Woroni Waterfalls

I just returned to Ségou after spending an enjoyable few days in Sikasso celebrating Thanksgiving with my fellow Mali Peace Corps volunteers. On Saturday, several of us headed out to a nearby set of waterfalls by a village called Woroni, where we spent the day hiking, then camped overnight.

The waterfalls were absolutely stunning. The dramatic rock faces and lush vegetation seems far removed from the level, dry, monotonous plains of my region. So I figured I would post a few pictures...

The Woroni waterfalls.

This is how a few of us made it up to the top of the falls before we discovered a trail that meandered through the woods on the other side of the falls. We had to straddle the log and climb up, over a pretty severe drop. It was a bit nerve-racking. There is actually a second set of equally-impressive waterfalls further upstream.

A view along the top of the first set of Woroni waterfalls. I love the natural brown and black contrast in the rocks.

November in Village: Harvest and Cattle Herding

Youssoufu driving his 'misi wɔtɔrɔ' (cattle cart) back from the fields packed with rice stalks, after the grains had been beaten off of them. His younger brother Kasimu is seated on top.

Tayluru packs down rice stalks atop his 'gwa' (wooden shelter). The villagers store as much vegetation as possible following harvest in order to provide food for their animals during the dry season.

As shown above, the piles can get quite high. Daouda is atop with a tool packing the vegetation down to make it sturdy.

'Seliba' (The Islamic Festival of Sacrifice)

The Muslim holiday of Tabaski (Festival of Sacrifice), or 'Seliba' in Bambara, took place on Sunday, November 6th. The celebration on Sunday involved a communal morning prayer in the fields, followed by a communal breakfast of 'kini ni tiga dɛgɛ na ni misi sɔgɔ' (rice with peanut sauce and cow meat).

Married men spend the following two mornings in groups 'yala yala ka daraka dun' (walking about from concession to concession to eat several breakfasts in succession), then the rest of the day relaxing and chatting in these same groups. Unmarried men get together in one place and pool their money together for a simple communal meal. After cooking, the wives of each group of married men get together to eat a communal meal, then also spend the rest of the day together. The 'yala yala ka daraka dun' tradition, I have since learned, is specific not only to our region, but to our particular village.

Also in my village, the 'denmisenw' (young men and women) hold their 'shɛniw' (dance parties) each day and night.

The following are some pictures I took during the festivities:

Each of the four 'kinw' (neighborhoods) in the village slaughter their own cow. This was my 'kin', Katilɛla.

Since we had filled the 'jɛgɛ dumuni yɔrɔ' (fish eating area) primarily with agricultural scraps, the villagers had the idea to empty the undigested stomach contents of the cow, primarily crop stalks and grass, into the area. No part of the cow went to waste!

An adventure on Malian transport...

Malian transport cannot exactly be described as ‘dependable.’ Although inconvenient and uncomfortable, transport in this country can be rather entertaining. Any Peace Corps volunteer in Mali has their share of stories on transport. My favorite personal travel story happened to me on my last trip back to site. The following is my journal entry from that day:

My friend Bamu, the 'mobilitigi', stands in front of his bashé just before leaving Ségou one afternoon.

11/3/11 – Thursday

At 5:45AM I biked down to the gas station which Bamu, the ‘mobilitigi’ (bashé driver), told me to be at by 6AM. The Yolo ‘mobili’ (bashé) hadn’t yet arrived, and Bamu’s phone wasn’t on when I tried to call him. 

So I waited, soon joined by a woman heading out to a village along the same route, past mine. She called her contact, Soumalɛ, but he said there wasn’t an extra place for me. They claimed another vehicle may be available, so I nervously continued to wait after her 'mobili' left.

Just after 7AM, I was finally able to reach Bamu, who told me to wait there. 15 minutes later, as I was buying an egg sandwich breakfast, he arrived in his empty green bashé. He ended up shuttling me back to the bus station, where his older brother’s ‘mobili’ was to leave shortly.

'jako bɔ ɲɛnajɛw'

The scene in the dugutigi's (chief of the village) concession at the conclusion of Kɔrɔ's 'jako bɔ ɲɛnajɛ.'

After being in village for over a year, I have experienced all of the seasons of village life, and therefore most of the major events. However, there is one major festival that had evaded me last year due to training which had kept me in Ségou. This festival is the 'jako bɔ ɲɛnajɛw' (mascot/costume festival).

This event is held each year just before 'ɲɔ tigɛ waati' (millet harvest time). The tradition harkens back to the animist roots of the Bambara people, prior to their conversion to Islam. Although the Bambara ethnic group is predominant throughout Mali, 'jakow' are only found in our small, immediate area within the Ségou region. Bambara people elsewhere in the country have no such tradition.

My village used to hold such a festival every year, but ceased to do so over ten years ago. But two nearby villages in my commune have kept the torch burning, and it is in these villages, Kɔrɔ and Siyjan, where I was able to experience this unique and exceptional event.

The festivals begin at around 10PM at night, and last until 'fajiri waati' (the first call to prayer in the morning, around 4:30AM). Kɔrɔ held their festival twice over two weeks. On the final day, after halting at 4:30AM, we all got a couple precious hours of sleep before beginning again at 8AM for another three hours.

I hitched a ride on a 'misiw wɔtɔrɔ' (cattle cart) commandeered by a group of young kids from my village to get to and from the first festival night in Kɔrɔ. For the Siyjan festival and the second Kɔrɔ festival, I biked out to the villages, meeting my good friends Tayluru and Lamissa there who arrived by motorcycle.

Harvest begins...

Men from the nearby village of Siyjan taking grass back from the fields to use in constructing 'jakow' (mascot-type figures) to be used in their upcoming 'ɲɛnajɛ' (festival), which takes place annually just before 'ɲɔ tigɛ waati' (millet-cutting time).

Badama, my 'jatigi dɔgɔcɛ' (host-father's younger brother), grinding peanuts I bought in the market to make my 'tiga dɛgɛ' (peanut butter). This is one of my favorite treats here - better than you can find in the states, natural and unmodified.

I spent a day with my friend Senata (right), helping 'tiga bɔn' (pull peanut plants from the ground) in her peanut field. She shares a field with Nyani (left).

Agricultural Productivity and Well Construction

Throughout my service, I have remained committed to the ideal that my role as a development worker is to teach the villagers skills which they can use in the future to better themselves. Therefore, when our Water and Sanitation Committee members decided that they would like to build additional drinking water wells during the upcoming hot season, I told them that we would obtain all of the funding for this project within the village itself. My reasoning is that, thanks to several projects by the two former volunteers in recent years, the villagers already know how to construct wells. The skills which they now need to learn relate to project management and fundraising. Since I am the last volunteer of three in my village, I feel that my role is to ensure that when I leave, any project which we undertake can be replicated in the future.

Therefore, over the past month I have been working with Dramani, the president of our Water and Sanitation Committee, and Aliwata, the secretary, to begin to plan out this project. We sat down together with a local man well versed on the construction of wells using 'bisiw,' or concrete rings. I guided the men through asking questions on the type and quantity of materials required for construction. As we obtained the information, I taught Aliwata how to create a budget sheet, with columns for the type of material, unit of measurement, unit cost, units required, and total cost.

A look down a well made using 'bisiw' (concrete rings).

We then sent villagers to nearby shops to obtain cost estimates for each material. Once this information was obtained, we gathered together to update our budget sheet, total the costs, and determine how much each household would have to contribute to construct one well.