Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

133 days and counting until I leave Mali and return to America. It is a strange feeling, to be both excited and terrified. Everything I own is in just a few boxes in my father's attic. Upon returning I will have to acquire a car, cell phone, computer, clothes, suits for job interviews, and probably a place to live. As I calculate the amount of money I will leave Africa with, I figure I have about 3 months before things get really tight. But after living in Mali for three years I will just be happy to live off the dollar menu and sit in air conditioning for a few months. But as always everything will work out and if there is one thing I have learned in Mali, it is patience and the ability to occupy vast amounts of time doing not much more than reading.
I am extremely happy to announce that the "Tongo Schoolhouse Project" has officially broken ground and the foundation is being laid as we speak. Last Tuesday the truck of materials and custom designed doors, windows, and roofing panels arrived from Bamako. We spent most of Wednesday counting every screw, paintbrush, and nail in the shipment to make sure we received everything we paid for. We returned to Segou to make copies of receipts for both Peace Corps and Build On and to have a celebratory dinner downtown. There is now a construction supervisor and two mason teams working in Tongo. We have handed the reigns over to Build On and can relax for a little while. So, Mary and I thought the most appropriate thing to do at this point is leave Mali and go sit on the beach for a week. Tomorrow we are going down to Bamako to pick up our passports and hop on a bus to Burkina-Fasso. We will then try to find a bus to Accra, Ghana and then make our way to Cape Coast. There is a beach resort there where you can sleep on the beach for a couple dollars a day. After 3 long years all our hard work and begging is finally paying off. I would like to thank everyone again who contributed to the project and hope that you will be pleased with the school when it is completed. It will be a school like no other in the entire country of Mali.

...This Bus Is CLEAR

-I returned to my village to discover that a man had been murdered. I still haven't gotten the story totally straight, but this is what I have so far. 3 men went out to their fields to do some work because the rains are coming early this year. Two of the men were from my village of Cinzana and the third man was someone passing through working odd jobs. For some reason they were arguing about shoes. (when I say shoes I mean really cheap flip flops not Air Jordans or Bruno Magli's) Apparently one of the two men from Cinzana had hidden the third mans shoes. I guess they thought it was funny, the third man didn't. After an argument and brief scuffle in the field the stranger headed back to Cinzana to gather his belongings and continue his search for work somewhere else. The man with whom he had an altercation sought him out in the courtyard across from my house and brandished both a club and machete. Well, the third man managed to get both the club and machete away from him and...I am sure you can figure out the rest. The stranger fled the scene and was found the next day, in a village called Kondja, hiding in a tree. This is the first murder I have been aware of in my three years in Mali, and it is odd to find myself involved in a situation in which I didn't know how to act. That night a mob of lantern toting villagers passed my hut hunting a crazed murderer armed with a machete. Just another crazy night in Mali.

-So, after an interesting visit to Cinzana Mary and I climbed aboard a Bittar bus heading to Segou. We almost got on a Bani bus, but it was loaded with goats. (A little word to the wise, don't get on a bus with a roof packed full of goats, and if there is no other option, don't sit by the window) We found a seat near the back of the bus between two older gentlemen and a handful of chickens. We greeted everyone and we began moving. About 10 minutes later in the middle of nowhere the bus stops and picks up 2 women. The older woman was dragging a girl, of about 20, onto the bus. The younger woman's head was covered in a bright orange sheet and all you could hear were loud chants and screams coming from under the covering. I didn't even give this a second thought and continued to read my book. (I have spoken of a numbness before, and it is something you couldn't understand unless you've been in a foreign developing country for a long period of time. Things like animal slaughters on moving buses, children playing with knives while cooking over huge pots of boiling grease, mass circumcisions, people poohing on the street, etc...don't even bother you after a while, because you know if you think about one thing you have to process everything you have seen and that would take months of serious therapy.) A few moments later I noticed the young lady wasn't singing any longer and I noticed the old man sitting next to me had moved. I heard rumblings from behind me and turned to see what was going on. I turned to Mary, "Hey I think there's an exorcism going on in the back of the bus." The old man was now leaning over the girl picking her up by the chin and slapping her forehead, while he and the other passengers were screaming, "Djene Djigi! Djene Djigi! " (Leave Devil!) I had to chuckle to myself, there was no way this was happening. Only in Mali could they have mobile Exorcisms, and I get in trouble for not wearing a bike helmet. I mean what are the chances that not only was I on a bus with a possessed girl but also a licensed exorcist. The odds are staggering! After a few choruses of "Leave Devil" we made it to the police checkpoint. The exorcism is still going on in the back of the bus as vendors get on to sell phone credit and silly hats. I tried a hat on and it looked ridiculous so I decided against it, opting instead for an orange soda. Honestly, whats a good exorcism without refreshments right? Just then a soldier got on the bus and walks straight up to me asking for my Passport. He doesn't even glance in the direction of the religious ceremony in the back as he holds my passport upside down and examines it. He must of thought it was OK because he handed it back and we continued on to Segou. The last time I saw the bus it was on the Markala road heading north and the chants of "Leave Devil!" fell out the windows. I got on my bike, put my helmet on, and headed for the office. "Time is on my side" played through my headphones as a tail wind pushed me forward to the next crazy experience in Mali.

Not bad for government work...

I was told by someone who reads my blog, "I have a suggestion, less text more photos." So, here are some pictures and descriptions of the work I have been doing over the last 2 and a half years.

The Tongo School Project

The Tongo School focuses on sustainable design and environmentally friendly building techniques. Cement is the main building material used in most Malian schools. Because cement is not produced in Mali, it must be shipped in from Cote d'Ivoire by truck, which makes cement a very expensive component of the budget. By using a technique called compressed earth bricks, the amount of cement utilized in the Tongo School project is less than 25% of the average school. We have also incorporated an innovative rainwater harvesting system into the design, which during the rainy season, will be able to collect as much as 4200 gallons of water to be used for garden irrigation during the dry/hot season. This project has taken over two years to get funded but is finally underway and should be completed by the time we leave Mali. We have partnered with an NGO called BuildOn to help with fundraising and overall supervision of the project.

The Cinzana School Garden Project Part 1

The Cinzana School Garden project was my attempt to incorporate every sector of Peace Corps in one project. I acquired a piece of land, put up a fence, cleaned and repaired a well, rebuilt a pump, and purchased seeds and gardening materials. (That took me over a year) The children are responsible for every aspect of the garden from planting and harvesting, to selling the produce at the local market. It will allow them to learn new agricultural techniques as well as standard business techniques and mathematics. My hope is that the health of the students will also be improved by making fruits and vegetables available all year round.

The Cinzana School Garden Project Part 2

Pumps are a blessing and a curse. They make the act of getting water from a well much easier, but they break very often and are expensive to repair. Many good wells sit unused because the pumps can't be fixed by the village. The problem is that they require routine maintenance and care that aren't provided on a local level. If a pump is used properly it could last for many many years. However, the people of Mali are not gentle people and when they grab a well handle they start slamming that thing up and down like it stole something from them. I truly believe they think the harder they pump the faster the water will come out. So, inevitably the pumps break and they return to the wells with their ropes and pulleys.

The Cinzana School Maps Project

Maps are the default projects of volunteers.