Orientation

"Solitude and meditation gave me an awareness, a perspective which I have never lost: that of solidarity with the rest of mankind." - Vicente Aleixandre

Each morning we head for orientation by hailing a taxi on our road. Monday and Tuesday we went to ASDAP headquarters where I met President Madame Traore Fatoumata Toure in person after reading about her, and the organization she created, on the internet a few months ago. We have working sessions with Dana who is here from One World for only a week and Malian young leaders Coumba, Namory, Ousmane and Amadou whom they call Coulibaly (his last name).

The harrowing taxi rides take 15 minutes through motorbikes, buses, other taxis, people walking, vendors sidestepping cars to sell to passengers and beggars doing the same. The motorbikes are the preferred method of transportation and I have seen it all from women riding with babies strapped to their backs, to 3 grown people riding at the same time, to people transporting HUGE bundles, to women dressed nicely and in heels riding them. I have only seen 2 helmets in all this time. It is every man, woman and child for himself on the roads.

We have a morning breakout session and we break for tea and what looks and tastes like empanadas. Then we go back in for more discussions, brainstorming and activities and then break for lunch which they serve. We usually have salad and some sort of rice, potatoes or couscous with either chicken, beef, or fish. I was warned not to eat salad but for some reason I felt this was ok and I must be right because I have not gotten sick. I do not drink the water though. The first day I thought they would provide water so I did not bring a bottle. But they of course provide tap water. I was so thirsty that I thought I would just bite the bullet and drink it. Instead I had sodas. I have drank more sodas in the past few days than I have had in the past few years though mostly I stay with my bottled water. I actually have been sick but not with one of the various issues one might expect. I traveled 6000+ miles to catch a common cold. The constant switch from sweltering heat to AC is doing me in. I'm almost over it though.

I speak French the best out of our group. Andrew has been struggling, probably more than he thought he would, because his Haitian French is more of a patois. Rodney speaks a bit but has been studying avidly every day. Every day without fail Andrew says it is hot and that he is tired. He nods off in class sessions and goes to sleep as soon as we get home. Today was cooler in the evening as it got cloudy so I had more energy to go out when we got back but he did not. I wonder if he has anemia or if the situation will subside once he starts working at his placement.

Today we went to the US Embassy with Mieko and met with Daley, the Asst Security Advisor to talk about safety in Mali. Our meeting was particularly interesting since he is a Jamaican who lived in the US for a time. After the required talk about not opening ourselves up to petty thievery he told us that what we are doing is very important and also that there are great restaurants and places to go out dancing here and that he would take us out before we left. Andrew was very excited to meet Daley as he is also Jamaican, and Haitian. They both spoke in Jamaican patois while Daley escorted us down to the lobby.

Afterwards we went to Projét Jeune offices and World Education (WE) offices. WE talked about their success in creating sustainable community projects surrounding education. I was particularly interested in their projects in the distant northern regions of Mali bordering Algeria which may harbor extremist activities. Apparently the State Department sees their educational successes there as critical to our defense efforts.

Then we had a presentation from ASDAP and another from a group representing female rights with regards to the law. Earlier this week Namory and Coumba were going back and forth. Namory said that women and men in Mali already had equal rights; Coumba said they didn't. The presentation resolved the issue. If a woman's husband dies and he has designated a guardian of his estate, the woman has to collaborate with the guardian to make decisions about the children and the household. Property is not allowed to pass from father to daughter or husband to wife. A man must always take possession of the property and 'safeguard' it for the woman, a way to keep women from having power or say. Until 2002 a woman had to have her husband's permission to obtain contraception. Coumba also said that many times a husband will give his wife money each day to buy food and things for household needs and if it is not enough to feed the children, the onus is upon the wife, not the husband, to find a way to get more money.

After the presentation I asked Namory how he could have said that women had equal rights, no matter how well he treats his own wife. I said human rights provided the right to control one's own body and destiny and women were humans were they not? Later he asked a very poignant question on the premise of my argument. During another conversation Namory asked me if I liked Mali. I said yes. He asked me if I liked it enough to stay here. I said that I was used to freedom, rights, and power, as a person... as a woman, and that once someone had experienced freedom they would never be happy with less than that.

Coumba invited me to a Malian wedding. Obviously nothing I have to wear will do and so she said she will look into me having something made. Mieko's friend Katie said she had a strapless dress made for a US wedding for the equivalent of 4 USD, not including the fabric. Oh that I could be so lucky.