Call me an American-African. I think I am becoming Malian...

Dancing with the villagers during Daouda's wedding 'dunun' (traditional drumming). (Thanks to Dan with Engineers without Borders for the picture.)

Since the time I was last in Ségou for regional in-service training and Easter, it has been a busy and incredibly enjoyable time for me socially in village. I have always felt that I have been well-integrated into the community, but during this time I have made it to a level I never thought possible, to a point where this village truly feels like home, as I have made many friends that will remain with me long after I leave Mali.

During this period, I have hardly opened a book to read, which is a stark departure from the blistering rate at which I had been reading previously. I have spent all my time either working on projects or, primarily, socializing with members of the community. My language has improved to a level where I now feel fluent, which has allowed me to have conversations with the villagers on a similar level as I can with Americans.

Over the past several months, I have gotten particularly close to the young men of about my age in the quartier (region) of the village I live in. Daouda, one of these young men who is also a member of the Water and Sanitation Committee we just formed, as well as one of the men on the village's Pump Team, has become one of my best friends. His uncle had arranged a marriage with a girl from another nearby village, Sarata, approximately three years ago.

In the Bamanan culture, marriage is traditionally arranged by the young man's father, who must make a payment to the father of the wife-to-be. Daouda's father had died when he was very young, so that responsibility shifted to his uncle, who made the payment over three annual installments. The full price was paid off last year, opening the way for the wedding this season.

Prior to holding the wedding, the groom must build his new wife a house. I helped Daouda in doing this, by assisting in building the mud walls, compacting the dirt base for the floor with a wooden paddle, and mixing/laying concrete for the floor. His house was completed last Friday, May 6th, allowing him to hold his 'kɔnyɔn' (wedding ceremony) beginning the following Sunday night, lasting through late Monday afternoon.

I have previously provided a detailed post about how weddings are traditionally held in my village, so I will stick with providing only the details of my specific role in the proceedings.

Water and Sanitation Committee - Potential Future Projects

I have previously described the PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation) series of formations I began with my village's Water and Sanitation Committee February 11th. Since that time, over the course of fifteen meetings, we completed the series on May 2nd.

The formations resulted in the village Water and Sanitation Committee members identifying needs in their community and potential projects to alleviate these needs. My intention at this stage is to build further capacity in the community by assisting them in raising all required funds in-village, not through funding proposals. The following is a list of the potential projects, of varying difficulty, that we have begun planning:

• Construction of Trash Collection Areas
• The intent is to hold a village-wide meeting to inform the villagers of the importance of their construction, as at the moment trash is simply thrown in piles, in the fields, or along the road. The wind, therefore, blows trash all throughout the village, posing a major sanitation concern. We intend on showing them how to construct simple bins made of walls about four feet high with mud bricks. This is the type of construction that is used for all of the houses in the village, so the knowledge is already there. Each concession/ section of the village would be responsible for constructing their own.
• Construction of Water and Sanitation Facilities at the School
• This project includes the construction of separate 'ɲɛgɛnw' (latrines) for men and women, hand-washing stations, and a drinking water well. Currently, there are no such facilities whatsoever near the site, and kids must use the surrounding millet fields as a bathroom.
• Construction of Well Covers for Existing Village Drinking Water Wells
• All of the existing drinking water wells within the village are uncovered. Although we now have two functioning pumps which the majority of the village now uses for their drinking water, wells are still frequently used. This is due to some concessions being located too far from a pump, or at certain times of the day the pump is locked to prevent damage from kids or the wait at the pump is too long. Because the wells are uncovered, food scraps, animal feathers/hair, faeces, insects, and other filth easily contaminate the water.
• Construction of New Wells within the Village and the Women's Garden
• Water is still scarce in certain regions of the village, and women constantly complain of water shortages within the garden. Constructing additional wells can help to alleviate this issue.