Update: Work, Finally.

When starting a new job, the transition can be painful in one of two ways. Firstly, you can feel “thrown in” to your new position with hardly any training at all. Or secondly, the training can feel so paternalistic and bloated that you find yourself anxiously awaiting the day that you can finally get to work. Somehow, Peace Corps has enabled its volunteers to suffer through both experiences.

Whereas the former was the cause of much stress during our homestays, the latter has proven to be just as challenging. Before beginning any project work, Peace Corps Mali requires two months of language training, one month of technical training, and three months of getting to know colleagues. During this six-month interval, our proudest accomplishments have been our garden and world map mural, which, while something, are not quite the sustainable development work we are ultimately aiming to do.

However, after our December training, Peace Corps gave us the go-ahead on development projects. Therefore, this month has been an extremely exciting one in that we finally feel like we are starting to make an impact on our communities. While they are nothing spectacular, here is some of the development work we were proud to accomplish this month.

1)  Meetings with our assigned organizations: In an attempt to provide us a job description, Peace Corps assigned us both with community organizations back in September that supposedly requested our help. However, in our first three months, these groups only met once, which was enough to reveal how unorganized they were. This month, we both arranged for our groups to meet again. Joye pulled together Kongodugu’s school board, proposed a training on roles and responsibilities, oversaw the transfer of registration money from the teachers to the school board, and made suggested sanitation improvements for students. James assembled the tailor’s association of Duguba, convinced them that their monthly dues were an inadequate fundraising plan for a desired training center (it would take 163 years), and helped them to set a reasonable goal by prioritizing their wants. We also both got our associations to set a date for next month’s meeting – very important!

2) Got our very own radio show: In Mali as well as in other developing countries, radio is a great way to communicate to a wide audience about various important topics. Therefore, last month we went to Duguba’s radio director with the hope of maybe getting a half-hour broadcast every other week. To our surprise, he got back to us recently informing us that we will now have TWO half-hour radio shows EVERY week, both during primetime. While a bit daunting, we are also thrilled to soon have a weekly soapbox from which to discuss issues such as maternal health, sanitation,education, nutrition, gardening, and environmental protection to a large number of Malians. But don’t plan on listening in – the broadcasts will be in Bambara.

3) Held spontaneous formations: It all started when the four girls from the vocational training program, who meet next door, went potty behind our house. Joye immediately launched into a health lesson, and then, on seeing that their teacher was absent, began to teach them the Bambara alphabet using interactive games. Now, after talking with their teacher, Joye has been given a half-hour every Friday to teach personal health. James, on the other hand, has been able to share some knowledge about gardening with curious Malians who approach him during watering time. Whether its identifying unfamiliar vegetables (ie. carrots) or recommending techniques for soil fertilization, it has been rewarding to see the garden transform into a classroom of sorts. Also, thanks to ten stalks of corn at the back of garden grown during the dry non-farming season, it has convinced villagers that he (and Joye) are really good farmers.

Hopefully, all of these small successes will grow into the sustainable and substantial development work that we hope to do. Stay tuned in the months ahead to see whether these beginnings, and other untold potential projects, evolve or dissolve.

Thank you for reading! –James (and Joye)