Tut tut, looks like rain

Rainy season is in full swing here in Mali. August is the wettest month of the year, and that was definitely the case in Kenieba this year. There’s a heavy downpour just about every day, and the road outside my house becomes a fast-flowing stream, at least until the sun comes out again. It’s been a challenge to keep my yard cleared of weeds and other fast-growing plants. I joked with my neighbors that I live in a forest, because I couldn't keep up with pulling out all the weeds! A bunch of kids helped me finally clear all of it out, but I still find myself weeding a few times a week. Another not-so-fun part of rainy season is the mosquitoes, which are a nuisance even in the middle of the day. Most of the year there are no mosquitoes in Kenieba, but they are out with a vengeance during rainy season.

The little footpaths around town are all grown in now… any open space has become a field of peanuts, corn or millet stalks. The cliffs around Kenieba are lush with vegetation, and there are even little waterfalls popping out from the cliff's edge. The weather is nice and comfortable most days, and I’ve even felt cold after a big monsoon comes through! I’ve gotten back in the habit of brewing tea in the morning, and even heat up some water for a nice warm bucket bath at the end of the day.

Eighty new Peace Corps Mali volunteers finished their training last week. There are a bunch of new volunteers in my region, including one who will be working in Kenieba. She had a great site visit in August, and I enjoyed showing her around, introducing her to my friends and work partners. Being her guide around Kenieba really put things into perspective for me, in terms of how well integrated I have become in the community, not only with the women's association and artisans I've done some work with, but my neighbors and other people I've gotten to know over the last year.

During the past few weeks most Malians have been celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. I'm sharing a link to The Big Picture blog again this year since it does a great job of illustrating how Ramadan is celebrated in different cultures all over the world. According to the Big Picture:

Muslim men and women across the world are currently observing Ramadan, a month long celebration of self-purification and restraint. During Ramadan, the Muslim community fast, abstaining from food, drink, smoking and sex between sunrise and sunset. Muslims break their fast after sunset with an evening meal called Iftar, where a date is the first thing eaten followed by a traditional meal. During this time, Muslims are also encouraged to read the entire Quran, to give freely to those in need, and strengthen their ties to God through prayer. The goal of the fast is to teach humility, patience and sacrifice, and to ask forgiveness, practice self-restraint, and pray for guidance in the future. This year, Ramadan will continue until Thursday, September 9th.

In Mali, people are awake before dawn to eat a big meal and drink enough water to last them through the day. Though they say they are used to fasting during the month of Ramadan every year, it’s still a struggle for some people to make it through the day. They become agitated and anxious in the late afternoon, when they begin the countdown to sunset, when the imam signals over the loudspeaker that they can break the fast. Typically their evening break-fast is a sweet porridge called ceri. Then they head to the mosque for a special Ramadan prayer, and eat a larger meal at around 11 PM. Since they’re up again at 5 AM, they’re not getting much sleep during Ramadan, which must add to the agitation and anxiety! But it is a yearly ritual that affirms their Muslim faith. It is humbling to observe the Malians who continue to work and go about their daily business during Ramadan, because I don’t think I could possibly keep working without food and water all day! I should also mention that kids, the elderly, and adults who are pregnant or sick do not fast during Ramadan. People are not forced to fast; it is a personal choice, a decision between you and Allah, so some adults will still sneak a snack or at least drink some water during the day.

I am headed back to Kenieba tomorrow, in time for the fête on Thursday. I’ll be celebrating the end of Ramadan by eating a big feast with my homologue’s family. My host family is still in Bamako as school doesn't start here until October. So, one more month of cooking lunches for myself as well!

I uploaded some new photos of Kenieba in the rainy season; you can view them by clicking the photo:

Shea Butter Formation Photos

I wrote about the training in a blog post back in May, but realized I hadn't posted photos yet. Click on the photo to view the album:

Tilefana tobi don o don

English translation: Cooking lunch every day

Since I moved to Kenieba last September, I have been eating lunch with my host family every day, enjoying some of the great food my host mom prepares. By Malian standards, she's a really good cook... most of the time we have white rice with a sauce (peanut sauce, leafy sauce, onion sauce) and cooked vegetables. At the beginning of July, my host mom, brother and sister left Kenieba to spend summer vacation in Bamako with relatives. They will be back in time for school at the end of September. So until then, I am cooking lunch for myself each day.

I was never much of a cook back in the states… I was a big fan of Trader Joe’s heat up and eat meals on the few occasions that I cooked for myself. Unfortunately there are no Trader Joe’s on the African continent, so I've been forced to teach myself how to cook. Cooking lunch every day for the past month or so has been an adventure. It has been fun to go down to the market and pick up some vegetables and other ingredients, then figure out what I can make with them. Unfortunately, since dry season just ended and the rains are starting up, it’s not the best time of the year to buy vegetables. Since Kenieba is so hard to get to, the only produce available is what is grown in the surrounding area. Some food products come from Bamako, but not easily perishable goods. For example, you can buy South African apples and Cote d’Ivoirian pineapples. We also get eggs, onions, garlic and potatoes from Bamako.

The vegetable that has been available in Kenieba recently is eggplant, so I use that with onions, garlic, various spices and tomato paste to make a decent vegetable marinara sauce. Combined with spaghetti that I get at the store next to my house, it makes for a good Italian meal. Thanks to sauce packets, I've also made some pesto with fresh basil. Basil is wild here and seems to sprout up everywhere, especially during rainy season. On some days you can buy lettuce and cucumbers, so I've made a decent salad with a balsamic vinaigrette (thanks to the balsamic vinegar sent over in a care package... thanks mom!) I've also bought green peppers in the market, and used onions and eggs to make a decent omelete.

When I tell people that I cook my own lunches, most everyone (especially men) can't believe that I cook for myself. Gender roles are very strict here. I have never seen a Malian man cooking meals, cleaning up a house, or doing other household chores. His role is to work in the fields, raising crops and bring in income for the family, essentially putting food on the table. It's great to tell them about how men and women share these duties in the US, how men sometimes cook and clean, and some women have important jobs and bring in money for their families.

Gold Mining in Mali

I came across an article today from Reuters, "Randgold's Loulo mine in Mali to miss 2010 target", about one of the gold mines close to Kenieba, the one that my host dad and some of my friends actually work at. Though the headline is discouraging, the last paragraph was eye-opening:

"Seeking to take advantage of high metals prices by developing mining, which recently overtook cotton as the country's biggest export earner, Mali is looking to introduce a new mining code later this year."

Gold mining is the dominant economic activity in the region of Mali where I live and work. Many people who live there go out to distant, uninhabited areas and mine for gold using traditional methods with rudimentary tools. Some people strike it rich, but most are lucky to make even a little money after a week's work. I haven't had the opportunity to visit one of these traditional mines, but my friend Dan wrote a great post about his visit to a mine near his site.

Large scale mining companies from South Africa and Canada operate gold mines in western Mali and have bought the mining rights to large swaths of land with plans to expand their operations there. The cheapest way to mine the gold is open pit mining... basically digging up the earth to mechanically and chemically extract the gold. All of this digging creates a pit hundreds of feet deep and easily half a mile across (google open pit gold mining for an idea of what it looks like). Typically only 1 to 2 grams of gold comes out of each ton (1,000,000 grams) of earth extracted.

One would hope that all of this gold mining would bring about positive change to Kenieba and the villages near where all of this land is being dug up and processed. In reality, this is not entirely the case. Prices for goods are inflated in Kenieba, because sellers know that people have money here and can afford to pay the higher prices. The large scale mines employ hundreds of people, many of whom are Malians (like my host dad). The problem is, they are not always employing the local population... many people come from other parts of Mali and other African countries to work at the mine, and people from the villages and towns near the mines are left unemployed. A lot of this has to do with cronyism, but in many cases the local population lacks the skills needed to work at the mines.

So when I read that paragraph about gold becoming Mali's largest export, and that Mali is looking to introduce a new mining code, I hope that the right decisions are made about the code so that the local population benefits from all this gold mining taking place near where they live. I have been told that the Malian government takes about a 15% cut of all the gold mining revenue at these big mines. This has got to be a huge sum, considering Mali is Africa's third largest exporter of gold, and gold still trades close to record highs. But I'm sure that the way it works right now, Kenieba and other towns in the region don't see much of that money, if any. Who knows where the 15% ends up.

The large scale gold mines are here to stay, for at least the next 10-20 years. They are all expanding their operations, and will need more workers. If anything, the money that the Malian government gains from the contracts should be disclosed, and it should be declared where the money ends up. The Malian government should encourage more local employment. People in developing countries like Mali should be directly benefiting from the valuable resources being taken from the land around them.