Babies-R-Us

One of our program objectives is to increase the level of nutrition and improve health in the villages we will be targeting the next five years.  In order to measure whether or not our program activities will help achieve that (in 5 years) we have to measure children under 5 today in order to get our baseline data, that data we will be measuring against in 5 years.  

Today, we spent the whole day weighing babies, taking their heights and interviewing their mothers.  The children were ridiculously adorable, but VERY scared, as they had no idea what 20 people wanted to do with them.  Nonetheless, they were very good sports and acted ahead of their age (well most of them atleast).  Here are some photos from today.

P.S.  As I mentioned in my last post, I am off to the field tomorrow for two weeks.  Take care and see you all soon!

Weighing babies from a scale hung on a tree.

The kids get so scared as everyone gathers around to measure them. (Breaks my heart. but we are checking them for malnourishment)

Babies in Mali are decked out with talismans....around their neck, their waist, their hands and their feet. Each one is to fend off an illness or bad spirit, i.e. teething, flu, Malaria, etc..

For our research on malnutrition we must measure the height and weight of children under 5 years of age. However, many mothers don’t know the age of their children.  So we ask kids that look borderline 5, to put one arm over their heads….if they can reach their other ear, they are most likely 5 and up.  If not, it’s time to get measured. 

More often that not, we measure children lying down so we can get the most accurate height.

She was more afraid of me than getting measured. About 5 kids ran away from me screaming, "Toubob, Toubob (White person)!"

Sharing data with a colleague at the end of the day

Playing the field

I’ve worked the past 6 weekends in a row, but I’ve never been happier being in the ‘office’.  After six strenuous weeks of planning, we are finally getting ready to go to field to begin our ‘real’ work.

Beginning this Saturday I will be going out to the field (the field=the villages where we will be implementing our development programs for the following five years).  We will be conducting an intense baseline study (evaluation) every day for the following two weeks, visiting over 40 villages and 250 households, interviewing each one.  

My last two days working were spent testing the evaluation tools we developed (questionnaires in local languages) in two nearby villages.  It was my first time spending a prolonged stint in a village since I left the Peace Corps, and I was in Heaven.  I had a smile on my face both days.  I can’t wait to get to the field. 

As a result, I will be out in the boonies for two weeks, without access to internet.  In the field, I will be visiting villages every single day helping compile all the questionnaires we conduct and will analyze the data in a team every night.  It’s going to be intense.  But I promise, I’ll have lots of stories and photos when I get back.  

Here are some pictures of the village we were in the last two days and of us testing our tools. 

View of the Fulani village we were working in

 

The village mosque

The village town hall

Introducing our project to the village community. I’m in the back

The introduction meeting in the town hall

Sleeping baby in the meeting

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

This year in Mali, Eid (the holiday celebrating the last day of Ramadan) and the first day of school were only a week apart.  Lucky for the girls, the proximity of these two important events helped their mothers justify spending money to style their daughters’ hair.  Lucky for me, I get to look at the girls all day long, all over town.

Modern way to use yarn and rubberbands

The classic hanging braids with modern beads.

I hope this cutie petutie keeps her smile tonight when she sleeps on those rough coils.

 

 

A Wrinkle in Time

 

View of Djenne from a rooftop

Crossing the floodplain to Djenne

I wouldn’t have been surprised had Moses or Jesus crossed my path yesterday.  In fact, I was kind of expecting it.  In addition to being made entirely out of mud and sand, the sandcastle city that is Djenne, nestled between a river and a flood plain, requires one to take a ferry to even get there adding to its allure and intrigue.  Sharing the narrow pathways, that curve like pasta noodles across town, with donkey carts, livestock and old men wearing turbans draped in yards of fabric, it is ONLY the bright neon colors of young girls’ hair beads and overstuffed cargo vans, that bring you back into the 21st century.  In addition to having and annually preserving the largest mud mosque in the world (after the rainfalls), the residents of Djenne are also proud of living in one of the most important Muslim cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, once a major stop on the trans-Saharan caravan passing through Timbuktu to North Africa.

 

With this image in mind, imagine you are a French fashion magazine conducting a semi-naked photo shoot….Where would you go?  Apparently, you would have gone to Djenne and flaunted half naked ladies deeply offending one of the most devout Muslim communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.  

As a result, the mosque has been OFF LIMITS to foreigners since 1996. However, money talks, and we were able to smuggle in a 5 minute visit inside to my great delight.  Sneaking in through the back women’s entrance, I found the interior charming and meditative, not to mention 15 degrees cooler than outside.

Inside the Djenne mosque

 

Below are some more snapshots from only ONE of Mali’s many magical places.  Enjoy.

 

Sudanese architecture is prevalent in Djenne

Peek-a-boo

And now some pictures of me hamming it up for the camera. 

Checking out the fresh milk that these Fulani women are selling

 

Let's hear it for the boys

 

Last minute souvenir shopping

One last shot

Sandcastle City

There are only a few places that exist in the world that give you a shock as you enter; places where your skin crawls with wonder and intrigue while your mind tries to sort out some kind of logic in the magic.

Djenne is one magical town.  Recently declared a Unesco World Heritage Site, the city is literally made from sand and mud, and will continue its preservation that way. It is home to the world’s largest mud mosque, one that I was able to enter (through the women’s back entrance).  Moreover, it is home to many fascinating people and culture, and its history and mystique is palpaple as soon as you enter.

Here is a short video I compiled today that show snippets of Djenne.  More pictures to come tomorrow.

Nikes on a Mission

I grew up in Chicagoland.  He grew up in Chicago.

I went to a Jesuit high school.  He went to a Jesuit college.

I studied abroad in Tokyo.  He studied abroad in Hong Kong.

I did the Peace Corps in Senegal.  He did the Peace Corps in Benin.

I graduated from Columbia with one degree.  He will be graduating from Columbia with two.  

I was training for a marathon.  He has run several marathons. 

I love dogs.  He loves sports.

Okay, I guess this is where the comparisons stop.  

 

Happy Birthday to my man whose Nikes always make my Manolos shine.

Rest Stops in the Bush

Minutes after we left the smoggy streets of Bamako today, I knew I was in for a tumultuous trip.  Squeezed in tightly in the back middle seat between two colleagues, I braced myself, literally, for the 8 hour journey back home.  I dropped my head down to my knees; my stomach hadn’t felt this uneasy since I watched that Katie Couric interview with Palin online.  Furthermore, my head was throbbing and my body shaking.  Could it be Malaria?

I thought I could hold it until our lunch stop 3 hours away to stop, but within an hour from the time of departure, I urgently requested the car to pull over so I could hurl.  15 minutes later, I demanded the car stop again.  An hour after that, I begged the drive to stop at a real latrine or toilet.  The closest we could find to this description is pictured below.  Can someone please explain to me how, just how in the world, the following could be labeled a latrine, when there is no hole!?  I screamed out in fury when I saw it.

After several more rest stops, it was time for lunch.  Just the thought of food was enough to make me hurl, so I naturally opted out of lunch.

“That’s ok,” my colleagues undestood, “In that case, instead of stopping to eat together, we’ll just pick up some food.”

I could barely listen to what they were saying, as the ringing in my ears grew louder.  Still hunched over in my seat, I felt the car come to a halt and saw my colleagues descend from the truck.  Within ten minutes they were back in the car and placed beside a kilo of meat guts, and we still had 5 more hours to our destination.

Meat intestines

Needless to say, it was not a pleasant road trip.  But I am safe and sound back at home, internet working, cat meowing, and 100% better.

Celebrating Eid in Mali

Despite the fact that I came into the office yesterday for three hours, and that it was 90 degrees, it kind of felt like Christmas.  The city was brewing with excitement (and slaughtered cows) as everyone put on their finest outfits and jewels to celebrate the end of Ramadan.  Festive music was being played loudly on every corner (and that is when I realized I hadn’t heard any music in the past 30 days!), and children and adults alike burst out in fits of laughter and dance.

After work, my boss invited my colleague and I to his house for some chillaxin and beef.  Here is how I spent Eid.  

   

Chillaxin with my American colleague and my Malian boss

Boss’ daughters all dressed up for Eid

 

Brewing very strong shots of tea for the gang

 

Some local herbs in our pitcher of water? Anyone?