Dancing at Weddings

Many have asked what some of my favorite things here in Mali are. Here is my doing my favorite thing Dancing with women at weddings.

Celebrating the Literacy Formation

The participants showed their enthusiasm by coming to class regularly and on time and did good work. And let me tell you for a Malian to come on time is a big deal.

So when they wanted to send out invitations for the closing celebration to the Prefet (county executive) and the Mayor as well as many other community leaders I did not hesitate to use some of the left over money to help make the closing celebration a big one.

For me this meant that I had to participate more then I have in the past. This last year at all public events I have been asked to say a couple of words. I usually answer “Non Merci.” Language has been my biggest struggle in my Peace Corps Service. But since I knew all the officials in Koutiala were coming my language tutor Sadio helped prepare and practice a speech. Here is what I said.

Monsieur le Préfet de Koutiala,

Monsieur le Maire de Koutiala,

Mesdames et Messiers. Bonjour

C’etait un grand plaisir pour moi d’être parmis les organisateurs de

Cette formation.

L’alphabéisation ouvre de nouvelles opportunités.

Je voudrais remercier l’Union, la chamber des métiers et le

RAC pour tout leur travail. Merci.

Not much but saying a couple of words made everyone there so happy it was well worth it and will be easier next time.

The celebration gave back to me so much of what I have given in the last year. There are little things on a daily basis but this with so people that had been touched overwhelmed me. I held back the tears, Malians don’t cry in public and they sure would not understand tears of joy.

The participants in the literacy class would not be considered the poor in Mali, many have moto’s most have cell phones but they could not read, write or do math and they sure didn’t know French. Making money in Mali obviously does not depend solely on knowing how to read and write. This made me think of the times this last year when someone in the market didn’t give me the right change. At the time I thought I misunderstood the price that we had negotiated but after this class I am not sure that merchants in the market know who to give change out.

As we say in Mali things happen dunnie dunnie.

The Diary of a Sewing Machine

From the first day of seeing the peddled sewing machines here in Mali I wanted to get my hands on one and sew away. At home sewing is relaxing, an escape, a way to create. In Mali with the fabrics there seemed like so much potential to create. Then there were the irons that heated up with charcoal the vision that came to mind wuth the possibility of using one of these was medieval times, a time with different sources for the creative energy. Yes I am a dreamer.

Every volunteer here in Mali tells a story of a tailor botching a sewing job. Its not that their bad tailors it just that volunteers try new and foreign designs out on them and it really isn’t something they have been trained for. Another volunteer bought a sewing machine; it cost 30,000 about $60. That’s a lot of money for a volunteer. I did my blotched tailor jobs over with hand stitching.

Going to America gave me the opportunity to bring back some purse patterns. One of my objectives for the Bogolan Association has been to help with product development. The day I arrived in Koutiala I showed Koro the patterns and told her I wanted a sewing machine to make purses out of Bogolan. She said she would see what she could do.

The next day Koro talked to the President of the UAAK and told him what I wanted to do. He seemed to think it would be no problem but Koro still had follow Malian protocol. She talked to the President of the Chamber des Metiers too. Then she talked to the president of the Sewing Association Ami.

Ami (on the right) has been around since my first day and we are joking cousins. Joking cousins is a cultural way of getting to know someone and sharing your heritage. You can also call on joking cousins to resolve a dispute. Always good to have some around, they will usually help you in any way possible.

The Women’s Association came next in the change of protocol. Luckily Ami and her best friend Jenibob are actively in leadership with the association so no problem there.

Last but not least we attended a Sewing Association meeting. The meeting was the first association meeting I even knew about, for a year I have been wanting to attend more meetings. Not that I understand everything that is going on but they would give me a feel for the organizational structure. I guess going through the protocol to get this sewing machine has given me an idea of the organizational structure which just goes to show the sewing machine idea will full many objectives some have yet to be revealed.

Right after the meeting Koro, me and a member of the Sewing Association hired a push cart and went and got the sewing machine.

Mali protest against women's law

Fresh off the press from BBC News

Tens of thousands of people in Mali's capital, Bamako, have been protesting against a new law which gives women equal rights in marriage.

The law, passed earlier this month, also strengthens inheritance rights for women and children born out of wedlock.

The head of a Muslim women's association says only a minority of Malian women - "the intellectuals" as she put it - supports the law.

Several other protests have taken place in other parts of the country.

The law was adopted by the Malian parliament at the beginning of August, and has yet to be signed into force by the president.

One of the most contentious issues in the new legislation is that women are no longer required to obey their husbands.

Hadja Sapiato Dembele of the National Union of Muslim Women's Associations said the law goes against Islamic principles.

"We have to stick to the Koran," Ms Dembele told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme. "A man must protect his wife, a wife must obey her husband."

"It's a tiny minority of women here that wants this new law - the intellectuals. The poor and illiterate women of this country - the real Muslims - are against it," she added.

Literacy in Mali, Or Not.......

My dream is that someday everyone can at least write their name and do simple math.
Most of the artisans here in Koutiala can’t write their own name. When the Union of Associations of Artisans of Koutiala (UAAK) has a meeting and the sign up sheet goes around some one who can write follows it around to write the names of the people who can’t.

The Peace Corps initiated the Shea Butter formation I organized last April because USAID offered a free trainer. USAID selects several initiatives, Sea being one of them. The Peace Corps in partnership with USAID trains the Small Enterprise Development and Environment sectors in processing Shea.

Even though the Sha training was a huge success I didn’t feel that it was a priority of the people I work with. The literacy formation however was a grassroots idea. The UAAK wrote the proposal including the budget. They even had a trainer who was available and well qualified. Koro (if you don’t know by now is my homologue and best friend here in Mali) and I agree that doing a literacy formation annually would be a great idea.

Figuring out what to do has not always easy. The first three months I fretted over how, what and who should I focus on in my service. When Macki my APCD came to site he helped by saying that I didn’t need to work with everyone and could focus on the Bogolan Association if that is what I wanted to do. During all this time weighing what I think “They” need and what they think they need was a challenge. With this literacy training I feel like I have reached out to all the people I came here to help.

In the literacy classes they are learning to read and write in Bamabara the local language as well as doing basic math. Two thirds of the class are women.

West Africa has a huge illiteracy population. It is even a bigger problem among women. In Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger still fewer than three in ten young women aged 15 to 24 can read and write. Not one of the nine countries here in West Africa with literacy rates below 50% in 2000-
2006 is expected to reach 50% literacy by 2015.

Mali the stats for total literacy rate among adults ages 15-49 is 23%; Male literacy rate 31%; Female literacy rate 16%;

Peace Corps Mali has stepped up their Education sector this year with 15 new volunteers. In my stage there were only six. When all us volunteers no matter what our sector do something about illiteracy here in Mali my dream may come true.

Koutiala Artisan Center Project

Gwynne’s Concept

A design studio class at the University of Oregon with the help of professor Naoto Sekiguchi is collaborating with me a Peace Corps Volunteer to generate design proposals for a new artisans’ center in Koutiala, Mali.

There are just some projects that come along that everyone involved is excited about. The exchange with the University of Oregon Architecture School is one of those projects. Carmen, a volunteer was visiting Koutiala who I knew was an Architect graduate and it just so happens that the Union of Associations of Artisans of Koutiala has several building projects coming up. Carmen got excited from the very start and that excitement has carried on through all the phases and all the people involved.

Here is the link to the project's website, www.uoarchkoutiala.com. The photos are examples of the student's ideas.

By Stacy Hsu

Sharing information on Mali and my work is always rewarding. This project has not only been rewarding but touches on all three Peace Corps' Goals;

• To help the people of interested countries meeting their need for trained men and women.
• To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of people they serve.
• To help promote a better understanding of other people on the part of Americans.

Watch for updates on this project and visit the website there is more information on Mali there then anywhere else I have seen. Enjoy!

Ameriki

Went home to Vashon Island in Washington. My father became ill in Hawaii where I am from and the hospital called and said get there fast before he passed away, which he did within hours of my arrival. This gave me the opportunity to come to the Northwest to see my daughter and friends.

Even though I was not in Mali my Peace Corps work continued. Giraffe a fair trade retailer had agreed to highlight Malian Bogolan during July's First Friday Art Walk. Priscilla the owner is also interested in helping out with design and product development. She has an idea for an upscale purse made from multimedia.

Giraffe is committed to supporting alternative methods of business that emphasizes sustainable and equitable living wages for artisans all around the world. Goals that she shares with the Bogolan Association of Koutiala. For all you on Vashon here is link to Giraffe's website; www.giraffevashon.com

Working with the Bogolan Association for the last year the artisans have focused on export ready skills as defined by the West African Trade Hub and Aid to Artisans. The skills include managing a bank account, processing an order with invoices and packing slips, quality control during production, and product design and development. Transportation has been a big obstacle in exporting. Partnering up with Priscilla at Giraffe is a great opportunity to developing products and a great outlet for exporting the goods.

Another work related task I planned was to visiting a Malian woman who has been buying products from the Bogolan Association for several years. She lives in Oregon and has been a great resource. It was a great visit we talked about bogolan and other export opportunities. Haoua Cheick understands where Malians are coming from yet helps me know what I need to work on with the group.

As one of my projects I hope to have a series of trainings such as product design, how to process an order, what does exporting intail, and tech exchanges with other bogolan and soap making places in Sagou. Sagou is a big tourist town here in Mali and the artisans there are much more developed as far as products and exporting.