Kan jumɛn bɛ? Bamanankan.

Since arriving in Kenya, I have continued to keep in touch with my Malian village of Makili regularly by phone. There have been a lot of happenings in village life, and unfortunately like those on the national scene, most are not particularly good.

My friend Dramani called me August 10th to inform me that Shaka, a young man of about 35 and heavily involved in the ‘Diarrakɛla tɔn sigi’, passed away from something he described as blood not being able to flow. I’m assuming it was a heart attack. It was tragic not only because he was so young, but also because he was a great guy who was very involved in the village.

The ‘Diarrakɛla tɔn sigi’ had always impressed me in their motivation and activities, and a lot of that stemmed from its two ‘ɲɛmɔgɔw’ (presidents), Shaka and Alou. The committee operated within one of the four neighborhoods of the village, Diarrakɛla. The youth of the neighborhood would normally work twice a week during the planting and harvest seasons to work on behalf of the committee. This is not a small sacrifice, as work during these times is substantial with families having to work their own fields daily. The funds raised by this work then go towards community events, primarily their often-times weekly ‘shɛniw’ (dance parties) and other celebrations. Shaka will be greatly missed.

I later learned that a young boy of about 10 years old, whom the village endearingly called ‘Dugutigi’ (because he was the namesake of his uncle Madou Katilɛ, the ‘dugutigi’, or chief of the village), passed away on August 26th after drowning in a body of water near the rice fields which they were working. People tried to save him, but couldn’t get to him in time.

Hearing of his loss really shook me. Dugutigi was still only a child, way too young to go. But not only that, he always seemed to me to exhibit such a strong since of compassion and responsibility well beyond his years. He always helped his siblings and the younger kids around him as best he could. Just a great kid all around.

I was fortunate in that, unlike many of my colleagues in Peace Corps Mali, I never encountered the loss of people I became close with while in village. The only deaths that occurred while I was in village were either very young babies generally under a year old, the elderly, or people whom had been suffering from illness for an extended period of time. So these two losses shook me.


Beyond these tragedies, the rainy season in village has been very good this year, much better than the previous two. The rains have been steady and plentiful, yet unlike in 2010, they haven’t damaged the crops.

The close of Ramadan came in August, and with it came the Islamic holiday known in Mali as ‘SɛIidɛni.’ I was touched when several of my friends from village called me during this time to greet, ask how I’ve been doing, and regret that I couldn’t be there with them.

When talking to Dramani the other day, he told me that people are always asking where I am, and the normal response is ‘a bɛna sɔɔni’ (He will come soon). It again means a lot to me that I am not forgotten, and I do hope to visit them soon. But unfortunately, it won’t be for the extent that they hope.

In terms of work, it appears that the committees we started together have continued to meet and function, but progress, primarily regarding money collection, continues to prove slow and difficult.

Water and Sanitation Committee

Throughout the month of May, the Water and Sanitation Committee continued to make a big push in money collection for the well construction project, but as June approached, the complaints from the villagers of having no money intensified. It was towards the end of the wedding season, and people claimed to need until next ‘ɲɔ gɔsi waati’ (millet pounding/harvest season) to pay.

I continued to stress to Dramani, the president of the committee, the importance of collecting this money early, telling him that if they keep putting the work off, it may never happen. Dramani insists that they won’t abandon the work, too many people have already paid, but they have tabled their efforts until the harvest season.

Most importantly, however, the committee remains active within the village. The committee has continued to hold monthly meetings, as well as treat the community drinking-water wells monthly with bleach. They also continue to work to collect the monthly dues from each family, although they have also encountered difficulties with the availability of this money as well.

The ‘ɲama fili yɔrɔw' (trash collection bins) we had planned to construct during this past hot season never happened. Several people made bricks to construct the bins, and the four committee members I spoke with over the phone continued to stress that the project was moving forward before the rains.

But the time kept slipping and slipping, and once the rains came, everyone began heading out to the fields every day. My neighbor, Sortiba, who was the most vocal partner in constructing one, severely injured his hand, which led him to delay his work until next year. But in general, this project seemed to fail more so due to lack of motivation and persistent postponement.

Fish Farm Committee

I am happy to report that the Fish Farm Committee appears to have continued to perform the work they had promised to do at the time of my evacuation.

During the end of the hot season, the committee had organized days in which the village assisted in picking up all of the trash within the pond. This was long overdue, as the ground was absolutely littered with trash and debris.

As the rains came, and it became evident that the pond would become full, the committee also constructed additional structures involving dykes and netting to ensure that fish would not escape from the pond. They also restocked the pond with a great number of ‘dɛbɛ’ (tilapia) and ‘mannɔgɔ’(catfish).

I have continued to advise Youssoufu, one of the committee members, on how to properly feed the fish. He has told me that Sorti, the president of the committee, is ensuring that the compost areas are prepared outside of the pond, and that feed will be casted across the pond surface regularly once properly composted.

Women’s Garden Committee

The Women’s Garden Committee has been difficult to gauge, primarily because only one of the women, Aissetta, actually has a cell phone. Unfortunately, I have not been able to reach her since late May, when she was happy to report that they had been holding regular bi-weekly meetings, and that all money had been collected without issue.

I have asked other friends in village if they know about the status of the committee. But so far, I have only received word from Koka, my host-father, that Mama, his wife and the president of the committee, does continue to hold meetings. Whether these are actually being held regularly and money is being collected is a question I haven’t been able to answer as of yet.