The first picture was taken as we crossed the old River Bridge on our way to shop at the Artisinat. On the top of the hill directly in front of us is the Mali White House. It is white and it is the residence of the President of Mali. I can see it from the balcony by my apartment but I hoped that this would show up better as we were about four kilometers closer. The "Green Machine" in front of us is one of many buses that you see and dodge as you drive on Bamako streets. On either side of the bridge there is a lane for two wheeled and pedestrian traffic.

The second picture shows the traffic near the Artisinat when we decided that we did not really want to shop there. The parking lot was full and as you can easily see the streets were also full

21 March 2009

This is one of the weeks that I expected when nothing out of the ordinary happened. I was up early one morning and looked down at the street. A grandfather was carrying to buckets to the river for water. His grandson was running from behind to catch him and carry one of the buckets. Then they continued on. A donkey cart came down the street very quietly behind them. Early morning is about the only time that you can experience peace and quiet around here. People spend most of their day outside where it is cooler and their conversations are generally much louder than you would hear in the States.

Now a little recent history of Mali. In 1960 the Sudanese Republic gained it's independence from France. It joined with the Republic of Senegal to form the Mali Federation. Then Senegal seceded and Mali changed it's name to the Republic of Mali. The Army overthrew the government in 1968 and Mali was under military rule for 20 years. In 1991 dictator Moussa Faso was overthrown and Mali made a peaceful transition to democracy. There have been some rebellions along the northern border of Mali by some of the Tuareg tribes but most of Mali has been peaceful over the last 20 years. The economy has been steadily improving over that time. There is still a fairly large number of unemployed so I see more manual labor and less machine labor than I would see in the States.

I have commented on the traffic before and I may be repeating myself. Most of the vehicles on the road are motorbikes. They fit snugly in front , behind , and on both sides of any cars on the road. There are a few personal cars , a lot of taxis , and a lot of green machines (vans used as buses or for general hauling). Add to the above a fair number of bicycles , push carts , donkey carts and an odd horse or camel rider along with numerous pedestrians and you have an intriguing traffic problem. Anyone who drives must be expecting someone to do something unexpected at any time. Somehow it all works out.

We packed up our vehicles and headed out of Bamako. This was my first trip outside of Bamako since I flew in the first week of January. In the first picture we have the Africa Tower which is in a traffic circle near the airport. It has an outline of Africa at it's top. They tell me it has a pictoral tour of Africa that you can see as you climb up the interior of the tower. The next picture is from the village of Mana. The houses are built of mud bricks with thatched roofs.

I took two pictures of a mud wall that was put up around 300 years ago as a protection from slaver raiding parties. You can see that it has stood up well through the years. I have another picture of the village of Mana with some bushy trees in the foreground. These are Mango trees and they are covered with fruit. The big tree with the kids scattered in front of it? Well I don't know what kind it is so we will just call it Big Tree! The roots cover the ground all around it.

We stayed at a missionary compound at Mana where they teach pastors and their wives Bible stories and how to use them in witnessing. There is also a medical clinc at Mana which is sponsored by the church there.

Our retreat was sort of an extended field trip where the kids got to review their Mathematics, Biology and Earth Science materials and a spiritual retreat as we also had some Bible study. I came back pretty well tired out but I think that it was time well spent.

March7 Mali

These are pictures that someone else took in Mali and has shared with me. The young lady is cooking n'sema which I saw a lot of and ate a lot of in Malawi and in Zambia. I have not seen any here in Bamako. It may be more common in the villages. All the other pictures are of the area in and around Timbuctu. I would have liked to go there just to say that I had done it but It is about a thousand mile trek from Bamako. I could fly if I wasn't so cheap. Oh yes. Timbuctu is up closer to the Sahara so the climate is more arid. There used to be a river running through Timbuctu but it shifted so only the river sand remains. Timbuctu was an important center of learning and trade back in the 14th century. Morocco captured that territory in the late 16th century and held it until France took over in the early 1900's. Malian history fills in blank spaces for me when I have nothing new to report. Next week I will report on the retreat that we will have at Mana.