As I walked around our village a few weeks ago, I tried to explain to my Malian friends and neighbors that if the security situation in Mali worsened, Peace Corps could send us back to the States with very little notice. They all laughed and smiled and rapidly assured me that Mali had already returned to a state of peace. “Achata, stop worrying so much!” Never being ones to turn down the opportunity for a free photo, many of our friends readily agreed to pose, even though, they assured me, I could wait and take their picture another day when they were wearing better clothes. As it turned out, I found out a few hours later that I needed to pack my bags for consolidation in a larger town, and a few hours after that that we were being evacuated from Mali. Therefore, I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to photograph my friends and document my last moments with these villagers.
(Above) Before we knew we were leaving, Joye distributed and some French visual aids made by high school students from Deerfield, IL and Jim harvested a couple thousand Moringa seeds for distribution to the village.
(Above Left) Soulemanye, our young village chief, and a main partner in all our work in Kongodugu. (Above Right) Most of Kongodugu practices Animism. Though we missed the ceremony the previous day where they had sacrificed chickens for the coming rainy season, villagers insisted I get a picture of the elders in their ceremonial outfits.
Luckily, all our favorite people were hanging out in the village center, which made taking their picture easy! (Above Left) Some village elders hang out at Brahama’s (the carpenter/literacy teacher) workshop (Above Right) Joye’s counterpart Dorro gets his motorcycle fixed by Shila, the head of the maternity committee (Bottom Left) Jamshe, who helped Joye with health lessons at the literacy center, poses next to a butcher stand.
(Above Left) Our host mothers dig in to a classic meal of corn toh and red fish sauce (Above Right) Joye stands with her counterpart Dorro and the school project head mason Karim in front of the newly built school. As you can see, the cement was still drying! (Lower Left) Joye holds her best friend Nana’s newborn daughter Rebecca (Lower Right) Joye standing behind the almost finished school. When we left, they had only the cement floor to lay, and by now, its complete!
~Joye and James
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