Progress

In Mali, I have found progress to be a stop and go kind of enterprise, which requires a lot of patience. You wait until the right rythym comes along and then you try to hold on. Finally, things are starting to line up.

Thank you all for voting. Our puppy is now named Rex. I, along with a contingent of neighborhood kids, are working rather diligently on her training regimen. Rex can "sit (sigi)", "come (naa)", and is learning "down (daa)" she knows that she isn't allowed inside the house and must wait until we say so before attacking her food. We wash her once a week, which due to the dusty season - is less than effective. She, like my feet, is permanetly covered in a red/orange dust.

After two weeks of interviews, I've selected two research assistants (recent sociology and economics grads) and an intern (still in college). We embark on a six week training next Monday. I am scrambling to get the materials together. The first week we are covering theories of statebuilding, education, nationalism, and citizenship as well as looking more specifically at Mali's education sector in the context of the global campagin for "Education for All." This will be covered in the morning. In the afternoon, they will take the lead - teaching me Bambara. I'm hoping that we will all learn a lot.

I coach basketball 3 times a week. It's the same team that I have been playing with in Kalabancoura since 2002. The other coaches are amazing - they put in at least 3-4 hours a day, 6 days a week - unpaid. Right now I am helping with the beginners and the girls team (about 30 kids - 20 girls). Slowly we are moving from a lot of chattering, gossip, and laughing to more focus, concentration, and intensity. I have to explain moves and correct players using a combination of French and Bambara - very good practice for my language acquisition.