The Baptisms of Julie and Lauren

Ok so, I must admit, that in spite the title of this blog, the Converse didn't make it too far in Mali. The ridiculous feeling of wearing chuck's with a past-the-knee skirt and the heat of the day made me to leave ‘em behind and adopt something a little more practical--which is fairly emblematic of Julie’s and my first few days in Mali. Though all of our research for the previous month has proved useful, being here on the ground we have learned how much there is to learn. As Confucius said: "to know is to know that you know nothing, that is true knowledge.” Now I certainly don’t have true knowledge, but instead that I am just realizing how little I know about the people and how they live in Mali, so how can I profess to know any answers?

In Bambara there is a saying "Donni donni” which means little by little, and that is how Julie and I are beginning to grasp where we are.

Today, we had our first and much-anticipated meeting with the peer educators. They are the hinge that will make or break both the general survey on TB and the evaluation of the program of TB Bolo. Of all the rendezvous we have had this week, this is the one I have been looking forward to the most. My heart jumped a bit when two women peer-educators came in 45 minutes early and sat down with us. They were dressed immaculately, just as it seems all Malians dress immaculately—the women in panges of exquisite fabrics with intricate lacings, the men in collared shirts—it makes me feel always a little under-dressed. It puts the way we dress in the States to shame.

These women became our first true Bambara teachers, they sat us down, and began to teach us proper ways of saying hello. In Mali this can be quite an extensive conversation, far surpassing the normal ‘hey what’s up’ I’m used to. After a few laughs, Julie and I started to get the swing of things, kind of.

With the meeting, the peer educators, after some review, thankfully seemed in accord with our project. They also agreed to bring us out this weekend so that we could actually watch them in action both in Here Bolo (the HIV peer education program) and in TB Bolo.

What is perhaps most striking to me is how little my academic knowledge is applicable here. I can sit down with someone and have an extended conversation about structural adjustment programs or how Mali has such a low TB case-detection rate—but on the level of dealing with people, people who are sick, it is so much more than statistics or numbers. Perhaps that is what we sometimes forget when we plan surveys, stage interventions, or even write policy recommendations for a Political Science class: that this might just be an idea for us, but these ideas can have profound consequences on people’s lives. What gives us the right to have such power over people?

On a lighter note, Julie and I have both been given Bambara names, multiple names actually by multiple people. I actually completely forgot my first two names, which I think is a bad sign… but lets hope not. We were originally names by Dr. Tonton at the clinic we are working at (Tonton is his nickname, it means uncle in Bambara), I blame jetlag for me not remembering this one. Julie though, was given the name Salimata Koné.

Next, the woman who sold us plantains in the market named us. The market itself is hidden between two buildings, I missed it the first five times I went past. But in this little market holds a world all to itself, with tomatoes, potatoes, fish heads, and completed by a pange cloth picturing Barak Obama. After having learned just a few simple phrases, Julie and I managed to strike up a conversation that ended up with us being named—again—and me forgetting my name—again.

Back at the house, our Bambara lesson continued, Julie had I would say about a half hour long conversation with Salif about the word ‘you are welcome,’ only to realize, after much confusion, miming and play acting that you just repeat ‘thank you’ in Bambara to say ‘your welcome.’

Donni Donni

We were thankfully given names for a third time. My name is Fatimata and this one is sticking to me.

I guess these first few days have been full of attempts, for example on the first night here, I attempted to light the stove, only to use up 13 matches in the process… I swear I’ve improved in leaps and bounds since then!

Cumulative mosquito bite count: 5 ( Julie 3, Lauren 2)

N’taara

-Lauren