Mayville to Mali

Thank you everyone who helped organize this event! Jody and I are excited to visit the children tomorrow. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this project here is a brief summary. Or you can check out the article in the Mayville paper last week.

My (Erin) home town church sponsors several children from Mali through a relief organization called World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization. Currently there are 19 Malian children sponsored by Mayville Lutheran Church (MLC) and it's members.

When we heard we were going to Mali, my mom thought it would be neat if we could meet the child they sponsor. What started out as a short visit quickly turned into an AMAZING out pouring of love!

Hundreds of donated stuffed animals symbolizing HUGS were packed…shipped…and an appointment was made to meet the ENTIRE “Mayville Village”. Hearts-Hands-Hope, the current Sunday school theme, quickly became…Hearts-Hands-Hope & HUGS!

More pictures to follow after the visit. For those of you who donated items, time, or gave financial contributions…THANK YOU!! For those of you who would like more information about this program feel free to contact us or visit World Vision online!

Hard Day's Work

Need somthing moved across Bamako? Ask one of these guys...they move everything and anything that needs to be moved.

The Zoo

We heard the zoo was an "adventure", so we bought a bunch of bananas as suggested and went. The zoo is very small and has only a few animals. We saw monkeys, a chimp, deer, goats, cows, a lion, two leopards, a few birds, and a snake. Our favorite part was feeding bananas to the baboons.

Check out the sign on Samba's cage. I'll translate for you: "Do not give him cigarettes or else". I guess a few years ago Samba decided to take up the bad habit and people thought it was funny. The president has since declared it illegal, but Samba still tries to get a puff in and begs for cigarettes by pretending to smoke.

To be honest the zoo was a "zoo"! Several people have put out cries for the animals and I see why. A lack of food, poor health, no clean water, and rotten carcasses littered the zoo. I nearly lost my lunch and stepped in large amounts of poo.

No wonder it was the cheapest thing in Bamako! It cost 150 CFA for all three of us, that is less than 30 cents. The bananas cost more than the tickets. That’s Jody trying to see the crocodiles…if they don’t find him first.

If anything is alive in that water tank, I don't think I want to know what it is?!

Invited to a true African wedding dance?!

Okay so we weren't technically invited...and it wasn't a wedding like we originally thought...IT WAS a BAPTISM or type of naming celebration that happens 8 days after a muslim baby is born. It took up our entire street (500+ people) and we had the best view from our deck. It was AMAZING! A live band, tons of drums, and children galore.

The video picture is not spectacular but click on it and turn up your speakers! Each video sounds just a little different. Some of the drums were large hollowed gourds played while they float in water. Also, between songs they wet the dirt dance floor (aka the street) to keep the dust down. Now if I could only bring you a sense of smell from here, haa haa haa!

Back from the Desert!

We were sent in a hurry to Mopti (actually Sevare- a small town near Mopti) last week to do some seeding. We spent several nights at Mac's Refuge. It is a local bed and breakfast. The place is full during tourist season, but since it's too early for that...it was usually just us! We stayed in the Bobo and Songhai rooms. Bobo and Songhai refer to ethnic groups located in Dogon Country. Note: The Bobo room didn’t have a toilet. Check out the outdoor community one!
What does Dogon have to do with our trip? Everyone passes through Sevare on their way to see Dogon Country. The Dogon people fled their original homeland to escape the spread of Islam, and settled in and around the cliffs of the Bandiagara escarpment. They practice subsistence farming on the plateau above the cliffs and on the plain below. We saw the cliff dwellings from the air, but regret not having more time to check out the area. We heard it’s amazing! (Also, it just so happens that Mac’s Refuge is run by Dogon people).

The rooms had air conditioning, but no hot water (not horrible since it has been near 100F !!!!) The best part of our stay was the food, home cooked and three courses every night.

Sevare itself is a very small town (about the size of Mayville), but has a lot of people. Jody and I enjoyed the quietness at night, looking at the stars (for the first time in months), the afternoon breeze, watching kids catch frogs with grasshoppers and borrowing bicycles for rides through town. Here are some pictures of town from the bike. Right now Sevare is busy harvesting peanuts (see picture of boy and cart), millet, and sorghum (which we ate mixed in peanut clusters for dessert several times).

Mopti is a 15 minute car ride from Sevare and is the main city. They say it is the third largest in Mali. The town itself is located on the Niger and Bani River. In Mopti you can take a spin around the river. We made a few visits to the "big town" and ate at the Bissap Cafe, admired the water from a distance, checked out the large rice patties, viewed the mud houses that engulf the city, saw an early 1900’s mud mosque, and visited the soccer stadium.

If you make it to Mopti, stay in Sevare at Mac’s! Click on the pictures to make them bigger to see.

P.S. Did I mention my (Erin) least favorite part? Well it was all the LIZARDS and BUGS...good thing Jody has good aim with flip flops!

In Mopti

Greetings from Mopti-Sevare, a small town NE of Bamako (about 9 hours in a car). We arrived on October 2nd and are here temporarily. It is extremely HOT here, but we are enjoying our stay away from the bustling city! The Internet is unreliable, but we will try and get some pictures up soon.

What have we been doing?

We have been busy as usual...flying...here is a picture Jody took over Djenne, where the world's largest mud mosque is located. They say it takes over 2,000 people to complete annual renovations. Adding more mud of course...
The picture is a little blurry but you get the idea (it was a bumpy flight).

Also, a few weeks ago we had a television crew here from London. Here is a picture of the crew and technicians trying to mount the camera. No this is not where it ended up…those flares burn at 2,000ºC!

It’s hard to believe we have been here since May 30th, but it is official we are headed home November 11th. Until then we will enjoy the beautiful African sunsets from our porch with Walter! This is something we will treasure long after we have returned home.