The Day in Summary

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay in this posting, we had internet problems last night. Sometimes the conveniences we take for granted at home, such as fast internet or next day shipping, can take days to accomplish here in Africa.

Jody and I have so much to tell you all about the trip so we will do our best to get in every detail. If you have questions that you just can’t wait to hear about, please do not hesitate to send us an email or leave a message on the posting board for everyone to see. We have been in Africa for so long that we tend to forget what its like to live at home verses here…and sometimes leave out things that we have grown accustom too.

One quick note before we start- For the sake of keeping things confidential I won’t relay too much information about names or locations. When we get back this information will be shared and personal stories will be linked with names. I hope you understand.

We left our house on the day of the trip at 0630 and met up with our World Vision contact at the office in Bamako. There we loaded the car up (saw the package for the first time) and got a briefing of what the day had to hold. Very little details were shared with us prior to the departure and we had no idea what to expect. We anticipated a morning visit to one site and then a departure before lunch. We were surprised when we saw what was planned. The itinerary included ALL of the children and in several different villages…it also included lunch (lunch in the village always makes one nervous), a meeting with the mayor, and a visit to a school built by the program.

Here is a break down of how the day went and some more pictures…check back for our next post soon! Click on the photos to enlarge them.

0700 departure
0715 stop for bananas (not sure why…)
0730 stop again for bananas (now our curiosity has sky rocketed!)
0745 back on the road again (paved and in good condition, actually one of the best we have been)
0930 arrival at World Vision field location
0945 meet with staff that is responsible for our kids
1000 meet the mayor of the general area (what a wonderful guy!)
1015 depart for first village (dirt road into the middle of the Sahel…)
1100 arrive at first village (custom was to meet each village elder/chief before proceeding with our gift giving and picture taking)
1130-1415 three more village visits, two house visits and a school tour
1430 lunch at World Vision (not in the bush…what a relief. Guess what we ate? Chicken, salad, french fries and fried bananas!)
1500 depart for two more villages
1700 back to World Vision field office to sign out
1900 home in Bamako

Our Visit Part I

We just made it back to Bamako! We departed at 0630 and are exhausted...6 villages...2 home visits...1 meeting with the mayor...stuffed animals galore...21 sponsored children and hundreds of others! All of the families involved welcomed us with open arms! It was an exciting and humbling experience.

Here are a few pictures to start off with. More to come! The first picture is of us loading up the car in Bamako (good thing we traded in our 4 door car for the SUV). The next two are pictures of the MLC Sunday School sponsored children: Soh and Seba. The last two are of Jody and I in action.


PS. In our last post, I accidentally forgot to mention that Gran Lutheran Church is also a part of the program and they sponsor 2 children. Sorry!

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?!