The rest of Sunday

As i mentioned in the previous post, Sunday's are truly a restful day in the village -- chores are at a minimum (ok, there's still the cooking, washing, getting buckets and buckets of water from the well), people are moving at slower speeds, and the atmosphere is more casual. In the afternoon, my dad demonstrated to the tool committee (the village is headed by a chief and is run thru a variety of committees who are in charge of some particular aspect of the city) how to build a simple saw, first from a kit my uncle Bill sent, and then with a provided blade using sticks as the frame.


I made an interesting observation during the demonstration that one of the men appeared to be deaf and that the others were using sign language (perhaps not a "formal" sign language, but effective) to communicate to him what was going on.
Meanwhile, a group of children gathered in our compound to observe the "too-bobs" (white people). We were quite fascinating to them! Some of the ladies and I taught some of the children to sing "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes", the "Hokey Pokey", "Old MacDonald", and we even got them doing an "O-H-I-O". And do you remember making those folded "fortune tellers" from squares of paper? We got them doing that as well.
In the late afternoon we headed to the field where the soccer game between the married and unmarried men was to take place. Quite interesting to note that there were trees in the field of play (in fact, at one point the ball got stuck in a tree and had to be dislodged by throwing rocks at it!). Hope did the kick-off -- and succeeded in kicking her shoe farther than the ball (my kind of athlete!). I'd been suffering from quite a cough and stuffy nose and the dust raised from the running and kicking was aggravating it, so I left early.

Sunday's dinner was "supper" in both a grilled and sauced format........and the day continued even longer! After we ate, the chief's younger brother and the women's president came over and gifted each of us with 2 pieces of indigo cloth to make a "complet" or an outfit -- for women this consists of one piece wrapped around the hips as a skirt and the other worn as a poncho. The men where just the poncho piece with pants. While we might prefer to "mix and match" two patterns, the correct way to wear a complet is to have both pieces of the same print. The "game" was that we had to find a match (the pieces we were given did NOT match and so we had to trade amongst ourselves to find a matching pair). We were then dressed (they cut holes for the ponchos) and ready to go.....
Dancing started about 9pm. The villagers fired up the generator for bright fluorescent lights on the village square. The watered the dust and started the dancing. I managed one dance before my stuffy nose and cough did me in and I made a retreat to our compound to collapse. Despite the dancing that lasted until the wee hours, I slept quite well!
I am amazed at the generosity of the villagers. They feel they have "nothing" yet they are so giving -- the time and interest they have for us is so great. I suppose it is truly a good situation when each "side" of the equation (villagers on one side, "too-bobs" on the other) believe they've gotten the "better" end of the deal, no?

Sunday in Konsango

The village of Konsango is about half Christian and half Muslim. About 50 years ago a Malian couple started the church in Konsango -- the woman of the couple (in her 90s) joined our American group to visit the village -- they remember her quite fondly, with lots of love. She had acted as the village's midwife as well during her "tenure" in the town.

In any event, we were invited to join in the church services on Sunday morning. About half of us attended, the other half doing some more fence-building. It was such an uplifting experience for me, personally. The church itself is quite humble (actually, there are two buildings -- the original church and the new one -- they stand next to one another and the preacher and his family live across the "street"). This is the "new" church:

We arrived early and were able to also see inside the old church. It had a beautiful mud altar, on which was a Bible printed in Dogon.


After visiting the preacher at his home we again headed to church. We were instructed to sit in the front, behind the altar (a place of honor -- the men of the congregation sit here). The young women sit in the front to the preacher's right and form the "choir". The young men with instruments sit to the preacher's left. The young children sit in the front rows to the preacher's left (often accompanied by one of the fathers to "keep them in line"!). The rest of the people (women and children) fill in the other rows. The pews are simple mud seats, and, particularly with the children, there is ALWAYS room to scrunch one more in.

I was truly moved by the service -- I always enjoy the worship, fellowship, and learning at a church service or even a meeting for Bible study or with a group of Christian friends, but this was something else again. To be in a room with sisters and brothers in Christ, although we could not speak directly to one another without interpretation, was something. It was a blessing to be there and share the morning with these people.

The worship service was sung in Dogon. We were able to sing along to the tunes of "Amazing Grace" and "Jesus Loves Me". They asked us to sing for them as well. Two offering plates are passsed -- one goes to the district church and one for the local church. The sermon was on the topic of love for your neighbors -- helping them when needed, celebrating with them.

Having lunch served to us soon afterwards gave me a chance to sit back and reflect on the fact that we are all God's children and He does love us, near and far.

And lunch was good -- cous cous with vegetables in a peanut sauce. As it was Sunday, work was limited, so we took a tour of the village. "Supper" the sheep had been butchered earlier that morning (dad took photos when I was unable to continue observing!). I chose to not share those here......We were able to see a plot of land the village has given Anna where she will build her own house (the one we use is an abandoned one that is loaned by the relatives of the previous owners -- or something like that!). We saw the progress that had been made on the wall since we'd been there Saturday, saw the area where the weavers set up their looms, the blacksmith hut, and a field where they were setting up for a soccer match that afternoon for our entertainment.

I'll stop here as it's about time to get my girls and start our afternoon run-around. More on the tool demonstration, soccer match, etc. soon!

the value of an MBA

Or how I spend my afternoons until the end of next week!

Driving. One of my LEAST favorite things. Especially to the same places over and over. Right now we're gearing up for a violin recital, a piano recital, a dance recital, and a school play. And have the requisite number of rehearsals. While Abby's recitals haven't added to our crowded agenda, Maggie's, unfortunately, have. Not only does she have play practice during school (as she had when she participated in 5th and 6th grades), but they're also meeting after school. AND, she's added 3 hours to her weekly ballet schedule in terms of increased class times for her "normal" class as well as 1 hour 45 minutes to help with the baby class (3-4 year olds). Which means mom gets to make 2 trips to school every afternoon as well as more trips to ballet. Yes, I'm complaining.

BUT, I complain with joy as she enjoys her activities (aside from being exhausted) and Abby has been QUITE cooperative (probably because I let her stay home while I'm driving all over the place!). And Tom's coming through with driving when he's available. As with everything else, this too shall pass.........

Meanwhile, beware the crazy lady driving the charcoal gray Nissan Quest.........

"Working" in Konsango

Yes, we did work in Konsango. For most of us (myself included), the work was MUCH more physical than that to which we are accustomed. But the villagers REALLY worked.....AMAZING! Our primary "tasks" while there were to assist in planting 300 fruit trees and build a rock wall fence around them (to keep the sheep and goats out). We were there 5 days. In that time, the plants were planted and a 6-foot tall fence, roughly 30X80 yards was built. And with no major injuries (I had a couple scratches and that was perhaps the worst of any of it). It was touching to see the villagers truly come together to work on a project that would benefit them all. The closest I have experienced to this "coming together" was when our house flooded in Houston in 2001. The neighbors helped each other rip out carpet and pull down sheetrock, we went in together for dumpsters, and our next door neighbor and we shared a contractor. I'm certain the same happened in New Orleans after Katrina, but due to the comparatively limited damage WE experienced, I don't have that personal touch. But here the people truly came together. The mason of the village supervised the fence building. The women and children were involved wherever they could, in between their traditional jobs (cooking, washing, etc.). Women with babies on their backs participated, even women nursing would just flip the sling to the front and continue on working as the baby fed.

It was also fun to watch the development of a process, specifically for watering the holes prior to planting and once the trees were planting. It started with a couple/few buckets -- you'd fill it up at the well (ok, someone would fill it for you!), then carry it back to a hole to fill it. With few buckets, we had to share, so a lot of time was spent waiting for a bucket. Gradually, more buckets showed up. Then more people showed up. Finally we created a "fire brigade" line, passing the buckets back and forth which made the work much faster and allowed us more interaction with the villagers (at least those on either side of us). At one point a few people started an entertainment for us -- drums and chanting, walking up and down the line to entertain while we moved buckets back and forth.

It was also interesting to be seen as the village's "entertainment" -- we were "tubob tv" (tubob is what they call white people -- not a derogatory means of description, but a harmless label). The children would gather at the gates to the fence, would gather courage and walk inside our compound, gradually coming closer until an adult villager would "shoo" them back. It really was cute (until the last night when a couple kids were shining flashlights into our faces while we slept!). Who knew sleeping women were so interesting to watch?

In any event, this was the work we did over our time in Konsango -- more on our adventures later!

Saturday 23 January in Konsango

Today was the day Maggie took the SATs back at home! Part of the DukeTIP Talent Search program (I actually did this when I was younger and deemed "talented" -- little did THEY know!). As for us in the village, life was at a decidedly different pace...

First, we slept outside. Most of the group slept within the main compound, but the four of us who shared the outer building for our suitcases slept closer to that. In the morning, we realized that we were right on the path the sheeps/goats used to move to get to the well to get the water.......

However, I certainly slept well! Even with the dancing lasting past 2am.....Even had enough energy to carry a bucket of water on my head in the traditional manner -- although unlike the women in the village, I needed help to get it on and off my head. I did manage to walk from the well back to the compound (including "climbing" up about a 12 foot differential on stones) without spilling too much. Despite my thrill at this feat, the women in the village do this ALL day long, MULTIPLE times to get water for cooking, washing, cleaning, laundry, etc.

We also met Anna's sheep. She was given him by the chief of a neighboring village and planned to give him to the chief of Konsango. Appropriately (given what would become of him) we named him "Supper".......

Our "final" morning task (before actually doing the work that we'd come to do -- namely planting fruit trees and building a wall around them to keep the sheep and goats out) was laundry. Here is the process:
1. Hang lines from whatever is available (ours went from the rock fence to the "house"
2. Get 3 buckets full of water - set them down, preferably in the shade
3. Put soap packet into one of them, swish it around
4. Wash in soapy water, wring out STRONGLY
5. Rinse in second bucket, wring out STRONGLY
6. Final rinse in third bucket, wring out STRONGLY
7. Hang on line (as dry as the climate is, things dried VERY quickly, even blue jeans)

My dad's on the right -- I think he's hiding his face so mom doesn't learn how good he is at doing laundry!

More on our "real" work to come......

for the non-"working" parents among us......

One afternoon a man came home from work to find total mayhem in his house. His three children were outside, still in their P.J.'s, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers thrown all about the front yard. The door to his wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess.A lamp had been knocked over, and a throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, Breakfast food was spilled on the counter, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand lay piled up by the back door.He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and other piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried that she might be ill, or worse!!He found her lounging into the bedroom, still in her pajamas, reading a novel.She smiled, looked up at him and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"She again smiled and answered, "you know everyday when you come home from work and ask me what in the world did I do today?""Yes", he replied reluctantly.She answered, "We'll, today I didn't do it!!"