The storm before the calm

I've finally found some time to sit down and jot down some thoughts about the first week of my Mali/PC experience.... the few minutes I've been able to capture now came only because of the rolling in of some deep purple and brown clouds, a massive wind storm and a sudden downpour of sideways rain, thunder and lightning, which chased the monkeys into the trees and virtually stopped all productivity here. (Luckily we have a generator here at the Tubaniso Peace Corps training site here in Bamako, so the computers are still up in one building.) It has only ceded for a couple of bouts in the last few hours-- long enough to scramble through the red mud from shelter to shelter.

When I wrote this I was sitting in my mud hut listening to dull dhut dhut dhut sound of the rain on the tin roof, which is the only thing that can crowd out the noises regularly heard around here: the constant hum, tweet and chirp of the birds and bugs, the croaking of the frogs (which are to be watched here, I learned: it is bad luck to catch frogs because they can steal your soul, or for women, hop up into your vagina. I kid you not.)


I've been amazed by the life here. Much is similar to what I remember of West Africa from my time in Senegal. But I have never been here during the rainy season. This plot of ground-- maybe 30-some hectares-- which has been granted to the Peace Corps by the Malian government, is proof of the biodiversity this land could support if given the chance. Unfortunately the need to make a profit off of natural resources to feed mouths is too strong. This is why I am here ostensibly, as a Natural Resource Management volunteer.



I've only been here for a week and already all of us have had so much turbulence in our emotions that the only thing we can do is find a rock to hold on to-- to stabilize us. On top of the emotional mess of being torn from one life and stitched into another that is unrecognizably different, we've all been host to the artificial psychological/physical mash-up of 6 different types of vaccines and a triple dose of malaria medication in the past three days. Despite the laundry list of adverse side effects, Mefloquine is required by the Peace Corps / U.S. govt. and has the benediction of the WHO. The first day I felt diziness, the second my ears alternated between ringing and being mute, and by the third I felt like I was hallucinating. They say this will pass, and I do feel better now.



With this in mind, ironically enough, they've assigned me to a post to study native medicinal herbs! I'm really excited about my placement. I have been assigned to a small rural town in Dogon country called Pelini, home to about 500 people. This region is famous for its cliff-dwelling animist population and great hiking-- Senegal friends, you know how amazing this area is! Here I will be learning a language that only 3,000 people speak, called Doguloso. I'm the only PCT (Peace Corps Trainee-- they have an acronym for everything here) learning this language or going to my site, and I will be 40 km away from the closest Tubabu (interchangeable for white person/foreigner/PCV). No one else will be learning a language that no other PCVs speak. So basically, I have one of the hardest posts of the entire group and have already been dubbed a badass. Luckily the PCV formerly at my site (he's leaving this year) has spent the last year assessing community needs and developing a three-part project plan that I will be able to jump on. They want me to connect them with a local NGO to assist in rebuilding a road, build a granary/seed bank, and build a water pump. I'm also hoping to create a traditional herbal medicinal garden for the community, and have my own vegetable garden as well. The nearby larger town, called Bandiagara, also has a local traditional herbalist shop that produces medicine for retail in Mali. I will be working here part time as well in whatever way I can. Another PCV and I have talked about trying to create a book/resource compiling all of the local medicinal herbs in each of our regions.

Basically, A LOT has been going on. Tomorrow I leave the PC headquarters to go live with a host family in Bamako who speak Doguloso and are from the region I will eventually be moving to. I will be in Bamako with this family for the next two months, trying to soak up as much language as possible and stay sane. I am so excited and happy right now, although it is hour-to-hour and often I question why I am here and miss everyone at home more than I can stand. Write to me, I would love your support. I will have a cell phone soon if there is an emergency and you need to get a hold of me.

I love you all! K'an ben (goodbye in Bambara)!