We
just finished site visit, our first opportunity to meet our host community as
well as see where we’ll be and what we might be doing for the next 24 months. My
immediate reaction to spending four full days on site is that I have been well
matched with my community. As placement sites in Mali go, mine has more
amenities than most. I do not have the stereotypical Peace Corps placement in a
remote village which is accessible only by hours of bumpy bus rides followed by
a long sandy bike ride. My city is right off of a main road. I am within easy
walking distance of a post office and bank with an ATM. I have full cell phone
coverage since there is an antenna a few hundred meters from my apartment. Many
of the trainees in my stage have to walk, bike or take public transport a
significant distance to have access to these resources. My physical living
conditions are also quite good compared to what some of my friends have. I live
in a three-room apartment with a bathroom, electricity and sometimes running
water (hopefully the running water will become more predictable).
Having
visited site also means that I now know my mailing address for the next two
years! If you’d like to send me a letter or package, please address it to:
Sean Cochrane
Volontaire Corps de la Paix
BP
3 Niono, Mali
West
Africa
Once
I get on site for good I’ll be missing everyone even more, so keep in mind that
no reason is too small or insignificant to drop me a line.
The
people in my community are welcoming and I definitely don’t get bothered as
much as I might in a smaller village. It is normal for tubas to be given a lot
of special attention, especially from children, since many Malians have never a
person who isn’t black (excluding the not insignificant population of albinos
in Mali). Of course there are simply more people in the city so I stand out a
little less. 53,000 people is a pretty decent size for a Malian city. It is by
far the biggest city north of regional capital in Segou, and as such it is a
bit of a crossroads. However, the main reasons is that other toubabs who work
for NGOs pass through the city from time to time and several generations of volunteers
have completed service in the city. There are also many people who come to Niono
from the surrounding rural communes (a subdivision of a region) so there is
already some relative diversity present.
Many
of the people are indistinguishable from those at my homestay site next to
Bamako, however if one pays attention one will notice much more variation in
skin color, facial structure, and dress. Some of the rural communities in the
region are quite isolated and have maintained a lot of old traditions. I would
guess that among the people living in the city there is significant mixing of
ethnic groups through marriage, but I would be surprised if there is little of
that in the surrounding communities.
The
most apparent example of a difference in dress is the jalamugu, which is a kind
of turban or head wrap worn by men, which I’d say maybe one out of every eight
to ten men wear. I haven’t yet asked anyone if there is a cultural significance
to it or whether it is purely functional. The owner of the butigi next to my
house has shown me to put one on though, which is surprisingly simple. My guess
is that its purpose is solely functional in that it protects the wearer from
sand and sun. However given the current cool temperatures, I think some people
may also wear it for warmth.
Speaking
of temperature, the norm is about 95-100, at midday, which is quite cool and
comfortable compared to a few weeks ago. The temperature should continue to
drop before it starts warming up at the start of hot season. At night I use a
wool blanket for warmth and I keep the doors and windows of my apartment closed
to keep my body heat in. However with the windows in three rooms and given that
my apartment is on the second floor, it should ventilate quite well in the hot
season which will start early next year. Before then, through January, the
current chill should get even colder. In fact this stage is lucky, since the
stage before us is set to experience three hot seasons during their service,
whereas we came in just after hot season so we will only have to experience
two.
That’s
all for now – tomorrow morning we head back to homestay (we are now between
three homes: Tubaniso, homestay, and site) where we’ll stay until Christmas. We
should receive an updated schedule soon with more info!