Our sites were announced today at Tubaniso. I am headed to a village of approximately 1,200-1,500 people; about twice the size of my homestay village. It is located in the region of Ségou, and is approximately 100 kilometers east of the city of Ségou. It is a Bamanakan village which predominantly practices Islam and speaks Bambara. The villagers are primarily farmers and fishermen. The village has four butigis (small food/supply stores), a primary school, two water pumps (one of which hasn’t worked in four years), and several improved large diameter wells. Similar to my homestay site, the houses are made of mud construction. I will have cell phone coverage in the village through Malitel.
I will be replacing the last of two consecutive volunteers placed in the village. It appears that they have implemented several current projects, which I will be continuing, including a fish farm, a community women’s garden, and community well construction. However, I look forward to evaluating the village’s needs in my first several months and implementing new projects to meet these needs throughout my term of service.
Tonight at dinner, I met my homologue, Lassana. Each volunteer is assigned a homologue, who is a well-regarded member of the village tasked with helping the volunteer implement their projects. The man is huge and looks like a football player from the states. He is maybe the only Malian I have met taller than me, and seems to be very outgoing and jovial. He only speaks Bambara, so communication is difficult at the moment.
Over the next couple of days, we will be in classes together here at Tubaniso. On Wednesday, August 11th, we will depart in the morning for my village in Ségou via my first foray on public transportation in Mali. Should be an interesting trip. I will stay at my site until Wednesday, August 18th, at which time I will head back to Tubaniso, debrief on Thursday, and head back to homestay on Friday, August 20th. I will try to post again at debrief.
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