Nuque et Face

Départ
Tout début a une fin. C'est vraiment un cliché mais quand même important à comprendre. Mon départ fût modeste, ce qui m'a permis de bien causer avec mes amis proches pendant qu'une pluie surprenante tombait (c'est la saison sèche).

Kaloga, un ami du cartier, m'a raconté que lorsqu'on voit la face d'un étranger, on sait déjà qu'on va un jour voir sa nuque. Ça s'est vu à mon départ puisqu'ils ont l'habitude de voir des étrangers, comme des proches, partir.

Retour
À l'exception du changement de 60 degrés celsius et 8 heures de décalage, le retour à Smithers se passe bien. Il y a eu des changements de personnel à One Sky, ce qui fait que le bureau est présentement composé de nouveaux employés (les deux "anciens" arrivent lundi). Peu importe, le rhytme lent de Smithers facilite la ré-intégration pour le moment.

Le Mali me manque déjà, c'est certain. Mais pendant que certains voient ma nuque, autres me font face. Il reste à voir si et quand ils me verront de derrière...

Ciao Cheers Farewell Goodbye

March 9th. Already.

The sun has kicked it into top gear as it races by every day, getting increasingly hotter to the point where you wonder if it can actually get any hotter. It seems to prove you wrong every day when you wake up.

So this it. The final stretch. The farewells. The last rush for souvenirs. Tying all the loose ends.

Nothings has been so challenging. Coming home from Amsterdam was never this hard. My roots have never dug so deep in what was once a foreign land.

Bamako

Once you get past the omnipresent smog, the nostril-burning odors, the overcrowded markets and terrifying traffic jams, this city has a charm. It's like watching a movie for the second time, after disliking it the first time, and "getting it".

I have not taken many photos in Bamako for many reasons, mainly because it doesn't feel right. There aren't many monuments or public places that are worth seeing (as a tourist). It feels more right to leave it as a somewhat mysterious place in other people's minds.

Garalo

This village in South-Eastern Mali personifies solidarity and a culture of greeting strangers with open arms. It has recently been lucky enough to have access to electricity - including public lighting - and it has truly transformed their quality of life. The people I have spoken to tell me they have never been so proud to say they are from Garalo because their village illuminates the sky at night. They feel safer and more empowered.

This isn't an attempt to advocate rural electrification or Mali-Folkecenter's projects. This is one toubabou's (white man) impression after having spent the equivalent of more than 3 weeks in Garalo (in 4 different trips). People recognize me and are always so happy to say hello and ask how I'm doing.

Volver

Volver, in Spanish, means to return. Ironically, I saw Pedro Almodovar's film last night at the Centre Culturel Français. The irony lies in that I have begun to "return" to Canada, mentally; at least I hope not physically because then someone might already find one of my fingers or feet back home.

One indication of my pre-emptive return has been through my dreams. Although I don't tend remember them, I do know that I have been dreaming about being back home. It's slightly discomforting because it feels like this lack of being grounded in the present will turn into regret later.

"How was it?"

"What was it like?"

"Did you enjoy your trip to Mali/Africa?"

"What did you learn?"

Those questions are coming like a tidal wave and I can already see it in the distance. My fear lies in my inability to accurately answer those questions. One way to cope is to answer with sarcasm... "Meh, it was alright." "Nothing special." "I've had better experiences."

How do you describe the feeling that you get after a 6 year-old girl knocks at your door and asks you, with the one french word she knows, "poubelle?"?

How do you tell someone that you've seen how some people survive by walking over 10 km one-way hoping to make a bit of money at the market?

Those are a few examples of my experiences but one can imagine the atrocities I haven't seen...

On a lighter note, my Montreal Canadiens were first in the Eastern Conference and are still top of their division. That makes me smile.

Already thinking ahead, I've been experimenting with a WordPress blog to compare with Blogger and eventually decide what I will do after the end of this internship.

Finally, my sister and her boyfriend have recently launched their online eco-friendly and ethical fashion store. From the website:

Alterna Boutique is an online eco-fashion store which offers a variety of work and casual clothing for men and women, as well as clothing for babies. The clothes are made from a variety of environmentally-friendly fabrics such as organic cotton, bamboo, soy, and hemp. Designers featured at Alterna Boutique include HTnaturals, Grace and Cello, NKI, Nixxi and Sckoon. This alternative clothing store is entirely online and the energy consumed by the computers is offset through wind power.

I already have the HTnaturals red polo and it my shirt of choice here in Mali. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself!!

Oh the shameless biased promotion...

Swearing Presidents

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It's hard. It really is. I have returned from my travels for almost a week but have felt no urge to write about my experiences, either on this blog or in a journal. Although I have a very good reason for not mentioning a major influence on this experience, it has still been difficult to take the time to reflect.

My main struggle in the past few weeks has been to stay in the present. Someone in Smithers once told me that they admire my ability to be entirely where I am, grounded in the present. It has been a strength in the past but now it seems that the future is winning in The Great Mind Race. This is most likely due to the fact that I only have a month remaining before my return to Smithers for 2 weeks of debriefing.  Being in this final stage, it's natural for the mountain climber to get excited about arriving, especially when the terrain flattens out a bit and things seem easier. But often they're not. There may be a raging stream or, Ségou guard dogs waiting for you when you least expect it.

This post will be short. Not because I have nothing to say but because I haven't made anything of my thoughts yet. It's hard to think when living with two housemates and working 9 hours a day but that should be a challenge and not an excuse.

In other hilarious news...

Sarkozy outburst at farming fair

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The Bottomless Oil Well

If the village of Garalo and the work of Mali-Folkcenter Nyetaa are a sign of things to come for rural Africa, the future is bright. My latest journey to this rural village in the south of Mali began when I was asked to accompany a Dutch engineer, Sander, and a masters student (Inge) because they were in need of an interpretor. They were leaving the next day for what became a 6 day trip; this is what I have come to expect while working here... Plan A's don't really serve a purpose.

There is no doubt in my mind that MFC Nyetaa and the villagers of Garalo are going down in the record books. The electric current in Garalo was generated for the first time from vegetable oil in what has become the largest bio-fuel electrification project in Africa. The 125 Kva generator – one of three at the power plant – that feeds electricity into over 170 homes gives light, refrigeration and security to about 4,700 people.

And I was there to witness it.

The scale of this project is overwhelming when you walk around the village at night or see the sheer size of the generator running. Through my role as an interpretor, I was lucky enough to better understand the mechanics of both, even down to specific details like the piston pressure adjustments required to switch to bio-fuel. This was mostly thanks to Sander, the engineer who installed the generator sets last May. He began working on ships at the age of 17 as an apprentice until he became chief engineer a decade or so later. Having now started his own company, Brodtech, he has installed generator sets not only in Mali but also Tanzania, with many more on the horizon and has done so at one third of the price other companies had quoted because, as he told me, he just wants enough money to put bread on the table.

Two of my days were spent accompanying Inge while she surveyed about 35 households, mainly through the family chiefs. Her research looks into consumer use of energy in terms of appliances currently used and potential ones in the future to determine how much the grid could handle. Most interviews were done through a translation train starting from english, to french, to bambara and back the other way again. After that experience, I've realized that a message is initially so fragile when being transmitted through a roller-coaster of interpretation. The ride gets even bumpier when the message is only understood by engineers or mechanics, both of which I certainly am not.

The interviews gave me a much better understanding of the villagers' opinion of this newfound access to electricity. Some people, mostly the less fortunate living off their land, found the monthly fee of 6,500 CFA Francs (about 14$ cdn) too much for their budgets. They were collectively asking to change from a monthly fee system to a meter-based system where you pay for what you consume.

If only it were that easy...

In order for this whole project to be sustainable, it was decided that a private company (ACCESS) founded by the Mali-Folkecenter Nyetaa would be responsible for the operation of the power plant. Currently, ACCESS barely makes any profit, only enough to continue growing. They have explained to their customers that as the number of total subscribers increases, they will be provided with longer hours of operation (it's currently 5 hours every night but they are about 20 new customers away from being able to offer 6 or 7 hours nightly) and perhaps be able to switch to a meter-based system. Without having to delve back too far into my managerial economics courses (I still get shivers when I hear someone say "marginal cost"), the simple explanation is that there is a base cost (fuel, salaries,etc) that ACCESS needs to cover and this meter-based system, combined with an insufficient base of subcsribers, would cause immediate losses.

This is where the debate of economic development to eradicate poverty begins... but I will leave it there because it's one where I am sitting on the fence.

Jatropha crops are growing and people will soon be able to sell them in exchange for some extra income that could potentially go towards paying these seemingly pricey electricity bills. One villager described jatropha as being their bottomless oil well. If this cycle does become sustainable, the future looks bright in terms of access to electricity for rural Mali and perhaps all of rural Africa.

I'd like to end this post by welcoming "Monsieur P" as a contributor to this blog. If his next posts are as humourous and insightful as his first, we are in for a real treat.

Chapeaux

Interprète

On a encore ajouté un nouvel élément à mon gabarit d'homme à tout faire. Je quitte encore une fois pour Garalo demain mais cette fois-ci, non comme photographe et journaliste mais plutôt avec mon chapeau d'interprète. Les génératrices de la centrale électrique à Garalo ont été importé des Pays-Bas et l'ingénieur-en-chef de cette phase du projet est de retour pour 2 semaines. Puisqu'il ne comprend pas très bien le français, je l'accompagne pour les quelques jours pour jouer au jeu de téléphone. Il est fort probable qu'à certains moments, il y aura un employé à la centrale qui agira comme interprète du Bambara au Français donc il faut espérer que le message traverse les haies de la langue.

Stratégiste

Les deux dernières semaines ont été acharnu puisque mes tâches de design de matériaux de communication ont cédés leurs places pour la rédaction d'une stratégie de communication. Il s'agit de la première fois que le MFC entreprend une telle tâche donc le défi se présente aussi comme une opportunité. Je suis imprégné dans le pratique. En fait, c'est une lacune sur laquelle je cherche toujours à m'améliorer. Ce nouveau chapeau de stratégiste semble un peu trop grand pour le moment mais je cherche à le faire rétrécir.

Colocataire

La délégation néerlandaise comprend aussi une consultante qui va passer 3 semaines à Bamako. Le Mali Folkcenter Nyetaa (c'est le nom officiel donc je vais l'utiliser à partir de maintenant) appartient deux apartements: celui où j'habite et un autre dans le même cartier. Puisque cette consultante va aménager avec moi pour les 3 prochaines semaines, on a décidé que ce serait mieux de s'installer dans l'autre apartement puisqu'il est beaucoup plus grand. J'ai vraiment hésité puisque mes racines commençaient à bien creuser cette terre; c'est aussi à cause que ma formation avec One Sky était surtout axée sur l'épanouissement en dehors de sa zone de confort et je crains être trop confortable. Il s'agit peut-être d'une opportunité pour découvrir différents moyens d'éviter le sentiment d'être isoler. Vous allez tous comprendre dès que j'ai la chance de prendre quelques photos.

Bon, c'est quel chapeau que je vais porter aujourd'hui...

Va-dont jouer dehors!!

It's Sunday afternoon and, like every weekend, I feel like I should spend it "playing outside". This feeling surely derives from my upbringing where sunny days needed to be enjoyed to their full potential; if it's nice out then you have no reason to stay indoors!

Bamako, as one can imagine, presents a dilemma because every day is the equivalent of a "nice day": clear skies and mid-30's.

I write about the weather because it leads me to a deeper introspection. Am I "playing outside" enough? Am I experiencing Bamako and Mali to its full potential? To this point, it feels like I am living comfortably in terms of how much I play outside but there is this nagging voice telling me it's not enough.

No longer being in the honeymoon phase of cameras incessantly clicking and eyes never blinking, routine takes over. There is a task before me and I will experience the country and culture through it. The fear of never doing enough comes from the inflated expectations at the onset of departure.

I am here in Bamako for 5 months and that in itself is a sufficient experience for most. I am learning Bambara. I am playing football regularly (a post on this is coming soon). I will learn to play the djembe drum. I have and will be visiting rural communities. I am writing regularly both to friends and family but also for myself. I am playing PES6 (a football video game) with local neighbourhood kids. I am educating kids back in Canada. I am growing roots.

My intention is not to flaunt but rather to share experiences because I realize that I will have as much an impact, if not more, on friends, family and surrounding circles than I will in my work here. Perceptions desperately need to change and that won't be done waiting for CNN to take the initiative. It is done through telling stories and breaking myths that this is a place where only poverty and disease thrive. This is a place where people are taking charge and perspectives are shifting as we speak. I say this not to undermine the many gruesome challenges that people face every day (especially in rural Mali, amongst the poorest places in the world) but rather to shed light to an overlooked reality. Everybody is aware of the challenges but what about the innovative approaches to take that first step on the ladder of development (ok so I'm reading "The End of Poverty", can you tell?).

My friend Daouda, as he was driving me home on his motorcycle, unexpectedly brought up this topic of development; I say unexpectedly because he's a football player and we never had a discussion on this before. He made the point that they are playing catch-up with the rest of the world after only gaining independence in 1961. That said, they are severely handicapped in this game mainly because they have practically nothing but their fields of sourghum and gold mines to put on the table.

I think I hear my mom calling me all the way back in Canada during my childhood. It's time I go outside and play my part in this game of catch-up.

The Malian Context

The following text is quoted directly from the Mali Folkecenter website but I thought summed it up rather well:

Geography

Mali is a vast landlocked republic located in West Africa. It is located in the heart of the Sahel, a region threatened by drought and desertification. It lies between Mauritania to its west and Niger to its east. The northern 65% of its land area is desert or semi-desert, and the vast majority of the population are directly dependent on their environment (herding, farming or fishing) for their livelihoods. The capital city is Bamako. Other major towns are Sikasso, Segou, Mopti, Timbuktu, Gao and Kayes. There are 8 administrative divisions or regions (see figure 1 below):, Kayes, , Koulikoro, Sikasso, Segou, Mopti, Tombouctou, Gao and Kidal. The country is further subdivided into 703 rural communes (communes). Its population, growing at a high annual rate of 3 percent, is approximately 12 million people. The national territory extends over 1 241 000 km².

Statistics

Mali’s Human Development Index ranking is 164 out of a total of 173 countries. It has a population of 12 million, over 70% of whom live below the poverty line of $1 a day. Life expectancy at birth is 51.5 years. Infant mortality is 142 (per 1,000 live births). The adult literacy rate is 41.5% (48.9% for men, 34.4% for women), and the average number of children born per woman is 7. HIV/AIDS exposure is increasing. (Statistics: UNDP Human Development Report 2002).

The population is mostly made up of subsistence farmers living in villages of 500-2000 people. Around 15-30 villages make up one commune, 20-50 communes make up a district, and around 4-7 districts make a region. There are 8 regions in Mali. Farmers rely on agriculture for their livelihoods, growing cereals for food and often cotton as a cash crop for export. In rural areas 80% of energy needs are met by firewood and charcoal, and people use kerosene lamps and torches for lighting. This does not include, of course, animal and manpower, which is tiring and time consuming. Rechargeable car batteries are also used for lighting, TV and radio, and a very small minority of people have solar panels or a generator. In rural areas, modern energy services, particularly productive (i.e. income generating) uses are very limited, making efforts to stimulate local economic development difficult.

Energy situation in Mali

Less than 12% of the population has access to formal electricity services, and the majority of these are in the capital Bamako and the principal towns. For rural areas, home to more than 60% of the population, less than 1% has access to electricity. Opportunities for substantially improving the health and qualify of life, longevity, and infant mortality rates for the country are hampered by the lack of reliable electricity and energy services throughout most of the country.

Supply possibilities

Mali has no fossil energy resources, meaning that fossil fuels must be imported from the coast at considerable cost. This means that generating costs for grid electricity are generally around twice as high as Cote d’Ivoire for example, but Mali is significantly poorer as a country. Much of Mali’s hard earned foreign currency is lost on fossil fuel imports, as there is heavy dependence on imported petroleum products that represents about 8 % of the national energy balance, weighing heavily on the foreign exchange and trade balance of the country (more than 100 million USD in 2000, and 75 million USD in 1998). However, in terms of Renewable Energy Sources, Mali is rich in solar, hydro, biomass and, in some parts of the country, wind. There are few places on earth with a better solar resource, with 5-6 standard sun hours per day.

Decentralisation

Mali has been democratic since 1991, and is often held up as a model for other emerging West African democracies. Mali has been among the first countries in West Africa to undergo a pioneering decentralisation process that is moving decision making power away from the central government to the regions, districts and above all to the communes, bringing essential decisions closer to the communities most affected by their outcomes, in order to improve governance and increase democratisation. All the administration, local development policy and programmes are in the hands of the commune members who are elected for five year terms. The communes are now responsible for prioritising their needs and writing their own Communal Development Plans, which are the basis for all development activities in the communes.

Rural Exodus – draining communities of young talent

In rural areas 90% of the population are engaged in farming, which takes up nearly all of people’s time for 5-6 months of the year. But during the 6-7 month dry season, young people, feeling that opportunity is lacking in the villages, move to the cities to find work. Every year, some of them stay on to live there. This rural depopulation is increasing every year, and besides reducing the human resource base of the villages, with an important and dynamic section of the community leaving, it contributes to overcrowding, crime, delinquency, drug problems, prostitution and AIDS in Malian cities, particularly Bamako. It is more cost effective to prevent this rural exodus than to try to treat its symptoms: the integration of these young people into the cities is more difficult and expensive than the improvement of their living conditions in rural areas. The rural exodus is a real danger today, not only for these villages but for the whole country, threatening the government's decentralisation policy.

For example, the infant mortality rate is extremely high, at 123 deaths per 1,000 live births (2000 est., UN HDI) Life expectancy at birth for the total population is barely 47 years. The total fertility rate is almost seven children born/woman (2000 est.). Many of these children never reach their fifth birthday. It is clear that there is a profound need for substantially improved health services in Mali, and electrification of rural health centres can contribute substantially to overall improvement in life expectancy and infant mortality rates.

Literacy, defined as the percentage of the population age 15 and over that can read and write, is only 31% for the total population. It is 39.4% for men and only 23.1% (1995 est., UN HDI) for women. Substantial increases in the levels of social and economic development will require greater and more extensive education, as well as dramatic improvements in health, from the prenatal period through adult life. Electrification of schools to allow evening education will be an essential dimension of improved education for the entire population as the adults, especially women, are very occupied in the day time, so at the evening it is more easy to get to school if there is lighting there.

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Il est temps de partir

Ce fût une semaine étrange.  Une semaine de rattrapage ainsi que d'efforts de clairvoyance.  Comment se préparer pour un monde tellement inconnu?  On pourrait presque jouer le jeu où tous les gens d'un groupe doivent choisir un objet à apporter sur une île déserte; voilà mon sentiment.

C'est quand même évident que je ne puisse pas être entièrement équipé de tous ce qui sera essentiel.  Comme de raison, je vais oublier quelque chose... il suffit tout simplement que ce ne soit pas mon passeport!  Ou peut-être même l'idée que je vais au Mali pour changer le monde.  Mes intentions ont changé depuis le début de mon stage puisque maintenant je me considère plutôt comment étant un observateur, un étudiant, une éponge.  De cette façon, j'espère ne pas être trop découragé par l'omniprésence de pauvreté qui va sûrement me toucher au coeur.

Ce fût une semaine étrange.  Une semaine où je dis au revoir non seulement à mes ami(e)s et ma famille mais aussi à moi-même, sachant qu'une aventure comme celle qui m'attend va agir comme catalyseur pour certaines convictions personnelles dormantes.

Si ce fût vraiment une semaine étrange, par contre, il sera difficile à décrire les prochains 5 mois...

Le prochain article sera en direct de Bamako dès que je réussis à m'installer avec une connection Internet au bureau.

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