Update: On The Air

“An lamenbagaw mandi, Aw ni su. Aw ka kene? Somogow don?”

So begins every program of the Achata & Numujo radio show here in rural Mali. Now into our second week, Joye and I have successfully aired four half-hour radio shows. Every Thursday night, Joye (Achata) leads the discussion on health and education, and every Sunday night, I (Numujo) lead the discussion on environmental protection. For example, last week Joye taught me about germs and hand-washing with soap, while I taught her about how to start a successful compost pile. Moreover, during the show, we play some American tunes and talk in a way that promotes the values of equality and affection in a marriage. Thus far, the reviews have been extremely positive. Throughout the radio’s broadcasting area, we are constantly stopped and complemented on our Bambara, and it is not uncommon to hear people repeat memorized segments of the show that they found particular humorous. While a lot of work to record two half-hour shows in Bambara every week, this encouragement has convinced us that this will be meaningful and promising work going forward, which is a tremendous blessing.

We have also been keeping busy in these last few weeks planning and completing our village’s PACA (Participatory Analysis for Community Assessment) meeting. In short, PACA brings together a diverse set of community members to discuss village strengths and then what villagers themselves can do to help improve their situation. In a culture where only old men make community decisions by appealing to NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) for money, this is a very different way of community organizing. In PACA, old men, old women, and youth are all represented, which often means that a different set of village development priorities emerges. For example, old men never are sent to go fetch water, so why would working pumps be a priority for them?

To organize the meeting, we had to invite key community leaders, who in turn invited larger groups of people. For myself, who works in Duguba (15kms away), this was particularly difficult since it involved multiple trips back and forth. We also to provide snacks to participants since the meeting went from 8am to 1pm, which was another fiasco, particularly in Duguba where they are used to NGOs providing large meals after every formation. Lastly, we had to organize with a Peace Corps trainer to come in to lead the meeting, which was challenging, but worth it, since as a Malian he was able to say things we could not because of both language and cultural barriers (ie. So if you don’t wash your hands after the bathroom, and then you eat lunch, what are you really eating? Poop!). At the end of both meetings, the villagers collectively selected and ranked a set of development priorities which we will now work with them on to complete. For Duguba, the 1^st priorities was food transformation activities, and for Kongodugu (where we live), it was fixing the broken down pumps in town. These are great footholds for where to guide our work.

Furthermore, this month saw the continuation of a few things we have already reported on. I continue to help the tailors in Duguba organize their cooperative and set reasonable goals for buying new machinery, and Joye continues to teach weekly health lessons to a community school. She has already successfully taught them how to build a hand-washing station and make a cheap oral rehydration drink that will help their families fight against the number one killer of small children here – diarrhea.

Lastly, to end on a positive note, this month we made a couple improvements to our living situation. Since hot season is quickly approaching, we bought a small wooden bed that we have started using to sleep outside underneath our thatch hangar, which has significantly improved the quality of our sleep. Also, we were graciously given a banana tree, which we planted near our house and surrounded by mud bricks to protect from the donkeys. With a lot of water, and a little luck, we should have bananas in about six months! Still waiting on a compound wall and a roof for our magazine, but we are hopeful that they will come soon.

Thank you for reading and your continual thoughts and prayers! Have a great day!

-James (& Joye)