Amadu’s checkin’ out

May in Kayes region is hot (funtini be = it’s hot). It still hasn’t rained in my village since the middle of November. I basically sweat all day.

The other day I attempted to run in the morning before school. The run went pretty well, but I never cooled down. I was sitting in on a French class, and just sitting in the back sweating profusely. If anyone remembers Patrick Ewing, he would have a personal mop-man follow him around when he played for the Knicks, that’s what it was like.

I was miserable the past couple of weeks at site.

So, I was sitting there with my own words echoing in my head. The whole optimistic thing where I decided that weather doesn’t determine your mood.

That’s when I decided I still think I was right. The weather was really just making a bad situation worse, not the initial cause.

When volunteers have only a few months left, they start asking each other if they’re “checked out.” Mentally, it is tempting to look forward to that next stage of your life.

I have absolutely loved my time in Mali. But, I am no exception, I really am ready to continue with the next step. So, the countdown has begun, and mentally I’m not as into it as I once was.

It’s really hard to believe that I’ve been here in Mali almost two years. It is an incredibly surreal feeling to realize that this much time has passed. As my time winds down I’m becoming more and more nostalgic for the places and people I haven’t even left yet.

I can’t help but wonder where all the time has gone. I remember my first few weeks in Mali, and then my first few terrifying days alone in Dialafara. Back then time seemed to crawl, and I just wondered if I could really make it. Somehow though, time magically sped up. Time flies when you’re having fun?

Something like that, I guess.

So, you’ll have to excuse me as I look ahead. I’ve adjusted to everything and ended up really enjoying myself, but now, I’m ready to go.

Another day sitting around in my concession, Mr. Keita, the French teacher, and one of my best friends at site, seemed incredibly concerned about me.

He looked over at me and gave me one of the saddest “Ça va?” ‘s I have ever heard. It implied more than how are you. It was as though he saw me suffering and genuinely thought I might just faint or pass out at any moment. I had to smile.

It is rough, but it is my second hot season. So, although it is miserable, at least this time I am used to the misery.

For some reason, I have chosen this time to let my hair grow out. In some way I feel like I am defying the heat. Or at least attempting to.

I’m trying to at least continue to be somewhat useful at site as my time winds down, and the school year also comes to a close. This is also my best attempt at a lesson on aid.

So, the school I work at used to have a wooden (large sticks) border around the outside to prevent animals from coming into the school’s courtyard. But after last years rainy season, and some stronger recent winds, the border began to fall apart. As a result dogs, goats, donkeys, etc. began to just wander in to the school’s courtyard area.

My homologue, who in all honesty never really asks me for much, wanted to know if we could do a project to build a cement wall around the school.

I thought it wasn’t a bad idea, and the fact that he never asks for much certainly helped his case. Me, him and Mr. Keita began the process of figuring out what we would need tp make this project and how much it would cost to make it happen. When we did the basic calculations we figured out that it would cost a between three and four million CFA (about $8,000).

That’s a pretty large project. Although we might’ve been able to get the funds, since the town would’ve been able to give us the sand, I was now pretty hesitant to do a project that big for something as unimportant as a wall.

Then, I had a very interesting conversation with another teacher and friend, Mr. Diabatè. He told me that if we just gave them money, that no one would learn anything except to sit around and wait for money.

What we ended up deciding was that all of the students each brought a couple of large logs, and some bamboo to tie them together. The kids worked hard for a couple of afternoons, and the end result was a pretty well constructed border.

I couldn’t help think that it seemed much more appropriate to Mali than a cement wall would have been. All I had to do was supervise and make sure everyone brought their wood to school.

Mr. Diabatè had a point. By doing it this way, the kids and teachers see that hard work just makes more sense than waiting for someone to come throw some money at them.

This highlights one of the biggest problems with foreign aid. You can’t just throw money around or the people will become dependant on that money. Some people with money do want to help though which is admirable.

A fellow volunteer told me a story from his site. A French NGO give his village a bunch of money and built a playground. That sounds nice, until you actually consider just how far down the list of priorities a playground really is. This is a town without running water, or even a pump. They have one school that has grades one-three.

On other words they have far bigger problems than trying to figure out where their kids will swing.

But, this NGO doesn’t know that. They have money, and they want to help. They have no idea what the village really needs.

Peace Corps is not perfect by any means, and I am far from the best volunteer, but I really believe that PC gets a lot of things right.

The fact that we are placed in villages, and for two years really makes a difference. We learn their language, live like them, and do our best to integrate into our community.

This closeness, allows us to get to know our individual villages. Eventually, from talking to people, we begin to understand what it is that our village truly needs.

So, not that Peace Corps is the only way to do it, but spending the time is almost more important than spending the money. At least in that regard, Peace Corps gets it right.

Finding out what the village really needs first and foremost is the first and most important step.

Yes, we want your money, but please don’t throw it away.

Even though right now I would pay to be able to swing and slide.