRtUQ6fjN6Xb5KqsE-oAjteeGXdp9JtznnLeYQ3ptHl26ROedEjOTdPXDiZTdCNSfuXoWgXcctjdLAubm8aI6PMfDEY54CjOcoHFKVowXhyphenhyphenSyrw0flG3TBdVpya-gUwSeX8HjYT/s1600-h/IMG_5324.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS14xp7bRtUQ6fjN6Xb5KqsE-oAjteeGXdp9JtznnLeYQ3ptHl26ROedEjOTdPXDiZTdCNSfuXoWgXcctjdLAubm8aI6PMfDEY54CjOcoHFKVowXhyphenhyphenSyrw0flG3TBdVpya-gUwSeX8HjYT/s320/IMG_5324.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364653282216115154" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Kids playing in the puddles, stopping to look at the white girl taking pictures!</div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiev6k0NJhVPxkpE-fykqzrgpS0RxXs1EiSXnJsH-yFnIhyphenhyphenrJo6YrwbznEZZk8wCqD65yXKDyiX2K1BKmvtSrh04XpmUzb0SnFCgK99mlJUy0Fo_n_C9AotVrd1QV7YeI4mc6u6oFrAKLcx/s1600-h/IMG_5279.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiev6k0NJhVPxkpE-fykqzrgpS0RxXs1EiSXnJsH-yFnIhyphenhyphenrJo6YrwbznEZZk8wCqD65yXKDyiX2K1BKmvtSrh04XpmUzb0SnFCgK99mlJUy0Fo_n_C9AotVrd1QV7YeI4mc6u6oFrAKLcx/s320/IMG_5279.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364653275743020194" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Jenn, Hannah, and I before my 20mile bike ride back to my village.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Rainy season has finally come upon Mali. The extreme heat is supposed to be over, but it is now replaced with extreme humidity, to be then cooled off by the amazingly powerful rains. This is a welcomed season for Malians because the rain means planting, harvesting, and that there will be water in the wells. In my village they have started planting their corn, cotton, millet, peanuts, and beans. I myself have planted American Sweet Organic Corn, Organic Carrots (seeds kindly sent to me by my awesome Dad), celery, basil, and green beans. It took me 3 days to prepare my raised beds and to plant. I used my Malian style '<i>daba</i>' to carve out my plot. The daba is an old school hand hoe. My body ached for about 4 days from my hard work!</div><div style="text-align: left;">The rains are so important here in Mali, they are necessary for the crops to grow. No rain, no crops, no money, no food. Majority of farmers have no irrigation systems, no watering mechanisms. Just faith that it will rain and provide water for their crops. So far, the rains have been coming to Kamona <i>dooney dooney</i> (little by little). I am told August is when the rains come into full swing and it should rain everyday. Its difficult for me to explain the power of the rains here, but when it rains, it really storms! It's wonderful to experience.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Next story:</div><div style="text-align: left;">A few weeks ago I told my friends Hannah and Jenn that I wanted to visit them in their villages. They are technically in a different region than me, but they aren't that far away, only 40k through the wilderness. What an experience! It took me 3 hours, 4 villages, and was truely one of the coolest things I've done in Mali! Since everyone is out in the fields, if I got lost I was easily able to ask for directions, and the people gave me blessings for a safe trip. And, as usual they got such a kick out of the white girl speaking their language! That always makes me happy, to see them so happy. I can only imagine what it must be like to see a while female, riding through their village on this nice American bike, saying hello to them in their language. I think it would be like if I was in Guilderland, and I saw a giraffe walking by that said hello to me in English and acted like he totally belonged there! </div><div style="text-align: left;">Anyway, it was so nice to visit my friends in their villages, and to meet their work counterparts and families. In their villages, they spoke a different language, but fortunately I was still able to communicate with them. So, total I think I rode my bike over 40 miles (due to me getting a little lost at times!) Next time they come to Kamona!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Story #3:</div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm in Bamako-the capital city. I came for two reasons: 1 being I wanted to spend the day with my boyfriend in the city before he took the plane to go to Lebanon for his month long vacation. We spent a wonderful day together, and had the most Amazing dinner at the best restaurant in the country. I felt like I was back in France! I had gaspacho, steak and steamed potatoes, and homemade ice cream. I really felt like a princess for a night! How wonderful! He's gone for the next month, and I'm left here...waiting for next year when I can hopefully visit Lebanon. </div><div style="text-align: left;">Reason 2: Since I've been in Mali for over a year now it was time for my yearly physical. My health has been great here, so I'm not too worried about anything. It's so nice to have 100% free health care for once! </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Story #4:</div><div style="text-align: left;">The new volunteers are here. I am so excited for them to be here, to show them around and to let them know that it's not so bad here. In a few weeks I will be a 'buddy' for a new volunteer, acting as an interpreter and a guide for helping them when they go to their future home for their site visit. I am planing some activities for the new group that will be in Segou! Our welcoming last year wasn't so welcoming, so I'm happy to be able to give a good one to the new people. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Well, this was a long one. Sorry. I've always have so much to say! My Arabic lessons are coming along, my French lessons will officially start in September, and now I've got an Italian friend so I want to brush up my Italian again! I LOVE languages! I think August is going to be a fast month. I hope so, because Samer (the boyfriend) comes back at the end of it. Not only is Samer gone, but all my other friends have returned home for their vacations <i>N.B. Europeans pretty much all take vacations in August, so it feels like the whole world is on vacation right now-except for me. Boohoo. </i>I can't complain, I think the last 10 years have been one long vacation for me! </div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-10969149084960535082009-07-23T12:53:00.000-07:002009-07-23T12:56:27.438-07:00GOAL REACHED!Just a quick note, I made the goal and we went over it!!! I can now use that money to do other small projects! Thank you all sooooo much for your support. It means so much to me but also so much to my Malian friends! You have helped out so much, and touched people that you will probably never meet. Thank you to those who donated. Your charity will not be forgotten! Once we buy the machines I will have more updates and pictures!Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-3696622220261397712009-07-05T15:25:00.000-07:002009-07-05T15:55:22.027-07:00One Year Mark!!!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM-sGm5GFwgovaoQqYMjY2ieUndYfNp_klrE8fEciyIjguY0glf_z0fYrDd6kc5tXXPoZAvURfbkrEasI4MAchVHLr3s8JyX4WG607k7d2YrOvGRu4-vw1-b14lZIEKkAYs5PL70QQyjrO/s1600-h/P1050167.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355112905125456466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM-sGm5GFwgovaoQqYMjY2ieUndYfNp_klrE8fEciyIjguY0glf_z0fYrDd6kc5tXXPoZAvURfbkrEasI4MAchVHLr3s8JyX4WG607k7d2YrOvGRu4-vw1-b14lZIEKkAYs5PL70QQyjrO/s320/P1050167.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Well, it's almost officially been one year since I left for Mali. This time last year, I went out with my brother and his good friends (who are like brothers to me) and my best friend Shauna for a 4th of July celebration. The next day my wonderful family gave me a great going away party and thankfully the rain stayed away, even though the forcast was calling for it. As I think back at my decision to come here, and how everyone thought I was crazy, I know that I am so happy right now. </div><br /><div>Many people are stuck in jobs that they hate, maybe in relationships that they are not happy in, or just in general not happy with their life. I am fortunate to have a great parents that even though I may not follow the normal path that most people do, they still support me. I'm doing work that really satisfies me. I may be living in the third poorest country in the world, but the people I've met here are truely amazing and wonderful. Within this last year I've picked up French, Bambara, and now starting tomorrow will have my Arabic lessons. I still get to keep up with the Spanish because of my Cuban friends. I've learned about grafting trees, and gardening. I've learned survival skills that may one day safe my little life! I'm learning about the importance of the life we are given, how fragile it is, to really make every day count, and how being kind to people is easy and it does come back to you. </div><br /><div>So, in general thanks to everyone for sending me care packages, letters, and emails. Support from back home is just great. So, one year down and one more to go. Who knows where I will be heading to after Mali. </div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-62965320172320898862009-06-15T01:11:00.000-07:002009-06-15T03:09:07.468-07:00Donation Time!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL7ONscLCtE4G5WT7yxvVm4V1cI1ZdAfXm1kjIg9kNg0u47g2tjgOMAlTfbjoZ-CwvQCyoFSlp1a0bETgGOwNBOgW0EA0_8WErPFSk4RhvnBc1f4PGgAmhOfoUDpR06quvcabWV3s1pgKo/s1600-h/IMG_5079.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL7ONscLCtE4G5WT7yxvVm4V1cI1ZdAfXm1kjIg9kNg0u47g2tjgOMAlTfbjoZ-CwvQCyoFSlp1a0bETgGOwNBOgW0EA0_8WErPFSk4RhvnBc1f4PGgAmhOfoUDpR06quvcabWV3s1pgKo/s320/IMG_5079.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347488356195914002" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Janet spinning the cotto</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">n</span><br /></div>My first official project for my Peace Corps service has finally fermented. I am really excited about it because the women of my village initiated it on their own. I am just aiding them to improve their product! Last November my host mother and work counterpart attended a training on how to spin cotton into string. From there, she has taught 20 other women how to spin the cotton and they are now using it as additional income for themselves and to feed their families. <div>Cotton is grown in my village and the surrounding towns (fun fact: Cotton is one of Mali's largest exports). There is plenty of raw product, however the problem is the way they are spinning it...all by hand. There is only one machine that the women have to make the process faster. Now, when I say machine I mean a bicycle wheel frame that is operated by ones foot. When I first saw it I immediately thought of our vacations to Colonial Williamsburg! After the women spin the cotton into string, we then are able to sell the cotton for 4x's the price of what it is sold for when it is just the raw product. In April, my women sold 32 kilos of strung cotton to an all women's bogolan co-op which makes artisan work with the natural products.</div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">My need is this</span>: I am working with another NGO to get the wheels from, so this is a very straight forward project. I just need to raise the $500 to pay for 6 machines and 6 paddles in which to brush the cotton so it is fine. Now, I will be working with an American NGO-African Sky to get the money. </div><div>Here is their website: http://africansky.org/ </div><div>This non-profit was started by a Peace Corps Volunteer here in Mali, and he just wanted to continue work here after his service. </div><div><br /></div><div>Please Please Please, I know the economy is horrible right now, but even if you can just send $10 it would be such a great help. This is a project where 100% of your money will go directly to helping out these wonderful, self-motivated women. I also need the money fairly quickly, so no haste! </div><div>As for getting me the money, his website is still being updated, so the most difficult part of this process is that the money has to be sent by CHECK! Yikes, sorry but we all must make some sacrifices and anything that is easy isn't always so rewarding! </div><div><br /></div><div>Directions on how to donate: </div><div>Make your 'RE':</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Monica Garcia Kamona Womens Cotton Project</span></div><div>this is very important so African Sky knows where the money has to go to and not to just any project, but MY project!</div><div><br /></div><div>Address: </div><div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">African Sky </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">PO Box 203 </p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">Munroe Falls, OH 44262</p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Tahoma">Thank you to all who will be donating! This is such a good deed and really really a great project for these women. </p></div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-58705065062423946212009-06-10T01:47:00.000-07:002009-06-10T12:45:45.780-07:00Dogon Country and Tombouktu!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqLT55K-1P00MYAPUzVTowNUyZ9yQQbzm15RG-AhKLKnoDsjVBEgBNIxR8YL2iOSTLTgN4jU0sTZ-w93M6PNyyJOKhY_yeV3OXFgDQUyZiSggPBAD0kbt5AIvIKgXjsP8-UDSWTjdlzU0/s1600-h/IMG_5087.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqLT55K-1P00MYAPUzVTowNUyZ9yQQbzm15RG-AhKLKnoDsjVBEgBNIxR8YL2iOSTLTgN4jU0sTZ-w93M6PNyyJOKhY_yeV3OXFgDQUyZiSggPBAD0kbt5AIvIKgXjsP8-UDSWTjdlzU0/s320/IMG_5087.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345773825966088338" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Sunset after the massive sand storm Janel and I got stuck in-Kamona<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHabxHl_S0b8Sja7ZtYFYLASEaOnMxCUFb3uKi-g7wFWsRWbYbq9RpIL3wscgHz794IRU96VP-hVuDhbOzWou9Tjr3KcWAM5hc4nGq3BlFkVmRYxZFMSfzJqFiUcRkBfXjBFlLc4NrTGV/s1600-h/IMG_5029.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHabxHl_S0b8Sja7ZtYFYLASEaOnMxCUFb3uKi-g7wFWsRWbYbq9RpIL3wscgHz794IRU96VP-hVuDhbOzWou9Tjr3KcWAM5hc4nGq3BlFkVmRYxZFMSfzJqFiUcRkBfXjBFlLc4NrTGV/s320/IMG_5029.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345773821144004322" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">The 4 banditas in Timbuktu, about to ride off on our camel adventure!<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaj1uELl5Q7M6_ev8I4G0eUVfL6Xl4GNwtL1I6FMbIYyDXDqh9GI3_CmNMmyFTfvi-7hiiDxPcdoym0J1raC8-1kXJuKQLx5LZ5U5VDCKs42I6g8goeziCtWDbdNe_QCP8KbM2VC-hQnyg/s1600-h/IMG_5018.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaj1uELl5Q7M6_ev8I4G0eUVfL6Xl4GNwtL1I6FMbIYyDXDqh9GI3_CmNMmyFTfvi-7hiiDxPcdoym0J1raC8-1kXJuKQLx5LZ5U5VDCKs42I6g8goeziCtWDbdNe_QCP8KbM2VC-hQnyg/s320/IMG_5018.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345773817750554146" /></a>Me on the roof of the manuscripts musuem, in front of the oldest mud mosque, or the biggest?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLonxkoU5f_Ce5BOT6HpispK93B5mTEIPvqSYnx9wdauqVJNT-9eTGVwBUjMCC43y3odLPCl5uVzpxGdrhjvPBCkEeNUFCwldVlg23CiltCmyKdGw4RSi3_LZz8l2KRNpO6nwojo4g3o1h/s1600-h/DSC02383.JPG"><br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLonxkoU5f_Ce5BOT6HpispK93B5mTEIPvqSYnx9wdauqVJNT-9eTGVwBUjMCC43y3odLPCl5uVzpxGdrhjvPBCkEeNUFCwldVlg23CiltCmyKdGw4RSi3_LZz8l2KRNpO6nwojo4g3o1h/s320/DSC02383.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345762242378525090" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Trekking through the Sahara<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07NOMRTw-SJjWHFAlcNjJ7iAKNhpdzxjrIdGs45SF1Wd3D9zaEJM9nbNm3QJcXbhXc6C9v2fJdQxHYBcoQ7Hx8vCaxLkErJ1mUjK4uJGW-VjI9NiX1tkQBTJiYeGvQA9vkFFG2b6n17sG/s1600-h/DSC02399.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj07NOMRTw-SJjWHFAlcNjJ7iAKNhpdzxjrIdGs45SF1Wd3D9zaEJM9nbNm3QJcXbhXc6C9v2fJdQxHYBcoQ7Hx8vCaxLkErJ1mUjK4uJGW-VjI9NiX1tkQBTJiYeGvQA9vkFFG2b6n17sG/s320/DSC02399.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345628795013265554" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Camel Riding!<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2MoFXwmGn6bJKLO5p_V8x6KJ5453ZKM6oCoOeXofXTu4I-MHQ6mR8Pmr83kNGY6LX2VIXqJ29P9NLaW1STkSgEFNS8rM5tlLziLAViBoBdPLzgrz8npoLeLuSLoeCG79dI6HiKxZfVHqF/s1600-h/IMG_4893_1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2MoFXwmGn6bJKLO5p_V8x6KJ5453ZKM6oCoOeXofXTu4I-MHQ6mR8Pmr83kNGY6LX2VIXqJ29P9NLaW1STkSgEFNS8rM5tlLziLAViBoBdPLzgrz8npoLeLuSLoeCG79dI6HiKxZfVHqF/s320/IMG_4893_1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345628791976174274" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Dogon houses- Day 1 of our 3 day hike<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Alright, so now that I've got your attention, here is the explanation of why I haven't written in almost 1 whole month! W'allahi! I've had my friend Janel visiting since late May. It's great when having a visitor because I get to be a tourist in my current country of residence, and explore explore explore! For attention span sake, I will be brief on what we did- as we really got to see and do many things here:</div><div style="text-align: left;">In Segou, Janel got to meet all of my wonderful friends. We went boating, made Bogolan (malian art, using mud and all natural dyes to decorate all natural cotton). We also did a lot of shopping for gifts and hanging by the pool. The calm before the craziness!</div><div style="text-align: left;">From Segou, we bussed up to tour Dogon Country. It's on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list (I always try to visit WHsites). We met up with a fellow PCV-Hannah and her friend Kat that was visiting her. It was a great 3 day hike through the villages. Dogon villages are built in the cliffs and the people disappeared a long time ago, in short-due to deforestation and lack of food (they were hunters, not so much farmers). </div><div style="text-align: left;">From Dogon, crazy Monica thought it was a good idea to go to Timbuktu. My friend convinced us we should go up there to visit him. Timbuktu.....why not!? It took us 7hrs to get there in a 4x4 car-which that in itself was an experience. It should have only taken 4hours. Thats life here in Mali. We got there, and I thought Mali was hot....but this place was SOO hot. Like 120 degrees. Thank God my friend has A/C in his house and we just got to relax on the 1st day there. The second day we did some more shopping, and then started off on our camel ride. The camel ride was fun, of course I got the 'special' camel. First my saddle wasn't on correctly, then the camel kept tripping over it's feet (just like me!), then he just couldn't make it up the his and boom. Down he went. I'm alive and it's an entertaining story to tell. No more camel rides for me though. </div><div style="text-align: left;">Overall, it's been an amazing 3 weeks. I now need to get focused on my work and get some things accomplished. I'm sure I'm forgetting tons of things that I need to add, but I'll have internet access for a few more days. </div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-2184777647314908782009-05-10T13:53:00.000-07:002009-05-10T14:26:05.997-07:00Passing on a Good Deed<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpn-VvUZf3OukrM0W-HjLaGIQ7wCahBR2p-gYIoL-m4gv2fHAP74NmvoJ36d9x6TuNdWrFXRyVZ7-GCnlfhhm4aj81bbLh5K1u4FapIHNvc77WVel_Z6V4j81CjRD_kewaDg8AHLzMgHlX/s1600-h/IMG_4768.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpn-VvUZf3OukrM0W-HjLaGIQ7wCahBR2p-gYIoL-m4gv2fHAP74NmvoJ36d9x6TuNdWrFXRyVZ7-GCnlfhhm4aj81bbLh5K1u4FapIHNvc77WVel_Z6V4j81CjRD_kewaDg8AHLzMgHlX/s320/IMG_4768.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334303849321545906" /></a> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">Last February I attended a futbol match (soccer game) that was headed up by my village secondary school English teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>One Friday the girls play, the next Friday is the boys turn and they switch throughout the school year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I thought it was great that they got to do this organized sport, but when saw them playing in bare feet, no nets, no cones or chalk to mark the boundaries, and no uniforms or markers for designating teams I felt bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I had an idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I wrote to my wonderful family members that are either teachers or have children in grade school and quickly (for Malian time) got a response from my great cousin Steve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Well, he ended up sending 24 pinnes (above and beyond my request) for the students to use for the phys-ed class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Last Friday I was finally able to give them their gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The kids couldn’t be more excited!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It was great to see, and really I thought it was no big deal at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>When I was growing up and going through the school system- both public and catholic schools-I took for granted having all the sports equipment available to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We even did rock climbing as an activity one time!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So, here are the pictures of the kids with their new pinnes on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It’s great to be able to give and to directly see the results of your work.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Thanks so much to the Westfall family for getting these jerseys out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This small gesture made a town of 3000 people know you and send you many blessings for your generosity!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">On another note, I am told that I got over the worst, most difficult 110+ degrees of hot season. Now it will just be in the low 105’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My mom’s almost done with the chemo and hopefully Brian will be coming out here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> It's been 6 months since the passing of my grandma-I think I'm still in a bit of denial about it. </span>My friend from Phoenix will be coming out in 2 weeks for my first visitor!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I’m super excited and have a really fun time planned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My languages of Bambara, French, and Arabic are coming along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It’s great to be able to communicate and feel comfortable communicating in different languages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You really get so much more out of relationships when you expand your horizons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">One more short story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Here in Mali, just chatting and spending time with people is super important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I like doing this, but as an American it’s still a bit of a task to just show up at peoples houses to just ‘shoot the *ship’ with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Well, <i>yaala yaala </i><span style="font-style:normal">(bambara for taking a stroll</span><i>)</i><span style="font-style:normal"> is great and it really makes me say to myself “wow, I’m really living in AFRICA!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Some of my conversations included questions like:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How many cows will your dad get for you when you will get married?<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Barack Obama only has 1 wife????<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I’m going to go to America and farm and make a lot of money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Today you are a women! (N.B. This was the day I actually wore the traditional Malian long skirt-as opposed to the Capri pants I always wear)<o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">*There are so many more instances of great cultural exchanges, I will write out a more detailed story some other time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Ciao!<o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-58205899368064519472009-04-23T01:07:00.000-07:002009-04-23T01:39:54.780-07:00Camels and an Attempt to see Elephants<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJp0IxzU4iZrLc46bvxZwvRb4Bts9UgQhlAlCIp65DC72QHeAZCuxpZA1Zgk9Sf9CQS0Xaer2bVFhc_jHxboi68bbljfTaCONdbCmMENrx6-58t5XXXtnwVNShludn7r3lsi9thIctWot/s1600-h/IMG_4613.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJp0IxzU4iZrLc46bvxZwvRb4Bts9UgQhlAlCIp65DC72QHeAZCuxpZA1Zgk9Sf9CQS0Xaer2bVFhc_jHxboi68bbljfTaCONdbCmMENrx6-58t5XXXtnwVNShludn7r3lsi9thIctWot/s320/IMG_4613.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327797606483214050" /></a>My first Malian vacation! Myself, Megan, and Dies (a Dutch friend) went to the Mopti region of Mali. It's towards the East. We went to visit a fellow PCV-Dan Dayton. It was a 2 day journey to get there, but we finally made it. Dans village is absolutely beautiful; set between 2 huge rocks. His village is a Fulani village, so communicating was a bit difficult for me because I do not speak their local language. Luckily many people did speak Bambara so I was ok. As soon as we arrived, we were whisked off in this pictured automobile for our elephant safari. June is the migratory season for them, but Dan's counterpart said that they saw a pack yesterday. After 5hrs of searching we didn't find any. It's ok though, bc I saw some camels and just had a nice Malian time looking for elephants. The next day we just chilled a bit, I got to talk to the locals and meet Dan's host family. The next day we had the adventure of getting out of his village, the locals trying to charge us WAYYY to much for a ride to where we needed to go-reason being "you are white, you make money" That reason didn't fly with us, so instead of working and making money, the bus drivers preferred to sit and drink tea. Nice. Mali. <div>So, we finally made it to our destination-5hours later. The Hand of Fatima! Oh it's a beautiful rock formation. This place was so peaceful and majestic. The rocks were a bright orangy/red, and gigantic. I felt so small. We did some fun things and camped out. Met up with some Quebequois and had a great time with them. Overall, my first Malian vacation was great! It's good to explore ones country! My next planned vacation is Senegal and The Gambia. I want beaches and nice restaurants. I don't want the typical African vacation because I'm living it! June. I can't wait! It's so hot here, but I'm surviving. </div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-71088840731501529842009-04-16T12:30:00.000-07:002009-04-16T12:56:09.258-07:00Easter in Mali<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3yB_UuBdVMKxolvejNTMXtwnOzjwN3-sis6e0jdEMbBWzhT4nU_3wryUeUFey9JFT_nhvBCungCn2ikmzrncqtjGMnu5yyMgvJylvm-iaLPx2wzzAFzy_2w9zUcQuQvw2JqbqVMAEbhz/s1600-h/IMG_4587.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3yB_UuBdVMKxolvejNTMXtwnOzjwN3-sis6e0jdEMbBWzhT4nU_3wryUeUFey9JFT_nhvBCungCn2ikmzrncqtjGMnu5yyMgvJylvm-iaLPx2wzzAFzy_2w9zUcQuQvw2JqbqVMAEbhz/s320/IMG_4587.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325380107576700578" /></a><br />So, in a country that is 90% Muslim, I just happen to live in a little village that contains some of the 5% Christian population. Last Sunday was Easter, here they actually celebrate Easter on Sunday and Monday. What a great time. The kids had 2 weeks off vacation from school, so we got a lot of coloring in-which if anyone wants to send crayons, I'd be more than happy to use them. Anyway, Megan, my best pal in Segou came out to my village. We had a great time. She hard boiled eggs and we colored them with the kids. They then ate them afterwords and got some protein. <div>Tomorrow I am off to visit a fellow Peace Corps Vol up north. His site has elephants there! I am so excited but it's a 11hr. drive to get there. It's also super hot here right now-Sunday will be 108 degrees. It's hot. Really, uncomfortably hot. Yuck</div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-86714243209708361162009-03-28T07:33:00.000-07:002009-03-28T07:53:43.569-07:00My Birthday Presents Bike Ride<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8CnaLThgIqYpe8SKaOITYV_4-fMfzWaaT3sSY1tn4HKe30Uo3l10t-5JyPWLnPyzAZ3Ghi9O9Ddc8VSgvrDalDsNbMht9Jl97wz3haj0X5uWX-WYZknz_Dr-WjIk1KZdlvijIHHAi72u2/s1600-h/IMG_4447.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318249452821896882" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8CnaLThgIqYpe8SKaOITYV_4-fMfzWaaT3sSY1tn4HKe30Uo3l10t-5JyPWLnPyzAZ3Ghi9O9Ddc8VSgvrDalDsNbMht9Jl97wz3haj0X5uWX-WYZknz_Dr-WjIk1KZdlvijIHHAi72u2/s320/IMG_4447.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQX7p7OuzKN7yBckx9uOdvyAz1pKVe_xJWdxNlg5nPKlfQ1ahLybmIVs-PmE2RITiTiMWBCZJokTwrqipCBEGZm8-o_AQstOyIokUsFDgwSCviSgl14lNMKQUD7gvtseRe2mPGEHxR76P/s1600-h/IMG_4441.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318249445828754034" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHQX7p7OuzKN7yBckx9uOdvyAz1pKVe_xJWdxNlg5nPKlfQ1ahLybmIVs-PmE2RITiTiMWBCZJokTwrqipCBEGZm8-o_AQstOyIokUsFDgwSCviSgl14lNMKQUD7gvtseRe2mPGEHxR76P/s320/IMG_4441.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div>This is how I got my birthday boxes back to my site. After a 6 mile bike ride in mid-afternoon, I made it back home. I got birthday boxes from my mom, dad, and Beckners! It was killing me to not open them up as soon as I got them at the post office, but I practiced the virture of patience and waited until I could relax on my hammock and bask in my joyfulness of opening packages and seeing American things! </div></div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-51639038497664816952009-03-26T13:08:00.000-07:002009-03-28T07:25:07.245-07:00Heat, Toto, Donkey Carts<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwvtudVytFZc_9kYBAR-I5HRfo40q6UuHuk3sdqAU4u_ZDXHY46q8b9QqSUSDZ8FHTBiBdvil-xeCgLoh62LEqpn9-6yooG0lzTwIHZR3-SprZO66rSPLaMT1PFxY9TFpcHsfmF_7a1Ept/s1600-h/IMG_4398.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318244264658960178" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwvtudVytFZc_9kYBAR-I5HRfo40q6UuHuk3sdqAU4u_ZDXHY46q8b9QqSUSDZ8FHTBiBdvil-xeCgLoh62LEqpn9-6yooG0lzTwIHZR3-SprZO66rSPLaMT1PFxY9TFpcHsfmF_7a1Ept/s320/IMG_4398.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>I just looked up the weather for Bamako for the next 10 days. I stopped reading after the first 5 days said temps in the 100’s. Brian said NYC has a high of 49 degrees today. What a difference! I always say I would rather take the heat over the cold weather anytime. Now, more than ever am I being tested in my sentiments. It’s hot. I am living without air conditioning. There is little breeze, and when the wind does decide to pick up a bit it blows nothing but dust, getting one all dirty and muddy (sand mixed with your sweat).<br />How do I fight this heat? Well, one way is to not move too much. I can do things very early in the morning or around dusk. That leaves the whole day to sit under someone’s gwa (hanger made from old corn/millet canes). The next move is a hard one for me; to sleep outside in my REI bug hut tent! Here’s the big story. Its normal for both Malians and the American PCV’s to sleep outside during hot season. The roof on my house is tin so during the day it literally feels like an oven inside. It doesn’t cool off at night. Well a few nights ago I finally got enough courage to sleep outside on my porch. P.S. I don’t even like sleeping in a house by myself in the US, so it’s a fear without prejudices! Anyway. I was so excited to sleep outside under the beautiful, starry sky. As I was almost ready to sleep I heard a noise. I looked up to see something the size of a chicken but with a tail that was about 12inches long. It was the biggest rat I’ve EVER seen in my entire life. A Malian Rat! Ugh. I made a little noise (as I was protected in my tent-yeah right) and he scuttled away. About 2 minutes after I saw the huge rat, the lightening started. I decided it was time to move indoors.<br /><br />As soon as I started to open the door to my house, the downpour came! Rains here in Mali are amazing. They come out of nowhere and it’s like they have something to prove! It’s the hardest rains I have ever seen. It’s amazing. I ran inside, and did quick rescue missions to save my stuff that I had left outside. I was drenched! As I hid in my house, these strong winds came and started lifting my roof! I thought ‘great, if I don’t get eaten by that rat, I will be killed by a piece of my roof!’ Ah, Malian living. I survived both. The rain and winds finally stopped around 1am and it really cooled down the air.<br />The next morning, it looked like a mini hurricane had gone through my village. As I greeted my old man neighbor, making note of the horrible rains last night, all he could say was ‘yes, it rained a little’ HA! ‘A little’ I think to myself…I’m scared for when it rains A LOT here! I then went to my host family to say good morning and to tell them about my night. As I was explaining about the rat, they 1st: laughed. It wasn’t a laugh to mock me, but in disbelief that I had never seen such a creature that big. 2nd: “Oh, you mean ‘toto,’ yes your neighbor said that they saw it in your compound before, we will kill it while you are gone.” Bada bing. Problem solved. People will eat that thing too! Funny thing is that it’s called toto in Bambara, because I think that he was really about the size of Dorothy’s Toto dog from the Wizard of Oz.<br /><br />Ok, so other than this I am doing well. Works kicking off with a Malian bang (meaning it’s going slowly), and it’s really hot! Still doing well, still happy. I’m biking a lot, staying in really good shape for my 28years I must say!<br />Sorry this was a long one! Oh, and my donkey cart hours have increased…check out the tally!</div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-31070177853690773482009-03-11T05:26:00.000-07:002009-03-28T07:32:12.991-07:00My Birthday!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJ1pN8AHVuMp-sPS3neHMz8hfl0mlbrghr6g5oCsyLVR01WCFCRP_Abr8i4BClIEaa__O1lY77CprxrP1mSn_YjUA6ZOt9rylMOmD1AHC8S3EBwCFbOCs8KO-1Rz15IOcHV3VnGuy8_Ro/s1600-h/IMG_4364.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318245886685679186" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJ1pN8AHVuMp-sPS3neHMz8hfl0mlbrghr6g5oCsyLVR01WCFCRP_Abr8i4BClIEaa__O1lY77CprxrP1mSn_YjUA6ZOt9rylMOmD1AHC8S3EBwCFbOCs8KO-1Rz15IOcHV3VnGuy8_Ro/s320/IMG_4364.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div>I had a wonderful day yesterday! Both my mom and dad called me, I got to eat ice cream, sit by the pool, and catch up on emails. My great friend treated me to lunch, then we had le grande fete at night. We had lamb and couscous! It was delicious. A whole lamb was bought and sacrificed for myself and Nicole (my French friend that shares a birthday with me). Megan made brownies, and my friend Mario provided the birthday cake. Happy Birthday Monika, and Joyeux Anniversaire Nicole! I finished the night dancing salsa. I also got a crazy amount of 'happy birthdays' on Facebook. It was truely a great day, and hopefully a sign of a wonderful year to come! Thanks for all the well-wishes! I'm off to Kamona, and maybe to Timbuktu!</div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-61455425166269800002009-03-10T04:29:00.000-07:002009-03-28T07:17:08.548-07:00Today is my BIRTHDAY!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZWijeYWOOlcIFd6ZwQwLFkN344PSsVdtLz3Iy_4p8tIyvESNltWMgBiBIXQaFoFWkLIFQJ93AJKXbRc1cqKTdSsp4UtFqajbXRD0CULTiH4z9auNAtRRuIUonjnW7gAu0FkhU_ZUtPHK/s1600-h/IMG_4347.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318241406750896386" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZWijeYWOOlcIFd6ZwQwLFkN344PSsVdtLz3Iy_4p8tIyvESNltWMgBiBIXQaFoFWkLIFQJ93AJKXbRc1cqKTdSsp4UtFqajbXRD0CULTiH4z9auNAtRRuIUonjnW7gAu0FkhU_ZUtPHK/s200/IMG_4347.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in">Today is my birthday!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>28 years of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I was told by a friend that it is said in some cultures that I have just completed 1 cycle of my life; my learning cycle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Now, for the next 28 years I am supposed to live out my mission in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I think it’s sort of fitting that I am here in Mali, doing the work that I am doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>We shall see!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A nice big ‘mega<span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language: FR"> fête’</span> has been planned for myself and a fellow friend whom has the same birthday as me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It’s my version of a UN birthday as we will have people from many nations (Europe, Americas, and Africa) represented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My kind of party! </p><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in">It’s been an extremely eventful time since I last wrote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As I thought about which story was the most exciting to write about, I really couldn’t decide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>So, I wrote down a list of key things that has happened to me:</p><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in">-I helped vaccinate around 250 Malian children against Polio!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I think that is my favorite highlight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Now, when I say ‘helped’ I mean that I colored their pinky finger with a permanent black marker so we knew he was vaccinated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The gov’t has a national program of going door-to-door vaccinating all children under the age of 5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It was a great way for me to meet everyone in the community as well!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As you can tell, no records are kept of vaccinations-the system is just too basic for that.</p><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in">-I visited a 2<sup>nd</sup> year volunteer in her village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>She’s totally inspiring, and such a great role model and source of information for myself in helping me be successful in my job here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They are planting 600+ trees. This is a project I plan on working on next season.</p><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in">-One afternoon I was just laying in my hammock, reading and my little friend Mari came by to greet me on her way to school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>School is about a 1.5 mile walk from where we live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I decided to give her a lift (she rode on the back of my bicycle-a very common thing here).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>As we rode through town, we picked up more kids that were on their way to school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They ran side by side with the bike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Then, a girl tripped and fell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>She cut her toe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Mari said I should give her the ride instead (again, lessons learned by a child).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>By the time we made it to the school I think I had about 20kids that had run with us to school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I also realized there would be no school nurse to take care of this poor girls cut toe, and I did not have my medical supplies on me that I usually carry on me to clean this girls wound. </p><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in">-Work has really begun for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I am now teaching English to a Malian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He happens to speak Spanish, so that is our median language for communication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Soon I will be giving lessons on how to use a computer to some of the teachers at our school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I am also starting to help construct a building for the women of my village for their work with shea nuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This will be a big project, but I know the women have wanted this for at least the last 3 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I also have little projects going on, it really makes the time fly when you have something to do!</p><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in">-I finally started wearing sun block daily on my face!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This is Africa after all!</p><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in">-I may speak up to 4 languages in 1 day to communicate!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Bambara, English, Spanish, and French!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I’m starting to really pick up on the French now as many of my friends here speak it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I hope to be fluent by the time my service is up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in">*N.B.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Mali has 25 recognized languages!</p><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in">-Another afternoon when I was reading in my hammock, the girls stopped by to greet me on their way to school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Mari</span> had her school books and pencil box with her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I asked to see them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The children here still write with chalk/slate boards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Mari had a tiny tiny piece of chalk; I don’t know how she even wrote with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Well, I went inside the house and brought out 8 pieces of chalk- 2 for each girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They were so excited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It was great to see their smiles!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Such small gifts are so appreciated here, it’s great.</p><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in">-Every Thursday is market day in Bla.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>That means that people from the surrounding villages go there to get their produce, or whatever else one needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Bla is around 6 miles from Kamona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>On a normal day it will take me 40mins to bike to Bla.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Market day it can take up to 1hour because I have to greet so many people on the way to Bla!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Women and men in their donkey carts heading to the weekly market!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It’s a real experience! Strangers get a real kick out of the white girl that can speak their language! I really feel like I’ve stepped back into the Middle Ages on Market Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Here, we can’t just go to the supermarket to get whatever we need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I can only by things when they are in season.</p><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in">-My wonderful father sent me The Economist for my birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>One night I brought the magazine to my host families so they could look at the pictures; see the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It’s really amazing to see their reactions to our Western way of living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My family has a radio, so they are actually really in up to date on current events, but they never get visuals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I showed them a picture of Sarkozy, Obama, Merkel (a woman head of state!), and Castro to name a few.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>They also love looking at the adverts; there was an ad for steak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I was told ‘American are rich, you eat meat every day’ -something I took for granted, but here, meat is a luxury usually reserved for special occasions. </p><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in">-Guinea-Bissau’s president was just murdered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Since arriving in Mali, there has been: A coup d’etat in Mauritania, Guinea 'president' died, Ghana had elections go wrong, and this is just in the countries surrounding Mali.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This continent is very alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I really do feel safe here in Mali though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in"><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></p><br /><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0in; TEXT-INDENT: 0in">Well this really is just a blurb of some of the great things that have been going on here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Yesterday I went on a boat ride on the Niger River with my friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It was great to be on the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I have many other stories to tell, but will sign off for now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Of course not everything is perfect here, I think of my grandmother daily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I miss her immensely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Will my mourning ever end? She was my best friend and I really miss just sharing our days with each other like we used to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My mom will be getting chemo, and I won’t be there for that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>One has to make such hard choices in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I have made mine to stay here and do my work in Mali.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Sacrifices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-64753893232804914262009-02-16T11:09:00.000-08:002009-02-16T11:32:11.416-08:00<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in">It’s February!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I’ve been back in Mali for about a month and a half.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>This baggage weighed about 50lbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Not bad when one has a car and can easily transport it from airport to home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Not I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My transportation from the city to my village is myself, and my bike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>6 miles on an uneven dirt road, under the strong African midday sun that I had not seen in 2 months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in">My story I will try to keep short, but I feel the need to tell it…</p> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in">On my 1<sup>st</sup> bike ride back to village after being away for nearly 3 months, I had a rough time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It was hot, I had very little water, and I was carrying a very heavy load on the back of my bike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Stupidity.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My bag kept falling off the back of my bike because I was trying to balance my big travel bag!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>5 min. into my ride I started praying to please please get me to Kamona safely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Rode again to my midpoint, sat under the Baobab for about a 20min. break so I could recover from the sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I was running out of water, and only half way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Again, started pleading to get me to Kamona safely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Around the 5<sup>th</sup> break I took, a nice young girl- Cita biked up to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>She was also going to Kamona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Well, she was my little angel!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>She stayed with me for the whole ride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>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!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Her mere prescience helped me to get back to the village.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I had run out of water 3/4ths of the way there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>The ride that normally takes me 40min. took me 1.5hrs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Double the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I felt like I could have passed out at any moment during the whole bike ride due to the heat and lack of water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Cita saved me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><br /><br />This story is not only about my own little survival, but also of Malian culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>You see, here, when they see someone in trouble, they don’t think twice about stopping to help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Cita could see that I was really having a hard time with my bags and the heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>She accompanied me until she knew I was safely in the village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>A Malian, someone that I had never met before cared for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I wish it were more like that in the US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Life would be a whole lot more enjoyable if we did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Also, ask and ye shall receive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Here is a first hand example of my prayers being answered.</p> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in">I am heading back to my site tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I have a lot of ideas of what I can be doing to help my village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Unfortunately with me being in the states for 2 months my Bambara has taken a bit of a step back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I have so many stories to tell of my adventures here, but this one I really wanted to pass on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>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.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>There is no 911 service.</p> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <!--EndFragment-->Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-13767383728670604362009-02-16T10:59:00.000-08:002009-02-16T11:00:42.066-08:00Some business first...<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in">I need to apologize for my last blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It was very poorly executed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I wanted to get a blog posted before I left for my site.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That is my result.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>I will leave it up, but I’m not happy with it.</p><p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in"><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in">Another note of business:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>My 28<sup>th</sup> anniversary of life is coming up March 10<sup>th</sup>!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>In order for birthday cards to get to me on time, they must be sent by Feb. 20<sup>th</sup> or so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It’s 90cents to send a card<span style="font-family:Wingdings;mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings"><span style="mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:Wingdings">J</span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Not much at all, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in">My address:</p> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in">Monica Garcia PCV</p> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in">Corps de la Paix</p> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in">Bla, Mali</p> <p class="MsoNoteLevel1" style="margin-left:0in;text-indent:0in">West Africa</p> <!--EndFragment-->Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-247614580003042222.post-84440669775106145572009-01-28T01:25:00.000-08:002009-01-31T12:46:20.009-08:00A Malian Adventure<div>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.<br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOMbu7LV-dObgIpKyc_uPyh8pSx6zq8Dy_HK6wx2Kz6X5ts7wseEhX85LClfgno9Qv5gwtvsCwiKfRgEPgN9emfVQAEie9ZLAhl8N2W_XnuDoX_n4OKdRlarA2Pb0h79XoAYNktEYRKqmU/s1600-h/IMG_4139.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOMbu7LV-dObgIpKyc_uPyh8pSx6zq8Dy_HK6wx2Kz6X5ts7wseEhX85LClfgno9Qv5gwtvsCwiKfRgEPgN9emfVQAEie9ZLAhl8N2W_XnuDoX_n4OKdRlarA2Pb0h79XoAYNktEYRKqmU/s200/IMG_4139.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296276569682866850" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">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.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Mali is the 2</span><sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">nd</span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> largest grower of shea nuts.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The shea nut can be used for many different things.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">To get back to my African moment;</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">after our festive greeting, we had to walk to the village chief’s house.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">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.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">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.</p></div>Monica Garcia PCVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12665576664274965527noreply@blogger.com0