Makilikaw ka baara, a ka ɲi de!

The rains have begun falling across the arid Mali landscape, where the villagers of Makili have returned to the fields to till the land and plant the crops that will sustain them through the upcoming year. My host brother Benke and other close friends were amongst the many to marry during the busy wedding season, which has just come to a close.

I miss my friends and family there. Especially during the wedding season, which I enjoyed more than any other, despite it being the hottest time of year. One friend asked me if I could be his ‘'kɔnyɔncɛ', basically his best man involving responsibilities such as stealing his fiancée in a donkey cart, amongst others. We joked, ‘a ka gɛlɛn dɔɔni’ (that'll be just a little difficult). Youssoufu told me people keep asking ‘Maliki ka dɔn bɛ min?’ (where is Maliki’s dance?).

I am happy to be able to keep in touch with my friends regularly, and am so proud of the work that they have continued in my absence:

Water and Sanitation Committee

Dramani, the chairman of the committee, sounded disheartened when we spoke on May 12th. One of the two pumps we had installed, serving the Diarrakɛla ‘kin’ (neighborhood), broke. I tried to offer encouragement, to advise him on how they can fix it themselves.

When I called him back two days later, he was beaming with pride. He told me that they had just repaired the pump themselves without ever having to ask anyone else for help. A piece of the piston unit had fallen within the well, and using their pump tools, they were able to retrieve, replace, and tighten it.

He excitedly proclaimed that now they can repair any pump on their own. We talked of even charging other communities to repair their pumps elsewhere. He sounded very proud, and I was too. I told him that’s why I wanted to teach them, ‘Aw ni baara’ (great work)!

I mentioned that the pump must have broken because of how it has been misused by people slamming the handle. While the villagers know how important the rule is, they need to take this opportunity to enforce it. He agreed, told me they are.

On Natural Disasters, NGOs, and Our Indelible American Spirit

Listening to the BBC World Service this week, I’ve been hearing many stories of destruction and survival from the tornado which struck Oklahoma on Monday. On Wednesday, a BBC reporter was interviewing a man who has already engaged himself in the rebuilding effort.

The reporter asked the man how is it that he can just move on and begin to rebuild so soon after such a devastating event that turned his entire town to rubble. The man basically replied that this is simply what we do as Americans. We keep moving forward, we tackle adversity.

The reporter seemed genuinely in awe, saying that it is always surprising how quickly Americans bounce back at times like this. And you know what, after having lived in Africa for nearly 3 years, he’s right. Our resiliency is an absolutely remarkable trait.

Could my community of Budalang’i here in Kenya ever bounce back from a natural disaster so quickly? Would they seize control of their situation, begin rebuilding as soon as the dust settled?

I contend that the answer is a resounding no. This community has seen their share of natural disasters – much of the area suffers from substantial flooding each year. But in times of such crises, what do the local people generally do? They lay stagnant, plead for assistance from the government and from foreign NGOs.

To drive the point home, a friend of mine told me today that he was walking along the dykes and noticed people, who’s houses had not been flooded nor threatened in the least, had already moved their families atop the dykes. Why? Because they want to be ready to receive free food once the NGOs come in to assist the victims. I have never encountered such an extreme level of dependency in America.

Without a doubt, in any natural disaster, outside assistance is required. Even in America, we can’t pick up our lives alone after such an event. Food, water, shelter… the necessities must be provided for during those initial days before we can obtain them on own. Even some money to support the task of rebuilding can be essential.

But the difference is the mentality, the amazingly quick rebound from tragedy in America before we begin working to rebuild our lives.

A Parting Trip to Uganda

I am now very much at the end of my service in the Peace Corps. I now have about 5 weeks left in Kenya, and in the Peace Corps in general.

Over the past year, I have had the pleasure to get to know both Kenyans and other Peace Corps Volunteers alike, many of whom I'd now count as some of my closest friends. Thankfully, this time around I have the opportunity to close my service out right, unlike in Mali where evacuation necessitated a sudden and hectic exit.

Our group picture after suiting up to raft the Nile River this past Saturday, May 18th.

Over the next 5 weeks, I'll remain tethered to my site, transitioning out of my projects and spending some final meaningful moments with the people I have grown to love here in Budalang'i. But over the past month, I took some time away from site for a couple final outings with my PCV friends.

On May 6th, I left site to attend a two-day close-of-service conference in Naivasha followed by two-days of medical examinations in Nairobi to close out the week. This was a good opportunity to get together with friends, socialize, and reminisce. Unfortunately due to my unique circumstances, the group that I am closing out with is not the same group that I came in with. That group still has another year in-country to fulfill.

So after returning to site for almost a week, I was thrilled to join 18 of my closest PCV friends, with whom I had arrived in Kenya and spent two months in training with, on a vacation to Uganda over this past weekend.

Back to the Beginning: Water Committees

Angelina, a CHW (Community Health Worker) in Mumbaya village, shows off their hand pump, currently in disrepair.

With the stark differences in culture and work environment, it has been surprising to see my experience in Kenya shift closer and closer to the one I had in Mali. Most recently, I have seen the needs of the community bring my work back to where I started with the Peace Corps: water.

New Drinking Water Sources

Back when I was traveling throughout our district to get to know the community and their major challenges, I documented several areas where access to clean water is problematic. Early last month I met with Pascale, the local Ministry of Water official who oversees new project planning, to discuss these areas and how best we can assist them. Due to my short time left in Bunyala, I felt that the best thing I could do was to inform the government of such areas and link the communities with the resources required to improve their situation.

In the village of Sisenye, I had noticed a large segment of the population in a particular neighborhood must walk long distances to fetch dirty water from the lake. Pascale informed me that the ministry is currently working on a piped-water scheme nearby, but in our discussion, we found that there were no plans of extending the line to this particular area. He said that during other extension work planned during the next fiscal year beginning this July, he will add a distribution line to serve this area.

Tree Nursery Establishment

After our tree nursery and agroforestry training finished up on April 20th, Mumbaya Youth Group met four times throughout the following two weeks to prepare our nursery for planting. We extended and improved the fencing, tilled the soil, and prepared the seedbeds (pictured above: members Francesca and Stephen) . Unfortunately, out of 11 members currently within the community, only about 4 members attended this work.

This past Sunday, however, 10 out of the 11 members showed up to plant our first round of tree seeds. Not all on-time, but I'd call that progress. We planted 8 different species, several of which Stephen pretreated the night before to ensure they'd germinate effectively. Pictured above, members prepare the seedbeds by adding a layer of sand to help ease the removal of seedlings later.

A Volunteer for the Community

I've tried.

Those are the words that come to mind when I think of my host organization at the moment.

I've tried.

I arrived at this organization at a time when my Peace Corps-designated 'supervisor' was on his way out to pursue politics. There was a lack of planning and preparedness with regards to the transition over to a new program coordinator, and a lack of staff.

I did my best to assist the staff who had remained, advise them on how to move forward. But when the person set to take the leadership position of the organization was neither willing nor able to move forward, it was up to the board to right the ship.

I've tried.

Since arriving here last August, I have consistently advised the organization's board members to effectively change the organizational culture and to hold regular meetings, at least monthly, to ensure that they can guide the organization appropriately. While they have held a few 'executive' board meetings with often only 3 or 4 of the 12 members of the board, they have been only held at times of absolute need.

I've tried.

As staff dwindled to none, I did my best to attend meetings, to represent the organization, even though my work should be done in conjunction with people, not solo. I trusted the chairman of the board, I felt that the will was there, that we could right things. My hope was before leaving, staff would take over. In the meantime, my efforts could bridge the gap, keep the organization relevant within the community.

I've tried.

I moved around the community with my counterpart, presenting ourselves as volunteers of the organization, actively building relationships and planning out new projects which could help the community.