First Month at Site

Overall, it was a good first month at site. I am happy to finally be settled in, and have all of my things unpacked for the first time since I arrived in Mali. It has been fun to explore my new home and start to have a daily routine.

Some highlights from the past month:

A PCV who worked in Kenieba for two years finished her service and moved back to the US at the end of September. We overlapped in Kenieba for about a week, and she was really helpful in getting us oriented. We met with two community groups that she had been working with, a women’s gardening association and chicken raising group. It’s great to have the opportunity to continue working with these groups, as both projects will hopefully become income generating activities.

I arranged a “meal plan” to eat lunch every day with my host family next door. For dinner, I eat four nights a week with my counterpart’s family. My counterpart, Hakim, is a metalworker and a member of the artisans union I will eventually be working with. It has been fun getting to know both families and comparing family life in Kenieba to my first Malian host family in Baguineda. One big difference is having electricity at night; Hakim has a TV and satellite dish, so we watch European football matches and news from the French stations TV5 and France 24. Like my first host family, Hakim has a complex family structure. Some of his brothers have died, and their widows and kids live with Hakim’s family. He and his older brother, whose family also lives in the concession, support the entire family. It makes for a lot going on around the house!

I had another case of dysentery (aka bad diarrhea) in September… bacterial this time, so it was less severe but lasted longer than the amoebas that were wreaking havoc in my intestines in July. I also had a fever for two nights from the dysentery, which was not fun. Since then, things have checked out all right in the health department! I’m hoping it will stay that way for a while…

Some of the best days were spent exploring the area around Kenieba. It is a beautiful region of Mali, very lush and green (especially now, at the end of the rainy season) with a chain of cliffs (escarpments) to the south and east of town. We were guided on a path up one of the escarpments to a village on the top of the ridge, with a beautiful view of the valley. Matt and I have done some more exploring since, and found more great walking paths and small villages “en brousse” (in the bush). We also did a good amount of biking, and made it to the Faleme River which separates Mali and Senegal.

We are in Kayes for about a week to regroup and reconnect. I plan to post a few blog entries while we’re here, so stay tuned for more. Photos are coming soon too!