Send Off with Family and Friends

THE DAY WAS PERFECT

We rented the Grange so that people from off island could come over without their cars since ferry fare is about $18 round trip. The reality that I am leaving is just now setting in with me and my family and friends. (Here today gone to Mali). I want to thank everyone who helped with the party it was a great success. There was a Mali table and West African map along with the Peace Corps welcome book for Mali so that everyone could get their questions answered. Many questions seemed to answered when you say that Timbuktu is in Mali. In my love of the photo image I setup a photo shoot area and placed disposable cameras around. Many memories and a great group of family and friends came together and visited.


My daughter came over came over early and helped setup for the party. We have planned other times around her studying to spend time together before I leave. I am so proud of her in all her endeavours. We talked about how I felt when she went off to Central America with no return date and no real plan except to attend Spanish School in Nicaragua.

She is doing amazing work in math and science in college now. Hopefully she will come visit me in a year and we can travel West Africa together like we have explored many other parts of the world.

The bicycle group "Rainbow Riders" that I have been riding with once a month for many years now sponsored a ride here on Vashon Island. We had seventeen riders with many Vashon women joining us for the first time. Some stayed for the party and some road to the ferry. Here is the group at the party. We missed several members who were not present.
There are many great memories with the Rainbow riders and know they are all routing for me and my new adventure. You all will be missed, RIDE ON!

My sister came from Bremerton with her husband. They have been married for about 29 years and lived near me and my daughter for 23 years. My Sister is one of my best friends. She told me when we found out I was going to Africa that she didn't see why anyone would want to go to Africa. She defiantly did not get the adventure gene. We raised out kids together and did many fun things like camping at least once a year and every holiday. I appreciate all her support even when she doesn't understand. I hope it goes two ways. Laura my friend of 24 years and partner of 14, has been a great support to me in fulfilling my dreams. Thank you. She's taking care of my dogs and all my affairs. We are blessed to live on Vashon Island a fifteen minute ferry ride from Seattle Washington. There have been there ups and downs but some how we have come to place to let each other to not just dream to do go after those dreams and make them come true.
My friends Kristi and Kristen win the price for best commute to the party. They came from Marysville about forty miles away. They took a bus to Seattle rode to the water taxi they took them from the Seattle waterfront to West Seattle. From there they bicycled to Fauntleroy and hopped the Vashon/Fauntleroy ferry to Vashon. Luckily for me they spent the night which mean they helped clean up after the party and got up and had coffee with me in the morning. We talked about bicycle projects in Africa and we all hoped I would have some opportunity to pull one off. Here they are on the Water Taxi with Seattle in the background.



Here's my friend Cheryl, she won the hat as one of the door prices. Cheryl rides with the Rainbow riders. The hat came from Madagascar and the weave is only found in the village that I visited with Habitat. Afterwards a friend said she really liked the door prices there was a story behind each one. Like the Seattle Reign hat in which we drew Beverly's name and she wasn't there. We had said that you had to be present to win but with this we made an exception because Beverly gave Laura and me our first Women's basketball tickets to a Reign game and we were hooked after that. I am sending Beverly the hat.

As you can see fun was had by all what a great send off.



My oldest friend Beverly and her partner Maggie came over from Seattle.















More pics

And Away We Gooooo

The staging packet arrived on Tuesday, Philadelphia here I come July 6th and Mali just beyond.

This is the invite to my going away party that Laura and I are throwing for our friends, family and community. Without their support I could not take off and volunteer for the Peace Corps. We will have a potluck dinner, enjoy each others company and dance the night away. Leave a comment if you want more information.

Today is my last day at work. This is shaky ground, the beginning of change, of the unknown, and the adventure. They had a nice taco potluck and gave me several nice cards. I thanked the support staff and gave them little gifts.

Ideas about packing change everyday.

Visiting with my daughter and foster daughter and some heart to hearts were hard but it made me feel closer to them before I take off. I have to realize this will be a big change for the people I am closes to. My brother and his girlfriend will be here from Australia on July 4Th for a whirl wind visit. Laura is in Maryland on her bimonthly visit.

Looking forward to being out of the office out of 9 to five and learning new things.

Soaking up the Northwest

Things to do before I take off for Mali. On the list include several weekends on the sail boat, a kayak trip, a hike in the Mountains, visiting with friends and family, bicycling on Vashon, gardening, all of the things I will miss.

This last weekend Laura and I went out on the boat. Starting Friday as we were packing it started to rain and in the 40’s. We looked at each other and discussed whether we should even go, maybe we should head for Eastern Washington, I said.

We left the Dockton buoy at noon and headed out of Quarter Master Harbor for Bainbridge Island. Since there was no wind we motored out to Puget Sound where the wind was and put up sail. We sailed to Blake Island State Park which is only accessible by boat. We never reached Bainbridge because it was getting late. Anchoring is best in the waters south west of the island. The day was a typical gray drizzling northwest day. Laura had cooked dinner before we left except for the vegetables we grilled. As we were eating an otter swam by wrestling a fish in her mouth.

Waking up to clouds the wind was quiet. We ate breakfast and headed north, looking for wind. Before we reached Bainbridge the sun was coming out from the clouds and the winds came up lifting our spirits. The rest of the day went like that lots of sun shining, we could see Seattle in the distance and the wind blew.

The many faces of the Northwest, gray rainy and cold one minute and sunny with snow capped mountains in the distance the next. That’s how the whole weekend went.

When we rounded the north end of Bainbridge Island the wind quieted down in Port Madison. This gave us time to calculate the currents at Agate Pass to see if we should make a run for it or drift with the light wind until we had the currents with us. We decided to make a run for it. We sailed all the way through Agate Pass and on to Liberty Bay where the town of Poulsbo sits on the shore.

Temperatures climbed into the 80’s what a contrast from yesterday. We were glad we left. The northwest just doesn’t get better than this. Luckily there was space at the Poulsbo Yacht Club for us to use the reciprocal moorage. I called my sister to let her know were had arrived so that her family could come meet us for dinner.

On the way off the dock we saw harbor seals and birds hanging out on the brake-wall of logs. Yes soaking up the northwest is what this week end is all about. The moss never goes away here in the Northwest even in the hottest of summers and this time of year the moss shines, even glitters with the moisture steaming from the heat of the sun.

My sister met us in Poulsbo with her husband and his sister for dinner. We had a great seafood dinner and good company. Trying to spend as much time with family and friends before I leave.


The next morning clouds covered the sky as we drank our coffee in the cockpit, packed up and took off with engine running. Shortly after taking off the wind started to come up and we turned off the engine and set sail through the narrow channel of Liberty Bay. Clouds started to break up and the by the time we were out in Port Orchard Passage. Luck stayed with us the whole day, sunshine, wind and warmth. This made two days of great sailing.


Ariving in Port Orchard we navigated the waters to the recipical moorage at the Port Orchard Yaht Club. Friends from Vashon Island met us and we went out to eat on the water front of Port Orchard.

And that's how a great weekend in the Pacific Northwest goes.

What I know about Mali

Boarder Countries: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal.

The 8 regions of Mali are Gao, Kayes, Kidal, Koulikoro, Mopti, Segou, Sikasso, and Tombouctoucotton,

Agricultural products are millet, rice, corn, vegetables, peanuts; cattle, sheep, goats.

Mali is among the poorest countries in the world, with 65% of its land area desert or semidesert and with a highly unequal distribution of income. Economic activity is largely confined to the riverine area irrigated by the Niger. About 10% of the population is nomadic and some 80% of the labor force is engaged in farming and fishing. Industrial activity is concentrated on processing farm commodities. Mali is heavily dependent on foreign aid and vulnerable to fluctuations in world prices for cotton, its main export, along with gold. The government has continued its successful implementation of an IMF-recommended structural adjustment program that is helping the economy grow, diversify, and attract foreign investment. Mali's adherence to economic reform and the 50% devaluation of the CFA franc in January 1994 have pushed up economic growth to a 5% average in 1996-2007. Worker remittances and external trade routes for the landlocked country have been jeopardized by continued unrest in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire.

Political History the Sudanese Republic and Senegal became independent of France in 1960 as the Mali Federation. When Senegal withdrew after only a few months, what formerly made up the Sudanese Republic was renamed Mali. Rule by dictatorship was brought to a close in 1991 by a military coup - led by the current president Amadou TOURE - enabling Mali's emergence as one of the strongest democracies on the continent. President Alpha KONARE won Mali's first democratic presidential election in 1992 and was reelected in 1997. In keeping with Mali's two-term constitutional limit, KONARE stepped down in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou TOURE, who was subsequently elected to a second term in 2007. The elections were widely judged to be free and fair.

Major Infectious Diseases that are high risk: food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease: malaria water contact disease: schistosomiasis
respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis (2008)

Life expectancy in Mali is 49.94 years per the CIA and 57 years per the UN.
(I am 58)

Status of homosexuality: legal age of consent:laws covering homosexual activity: Relevant sections of the Penal Code are as follows;

Mali 1981: Article 179 - Sexual Offence, Public Indecency: Three months to two years of prison and a fine of 20 000 to 200 000 francs.

As it is written it would appear that same-sex acts are not illigal in themselves.

National Geographic recently had an article on the Sahel region in Africa that extends from the Atlantic coast at Dakar Senegal to the Red Sea at Eritrea. In Mali the Sahel is the area just north of Bamako the capital city to just north of Timbuktu. The Sahel is the transition zone at the edge of the Sahara Desert, earth’s largest desert. Sahel is defined by climate. This climate is on the margin between the high rainfall areas of the west African coast - southern Nigeria, for example - and the arid zone of the Sahara. In this zone rainfall is variable. As climate changes the borders of the Sahel move significantly as it has between 1960 and 1997 because of four major droughts in the region.

It has been reported by National Geographic that U.S. Forces are stationed around Timbuktu. This is due to rebel activity reported to be al Qaeda’s North African Wing. The US having learned a lesson in Afghanistan and is taking action sooner rather then later.

There have also been news reports of al Qaeda activity in Mali’s neighboring country of Mauritania. Many Peace Corps volunteers in Mauritania reported this in their blogs.

Because of these reported al Qaeda activities in Mauritania, Mali and other regions of West Africa, the US has taken a renewed interest in Muslim black Africa.

Resources for these facts include the Behind the Mask, (Behind The Mask – a non-profit media organisation publishing a news website intended for gay and lesbian affairs in Africa, was launched on 8 May 2000. This project operated under the Gay and Lesbian Archives of South Africa until 1 January 2003. Since that day Behind The Mask has been operating as an NGO-trust, registered with the South African Department of Welfare.) CIA, United Nations, and National Geographic.

Departure Date July 6, 2008

My service departure date is July 6th, 2008 and even though that’s three months away I think about Mali and what the Peace Corps service will be like. When the orientation packet came for Mali the most interesting section was the one on diversity. The diversities addressed were seniors, people of color, gays and lesbians and religions. Because I am 58 years old, a lesbian and don’t consider myself a Christian this was good news to me.

The other minority that was not mentioned was someone who does not drink alcohol. Now I don’t drink not because of religion it’s just that I am an alcoholic. I have been sober for over twenty-five years. So the vision I have of me in Mali is during training, we get a night off and everyone wants to go to the bar for a beer. I can say in French “I would like a beer or some wine.” I can ask you if you would like a beer or some wine. Picturing me at a bar in Mali, I just don’t see it. Even in Vietnam when I bicycled through the country going to a bar never crossed my mind.

As for being a Lesbian, that is just a part of me and a part of my culture that will be in the back ground. The fact that I lived in the Gay Ghettos for most of my adult life and raised children both mine and foster kids both gay and straight will for at least a couple of years be a memory. My daughter may visit me, but maybe not too. She is proud of me joining the Peace Corps and I will miss her. On the Peace Corps application they ask if you’re married not if you have a domestic partner. There maybe a difference with straight people whether you’re married or in a domestic partner situation but for gays and lesbians there is no difference.

What I am looking forward to is learning French and a local language, being a part of the community, learning about the Islam religion, and working outside the box of the 9 to 5 world. Training and working with other Peace Corps volunteers, what an experience to share. I also need to open my heart to people who are different from me.

The internet site http://www.peacecorpsjournals.com/ has a directory of blogs written by Peace Corps volunteers all over the world. Most of the volunteers are white, straight, and under 25 years of age. I have learned a lot from reading all the blogs, written by people in Jordan, Kenya, Mali and beyond. I hope that this blog helps someone.

Recently I read that a baby boomer described themselves by writing that when they were young they tried to change the world, then they had kids, then they were middle age and now they were looking forward to retirement. Me, I am ready to start changing the world again like when I was in my twenties. At twenty-three I was one of the founders of a Food Coop, a Woman’s Clinic, and worked in a collective called Alternative Finance where we would go around and help collectives set up accounting systems. In my thirties I wrote and took pictures for different gay newspapers around the country. My family of kids were always active in the community.

Looking forward to the serving; Until next time.

At last an invitation

When my medical clearance came through it was conditional that I go somewhere I can get a yearly mammogram. I don’t even get one here at home because I don’t feel like I am at risk for Breast Cancer. But over the year plus of the application process I have learned not to argue with the Peace Corps.

Just before my medical clearance came through one person called asking about my medical clearance and said I could be leaving in February 2007. Unfortunately that can not happen now because of my medical restriction. At the time my medical clearance came through I was told if I was willing to take a French class I could leave in July if not September was a sure thing. So twice a week I leave my island and ferry over to French class. Everyday I study French for at least an hour. The internet has great language recourses.

I have accepted an invitation to Mali scheduled to leave July 6, 2007. Hard to believe that Mali has the medical infrastructure to be able to offer mammograms.

The African placement desk told me the invitation was conditional on passing my French class. I had a melt down this last Friday thinking I was not doing that well in the French class. I called the Mali Peace Corps contact in Washington D.C. I said that it would not benefit either me nor the Peace Corps if I went to Mali for three months and had to come home. She assured me that once I was in Mali they would do anything they could to make me successful in the language classes.

In the invitation packet for Mali the Peace Corps addresses the issues of diversity including female, gay, and senior volunteers all of which include me. Other diversities they address are religious, people of color and disability issues for volunteers serving in Mali.

My sector will be the Business and Community Development. What that looks like in Mali I have not idea, but it will be important to think outside the box to be successful.

This will be a dream come true. Years ago I looked at traveling in West Africa. In my spare time I plan trips this year I have planned a bicycle trip to India, and South America. Now my sites are on West Africa.

Peace Corps - A New Beginning

Last fall on my daily walk to the post office my mind was dreaming of change; of getting out of 9 – 5. Realizing after many trips to Costa Rica to look at property in Puerto Viejo for a small business space and living quarters there was something holding me back. Something I couldn’t put my finger on but something had to change. I couldn’t go on just talking about doing some of the things I was dreaming about doing. Right there and than I made a pack with myself that by June 1, 2007 I would have a plan in place. Applying to the Peace Corps has become that plan.

On the Peace Corps website this is what they say about waiting; “Now is a good time to practice some important Peace Corps traits: patience and flexibility. You understandably will feel anxious or frustrated at times as you wait to receive more information. Please understand there may be times when you do not hear from the Peace Corps for some weeks — for example, while your medical clearance is being processed. This doesn't mean you are no longer being considered. The process simply takes time.”

Waiting, Waiting, and Waiting. So far that is what the Peace Corps has taught me. Today is August 27, 2007, on New Year’s Eve December 31, 2006 I remember the very moment I pushed the send button on my computer to submit my application to the Peace Corps. I remember the sense of adventure and excitement. I remember thinking that the possibilities of changing direction in my life had just taken a big step forward. As I pushed that button I said out loud to myself, “Happy New Year.” There are days still that that same excitement is alive in me and there are those days when the waiting feels like it has a hold on my life moving in any direction.

My family and friends keep asking questions, they are waiting too. Last week there was an update some motion in the waiting, I now have my dental clearance. I could call everyone waiting and tell them this new update as well as the updates that are going on in my daily life to get ready; renting out my house, arranging finances, finding places for my things; Laura’s feelings about me going. The list goes on.

People at work are waiting too although I don’t tell them much. They are curious more than anything else. They would understand me going to Iraq to fight a war more than going into the Peace Corps to work for peace and harmony.

Acknowledging the motion in waiting. As I get my current life packed up to wait the metamorphoses has already started. It’s easy to sit at work and dream of what could be; what would be; it’s another thing to take action and actually make those dreams a reality. The people around continue to ask questions, I have no answers. They don’t realize that I have already started my metamorphosis and am turning away from my life as I know it. The first steps in any change process can be painful; scary; unsettling at best.

When I realized that the metamorphosis had already started fear gripped me but I kept forging ahead to move my things out of my house. Letting go of things and routines first and then what? The list will grow as I become aware of the process.

In waiting I read African news on the BBC website. Vanity Fair had their whole July 2007 issue devoted to Africa with Bono from U2 as guest editor. The CIA has a web page called the World Factbook a guide to County Profiles that I look up African countries on. Some nights I even dream of being in Africa. I read African novels such as the Purple Hibiscus, and Half Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. In my African internet favorites there are only 8 websites listed. Yahoo search brought up 528,000,000 sites; a Google search brought up 255,000,000 sites. I guess there is plenty to read while I wait.

Reading the history of African countries a pattern emerges at least for many. Chad independence 1960 with elections in 1996; Kenya independence 1963 with elections 1992; Mali independence 1960 elections 1992; Nigeria independence 1960 elections 1999; Sudan independence 1956 civil war until 2005; Tanzania independence 1964 elections 1995; Mauritania independence 1960 one party system came to end in 1995.

What was going on in Africa in the 1960’s and what happened in the 1990’s to change the course of so many countries simultaneously. As I wait this would be a good topic to research.

My internet favorites in my African folder have grown to 31 as of September 7, 2007.

Of course, all African countries, with the exception of Ethiopia and Liberia, started out as colonies. And just as with the American War for Independence, some African colonies, such as Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, also gained their independence only after waging war against their colonial masters. While the majority of African countries gained independence without having to resort to a revolution, in every African country independence was won only after the people organized themselves in a struggle against colonialism.