It's been quite a while since my last blog post... for that I apologize. It's been a crazy hectic couple of months, and things are just about to slow down again.
In mid-December I left village to go to Bamako for our IST, or In Service training: two weeks of technical training tailored to each sector and region, with a focus on project design and implementation (how to milk the gov't for funding... finally). For us environment/natural resource management folks, this meant sessions on irrigation techniques, beekeeping, fish farming, and tree planting. It was wonderful to reconnect with volunteers from other regions who I hadn't seen in months. Sad, however, to part again and realize that some of them I very well may never see again, and most not until our COS (Close of Service) conference about a year from now.
After IST I left on a holiday trip to Ghana with my partner Dan and three friends. It was both relaxing and frustrating at the same time: overland vacations in Africa are not the most laid-back of adventures. Ghana is incredible; in fact, it very well may be my favorite country out of all of those I've visited. Quite the drastic change it was to go from being a volunteer in rural Mali-- one of the poorest, most resource-challenged and under-developed countries in the world-- to being a tourist in all of the hot burgeoning spots of the west African development success that is Ghana. It was hard, I have to admit, to see the kind of life that volunteers there experience as compared to what we have in Mali.
Ghana is spectacularly beautiful in the southern half (the north is similar to parts of Mali), with rainforests and quiet ocean beaches. We did a forest canopy tour on hanging rope-walkways in Kakum National Forest, we went boogie boarding at a tiny eco-resort called The Green Turtle (tacos, cocktails and bonfires for Christmas!), and New years bar-hopping in Accra, the capital. Accra feels much like an American city (at least it does from the perspective of someone who's been in Mali for six months). It is an unfortunate host to massive suburban sprawl, as well as fast food joints, hot night clubs, and even a mall with a movie theater showing recent American flicks. We saw the new Holmes film and ate over-priced popcorn in an air conditioned theater with comfy seats.... is this really Africa?
Some strange, unexpected differences between Ghana and Mali:
1. In Ghana NO ONE smokes cigarettes. Effects of French vs. English colonialism? Men chain smoke all over Mali, which causes Peace Corps volunteers to follow suit, while in Ghana, every time one of us lit up we would get scolded by numerous passers-by. They should put all PC smokers here.
2. The word "Broni" -- the equivalent of "Tubab" or "white person" in Ghana -- is heard far less on the streets of Ghana than in Mali (or Senegal).
3. They sell ice cream, or 'FanIce' on the streets. Are you kidding me?
4. The food is a million times better in Ghana, and somehow cheaper. Everything is cheaper in Ghana.
5. There are pretty much NO garibous (beggar children) in Ghana.
5. Not unexpected, but... Islam vs. Christianity. Coming from the US I've only come to resent religious fanaticism when it comes in the form of Christianity. Somehow in Mali, the omnipresence of Allah-related terminology and references doesn't bother me. Maybe because it's not in my native language. But in Ghana, we ran into Crusaders speaking in tongues and fainting at big conversion seminars on the street, evangelist hostels, and a strange breed of Christmas celebrations (who knew Christmas could last for not one, but THREE days, and that you could dress up and dance in the streets instead of sitting at home?).
After all of this, surprisingly, my entire group of travel-buddies were ecstatic to finally return to Mali. This is home. When we finally crossed the border from Burkina Faso into Mali (after a gruelling bus ride-- it takes around 48 hours straight to get from Bamako to Accra), I found myself looking upon the images that make up life in Mali-- women carrying bundles of firewood on their heads, the wilted drying landscape, trash burning in the streets, dirty little kids only wearing either a t-shirt or a pair of ratty pants, never both-- and I fell back in bittersweet love. This is where development really needs to be done, and this is what Africa means to me. Granted, we didn't experience the poor village bush life of Ghana, which surely exists as well. But it is undeniable to me that Mali is a much more difficult place to live in. I can only rest on the hope that despite the lack of comforts and the beauty of Ghana, my experience in Mali will be that much more fulfilling for both me and my community.
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