Elections

11.11.08
Earlier this week was the American presidential election, and the buzz in this part of the world has been pretty incredible to experience. It has led to what I think are very important conversations about tolerance and diversity and democracy more generally.
Mali, since its independence from France in the early ‘60s, has been help up as a fairly model fledgling democracy. There is a minimal amount of civil strife and the lack of violent governmental overthrow is truly astounding for this part of the world. Leaders are democratically elected and there is a well-established federal-regional-local hierarchy.
The Peace Corps gives us Newsweek. Six-week-old Newsweek, which I don’t understand at all. It’s the international edition, and I don’t imagine that Newsweek sends out six-week-old international editions to ex-pats all around the world. But also, let me tell you, Newsweek International Edition is Funny, with a capital F. It is clearly published for a different audience than the edition I’m used to. An audience with more money. Which I think is funny, because in my head when I am thinking of the kind of people who buy Bentleys and keep Rolexes in trust for the next generation, they aren’t reading Newsweek, but the Wall Street Journal and the New Yorker. But, there are lots of good pictures in Newsweek, and maybe they, too, like pictures in their news magazines. Pictures with captions that make sense. And then at the end there is a section called “for people richer than you’ll ever be” and it is full of fancy stuff you can buy for your house and fancy places to eat and stay – I love it.
Anyway, six weeks ago, Fareed Zakaria wrote an article about freedom, democracy, and land liberalization. It’s a good article. I would recommend reading it. He says, “Holding elections is a defining feature of any liberal democracy.” But the article is about how that is not really good enough. That there are plenty of other elements that go into making a democracy and making it work. He focuses to a large extent on land reform. I’m interested in attitudes. Attitudes that could drive a nation to hold elections or reform their land tenure system. And also attitudes that underlie the way citizens treat each other, their children, and their futures. Respect, creativity, tolerance, ambition, compassion, and responsibility.
I think maybe the importance of these attitudes is easily overlooked by us Americans because they are so deeply ingrained in our collective psyche that it is difficult for us to imagine being without them. I’ve been having a difficult time with these conversations with the brussey village Malians I associate with about democracy because these fundamental attitudes that I take for granted don’t exist here.
School can seem a drag, but every day an American student goes to school it is because America as a collective believes that each individual not only has a future, but has the potential to make his or her future matter. And then when he goes to school and sees that there is more to his life than just eating and sleeping and Young American Citizen Doe realizes that there is a greater world out there than just the one he can immediately see, the ideals because of which America works are reaffirmed. In Mali, children don’t all go to school. Especially not girls. In part it is because feeding a family takes so much time-intensive physical labor that everybody has to help out – everybody goes to the fields to farm, and then the girls help prepare the meal – but mostly it is because it doesn’t occur to uneducated parents that there could be a life for their children other than the one they are living. And schooling is not a requirement for that life. And then without going to school, the younger generation doesn’t get the opportunity to develop the creativity to imagine a changed life for themselves or their children. And without the creativity to come up with new ideas they never develop the ambition to strive for them. In America we go for the opposite of that; in America we cultivate possibility.
One of the things that limits the cultivation of possibilities in Mali is that there is very little variety. Every day is the same, every meal is the same. In a lot of these villages, I am the first white person that many of the children have ever seen. It doesn’t make any difference to the really little ones, but when they get to be about 2 ½ or 3, they begin to see that I look different from everybody else in their world. Now, in America, diversity is celebrated, and besides that, it is unavoidable. But in Mali, differences are not celebrated or encouraged. Differences just don’t exist, and if they do, they are suppressed. So instead of reacting to this strange person who looks different from them with interest or curiosity or even suspicion, little children react to me with terror. They scream and cry and run away. And the reason this is so disappointing is because the first opportunity these Malian children have to see a way of life other than the one they are living is so traumatic that it re-emphasizes naturally conservative tendencies and makes them even more intolerant of diversity. And, in contrast, just being able to walk down the street and see people of different colors – heck, people with different hair colors – opens up a world of possibility to young Americans. Because everything is not always the same, and the world is not a static place.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that it is easy for us to overlook all the great things that America does have going for it, even and especially when the country is angry, confused, poor, and struggling. But it is as much the intangible things that set the first world apart from the third as the tangible ones, and it is also the intangible things that are the hard ones to figure out how to share.
As far as our elections go, I think there is a little confusion about exactly who Obama was elected president of. Because if I were getting all my world news from Malians I would be pretty sure that he had been elected Lord King of All Creation for all Time. And the idea that he might focus on America over Africa is also one that is a tough sell out here. Paolo, down the street, puts up Malian billboards about Obama, and in the latest, Paolo is predicting an end to terrorism in the world. I fear that when the world discovers that he is going to be the president of America, and that he is going to preside in America’s interest, there is going to be a little disappointment.

new address for Kelly

We just got a message from Kelly with a new address.

Kelly Jones, PCV

Corps de la Paix

BP 71  

Koutiala

Mali, West Africa

Kelly said she will move into her new site on Thursday, Nov. 20. She has been staying in Kita lately, but will go back to her village with the P.C. truck to pick up things. Then on to Kouri, which is on the road into Burkina Fasso. 

Bicycles!!!

Well, the Peace Corps really came through with the bicycles. These things are so cute, they’re almost enough to make a girl sign up to stay in Africa forever. White with pink and grey. The grey is like regular bicycle paint and the pink is done in flowery tendrils all over the place. My frame is teeny tiny, so much so that my complementary water bottle (International Procurement Agency, Inc.: Proudly Serving the Peace Corps for over 25 Years – over half of Mali’s uninterrupted PC experience) doesn’t actually go all the way into the holder, and then it sticks out and sometimes I kick it off while I pedal, but it fits me remarkably well. And then my mother came through for me with my bike shorts. On a side note, if you ever join the PC, brink bike shorts. Because even though you have baggage restrictions and you may end up in a situation where you don’t need them, if you do you’ll be happier to have them than sad not to have something else. Except protein bars. Pack them over bike shorts. That’s the order: protein bars, bike shorts, sandals that don’t make your feet bleed, Gatorade. Everything else is inconsequential. And then my sister-in-law came through for me with this thing called a Cool Tie. Its not cool like the adjective that comes to mind whenever you think of me, but rather cool like the opposite of warm. Its this thing you tie around your neck with little balls in it that you put in water and they swell up and become gelatinous globs (a lot less gross than it sounds when I describe it) and then you put it around your neck and its not wet, and its not cold, but it keeps you cool. Amazing. And then the other pair came through with the Gatorade. I just have the best family ever.
But so, its about 60 km from Kita, my banking town/rainy season market town (PC really didn’t come through with that one), to my village. And doing this ride has done nothing but increase my respect for century riders. Because 60 km is what, 35 miles? I could figure it out for exact if I wanted to. I can still remember the day – 8th grade, Mrs. Daniels’ class – when we learned the Rule of Three, as our book called it. It was like magic, finding the missing fourth term in a pair of equivalent ratios. Right up there with the 9X finger trick. Now I wasn’t the most gigantic fan of Mrs. Daniels – she didn’t like David, and if nothing else we have family loyalty on our side – but that may have been the moment I fell in love with mathematics. I didn’t know it until years later, of course, but unfortunately, I think that’s how love sometimes works. But anyway, 35 miles. And after 35 miles I am SO tired! I can’t imagine wanting to ride another twice that far again. And then I think of certain people I know who do it on foot, and I am even more struck with awe. I think maybe PC is teaching me that I was put on this earth to be a couch potato. I also learned that I’ve just been breezing through police checkpoints with a good morning and a smile, which is a little bit of a no-no, but not enough of a no-no that the gendarmes ever got up from their tea to do anything about it. I thought that if you were on a bike you didn’t have to stop, but I’ve since been informed that everyone is supposed to stop. I guess that’s one way to avoid paying bribes in Mali.
I think that possible the rainy season may be over. It hasn’t rained in a while here and it has gotten ungodly hot. The timing is about right, and there is supposed to be a couple week long “mini hot season” before it turns cold. I’m hoping this is going to be the worse of the hot seasons because it is still so humid out in addition to being ungodly hot. And all the bugs are still alive. And there are no mangoes.
Well, I would like to apologize for misinforming my reading public about the nature of Ramadan. Turns out when you live in a Muslim country you still don’t necessarily learn anything true about Islam. (And this one came from a native English speaker, so I can’t even blame the translation) But I will tell you that the festival at the end, which we here in Bambara-speaking Mali call Seli, is one useful religious observance. I have never witnessed so much iron/protein intake in one day in my life. Even American Thanksgiving. Well, maybe American Thanksgiving. It’s really exhausting, to eat all day long. And this is fun. In the village, you not only eat all day long, but you burn with righteous indignation all day long. Because village people have one day of Seli, while town folk have two days, and Bamako fold have three days. And we village people be ANGRY about it! But not too, too angry, because we also all wear new clothes and don’t go to the fields for a day. I didn’t actually notice any praying or religious observances of any sort, but this host family is much less devout than the last one – as in not at all. So they might just put their energy into the eating and the new clothes, you know, a where’s the Christ in Christmas kind of thing. But I don’t know much else, I’m a well of information that was sunk in the wrong place and isn’t filling properly.
And finally, bless the Mines Geology Department. I have made the most beautiful map of my village and its water sources, and while its entirely possible that nobody in this country will appreciate it, gosh darn I’m proud of myself! (My other moment of great pride since I’ve been in Mali was crushed when the malaria smear that I labored to make a few weeks ago in the throws of the sweats was simply re-done as soon as I got to the clinic. I was crushed!)

Back in time

You know how when you go driving through small-town American on your way into town next to the nice welcome to wherever sign there is another one that says, we have Rotary International and the Lions Club and the Boy Scouts and whatever other organizations are active in town? Well, they have those signs in small-town Mali, too. Except instead of Rotary International and the Lions Club (actually, Rotary is represented) it is which countries and international aid organizations are keeping the village alive. Germans built our schools and Canadians put in out pumps and Norwegians are teaching in our schools and UNICEF is providing nutritional supplements. Because Mali sure isn’t building Mali.

10.15.2008

Well, I like to sew, and my host family knows that, so I regularly sew two scraps of cloth back into shirts or shorts or skirts for them. Well, I guess you take your mending to the tailor, right? And the tailor has the sharp scissors, right? And you’d want the person with the sharpest scissors for delicate cutting, right? Well, I know all that so maybe this shouldn’t have surprised me quite so much. But my host-mother came up to me the other day as I was sewing something up with her baby (2 months) and asked if I would circumcise him. I said no.

Moving Backwards - 9.14.08

We swore in as PCVs on September 12. It was a nice ceremony. The Charge d’Affairs, who is currently running the US Embassy in Mali has a wonderful French accent and I understood a lot of what she said. Malian French, still not so much understanding. After the ceremony we went to the American Club and swam in the pool for our Peace Corps party, and then after that we went out for the party the current volunteers organized for us. We decided it was a party for them, and we were just the excuse. Which was fine. We tore up the dance floor and then stayed in an air conditioned hotel and watched CNN. Which was great.

So now I am in Kita waiting to be installed. There is, of course, protocol to go through with every volunteer at every village, and then there is so much stuff that we all have, that they only can do a couple a day (in each region), and my teammate and I are being installed on Friday. So we have a few days to get our shopping done, catch up on our several month old copies of People and US Weekly, and get prepared for site. I bought a solar oven, which I’m particularly excited about, and I am going to see what kind of wonderful things I can concoct in it. I was thinking originally just along Dutch oven lines, but my APCD recommended going for more crock-potty recipes, which I hadn’t even thought of. So if anybody has any experience with a solar oven or any great ideas, just let me know, and I’ll tell you if it works or not.

I did almost miss the bus to Kita this morning. No, I almost missed the bus to the bus station this morning. I set my alarm wrong last night (because I don’t know why, but when you get before five or six o’clock in the morning it things get really confusing. So I set it an hour late), and was having weird dreams this morning that woke me up and I realized I was supposed to be up and breakfasted already. Butt luckily for me, I wasn’t the only one who slept through his or her wake up time. So we made it. And my bus, at least, didn’t leave for many many hours after we got there, so we got to watch French cartoons. I’ll tell you what, I didn’t know I was going to come to Mali and eat so much ice cream, swim in so many pools, and watch so many cartoons.

Bamako!

Guess who got a free (sort of) trip to Bamako this week? Yeah, that's right, this girl. It started out pretty bad and now is turning out pretty boring, but bad and boring took a turn for the better this morning when I bought a GIANT BOX OF CHEERIOS at the supermarket, the likes of which I believe only exist in Bamako. And I got some bananas at the corner and it was like eating a little bowl of heaven. Cheerios, believe it or not, and Chex are the two foods I have dreamed of the most since I've come to Mali.
Well, I've actually written out several blog entries that I am hoping to post at some point, about my arrival to site and my adventures there and in Kita. But as I mentioned, I am in Bamako right now, and they are all in Kita. So I"ll have to do that later.
So you know how they (at least used to) say that if you are going to have a heart attack, you'd be well-advised to do it in Seattle? Well, I think I'm still going to choose Seattle for my heart attack, but for just general passing out, I would highly recommend Mali. They take extremely good care of you if you suddenly go belly-up in the streets of Bamako. Help you to a chair, sit you down, bring you some water, put the fan on you - very, very attentive. Of course, then you don't want to go back there, because you are embarrassed about being the girl that fainted on their sidewalk, and they may have the best ice cream in all of Bamako, so sometimes you just have to suck in up and do the hard thing, don't you?
Well, besides all that excitement, we've finally found some French tutors in Kita that speak real Frenchy-French that I can understand (all teeth present and accounted for) and they want to do an exchange, learn a little English, learn a little French. Very excited about that.
Well, actually, my i-pod is all charged up now, and quite honestly, that's why I came in here, so I'm going to go back to bed now. Have great day, everybody, and I'll post some other more interesting stuff some other time. (Like, for instance, my young girl cousin, Seli, which was very confusing to me because it also means just plain old pray, is the feast at the end of Ramadan, and it took place while I was in Behon (my village) and so I will share what I learned about that.) So until then, au revoir (a phrase which my host family will swear up and down a stack of Bibles, or rather, Korans, is English - absolutely refuse to believe it's French, think I'm dumb for thinking so. Of course they think I"m dumb for innumerable reasons, so what's one more in the great scheme of things?).