Cows, weddings and sweating
I want to start off by apologizing for doing such a rotten job lately of keeping up with my blog. I can't believe how long it has been since I have actually updated this thing. Anyway, Since it has been a while since I have written I will try my best to touch on some of the big things going on here.
The cow project is going pretty well, we are down to about 4 cows left and are looking to sell them soon. This project has definitely been a huge learning experience for me and I regret that I will not be able to see it through the second cycle of buying cows since I would be able to do the project much more efficiently. The main problem being so far is that I haven't been able to find one mass buyer of cows in Bamako who I can sell all my cows to at once. We have to take the cows down the Kati cow market here, which while a good market, hasn't allowed us to sell all the cows in one or two days. Since we don't have a place to keep the cows in Bamako, they have to be brought back up after a couple of days and then fed more feed. That being said, none of the cows have died of disease which would have killed any profit that this project could attain and all the cows are really healthy and fat, I have thought of buying a couple myself after eating only to for several days straight, haha.
Wedding season is just ending right about now and while last year I was really excited about it and open to experience the differences in cultures, I found myself somewhat jaded and critical of the process this year. I think my main problem with the wedding system here is that it spreads out over years and years. My good friend Ba finally had his official wedding ceremony take place, which he was not allowed to attend (he had a civil wedding ceremony a couple of years ago). This happened after he has already been married to his wife for about 7 years and they already have 2 kids together. Also, since they haven't had their kognion ceremony yet his wife probably won't be able to move to his village for another 5 years or so while he gets the money to pay for that ceremony. That means that his daughter Jamanko more or less doesn't see her mom except for acouple of weeks every year. My other friend Madu just had his kognion after being married for 7 years and finally his wife has come to the village which is about time since she is pregnant with her 4th child. During the ceremony all the men sat together while the old men talked about how good this was and how Madu will be a good husband (pretty much the same thing they said 7 years ago at the wedding ceremony) later on Madu told me that he was sad because he really wanted to go to Koula to hang out with his girlfriend. I was like great Madu, good job. Overall I don't know, I have quizzed some of the young guys who are approaching the age of marriage on what they think of the process and they all seem totally fine with it which makes me think maybe I am just not being culturally sensitive enough, then again, I definitely think there is a lack of logic to some of the ceremonies here.
A really sad event occurred the other week when I got back to village and found out that Jenema's newborn child, Korotumu, had passed away while I was gone. No one really talked about it that much but one of the guys from my host family's concession came over and informed me. Usually the death of a baby isn't really something that the village makes a big deal over, as opposed to the death of an elder, but obviosuly it is devastating for the parents. Makono was definitely more high strung the next couple of a weeks and Jenema seemed spaced out quite a bit. The kids were also very sad over it understandably since they really loved playing with the Korotumu. I was really sad about it since Makono and Jenema are two of my favorite people in village and I am really close with them and their kids and Korotumu was one of the few babies in village that I used to hold and play with.
I just got back from a Shea butter formation which taught the women how to hold a formation in their village to organize the collection and production of high quality shea. Overall, I think the formation was a success in that it did teach the women how to make sellable shea butter and stressed the importance on forming a group to produce large quantities of it. However, I felt overall that the women were sort of confused on who they could then sell the shea to. Many asked questions about this and I could see that some of them were thinking that what was the point of making this high quality shea ( which is more difficult to do than the way they currently make it) if they didn't have an actual buyer that would ensure they would be paid for it. Also, the formateur mentioned that there was a machine you could get which would mix the shea butter for them and make it much easier to do large amounts. As with all malians, the second you mention that their is a machine that can do it or something like that, that is the number one thing that sticks in their head. My friend Mike went back to his village to have a meeting with his women's group and of course the first thing they said was, there is a machine you can get which will do it for you!!! I am excited to have this meeting with my women and to see if this is something they would be interested in since the amount of profit to be made is significant and it is something they have already been doing their entire lives.
Well, I think I am at the end of this entry, I have to get on my sotrama to get back to site pretty soon which should be fun since its about 110 degrees out. It has honestly been painfully hot, to the point that you want to drink water to hydrate but at the same time you don't since the second you have any you immediately start sweating uncontrollably as your body tries to cool itself down. I went over to my friends house for tutoring the other day which is like a 3 minute bike ride away and he gave me some water. Five minutes later he was like, are you okay?? You are sweating on the paper. Other than that, everything is going well here. I miss you all. Take care.
The cow project is going pretty well, we are down to about 4 cows left and are looking to sell them soon. This project has definitely been a huge learning experience for me and I regret that I will not be able to see it through the second cycle of buying cows since I would be able to do the project much more efficiently. The main problem being so far is that I haven't been able to find one mass buyer of cows in Bamako who I can sell all my cows to at once. We have to take the cows down the Kati cow market here, which while a good market, hasn't allowed us to sell all the cows in one or two days. Since we don't have a place to keep the cows in Bamako, they have to be brought back up after a couple of days and then fed more feed. That being said, none of the cows have died of disease which would have killed any profit that this project could attain and all the cows are really healthy and fat, I have thought of buying a couple myself after eating only to for several days straight, haha.
Wedding season is just ending right about now and while last year I was really excited about it and open to experience the differences in cultures, I found myself somewhat jaded and critical of the process this year. I think my main problem with the wedding system here is that it spreads out over years and years. My good friend Ba finally had his official wedding ceremony take place, which he was not allowed to attend (he had a civil wedding ceremony a couple of years ago). This happened after he has already been married to his wife for about 7 years and they already have 2 kids together. Also, since they haven't had their kognion ceremony yet his wife probably won't be able to move to his village for another 5 years or so while he gets the money to pay for that ceremony. That means that his daughter Jamanko more or less doesn't see her mom except for acouple of weeks every year. My other friend Madu just had his kognion after being married for 7 years and finally his wife has come to the village which is about time since she is pregnant with her 4th child. During the ceremony all the men sat together while the old men talked about how good this was and how Madu will be a good husband (pretty much the same thing they said 7 years ago at the wedding ceremony) later on Madu told me that he was sad because he really wanted to go to Koula to hang out with his girlfriend. I was like great Madu, good job. Overall I don't know, I have quizzed some of the young guys who are approaching the age of marriage on what they think of the process and they all seem totally fine with it which makes me think maybe I am just not being culturally sensitive enough, then again, I definitely think there is a lack of logic to some of the ceremonies here.
A really sad event occurred the other week when I got back to village and found out that Jenema's newborn child, Korotumu, had passed away while I was gone. No one really talked about it that much but one of the guys from my host family's concession came over and informed me. Usually the death of a baby isn't really something that the village makes a big deal over, as opposed to the death of an elder, but obviosuly it is devastating for the parents. Makono was definitely more high strung the next couple of a weeks and Jenema seemed spaced out quite a bit. The kids were also very sad over it understandably since they really loved playing with the Korotumu. I was really sad about it since Makono and Jenema are two of my favorite people in village and I am really close with them and their kids and Korotumu was one of the few babies in village that I used to hold and play with.
I just got back from a Shea butter formation which taught the women how to hold a formation in their village to organize the collection and production of high quality shea. Overall, I think the formation was a success in that it did teach the women how to make sellable shea butter and stressed the importance on forming a group to produce large quantities of it. However, I felt overall that the women were sort of confused on who they could then sell the shea to. Many asked questions about this and I could see that some of them were thinking that what was the point of making this high quality shea ( which is more difficult to do than the way they currently make it) if they didn't have an actual buyer that would ensure they would be paid for it. Also, the formateur mentioned that there was a machine you could get which would mix the shea butter for them and make it much easier to do large amounts. As with all malians, the second you mention that their is a machine that can do it or something like that, that is the number one thing that sticks in their head. My friend Mike went back to his village to have a meeting with his women's group and of course the first thing they said was, there is a machine you can get which will do it for you!!! I am excited to have this meeting with my women and to see if this is something they would be interested in since the amount of profit to be made is significant and it is something they have already been doing their entire lives.
Well, I think I am at the end of this entry, I have to get on my sotrama to get back to site pretty soon which should be fun since its about 110 degrees out. It has honestly been painfully hot, to the point that you want to drink water to hydrate but at the same time you don't since the second you have any you immediately start sweating uncontrollably as your body tries to cool itself down. I went over to my friends house for tutoring the other day which is like a 3 minute bike ride away and he gave me some water. Five minutes later he was like, are you okay?? You are sweating on the paper. Other than that, everything is going well here. I miss you all. Take care.
posted by Daniel Marsh at 12:19 PM
3 Comments:
Hi Dan,
I know it might be weeks before you read this, but its interesting to read your blog and see through your eyes an African culture. They don't seem structured culturally and economically to succeed and join the more advanced (economically) world. Their future does not look good.
Sad and interesting at the same time. Keep up the good work. Jim Prendergast
Dan,
your Dad sent me your email about your river trip, etc. and mentioning me in it. Well thanks, Maybe many of your friends are not tuned in and internet savvy enough to respond. But I do think that what you are doing is very important, mostly for you and the people you are working with.
Your heart and actions are in the right place and you love....
But get ready for the significant changes the world is about to go through and I see Africa as one of the major victims or losers of what is coming about. Sorry about the negativity.
Too many words in one paragraph. Gotta watch myself.
I suggest when you are back in the US, you study what is going on and try to predict as much as possibly the future, and make your decisions accordingly.
Like: do you want your own kids?
Need: a wife to do that. (girlfriends don't work well)
Want more education?
Want to make money and have fun?
Etc, Etc......
Sit down with your Dad and unload on him. God, he is good with people and hopefully with his own son.
Jim Prendergast
Worst. Blog. Ever.
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