The Dawn of Hot Season: Masonry, Committees, and Weddings

I returned to village after the music festival about two and a half weeks ago. I had planned to stay for longer, but unfortunately had to cut this stint short due to possession by the devil, i.e. contracting a bad case of conjunctivitis (pink/demon eye) in both eyes. I just arrived in Ségou to pick up medication. The illness has apparently been making the rounds within my village, and I noticed afterwards that one of my host mothers has it.

The hot season is on the horizon. The work in the fields has generally ended, save for some scattered preparations for the next growing season, such as hauling compost. The building season has begun in earnest, with many villagers involved in making mud bricks and building houses, walls, and latrines.

This work, however, is not a major time commitment, allowing me to ramp up my efforts involving the committees we have begun.

I met with both the Water and Sanitation Committee and the Women’s Garden Committee last week. In addition to facilitating a discussion of our impending work for the upcoming season, I gave each committee a speech on responsibility and obligation. My intention was to weed out any member not willing to pull their own weight, and to encourage the rest to take ownership of their committee. There is often a struggle with attendance and on-time arrivals within both committees.

I told them that ‘it is not an obligation to be on this committee. It is not an obligation to do the work. If you do not want to be on this committee, no problem, you can leave and we will replace you. No hard feelings. But if you do decide to be on this committee, it becomes an obligation to work. It becomes an obligation to attend all meetings on time. It becomes an obligation to participate. And if, for whatever reason, it is not possible for you to attend a scheduled event, it is an obligation to inform the president of the committee ahead of time.’

I also told them that I am no longer going to remind them to hold our regularly scheduled meetings or work, such as well treatment. I now have less than six months left in village. I now want to see for myself that these committees can last without me serving as their driving force.

I am generally encouraged by what I have seen from the Water and Sanitation Committee. Generally the members are willing to work and are motivated to improve the village. But some members still have a tendency to look at our work as secondary to any other work they might have. If work can be done in the fields on a certain day, this all too often takes priority, even though it could easily be shifted. I am trying to change this perspective.

We have now added our 12th member, Aisseta Pilyea, who also serves as the secretary for our Women’s Garden Committee. On her own accord, she had taken it upon herself to enforce rules at the Diarrakɛla pump and ensure that it is regularly cleaned. She has also spoken to me about wanting to work with women to encourage proper sanitation regarding children. Due to her initiative, the committee unanimously agreed to her addition.

The major project within the Water and Sanitation Committee at this time is money collection for the upcoming well construction. Each ‘duba’ (household) is expected to contribute 8,000 CFA (approximately 16 USD). Twice a week, I join the men on the committee on a ‘yala yala’ (walkabout) through the village. We stop at each ‘duba’ to collect the required money. We hope to have all money collected by the end of next week. So far, only 4 out of 62 ‘duba’ have paid.

Sorti, the acting ‘dugutigi’ (chief of village), met with the village elders last Monday. They reaffirmed their commitment to the project, saying that the money will be paid. The next scheduled collection is Saturday, during which time Sorti is to join us in order to add force behind the effort.

Unfortunately, the Women’s Garden Committee has been in much worse shape. We had previously decided to hold regular meetings every two weeks, but these meetings have not occurred for over four months! I was persistent in encouraging the meetings, but always received the response that we could not meet. Either there was too much work to be done in the fields, or a significant amount of money wasn’t yet collected, which in their eyes rendered holding a meeting useless.

I began the meeting by asking them how our committee currently stands. ‘Is it broken?’ They all agreed that it is. I told them that this is why it is important to hold regular meetings.

Since only Aissetta can read and write, the women rely upon memory to remember who has paid monthly dues, and the amount paid, between meetings. There are 187 women with places in the garden, and only 10 committee members. As time goes on, memory can fade, which can cause major problems regarding our bookkeeping.

Additionally, meeting regularly is important to discuss any additional items on the agenda. When the women are actively engaged on a regular basis, the committee becomes habitual, and will not fail. I told them that they can choose to change the meeting time seasonally to avoid conflict with other work, but it must happen.

We later went through the books, and I taught Aissetta an effective accounting format to keep track of money entering and leaving the ‘kɛsu’ (account). The women had also previously decided that they would like to loan money out to certain women on the committee to ‘jagokɛ’ (sell items), in order to grow the money. For each 5,000 CFA withdrawn, the women must return that amount plus 250 CFA per month. So I also helped Aissetta set up a format to keep track of these amounts.

On a different note, I have been pleased to find that the wedding season, my favorite time in village, has begun earlier than I expected. Although no weddings so far have occurred within our village, nor have any involved our women being married to men in other villages, I joined some friends this past Sunday afternoon to kick off the season with our first wedding.

The groom was the younger brother of one of the women in our village. They hired the ‘zɛnasi’ (youth organization) from our village to run the ‘shɛni’ (dance party) that night.

Eight of us rode out to his house in Sirajankɔrɔ in a ‘misiw wɔtɔrɔ‘(cattle cart) Sunday afternoon. Another ‘misiw wɔtɔrɔ’ followed us out with the ‘shɛni’ equipment. The trip took about two hours. We stayed overnight to take in the festivities before returning home the following afternoon. We had a good time.

My favorite part was actually the trip to and from the wedding. Eight of us were crammed into a small cattle cart as we crossed through millet fields, passing other villages. It was a loose atmosphere, us joking with each other while dance music blasted from our radio. I feel like just another Malian while with my friends, but I can imagine, being a white American, that the scene looks a little different to those outside of my village. Some of the looks I received were priceless. I look forward to many more experiences during this season.