End of Training

Hello to all my faithful blog watchers. I have to apologize for not being as faithful to you as you are to me. As I sit down to write at this computer I don't know where to begin to describe the innumerable adventures I've had since arriving in Mali, hence avoiding the computer all together.

Anyhow, first things first, it's been a time of many deaths. First, our one and only Shakey Jake passed away on Sunday, and I'm sure Ann Arbor will mourn his loss. Secondly, the death of the Michigan Football team. I'm just glad I don't have to be there to experience what will surely be Lloyd Carr's final season.

On the same note, it was a trying past couple of weeks in my homestay site. It's funny how in the last few weeks before you leave a place, everything just happens at once. When pulling up to Missalabougou from Bamako for the last time, I discovered that our village had grown to approximately twice the size. The men and women were dressed in nice clothes, and gathered in groups divided by sex. The women were cooking kilos and kilos of rice to feed all of the guests. Turned out the occaasion was my first formal funeral. I say formal funeral because the previous week, a little girl living in the concession next to my fellow trainee, Lisa, passed away for unknown reasons, and they just do a burial and small ceremony when children die. Anyhow, this time it was an old man that had passed away a week before, and they had come to celebrate his life. I walked aruond and greeted hundreds of people, most of whom were much more interested in finding me a husband (their son will do), or complimenting my clothes, only to ask if I might give them to them, than talking about the deceased. All were extremely friendly and laughed a lot, you'd never have guessed it was a funeral.

The next few days were great, studying hard and finishing up language class, and some technical trainings on water borne diseases. One night the next week all of the trainees in Missalabougou (the 4 of us) were over at Mary's house hanging out, and she expressed that her dad had left much earlier to take her much sick 3 year old brother to the doctor in the neighboring village. He finally returned with his wife and child on his moto much after sunset, and we greeted him and went home. The next morning I woke up and went to my LCFs (Language and Cultural Facilitator) house to get some water, and he informed me that the child had died the previous night from malaria. This death hit a little closer to home, and made for a somber morning. We went to the small gathering that morning at Mary's house, where again, the women and men sat divided and the men gave many blessings to the deceased. Some of the blessing are: Ala ka hine a la, meaning "may God have pity on him", and Ala ka dayoro sumaya, meaning "may God cool his resting place".

Death was taking a toll on our morale, and we needed a boost. Luckily, a few days later, the Peace Corps trainers and some fellow trainees from neighboring villages came to Missalabougou to help us build a soak pit and wash area. The wash area is just a concrete slab constructed with adequate drainage where women will wash their dishes and clothes. It drains into a covered pit full of giant sandy boulders. This helps keep the graywater from sitting on the ground leading to all sorts of unsanitary conditions, as well as a mosquito breeding ground. It was quite the community project and it was fantastic to finally be able to give something concrete back to Missalabougou.

Just a few days after the construction of the soak pit, we had to say our final goodbyes to our families. Quite the bittersweet day. I'm more than ready to settle down for the next two years (you all know this hasn't happened since high school!), but it was tremendously sad to pack all my things and leave the people who have fed me, taken care of me, played and laughed with me, and helped me learn the language for the past two months. I made a promise that I would come visit them in the future. I just hope it's sooner than later.

Finally, I sit here in Tubaniso, on Thursday September 20th (Happy birthday to mom and dad!), 7 AM, before most are awake, to post this blog. Today, I will go into Bamako to find and price out certain construction materials such as concrete, sand, tape measures, etc. Tomorrow is our Swear-in Day, which is what we've been working so hard to get to for the past 2 months. Swearing in signifies that we've passed our language, cross-cultural, technical, medical and safetly and security tests. It also signifies that we're no longer PCTs but now PCVs. From what I understand, there will be a ceremony at the Embassy, and then we'll return to Tubaniso to have a picnic with all of the current volunteers, the PC Mali staff, as well as any RPCVs in the country, and two representatives from our families from homestay, provided they can afford the transportation cost. Anyhow, then we head into Bamako, and the volunteers show us a good time in the city. We have all day Saturday in Bamako, and I leave Sunday morning to Sikasso. I'll be staying in Sikasso until Thursday, when I'll be installed at my site. So, this means for those who are interested, my cell phone is working until then, and you can email me for the number if you'd like to call.

I must wrap up here, there are many waiting for this computer, but I finally wanted to leave you with some pictures I finally got the chance to upload. Enjoy and keep those letters coming!

PS. If you click on the slideshow below, you will be redirected to another page where you can view the captions on the photos.