Raging in a foreign language is fun!

In the context of a Malian village, I have generally been happy with the Water and Sanitation Committee we have started this year. We had difficulties with attendance at meetings during the month of May and into June, but this was to be expected, since the villages in rural Mali wait to hold all of their weddings during this time, causing people to leave regularly for adjacent villages.

Additionally, on the night of June 15th, the first intense rains of 'samiya' (rainy season) began. As soon as this occurred, nearly all of the villagers, men and women, have been spending all day working the fields, making my work difficult.

But despite these difficulties, during the month of June alone we met on three separate occasions, independent of our regular meeting, to walk from concession to concession together for about three hours to collect the monthly pump dues we had established. All five of the men have been involved with this effort, but only one of the five women. A couple of the women claim that collecting money is 'men's work,' while others have legitimately been too busy with cooking and chores in the morning to join us.

Due to the work in the fields, the committee decided in June to meet only once a month during the growing season. I left the meeting time up to committee members, since they know their schedules and must ensure that they can attend. The committee members decided upon holding their monthly meeting on the morning of the first Monday of each month.

On July 4th, the scheduled meeting time, only four men and one woman arrived. We held a brief, somewhat informal meeting with those who attended, but I told them we must meet again with the entire committee this month. I was concerned that since we had not held a meeting with all of the committee members recently, with all of the seasonal distractions, that the committee might 'break' if people get out of the habit of meeting. I was specifically concerned about the women, since the men have been actively engaged with money collection. So Dramani, the president of the committee, proposed meeting on the following Friday morning, and the others in attendance agreed.

Friday morning came, and not one person showed up. Not one out of ten! It was at this time that I decided to take a different tact. Normally, I would speak with the committee members cooly, explaining their obligations and responsibilities, and the way they address these can ensure either the success or the failure of our committee.

But this time, I decided to unbridle my rage. Malians tend to be very aggressive people, yelling to get their point across, although a shared smile and a laugh are never far away. I figured that by showing emotion and anger, I might be able to better get through to them. I have learned patience in the context of work in Africa. I was disappointed, but not particularly angry. This was simply a conscious decision to try and encourage change.

I walked to each member of the committee and raged at them. In effect, I told them that I never selected a meeting time, they did. If they select a meeting time themselves, they must think ahead and ensure that they have no other obligations. If they cannot attend, then they can simply select another time. Its not hard, simply a little forethought. Both of the former Peace Corps volunteers had set up their own Water and Sanitation Committees, and both failed. This is the village's third shot. If they don't show up to a meeting, then that tells me they don't want to work, and in that case I will go back to America tomorrow because I am not going to work to improve this village if the villagers themselves are not willing to.

Each person reacted by saying I cannot leave, that they will come. They just need to select another time, which they all seemed to agree would have to be at night, with all of the work in the fields.

I especially raged at Dramani. I told him as the president, if he does not come, no one else will. He must set the example. Not only that, he originally proposed the meeting time, and actually told me the night before that he would come. He said that Sorti, essentially the acting 'dugutigi,' told him to come to the fields with him the morning of the meeting, so he had to go. He asked if Peace Corps told me that I had to go to Segou, would I? I said sure, but I would tell people first! 'You couldn't take 5 minutes to do this?'

I then told him the bigger issue is his lack of forethought - he knew he, and most others, would be going to the fields on Friday morning. I explained how he must think ahead before he schedules meetings. He agreed, then decided to hold the monthly meeting this past Thursday night.

I talked with Korɛ, our 'mɔgɔwɛlɛla' (person-caller), and she told me that she had informed everyone in advance, as she always does. But there has been an ongoing issue where the other people claim they had not been told. So I told her what she should do is to tell each person the information, but then make them repeat it back to her. That way she knows for sure they heard the information.

So on Thursday night, seven out of ten members showed up, with only one person arriving on-time. The three people that didn't come were all women. The others claimed that some men in-village do not let their wives leave at night for fear of them visiting another man. I told them we must then talk to their husbands and make sure this does not occur.

During the meeting, in addition to our discussions on ongoing work, I again raged about responsibility, the necessity to attend all meetings, and to come on-time. We agreed to change the regular meeting time to the first Friday of every month, at night. I reminded them of the rules on attendance we had established, regarding fines and replacing a person that does not show for three consecutive times. They argued against the latter for a bit, but I emphasized that the rule allows for valid excuses, if they are communicated in advance. This is not a difficult thing to do!

In addition to our actual committee functions, I have had the opportunity to rage regarding enforcement of the pump rules we had established. Two of the members have been very good about yelling at people when rules are broken, and we are now working to get the others on board. But one thing they all have been hesitant to do is to actually collect fines.

So I have been trying to set an example. When I catch a rule broken, I tell the violator that 'if the fine is not paid within ten minutes, we will lock the pump. When people come and ask why they cannot fetch clean water, we will tell them you are the person who is preventing them from doing so.'

So far, I have caught four people, one being last night. The first two paid prior to the pump being locked, but the third did not pay within an hour. Dramani was very hesitant to lock the pump. I counseled him that if he does not lock the pump our rules will not have any teeth. He kept arguing, so I told him that he can do what he wants, it's his committee.  But I strongly recommend that you lock this pump now.  He finally did so, and within ten minutes the fine was paid. I left the fourth violator, the one from last night, in their hands, since I left early this morning for Ségou.  This instance will be a test to see how they handle the situation if the fine is not paid.

Although I have been more aggressive with the villagers, I feel that I am not compromising my standing in the community due to the level of integration I have achieved by taking a determined interest in its members during my service.  I still enjoy a great communal relationship with them and have gained their trust. 

I feel that I have actually gotten through to the villagers better by allowing myself to rage sparingly. Not only that, but it has surprisingly been enjoyable. Since raging taxes your speech to be quick, forceful, clear, and sturdy, it takes an improved level of language capabilities to do this effectively. It is a huge point of pride that I have been able to now reach this point, and it is fun!