Life and such

In the caves of Missikoro

The chief of Adeles village and me

me and Fatima's baby boy

my coworkers and me at work

opening xmas presents

with Echins kids in front of their mini petting farm

mom and will reading

will at dogon country

the fam





will and dad on a boat in mopti

mom, will; and me in a boat

it's bath time

sheep in transport



will and dad in mopti

Last Sunday, I was walking to lunch with Ben and there was chaos. There was a group of people crowded in the intersection. We were walking closer, and then everybody started running AWAY from where we were walking. We turned around, and then the gas hit us. It burned my throat, eyes, and I really thought my nose was bleeding. According to some Malians we asked on the street, a police man caused an accident. A mob then gathered and ripped down the police station and then beat up the police that caused the accident. The Malians said that the individual in the accident was killed, but the next day at work, my homologue said that was false.

This was a big week for me. We had 3 tourists come!!! And, they are from Canada so I could effectively communicate with them! They were super nice, and I do hope I was able to provide them with accurate information.

I am currently dog sitting these next few weeks. I can only imagine the conversations I have sparked. “So, I saw this tubab walking, holding a string connected to a dog! Can you believe that? How weird!” I am confident that is the first time many Malians have seen a dog on a leash. Instead of watching out for neighborhood dogs, I have to watch out for street dogs, donkeys, sheep, and goats. It’s the street dogs I am mainly concerned about because they look at little Keno like an appetizer. Keno’s a character. She eats rocks. No seriously. I think there must be a vitamin deficiency because that’s just not normal. She also likes to take rests in the shade during our walks. A lady yesterday looked at me when Keno refused to go any further (laying in the shade) and said, “Your dog is tired.” I just laughed.

I was planning on going to the Segou music festival, but I can’t because the money is due 2 days before I am going to Bamako. I am a little disappointed, but I have no doubt I will find another way to use the money.

Going to Bamako for a presentation this week!

Back to Lala Land

So, I’m back to my regular schedule. It’s weird because traveling around exhausted me, but I miss it.
It’s official: I have the best family and friends. I am the luckiest girl in the world.
I am doing a presentation in Bamako in a few weeks, so I am organizing my presentation.

Here are some pictures. I’ll try to put new ones up every week. Will explain the pictures in a few weeks.

Another Point of View

Hello. This is Katie's American mom, Cecilia, posting a capsule version of our African adventure.

We (me, my husband, our 18 y.o. son, Will) visited Katie for 2 weeks over the Christmas holiday. My favorite part was watching, in amazement, as Katie so effortlessly interacted with the Mali people. I dubbed it the "LaLa Mega" show. We would climb aboard a "bashay"--basically the back of a beat up pick-up truck with 3 benches, minimum of 15 plus people crowded in. And the show would start. Katie would introduce herself, flowing from French to Bambara and back. Then the questions would start. Who we were, where did she work, how her husband and children are (currently nonexistent but just easier to flow with "fine,") I always knew when we got to the punch line because everyone would look at me and start laughing. They have a wonderful tradition of "joking cousins" among family names ( a much kinder version of the Hatfields and McCoys!) Katie gave me the Malian name of "Mah Coulibally" while the rest of the family had the last name of "Maiga." And, as I was introduced, it was explained that since I was a "Coulibally" and not a "Maiga", that I was a donkey and ate beans. It was incredible that this line always brought the house down, everyone would laugh good naturedly. It was just fun.
The most beautiful part of our trip was our hike through the Dogon country. Our guide, Hasseim, is extremely talented (speaks English plus many other languages) and is passionate about explaining African history and customs to visitors. It was wonderful.
Minor aggravation--my luggage never did appear (thank goodness Katie could outfit me but I sure missed my own shoes) and I'm not too convinced that it will ever appear or that Air Maroc will settle a claim.
Health issues--I stuck to bottled water to try to hold those to a minimum. Bill had a "touch" of malaria (my diagnosis based on his symptoms and the Peace Corps Health Handbook) which I could easily, and cheaply, purchase medicine for in the local pharmacy. He responded within the first 36 hours which was a big relief, although I did opt to cut out our return trip through Morocco.
Other thoughts--the Malian people are friendly, beautiful and hard working. Watching those women with babies on their front and back, pulling water from wells and placing these large buckets on their heads to carry long distances was incredible. My hope is that volunteers, like Katie, can do their part, however small or large, to help ease their lives.

Thank you family and friends!!!!

I am once again overwhelmed by the generosity of my family and friends. The faucet project has been funded. Thank you to all who contributed, your thoughts and prayers, and your enthusiasm for being the backbone of this project.

Happy New Year's!

~Lala

The Cannon's Trip to Mali

My family made it back safely to the States yesterday. While at times I was extremely overwhelmed, I think that everybody had a lovely time with no regrets (okay, maybe a few) about coming.

It's going to be really difficult for me to sum up everything we did in a few weeks, so here is a brief summary.

After Bamako, we went to Segou. We went to a place where they dye the bogolan (mud cloth). After the demonstration, we each made our own bogolan squares. We had a lovely Italian dinner and saw the sun set over the Niger River.

From Segou, we went to Severe. I saw some other PCVs with their families. We spend the night in Severe, and then the next day explored Mopti. We took a boat ride to a nearby village and ate by the river.


After our day in Mopti, we spend another night in Severe. The next day, we headed out in the morning for Dogon Country. After lunch, we hung out for a few hours and then continued to Dogon. We had a small evening hike, and then stayed at a very nice campament. It was a little area made for tourists. It even had toilets!! Our tour guide pawned us off on his brother. He has a lot to learn from his brother! Dinner was nice. Will and I slept outside. The next morning, we went shopping. We had lunch with Rachel and her family, and then began hiking. Our guide was fantastic! Everybody made it out of Dogon country alive!

After our hike, we spent the night in Mopti. The next day, we left for Sikasso. We got in at 11:30 pm. Will stayed with me and my parents stayed in the hotel.

On Christmas Eve, my family picked up the tab for meatloaf. And, my mom made her infamous banana pudding:) We went to church on Christmas. My family wasn't so impressed with the 2 1/2 hour service in Bambara. It was the first time I saw my mom fall asleep in church! We had lunch at Echin's house. Green beans, chicken, bananas. It was delicious! Then it was nap time. After naps, we opened presents. Thanks to everybody who contributed! Later that evening, we hung out with other volunteers.

The next few days blur together. We were able to see the touristic "sites" of Sikasso in a private car. Also, my dad got real sick. My mom diagnosed him with malaria. We got medicine for him, and the next day he was able to get on a bus for Bamako.

In Bamako, my mom and I were in a cab that got rear ended. Then some time later, the cab broke down. Oh, Mali.

My last supper was shared at a delicious Chinese restaurant. I over-ordered, but you would too if your parents were picking up the bill!

I asked my family to write their experiences of Mali. I hope to post that within the week so you can get a different perspective.

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S! 2009

Yea! My family is here:)

Well, it's 10:48 am, and my family is asleep in the hotel room.


Their flight was an hour later, but whatev. It was a really long hour waiting outside (you aren't allowed inside unless you have a badge). I eventually talked my way in. It was so great seeing them! My mom's bag unfortunately didn't make it...maybe tomorrow.

Favorite Buba quote:

"Everytime I lick my lips, I taste dirt."

Welcome to Mali!

To Village and back

Yesterday, I went to Adele’s village. I feel like an old woman because my knees are killing me! So many hills! I entered her village and saw all these men. I thought I walked in on a town meeting, but it was a funeral. A guy was stabbed by his half older brother. He suffered a week before he finally past. The accused is crazy. No, really. He hears voices. Anyway, the accused returned to village last night. His sister took him in. What a tragedy.
I was extremely Malian, and made a great first impression with Adele’s village because I brought kola nuts to the chief. Kola nuts are symbolic of respect. I think they taste gross, but I hear that there is a caffeinated affect if you chew on them long enough. This morning, the chief sent over like 5 lbs of oranges! I had to give some to Adele because I don’t think my legs could handle an additional five pounds on my bike!
I had a great time at her site! She’s a great cook! I couldn’t believe how cold it got at night! So glad I brought my sleeping bag!! Her hut was basically built in a field. Last night, when I was bathing (outside of course), the cows were basically like 3 feet from me! There was a wall, but it was just so funny to me. Here I am, freezing, being culturally appropriate (they would have talked about me if I didn’t bathe), watching the sunset, and the cows were right next to me, just mooing away. TIA.
Peace Corps Mali was also informed of another tragedy this past week. A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) was in an accident that took her life in Mopti region. She was an RPCV, but never actually returned to America because she began working with a NGO here. I met her when I went to Gao last year. Cristina was so energetic, helpful, and kind. Please remember her family and friends during this mourning time.
I forgot to mention last week that there was a bug in my room that looked like a stick on earring! It was incredible! I’m always glad when people are at my house when these “I wish I had someone to show this to” instances occur. I made Lindsay look at it. What are friends for?
Also 2 weeks ago, I had a meeting with the director of transportation. It’s amazing how much more vocal I am when meetings are done in English! (He studied in Michigan.) I didn’t change anything, and I actually understand where he is coming from. We talked for about 2 hours (Lindsay let me do the talking. We decided to bring a nice person/Lindsay and an aggressive person/me). The funniest part was when he said something and I said, “I disagree.” He then replied, “Well, I agree with myself.” I couldn’t resist and said, “Well, I agree with myself.”
I sent out holiday letters last week. I think there might be an error (or two), but I was trying to get them to the post office Thursday afternoon, but I ended up going to late. Also, I think some parts of the letter are lame. Lesson to self: don’t rush the letter! There is a fete next week, so I wanted to get them off because I think we don’t work Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.
Need to go to the internet café now, but my project got posted! J Go to www.peacecorps.gov, “Donate Now” “Donate to Volunteer Projects”. Check it out! There are so many worthwhile causes.