In this vein, the following is a description of the different activities I've been engaged in over the past month, and how they've faired both positively and negatively:
Hand-washing
I consider the encouragement of proper hand-washing with soap prior to eating to be one of my most important objectives as a water and sanitation volunteer. It may seem like a simple change to make, but getting people to realize the strong correlation it has with the reduction of disease, and to then change their habits, is a very difficult progress.
Whenever I am around anyone who is preparing to eat in village, I first observe what they are about to do. If they bring out soap and water, I enthusiastically applaud their efforts. If they use only an old tomato paste can of water to dip their hands in, with which each person reuses the same dirty water, thus making their hands more dirty than when they began, I emphatically, but not in a rude way, condemn their behavior and ask where the soap is. I then explain how proper hand-washing kills the germs on their hands, which can significantly reduce the occurrence of illness.
A few weeks ago, while I was on a 'yala yala' (walk-about) through the fields, I visited a peanut field where my host-brother Ladji was working. Around noon, we sat down to eat a lunch of 'tɔ pasalɛn' which the women had just brought on foot to the fields. To my astonishment, he pulled out a bar of soap he had kept in a small plastic bag in his pocket. I praised him enthusiastically for this, particularly since he did not know ahead of time that I would be joining him. He truly has bought into the practice, this wasn't simply a one-time attempt to impress me.
It is a hard enough task to get people to use soap at home, but in the fields is another matter altogether, since it means carrying soap with them when they head out in the morning to the fields. So I later asked Ladji what made him decide to begin bringing soap to the fields.
Just before the rainy season arrives, the entire community gathers together for a local holiday called 'Sarakati, ' during which the villagers pray to Allah for significant rainfall to ensure good crop yield in the upcoming growing season. The villagers all gather together in the center of the village to first enjoy a small feast before launching into a series of muslim prayers.
I had brought soap with me and adamantly encouraged everyone around me to use it. The meal consisted of 'basi ni sumala mugu na ni misi sɔgɔ' (millet cous-cous with a sauce made from the bark of a tree and chunks of meat from a cow slaughtered in the morning). The meal was, as always, eaten with the right hand out of communal bowls, each shared by about 8 people. The meat, however, is handled differently. In order to make sure everyone gets their fair share, a 'cɛkɔrɔba' (elder man) is chosen to walk through the mass of people and hand each person a few small chunks of meat.
I had noticed one man, Omaru, eating his meat in a rather peculiar way - he was using both hands. In Mali, people use their right hand only to eat. This is because in Mali, people do not use toilet paper after relieving themselves, but a 'selidaga' (a container for pouring water) and the left hand. And they do not wash with soap afterwards.
Not only that, but I happened to see Omaru licking his left hand clean. So I said to him loudly so that everyone around would hear, 'Omaru, you normally do what type of work with that hand?' Everyone laughed and commented on it being the truth, and Omaru seemed a bit embarrassed by it.
It was this incident that Ladji specifically recalled. He said that my comment really made him think, and he decided from then on he would wash his hands with soap before every meal. This was one of my proudest moments as a volunteer. Just one person in a village of about a thousand, but that is how behavior change begins. Slowly, very slowly, hand-washing does seem to be catching on, person-by-person.
Drinking Water Well Treatment
With the completion of the pump project, the vast majority of villagers now opt to drink the much cleaner pump water, as opposed to the contaminated well water. However, I have realized that several villagers still drink the well water, primarily due to their concessions being rather far from the pumps.
I had held off on teaching the villagers how to treat their drinking water wells primarily because I did not want to overload them by tackling too many behavioral changes at once.
But this past Wednesday, a woman approached me asking for help on how to treat the community well nearest her concession. She had even bought bleach herself from market on Sunday due to her concern.
So I asked Dramani and Daouda, two members of our Water and Sanitation Committee, to join me and I guided them in treating the well. There is a simple method to treat drinking water wells monthly, which can be easily taught to Malians.
You first measure the depth of the water by simply lowering a rope tied to some type of weight, like a rock, until it reaches the bottom of the well while keeping the rope taught. Based upon the depth, the degree of bleach available, and the diameter of the well, you can easily determine how many tea glasses full of bleach to use. The well is treated at night, so that by the time people wake to fetch water in the morning, the bleach has had time to sit and disinfect.
Once we had finished treating this well, Daouda turned to me and said that he would like to begin treating all of the village wells every month, and Dramani agreed. Of course, all of the wells in the village are uncovered, and roaches could be seen all along the concrete walls of the wells. So the bleach will only do so much. But nonetheless, I was very encouraged by their initiative, and said that is a great idea. They plan on using some of the 'kɛsu' money (from the monthly pump dues) to buy the bleach.
I told them that the more effective solution is to convince each family to treat the 'fiɛn' (clay pot used for storing drinking water) in their concession individually, but as Daouda suggested, that will be a difficult sell. He is planning on beginning to do so in his concession, however. And he drinks pump water.
Water and Sanitation Committee ('ji ni saniya tɔn sigi') Monthly Meetings
In a previous post from July 16th entitled 'Raging in a foreign language is fun!,' I covered the issues I was having in regards to attendance at our Water and Sanitation Committee meetings during the months of May, June, and July.
Due to the fact that during the rainy season, nearly all villagers spend every day working their fields, we had opted to meet only once a month during this time, on the first Thursday night of each month at 9:30 PM (Thursday night western calender, Friday night african calender. The new day in the African calender begins at sundown).
A storm arrived on Thursday, August 4th, with rain lasting until about 7:30 PM at night. We had previously discussed that if it were to rain during our scheduled meeting time, we would meet on the following night instead. I wasn't sure what would come of this meeting, since the rain stopped prior to our meeting time. So I went to our meeting place, but found that no one came. Turns out, not only did the rain present an issue, but a man of about 35 years of age had passed away that afternoon.
Due to these issues, I spoke with Dramani, the 'ji ni saniya tɔn sigi ɲɛmɔgɔ,' about selecting a new meeting time for the month. We decided to meet on Sunday night, August 7th (Monday night african calender). We then told Korɛ, our 'mɔgɔwɛlɛla' (person-caller), to inform the other committee members.
Five out of ten of our committee members ended up attending, three men and two women. Lassana was not among them, as he was sick.
I had previously spoken with Dramani about needing to take the lead role in our meetings. Before every meeting, I sit down to discuss with him what we would like to cover during the meeting, and make sure that he knows what he wants to say.
But despite this guidance, he normally begins the meeting with the traditional greetings and blessings, speaks very briefly, then calls for Lassana to speak because of his propensity to talk a lot, even though I had not met with Lassana.
I told Dramani that his work is very good, and I know he can lead meetings and facilitate discussion effectively. But I think he is just shy in front of a group of people. He agreed. I told him that it would be very good to me if he tried to work on this. He agreed that he would not delegate the leading role to Lassana at future meetings.
So during our August meeting, Dramani led the discussions effectively. Of course, Lassana wasn't there as an option for him to turn to, but I was very pleased with his performance. I still had to remind Dramani to discuss certain topics, but once I did he was able to speak on them. And without Lassana there to dominate discussions, I found that everyone was more involved throughout the meeting.
Pump Rules
I am still trying to get the Water and Sanitation Committee members to effectively enforce the pump rules by collecting fines for violations. This is difficult to do, not only because it requires a confrontation approach on their part, but also because most of the members are currently in the fields all day.
But last Tuesday, Dramani took a stand on his own and locked both pumps until Thursday morning. He told me that he was not happy that some people were not respecting the rules. Particularly, both pumps were filthy because they were not being cleaned regularly in the morning by the women in each 'kin' (neighborhood).
On Wednesday, when we were walking together to take a look at soap-making equipment a woman has in village for use in the soap-making formation we are currently planning to hold, Sorti, the acting 'dugutigi' (chief-of-village), actually called over to us saying that we need to unlock the pumps. Dramani, to my delight, stuck to his guns and refused, saying that people need to realize that they need to respect the pump rules in order to have access to them.
Fish Feed Area ('jɛgɛ dumuni yɔrɔ')
Once we had finished treating this well, Daouda turned to me and said that he would like to begin treating all of the village wells every month, and Dramani agreed. Of course, all of the wells in the village are uncovered, and roaches could be seen all along the concrete walls of the wells. So the bleach will only do so much. But nonetheless, I was very encouraged by their initiative, and said that is a great idea. They plan on using some of the 'kɛsu' money (from the monthly pump dues) to buy the bleach.
I told them that the more effective solution is to convince each family to treat the 'fiɛn' (clay pot used for storing drinking water) in their concession individually, but as Daouda suggested, that will be a difficult sell. He is planning on beginning to do so in his concession, however. And he drinks pump water.
Water and Sanitation Committee ('ji ni saniya tɔn sigi') Monthly Meetings
In a previous post from July 16th entitled 'Raging in a foreign language is fun!,' I covered the issues I was having in regards to attendance at our Water and Sanitation Committee meetings during the months of May, June, and July.
Due to the fact that during the rainy season, nearly all villagers spend every day working their fields, we had opted to meet only once a month during this time, on the first Thursday night of each month at 9:30 PM (Thursday night western calender, Friday night african calender. The new day in the African calender begins at sundown).
A storm arrived on Thursday, August 4th, with rain lasting until about 7:30 PM at night. We had previously discussed that if it were to rain during our scheduled meeting time, we would meet on the following night instead. I wasn't sure what would come of this meeting, since the rain stopped prior to our meeting time. So I went to our meeting place, but found that no one came. Turns out, not only did the rain present an issue, but a man of about 35 years of age had passed away that afternoon.
Due to these issues, I spoke with Dramani, the 'ji ni saniya tɔn sigi ɲɛmɔgɔ,' about selecting a new meeting time for the month. We decided to meet on Sunday night, August 7th (Monday night african calender). We then told Korɛ, our 'mɔgɔwɛlɛla' (person-caller), to inform the other committee members.
Five out of ten of our committee members ended up attending, three men and two women. Lassana was not among them, as he was sick.
I had previously spoken with Dramani about needing to take the lead role in our meetings. Before every meeting, I sit down to discuss with him what we would like to cover during the meeting, and make sure that he knows what he wants to say.
But despite this guidance, he normally begins the meeting with the traditional greetings and blessings, speaks very briefly, then calls for Lassana to speak because of his propensity to talk a lot, even though I had not met with Lassana.
I told Dramani that his work is very good, and I know he can lead meetings and facilitate discussion effectively. But I think he is just shy in front of a group of people. He agreed. I told him that it would be very good to me if he tried to work on this. He agreed that he would not delegate the leading role to Lassana at future meetings.
So during our August meeting, Dramani led the discussions effectively. Of course, Lassana wasn't there as an option for him to turn to, but I was very pleased with his performance. I still had to remind Dramani to discuss certain topics, but once I did he was able to speak on them. And without Lassana there to dominate discussions, I found that everyone was more involved throughout the meeting.
Pump Rules
I am still trying to get the Water and Sanitation Committee members to effectively enforce the pump rules by collecting fines for violations. This is difficult to do, not only because it requires a confrontation approach on their part, but also because most of the members are currently in the fields all day.
But last Tuesday, Dramani took a stand on his own and locked both pumps until Thursday morning. He told me that he was not happy that some people were not respecting the rules. Particularly, both pumps were filthy because they were not being cleaned regularly in the morning by the women in each 'kin' (neighborhood).
On Wednesday, when we were walking together to take a look at soap-making equipment a woman has in village for use in the soap-making formation we are currently planning to hold, Sorti, the acting 'dugutigi' (chief-of-village), actually called over to us saying that we need to unlock the pumps. Dramani, to my delight, stuck to his guns and refused, saying that people need to realize that they need to respect the pump rules in order to have access to them.
Fish Feed Area ('jɛgɛ dumuni yɔrɔ')
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| The current state of the fish pond. As the rainy season progresses, the water level continues to rise significantly. It is now approximately 7 feet deep. |
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| The higher water level means that the walls of the fish feed area are significantly undersized. The tree branch posts you see sticking up out of the water in the foreground are those formerly placed on July 14th, and shown in my previous blog post, for the walls. Back right, floating compost can be seen in the pond, which has escaped past the walls. |
At this time, the water level in the pond is about 7 feet deep. Understandably, the villagers are concerned about being 'swallowed' by the water. Sorti, however, has assured me that he promised me that the village would expand the fish feed area, so it will be done.
As a solution, the villagers have decided to build a raft by lashing tree branches to large plastic water jugs. They are currently working on procuring the materials. Once this is done, they will use the raft to finish the construction.
Flooding Issues around the Fish Pond
One of the major issues the village has identified to improve with the fish pond is the concern of flooding. Late in the rainy season as the intense rains continue to accumulate, the pond fills up with water to an extent that it also floods the surrounding area. Their major concern actually is not the actual flooding itself, but that the use the flooded land to escape from the pond.
Back on July 1st, the villagers took the initiative to begin constructing an earthen berm to the North of the fish pond where the flooding generally occurs. They had not quite finished this structure at the time.
Flooding Issues around the Fish Pond
One of the major issues the village has identified to improve with the fish pond is the concern of flooding. Late in the rainy season as the intense rains continue to accumulate, the pond fills up with water to an extent that it also floods the surrounding area. Their major concern actually is not the actual flooding itself, but that the use the flooded land to escape from the pond.
Back on July 1st, the villagers took the initiative to begin constructing an earthen berm to the North of the fish pond where the flooding generally occurs. They had not quite finished this structure at the time.
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| The netted/reinforced inlet within the break in the earthen berm the villagers constructed. |
On July 30th, Sorti and Kasim, two men on the 'jɛgɛ mara yɔrɔ ton sigi' (fish pond committee), finished this construction by stringing fish netting along the inlet using tree branches and rocks within the berm. This inlet is intended to permit rainwater upstream to enter the pond, while preventing fish from escaping.
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| A close-up of the netting strung along large branches. The bottom of the netting is held in place by burying it into the soil and using small wooden stakes and rocks to weigh it down. |
They also reinforced the inlets closer to the pond, directly underneath the metal fencing around it's perimeter, with fish netting and stones to keep it weighed down.
This local solution to the problem impressed me and shows that the community, at least the fish pond committee, is beginning to take ownership and buy-in to the project.
Women's Garden Committee ('muso nako tɔn sigi') Monthly Dues Collection
On Wednesday, July 27th, we held one of our bi-weekly Women's Garden Committee meetings. Currently, the only item that has been on the agenda is the collection of monthly dues.
One woman on the committee, Aissetta, our 'sɛbɛnɛkɛla' (secretary), was recently taught how to write by her husband. As she is the only woman able to read and write, the ten women on the committee generally come to the meeting with the money collected within their 'kin' (neighborhood - there are 4 in our village) for the previous month's dues and recite to Aissetta by memory who paid, and for how many months. Therefore, our meetings tend to be long and slow.
By the July 27th meeting, the women were to have collected three months worth of dues: May, June, and July. This was because due to the wedding season and work in the fields, dues were not previously collected during the months of May and June. Two 'kinw' (neighborhoods) succeeded in collecting all three months. Unfortunately, one 'kin' did not yet collect any money, while another collected two months instead of three.
So by our next meeting on Wednesday, August 10th, the women were supposed to have finished collecting dues up until the month of July, and were to begin collecting for the month of August.
Unfortunately, Aissetta was sick and did not show up for the meeting. So I got the notebooks from her husband, and Lassana and I worked to decipher from them what was previously collected, then mark, from the women's memories, who has paid since our last meeting.
I found this process to be exceedingly difficult. The notebooks were not well formatted. An 'X' is placed by each women's name for each month of dues paid. But there was no clear organization, as they were not arranged in columns, and women with multiple plots (and thus responsible for multiple dues each month) were not even indicated.
With this confusion, the amount of money that I counted as previously collected from the notebooks differed greatly from the total money we had on hand.
I realized that I had not given Aissetta enough guidance in how to effectively format her notebooks for proper bookkeeping. So the following day, I sat down with her and discussed ways to improve the notebooks. She agreed, and is now working on recopying the information. At that point, we will then sit down together with the women from each 'kin' to verify the information we had previously received.
I was telling her that it is very difficult, because with her being the only woman that can read and write, she has a whole lot of work to do. She then informed me that there are a couple other women in-village, but not on our committee, that can write. I asked if she would like for us to add one of these women to the committee to assist her, and she said that would be very good to her, sounding relieved.
So I spoke with Mama, the 'ɲɛmɔgɔ' (president), and she agreed to speak with Fatimata, the 'muso jɛkulu ɲɛmɔgɔ' (President of the overall Women's Committee). Fatimata then spoke with the husband of the new woman for permission, then the woman herself, finding that she was interested in the position.
So we now have added a second 'sɛbɛnɛkɛla' to the committee, bringing the total membership to 11 women. This should hopefully ease our work in the future.
One woman on the committee, Aissetta, our 'sɛbɛnɛkɛla' (secretary), was recently taught how to write by her husband. As she is the only woman able to read and write, the ten women on the committee generally come to the meeting with the money collected within their 'kin' (neighborhood - there are 4 in our village) for the previous month's dues and recite to Aissetta by memory who paid, and for how many months. Therefore, our meetings tend to be long and slow.
By the July 27th meeting, the women were to have collected three months worth of dues: May, June, and July. This was because due to the wedding season and work in the fields, dues were not previously collected during the months of May and June. Two 'kinw' (neighborhoods) succeeded in collecting all three months. Unfortunately, one 'kin' did not yet collect any money, while another collected two months instead of three.
So by our next meeting on Wednesday, August 10th, the women were supposed to have finished collecting dues up until the month of July, and were to begin collecting for the month of August.
Unfortunately, Aissetta was sick and did not show up for the meeting. So I got the notebooks from her husband, and Lassana and I worked to decipher from them what was previously collected, then mark, from the women's memories, who has paid since our last meeting.
I found this process to be exceedingly difficult. The notebooks were not well formatted. An 'X' is placed by each women's name for each month of dues paid. But there was no clear organization, as they were not arranged in columns, and women with multiple plots (and thus responsible for multiple dues each month) were not even indicated.
With this confusion, the amount of money that I counted as previously collected from the notebooks differed greatly from the total money we had on hand.
I realized that I had not given Aissetta enough guidance in how to effectively format her notebooks for proper bookkeeping. So the following day, I sat down with her and discussed ways to improve the notebooks. She agreed, and is now working on recopying the information. At that point, we will then sit down together with the women from each 'kin' to verify the information we had previously received.
I was telling her that it is very difficult, because with her being the only woman that can read and write, she has a whole lot of work to do. She then informed me that there are a couple other women in-village, but not on our committee, that can write. I asked if she would like for us to add one of these women to the committee to assist her, and she said that would be very good to her, sounding relieved.
So I spoke with Mama, the 'ɲɛmɔgɔ' (president), and she agreed to speak with Fatimata, the 'muso jɛkulu ɲɛmɔgɔ' (President of the overall Women's Committee). Fatimata then spoke with the husband of the new woman for permission, then the woman herself, finding that she was interested in the position.
So we now have added a second 'sɛbɛnɛkɛla' to the committee, bringing the total membership to 11 women. This should hopefully ease our work in the future.
Women's Garden Pépinières (Nurseries)
As I had previously covered in April, the pépinières I had assisted the women in preparing were initially a strong success. The seedlings which were grown seemed strong, healthy, and plentiful. We successfully distributed these seedlings to all of the women in the garden.
But unfortunately, I have since learned that all of these seedlings had died once they were transplanted. Our pépinière seedlings were not unique, apparently all of their crops had died. So chalk this one up to a lessen learned - do not start pépinières during the hot season.
I so look forward to each new post. Thank you so much for this blog.
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