Two months later... Sorry for the long silence! Just finished my best month in Mali yet. Finally starting to pursue some projects, so nice to feel more productive.
Last December, I finished two weeks of in-service training and then left immediately for vacation in Nigeria with Banky and his family. I enjoyed many of the creature comforts I'd been missing, good restaurants, malls, movie theater and the BEACH! Can't believe how much I miss the water in this lovely landlocked country. Most of all, it was just nice to be spending time with a family again. Had a rough transition back to life in Mali. Spent January trying to figure out where to start work-wise, setting up meetings with my homologue and the mayor's office. Things finally just started to come together recently.
I've been continuing to go to the CSCOM (health center) regularly. Pre-natal consultations on Mondays and Thursdays, baby vaccinations on Tuesday (when there are actually vaccinations in stock), and a malnutrition program on Wednesdays. One thing about pre-natal consultations I've been noticing more is that it's pretty much the norm here that at least one of your children will die. There are a series of questions each woman is asked during the consultation. 'How many children do you have?' and then 'How many are living?' Just still can't imagine living in a world where having at least one of your children die is normal. The baby vaccination program has been a bit frustrating for me. I'd say in the last four weeks, they've only actually had vaccinations in stock once. It can be challenging for women to give up an afternoon to come to the health center. Some will wait for hours only to be told the vaccinations are "finished." Annoying. The malnutrition program has actually improved greatly in the past few weeks. The 'chef de poste,' the CSCOM's doctor, has taken over the program. He and I conduct the baby weighings, and I'm finally starting to feel confident enough with the language to start giving mothers advice. Mostly about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding.
Aside from my work at the health center, I've begun working with World Vision to plan an HIV/AIDS awareness bike tour. This was a successful project in my village last year and I'm hoping to continue the tradition and make it an annual event. It involves educational activities as well as testing. Working on securing funding from USAID now...been kind of a long process but think it's going well.
I also just had my first girls group. I worked with an english teacher to select 16 girls, ages 12-15. We'll be meeting once a week to talk about health, America, music, whatever else they're interested in. Want it to be informal, just a way to get to know a group of girls.
A couple other white people have shown up in town this past month. First, there was a group of Canadians working with 'Pharmacists without Borders.' They spent a day at my health center before leaving for some surrunding villages. They gave a presentation to the health staff about the importance of vaccinations, when/what should be administered and such. Also played host to an english man who's a couple of months in to a year long bike ride from England to South Africa. And I thought I was lonely! Amazing what he is attempting to do.
Everything with my host family is going well. I've been making much more of an effort to spend quality time with them each day. I really enjoy the company of my younger host siblings, especially 3 yr. olds Salifu and La. They've got so much attitude for little kids, make me laugh all the time. My older host brother was also recently married and I love his new wife. She was a friend of mine before, a female tailor in town. It's rare here for women to have their own source of income. She likes to wear pants. Think these small forms of rebellion are great. It has been a little disappointing to me to see her new role in my host family after marriage. Her business has definitely taken a hit because she spends so much time cooking, doing the dishes, and sweeping the concession.
In other news, my sister's coming to visit!!! It's been over 7 months since I've seen anyone from my family and I am more than ready. We'll be meeting in Senegal. Over 30 Mali volunteers are busing it over to Dakar together to participate in a softball tournament between all Peace Corps West Africa volunteers. I plan to use the time to travel with Jess, before bringing her back to site in Mali. So excited for her to meet everyone!
