Tomorrow we leave for our 2-week trip to Mali. You'd think it was just around the corner, afterall, we are in Africa. But, to get to Mali from Cape Town, we fly 2 hours to Johannesburg, then 9 hours to Dakar, and then 2 hours to Bamako (after spending the night in the airport). This is one big continent...
For those who don't know, I lived in Mali for 5 years from 1982 to 1987 as a Peace Corps volunteer, and then as country director for the American Friends Service Committee. This will be my first time back since then, and I can't tell you how much this means to me. Afterall, when I left Mali, Madu Diarra (my Bambara name) was just a young, single buck. Not much social status in Malian society. But now, Madu is coming back as a real person, with a wife (though only one) and kids. Now, Madu is a somebody.
We'll be staying with my Malian big sister, Maria Diarra, who is the director of an NGO called "Institute for Popular Education." Here is their website: http://www.h-net.org/~ibrahimd/iep/index.html IEP works with schools to help students learn to read and write in their own language. In Mali, the official language, and the language of schooling, is French. But, IEP helps students transition into French by starting to learn to read and write in their own language, and with material that is based in their own culture: Bamanankan, Fula, Songhai, etc. Maria is doing some very exciting work. Here is a website that talks about their project: http://sites.google.com/site/malibooksproject/
This is really a dream come true. In addition to visiting with Maria, we'll be visiting a school that a friend is now the principal of, and also visiting the family that I lived with in Banamba, two hours north of Bamako. Finally, we hope to travel up-country to visit Djenne and Mopti.
And oh yes, I'll be there for my 50th birthday. There will surely be a fete happening, so if you hear the furious rhythmic sound of drums on December 20th, just smile and know that Madu Diarra is turning 50!
As there isn't great internet connectivity in Mali, not sure how much blogging we'll be doing. So, perhaps this will be
it for a couple of weeks. We will be coming back to Cape Town on 22 December.
Blog ya then. K'an ben (see you later).
Madu Diarra (a.k.a., Seth )
Madu Diarra (a.k.a., Seth )
