End of February Update
I write this update listening to the artist: Mumford and Sons.
So today is February 28, 2011 and we are supposed to be arriving in Bougouni, Mali but instead I sit in Bamako in my same room that I have been in for the last month and a half. The reason being for this is because we were offered an opportunity to join in on a class called Holistic Missions. This class was an awesome opportunity and although it means no internet for another week, I would not change it for a thing. I want to tell you more about this class so look for it later in my blog!
Today I write sitting up straight against a wall with some fabric tied around my shoulders, attempting to pull them back trying to help my posture. I want to be honest with you, it is hot here and if I said I wasn’t struggling with it that would be a lie. I am really proud of our team, we hardly complain about it because, well let’s face it we are all hot and uncomfortable. Usually us girls find ourselves spraying each other with water and fanning each other; it is the closest we get to a fan because there is no automatic fans here. Correction, there was one but it broke after the first night…C’est l’Afrique! I tell you all to say that I had a horrible time trying to sleep last night, as I do most nights with the heat, but this was especially bad. Before falling asleep I had felt sick to my stomach so after praying with Samantha about this, I put a bucket next to my bed and went to bed. I did not sleep most of the night and woke up very sore to the point where it was very hard for me to move. I had to tell my team to let our host I would not be joining in the morning class because I was so exhausted due to lack of sleep and was very sore. I still am very sore and very tired but find it hard to nap because I cannot get comfortable, so I will attempt an update.
I want to put a “disclaimer” ? I put the wrong title to a song from my Dance Party story, typo: It was “Electric Feel” by MGMT. okay, phew got that done!
So much has happened since I last updated you but before I move on with this past month I would like to remind you that I have been gone two months now. We have officially been in Mali for 5 weeks but I was thinking about it and never really updated or informed you about my first three weeks of this trip!
On January 2 we set out for Florida to attend a school called the “H.E.A.R.T. Institute” where we would learn and attempt to crunch in someone’s life knowledge into such a little amount of time. Although time was crunched we had an opportunity to learn and actually apply this in our daily lives there in Florida. We learned about Animal Husbandry, Applied Technology, Gardening, Health Food, and Doctoring, and how to apply all of this to a missionary’s life.
We fed the chickens, milked goats, and fed the rabbits. We learned how to suture, look into someone’s eye and tell if they are healthy, as well as check someone’s pulse. We learned and got to actually fix a leaking pipe, how to weld and braise, and also we fixed a solar panel. We learned how to compost and the importance of it, we actually got to compost, and plant potatoes, and check soil to know if it has enough nitrogen. We learned firsthand that life as a missionary is an opportunity that the Lord has called us all to, we had an opportunity to learn from someone who was a missionary in Haiti for 20 years and still recognizes the fact that he does not know everything about Haiti. He was very humble and willing to answer questions as well as tell us stories.
On this 3 week adventure we had 6 students from Grace and 2 other students that had come. Little did we know the 8 of our lives would be changed and affected by these 3 weeks forever. The first week we went through phase 1 where we had no power, no lights, nothing so we would sit on the porch talking, playing guitar, singing, playing games, and more. (If you have facebook you may have seen a video where all you can see is a guy playing a guitar with a red light on his head – this is one of our nights on the porch and that is Joel Oliver playing guitar). This week we bonded quickly and soon after having the ability to leave the campus we decided to go bowling. Wednesdays was $1 bowling so we all went and had a good time! We did this for 3 weeks straight and by the last week we were all comfortable enough with eachother and I am sure that we would all agree that it was one of the funnest, yes, funnest night of our lives! We all had nick-names and on the last week mine would officially be changed to “pukey.”
One night we went to Walmart and stopped at the Dunkin’ Donuts there, well we were all really excited and hyper and we made a new friend at the counter. We talked to her and she put extra frosting on our donuts and found out her name was Kailey – same name as me but different spelling! This story may not seem very exciting but it was just a very fun night of joking and laughter and well, I don’t think any of us had laughed that hard in a while!
So there is probably tons more that I could say about this but I will stop here because there is also so much I want to say about the here and now, in Africa!
Where to begin?
New Malian Friend Story:
Okay so one Sunday after church we were standing waiting for “Uncle Sako,” he has told us we could call him, and a gentleman came up to us and introduced himself and told us that he was Uncle Sako’s cousin. From there we would form an unforgettable friendship. He sat and talked to us for over an hour because Uncle Sako had an errand to run before lunch and before parting with us asked for our numbers so that he could meet up with us. We were told about this possibility of a Malian relationship and how they strive on relationships, so without a doubt if they ask for your number they will call you. So he said he would call us “tomorrow” being Monday so we parted ways and honestly, thought nothing of it. The next day, to our surprise, showed up at the house. We were all very shocked and confused, especially because we had just sat down to eat. He sat down and ate food with our host family and afterwards we sat down to have tea with him. He made us the best tea that I have had in my life and before making it he told us, “you are about to have the best Malian tea of your life.” I think I forgot to mention, he speaks English. Paul then proceeded to come over every day that week hanging out and sometimes making us tea. He asked us early in the week if we wanted to go to the Artisan Market and well, of course we did! That Saturday we went and it was a really exciting experience! We got to experience everyone in sight wanting to sell us what they had, following us around everywhere. I had been telling myself since I got here that I wanted to buy some new flip flops, Malian style, so when I got there and saw walls full I was excited! So long story short I got a pair, after bargaining and telling him it was too expensive in my American/Malian accent and with having the help of our new friend Paul! What is really cool about my new flip flops is that they have shells on them. (Previously in a class with our host he had just been telling us about these shells) These shells are what the Malians used here as their “spending” money! So you can say, I am literally walking with money on my feet when I am wearing them!
Market Woman:
In my high school choir we sang a song called Market Woman, I loved this song especially because of the feel of its beat and just knowing it reminded me of foreign lands that I wanted to go to. I always sang this song out never thinking about the fact that I would eventually be just that, a Market Woman. So after some discussion with our host and discussing the Market we decided to have one of our team go to the market with Suzane, our host’s wife, and I got to be that person! Daily I would go to the market with her, wishing that I could know more but taking advantage of the fact that I was there in the living, breathing Malian life. Looking around there are so many things that you see, not knowing the language and knowing that Suzane doesn’t know much English I decided to just observe and try to pick up on different things. I would watch to see if she went to certain woman in the market for certain ingredients or if it varied due to the “product” that day. The women there loved seeing me and would try to call me over to their tables, when Suzane was buying stuff I would greet the women around me and they would get really excited! It is interesting to walk around here because you get this feeling of being intimidated by the older people here, but as soon as you greet them they are smiling and laughing with you.
When walking in the market you see tin roofs cover up tables connected, they give you an attempted isle but no matter how hard you try you will probably run into the person coming from the other way. If you remember from my blog before, personal space is not an option here in Mali. If you suddenly feel a little hand holding onto the back of your skirt, the only thing you have to worry about is hoping that the kid is not mistaking you for his mother. Other than that holding onto the person in front of you is actually the best way to guarantee you will keep moving through the market! When you walk around you will see children walking around or even standing hold trays of lettuce, tomatoes, or spices yelling out prices. One thing that I have picked up on is that you always should go to the market having in mind everything that you need; You can make a list of what you want so that you can check it before you leave but having the list memorized will help when you see the children walking around because you can stop them and buy stuff off of their plate while standing in line for, let’s say, meat! Speaking of meat, when standing in line waiting to buy meat the Malian asked me, in Bambara, what my name is so I replied, in Bambara and then asked him his name: David. He proceeded to ask me how I was and I told him good, and then he asked how my family was so I replied good, then he asked me how my man was: I laughed and looked at my host’s wife and said “he is good.” Haha. I decided that even though it may confuse my host making them think that I have a man it will stop the guy asking from proceeding to ask me questions about me.
For those wondering: After some observation I picked up on the fact that Suzane had her woman that she goes to regularly yes, but not every day does she go to them. It is definitely dependant on whether or not the product looks good or not. I have not gone to the market in the last week because we had the Holistic Missions class and this morning I was not feeling well.
So for the ones who saw my post about the AIDS school we visited:
We visited a school where there are children who are a part of a program. This program is designed for those whose parents either have aids or have died of aids. The kids were selected due to their parent’s situation. If their parents can afford the public school, they must go there instead. This means that only orphans and children whose parents are sick can go. There is a “safe home” where the families stay. In most situations the guy will know that he carries aids, will marry the woman until she gets sick then kick her out. Sometimes he will keep the kids sometimes he will make her take them. In this situation the kids would usually end up living in the bush. The lady that started this program, Adélaide Meguhue, has personal experience within her own family which is why she started the program. Adélaide Meguhue’s sister was one of seven wives who died of AIDS. Adélaide Meguhue dedicated her life to saving woman and children who suffer from AIDS. As of now they have the “safe home” where they keep the families, Adélaide Meguhue helps bring back their helth and has been successful in many cases. The children receive an education and are fed by the school. Adélaide Meguhue started this program wanting to feed over 60 children and help them with this situation but was only given so much money. Instead, because of the lack of money, she came up with the brilliant idea to rent a building and have the school there. She was also able to find someone who helps cook food for all of the children so that they are able to eat daily and not become malnourished.
This was an awesome opportunity to see what God is doing here in Mali and how he is stirring in the hearts of the people here. I had so much fun here and got some pictures of the kids! They loved being able to see themselves afterwards! Haha. Please be praying for this ministry, that the funds and medicines would keep coming in!
On a more serious note:
Fasting:
On Thursday February 25 I wrote this and had every intention of posting it but wasn’t able to:
---------Today I fast for the nations. I don’t want to write to you guys and act like there is nothing wrong here and only share my “funny moments” with you. I want you to know the desires of my heart and also the cry. None of this is in means to scare you; thus is life but for anyone who is particularly worred for safety of my group – we are registered with the American Embassy here in Mali and are being taken care of with caution. In truth though, it is not us they are targeting.
Africa is in ruins, they are falling apart everywhere. Tunisia, Sudan, Egypt, Libya, Ivory Coast and many more I am sure, have so much violence and anger and it is only seeming to get worse. There is even stuff going on here in Mali. This is very heart breaking. I ask you to be praying for the nations as well, our Father says that if we ask He will surely bless the nations. This morning I was brought to Psalm 10 please do me a favor and go read this and declare the words of the Lord especially when you get to verse 12 and 16. Isaiah 52 and 58 as well.
One thing I ask of you is that you join me in crying out to our Heavenly Father! We are all children of God and we need to lift up our brothers and sisters in Christ. The Lord is here already, that is without a doubt but people need to hear, the people need to know! So whether you join me in fasting or just the praying I urge you and plead for you to be praying! ---------
It is interesting to think that you here this on the news and then picture a nation so far away. You can talk about it and say how horrible that is and sometimes you may even think – it’s a good thing I am so far away, but for me the reality is very different. There is so much more I want to say about this but I will not because this is a public post. So I will stop here, hoping I have not said too much already.
Now on a happier note:
So the girls were discussing how these tafe’s we wear are somewhat of a nuisance because we do not have any pockets to put our phones or money in. I had learned in our Cultural Anthropology class that it is good to start or have a hobby of some sort to help ease your mind of culture shock: So I decided I was going to make pockets. I started out with Samantha and did just a quick easy pocket and then moved onto Tamara’s and by then had been picturing more possibilities and chose to do a different pocket for Tamara’s pocket; I had started one similar to Samantha’s but then opened up an idea to her and she took it. I finished the first half of this pocket and took a break from sewing because we had gotten busy with the Holistic Ministry class but I soon wanted to get back into sewing. During the week we were in class I saw something that gave me an idea and flew with it! I decided to make a cover for my water bottle to try and help keep my water cool and it is, I must admit, pretty sweet! In order to get the fabric I had cut of some extra fabric from my new tafe because it was way too big anyways. So this Saturday we had a day of just relaxing and sitting around so I decided that I was determined to finish Tamara’s tafe pocket! So I cut away at her tafe in her complete trust that I would make it look good and sure enough, it’s awesome!
Okay Funny Story of the month:
Here in Mali, as you might have picked up on, we wear skirts all day everyday outside of our rooms, due to culture. Well------where this is going you might ask, I will tell you. So like I had stated earlier it gets very hot here and well, like in my dance story we were in shorts and umm.. a tank top, yeah, we’ll stick with that. Okay so one day it was hot and I had been hanging out in the room for a little bit and Samantha was there as well; I had to use the restroom so I got up and put a tank top on; errr I mean I already had one on and then walked out the door. Uncle Sako’s Mom and brother (the ones that were teaching me Bambara in the first blog) were sitting outside and I looked over at them smiled and looked down and thought, oh crap I forgot my shoes…. I turned around to grab my shoes from inside and realized I was lucky I hadn’t gone any further because I had my shorts on but had forgotten to put a skirt over it to run to the bathroom – so that no one saw my legs! Bahahahahaha…. I immediately told Samantha what I had done and we were laughing so hard!
March Update: March 12, 2011
Bougouni Mali, Africa
Listening to the artist: Jason Upton
Wow. I cannot believe this is really happening. Time is moving so quickly and you know, it is exciting to have change and have things moving but it is sad because time is going by too quickly.
Saturday March 5 we arrived in Bougouni after being informed we would arrive in our house with no power. As of March 5 most of Bougouni had been without power for over 3 days. They said the power should be back on Sunday maybe Monday. Sure, great, no problem, we had just gone by 6 weeks with no use of power except for lights at night and charging our things every once in a while so what was another night or two?
Side note: For those of you who are lost or confused when I say we arrived at our home à The way this program that I am apart of works is that every year a team is sent to study culture and missions and do it abroad, with more of a hands on feel, and the past 3 years they have been sent to Mali (and the future teams will be coming here as well) because of the connection we (as in Grace University) are building with the people here. So in this time we have been given a designated place that our teams stay. Thus is where “our house” comes in. Each year the teams have bought things for the house or Grace has, not completely sure, but either way in this house we have a electric refrigerator and a propane oven that we are able to use when ever. Although supplies are very limited we are able to buy and make meals for ourselves now.
That being said the last 6 weeks was an amazing experience that none of the other “teams” has had the opportunity of doing. Living with a family and seeing firsthand how they live and raise a family, eating foods that they prepare and having firsthand experience of the realization that as Americans we eat for taste and wants, and desires – we choose what sounds good to us, but in reality its all food and it is all going to do the same thing –well for the most part. Haha. Needless to say we ate a lot of potatoes and bread - - I may have put a few pounds on because of this….but I tried on my jean shorts out of curiosity and don’t worry! They still fit… when it comes time for the swim suit I’ll get back to ya! Haha…
Because we are able to cook for ourselves now we, well Andrew and I talked about this—we realized how effected our digestive system was from the Malian food! Especially for me I usually eat 5 small meals but here we eat three large meals, which is where most of my problem was. Since we have been in Bougouni I have made Peanut Butter chocolate chip cookies, made with chocolate from a plain chocolate bar I have that I cut up and put on top of the cookies. Also I made coffee cake made with brown sugar I brought from the US and cinnamon we had here and nuts that I got from the US and chopped up. I mean nothing is the same as it would be if we were in the US making this stuff but we improvise and do what we can. Especially because I have this amazing addiction to chocolate but sugar especially I have been dwindling the past few weeks without it. I just couldn’t help myself we had to bake some sweets! We made meatloaf, hamburgers, egg salad sandwiches, I fried some plantines in attempt to make banana chips but towards the end we all lost our patience and ate them! Haha so some were softer than your typical chip…With food I mean… the ingredients are different depending on the Market and what you find but you use what you have, right?!
The electricity has been off and on for the whole week, some nights we are lucky enough to have power so that we can plug in our fans and some nights we are not. Some nights we cooked in the dark and some nights we have not had to.
We are a little bit behind schedule seeing as we stayed an extra week in Bamako for the Holistic Ministries class. We were supposed to start a class this week as well but not having power is also throwing this off as well. But you know what they say to all of this? C’est L’Afrique!
Two quotes from the new house:
Kaeli: – standing in the kitchen- literally sharing a corner with Tammi (Tamara) as she does dishes and I fry plantines in the dark. “I can’t tell if that is dishwater or sweat rolling down my leg!”
Samantha: while sitting outside eating dinner as a group. --- “You know, every time we sit out here I look at the house and realize, I live in a pink house.”
Anyways, this is about all that I have for the time being, this is long enough anyways so I hope this helps you get an idea of what has been going on.
No comments:
Post a Comment