Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Bamako Blitz: Countdown to Ameriki*


Wow - I've got 3 more days here. In a way, these three days seem like an eternity. I have prepared my mind and body for my departure, so I feel like I am walking through slow motion film as I tackle the small challenges that remain: getting final Ministry of Ed data, writing reference letters for my TAs, copying data on multiple drives, and then the extended waves of goodbyes.

I remember back in college, when I went home from Spring break - after multiple all-nighters, a season of basketball, waitressing: I would be so exhausted that all I would want to do is sleep. One memorable spring break, my college roommate Maggie came home with me, we curled up under a comforter in my bedroom, and I think we slept for 3 days straight.

That is sorta how the end of fieldwork feels. Your body finally gets to process 11 months of cold showers, trying to walk the line between your food budget and nutrition/health and happiness, living somewhere where the poverty is still ever present and there is so little you can do, every interaction being a cultural navigation, and constant linguistic gymnastics - french to bambara to english to french. It's easy to get overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by what's outside your door; overwhelmed by what you can't change; overwhelmed by what you have actually seen and done.

In a way - the almost year here seems like a 30 second movie trailer - images, conversations, and feelings pop up, mesh together, and cycle in and out, but it also feels like more than a year of trench warfare. For my own sanity and for your entertainment - I have tried to quantify some of what I have experienced here, what is dancing and clawing through my mind:

Visited 6 regional capitals (Bamako, Timbuktu, Segou, Kayes, Sikasso, Sevare/Mopti)
Trained 4 rockstar research assistants
Conducted 1000 household interviews (Well between me and my team)
Witnessed 4 fatal accidents (all moto drivers)
Learned lots of great new Bambara two-word words like muna-muna (turn) and walla-walla (to feel well/embrace life/attacking the day
Attended 1 wedding and 1 baptism
Danced in a record 3 nightclubs in one weekend - thanks Jessica
Passed 2 Malaria tests with negative results
Introduced 4 new people to Mali including my little bro
Taught English, coached basketball, cooked 4 dinners for in-laws/fake Malian parents
Talked my way out of 4 police bribes
Unable to talk my way out of 3 police "tickets"
Gathered voting data from 1999-2009 for 702 communes
Conducted 450 exit polls for the communal elections
Survived 1 sotrama accident where we hit lots of motots; 1 car accident where we rear-ended a donkey
Hosted 2 roof parties
Bought a car, sold a car, fixed a taxi, bought a bridal shop
Attended the Festival in the Desert, music/film fest on the Niger, Photo Biennial, and a crazy dance party/video installation exhibit in the old brickyard on the river
Learned how to "chi-ri-ry"
Played against the Malian 15 and under national basketball teams on local TV
Met and re-met some amazing folks: researchers, pilots, supportive spouses, teachers, coaches, students, NGO workers, peace corps, and students
Wrote 3 papers; 1 presented and 2 to go
Lost 15-20 pounds, 1 cellphone, and my favorite dress
Interviewed the head of the electoral commission, a anti-privatisation activist and the star of "Bamako," ATT's boyhood friend, Association of Koranic school leaders in Kayes, a WWII vet, and dozens of educators
Shared my home with 7 visitors
Recorded 200 interviews with university students
Became skype, web, facebook, internet dependent - wow Africa in 2009
Obtained 3 research clearances
Made a lot of Malians laugh

It seems silly to make a list. But it's also comforting as I am tired and I want to know that I did something while I was here. Mali and Bamako in particular continues to grow and expand by the minute - some problems remedied, others exacerbated. One feels a bit helpless, there for the ride, watching everything pass. Like when you learn a language - the better you get, the more you realize there is to tackle.

Going to try to make these last few days count. Then on to Kenya; then home in time for thanksgiving!

*Research Team Members and Drissa in the Sikasso Region

Friday, November 6, 2009

To Timbuktu and Back

Most Americans haven't hear of Mali. I think its imagined as a hybrid of Malawi and Bali. However, all Americans have heard of Timbuktu. I first remember hearing about it while watching bugs bunny cartoons as a child.

I sent my RAs up to Timbuktu to finish up the final surveys. I had wanted to accompany them, but given the summers' events (assassination of a British hostage by a group calling themselves Al Queada of the Sahel, supposed ties between that group and family disputes in Timbuktu region, assassination of a Malian military officer in his living room in Timbuktu ville) and my lack of language skills - I don't speak Songhrai, Arabic, or Tamashek - I opted to send them up alone. I was also reaping the benefits of months of training and mentoring my bright, capable research assistants. One of them was from the region and other has been with me since February. We talked extensively about budget management, site selection, and various logistics before they left on the bus to Douentza and then a 4X4 to Timbuktu.

I was fortunate enough to score a ride up to visit them. My rock-star pilot friend allowed me to "roadtrip" up with him to Timbuktu. I admit I was suffering from a bit of Mali malaise before my departure, but riding in the cockpit tracing the path of the Niger to the left of the plane - was a shocking reminder of where I was and what I was doing. After a brief stop in Mopti, we powered on the Timbuktu. My RA Youba sent a friend to pick me up on his moto. The city was relatively quiet and calm. As we road over the sand dunes -I remember how different it was up North. Bella make-shift huts were scattered throughout the city, there were no taxis, no jakartas - just lots of 4x4s.

I was dropped off at Youba's house. I spent the day with him and Guindo - reviewing the budget and talking about the surveys - voting rates are much higher in Timbuktu, ethnic and inter-ethnic coalitions appear to trump party identification, people have fewer government documents. I met the two assistants that Guindo and Youba had selected to help them with the surveys and I was extremely impressed. A law graduate and a education student - both were very interested in the intersection of education and politics. They joked that the survey brought them luck - in that very week one had been hired with an NGO and the other passed his university exams. We ate some amazing "dibi sogo." I spent the evening chatting with Youba's dad in the compound under the stars. He told me how much Timbuktu has changed - how tradition is weakening and how the content of someone's thoughts/intellect is less valued. I said goodbye to everyone and headed back to the hotel so I would be ready for the 5:30 am depart.

I rode back to the airport and standing up in the back of a pickup - breathing in the fresh air. It smelled like the ocean. I returned triumphant to Bamako - timbuktu and back in less than 24 hours, receipts and 100 surveys in hand - this is definitely the most efficient trip I've ever made.