Heading Out Monday

I've heard countless stories about Mali over the years and grown up in a household full of hints of Mali- in the colorful fabrics and furniture around the house, the music that would come up on shuffle, and the visits from all my parents' Malian friends. Finally, I'll get the real Bamako experience this summer, complete with goat-roasting, Bambara, and dancing to Salif Keita! I'll be there for two months, working for a small public health NGO, the Mali Health Organizing Project (MHOP). I'll be working on the Maternal and Child Health Program which strives to get residents of the Sikoro slum representation by the local government.

I'll be working closely with elected community health action leaders who are each responsible for about 160 families in the slum. The program is based on the Partners in Health accompagnateurs model- the health leaders (all local Malians) recruit women to bring in their children to get vaccines, health care at the clinic, and malaria nets. I'll also be working on expanding the clinic to serve the needs of 25,000 people. Not entirely sure what I'll be doing on a daily basis, but I will be attending at least one wedding (the director, Niang, is getting married in July) so I will definitely need to learn Malian dancing and bring over wedding presents!

My dad just got an email from Mamoudou Cisse, the best man in my parent's wedding:

Objet : Préparatifs du séjour de Katie au Mali

He asks for details about my visit (!) and:

6. J’aimerais savoir si elle sera intéressée à visiter quelques sites touristiques au Mali comme Djenné et le village Dogon.

So hopefully I'll get to visit Dogon Country with Mamoudou and his sister, Aissata Toure, aka Lady.

Mamoudou visited New York a few summers ago. He was planning on staying for about two weeks and ended up staying for more than three months. He used to sit with Cam and Forrest and I and help us practice our French. Once he realized that my dad commuted into Manhattan every day, he began his own commute. He would breakfast with us, and then hop on the train, bound for 125th street, where he had a few cousins to visit. That's where the epic of Tata, the Malian hair-braider comes in... (Coming later.) I'm excited to have people to visit in Bamako, and Lady sounds like she's pretty politically active in Bamako.

All day today= baking oatmeal raisin cookies, Parmesan crisps, and cheese platter shopping. Fundraiser is tonight and Caitlin, the MHOP co-founder and director is coming down from Vermont to speak for a bit and show a few slides. Then packing for the rest of the weekend. Oh, and relearning French.