Trolls, Pogs and Marbles

From my friend Bruno, trying to keep me up to speed on latest trends:

"Here is an instructional video on how to perform the latest hip hop tribal dance being emulated constantly by my students and most likely all people in that age group all over North America. It's in actual fact probably the worse song ever put together by an IBM over a weekend, and thus is capturing feeble minds everywhere. Voilà,



Rant completed by this:

I think there are more people who know how to do this dance world wide, than there are people who can perform CPR ; just a passing thought."

My personal favourite has got to be the Superman part just because I can imagine a whole gym full of kids simultaneously emulating flight. It could also easily be turned into the "Mario Bros Swim" if ever Soulja Boy became Frog Boy.

Just when I feel like saying something like "what has this world come to?", I am reminded of this:



... and I realize we were no better.

It's Always Sunny in Bamako

Since my internship began back in Smithers with One Sky, I feel like I am contributing to something good and that my work has an intrinsic value that could not be found within cubicle walls. What may seem as being easy for me, whether it's translating a document or formatting a picture, is considered to be of great value to others.

If life here is a couch, I just went from sitting hesitantly on the edge to lounging back like I know it's going to be a really long movie and a while before I get back up. The routine is slowly taking shape, the initial feeling of wanting to document every single moment and thought is dissipating. It's sunny in Bamako, and I brought my sunglasses.

Le boulot

Days go by quickly, especially when I'm asked to do something by two days ago. I'm in a constant struggle to focus on work rather than turn to the world wide web's panoply of toys, which I have always been so accustomed to having practically around the clock. I must admit that it's nice to come home to a TV (with 3 channels!), many books and, of course, my guitar.

The Prophet

A friend passed me a book called "The Biography of the Prophet" by Karen Armstrong before I left. This is a fascinating story of arguably one of the most influential persons to have ever lived. I will comment on this further once I am finished the book but for now, if you are interested in understanding Islam beyond CNN and Wikipedia, pick it up at a bookstore near you.

Blogged with Flock

R.I.P. iPod (2003-2007)

My iPod died at 2132 hours yesterday, November 5, 2007; the cause of death is unknown. Although it may seem unlikely, I suspect One Sky is making an inter-continental attempt to once again bring me out of my comfort zone. When doing a workshop on personal ecology, I expressed the fact that music is, and has always been, my coping mechanism for stress. One could say that One Sky has made me a sceptic for life when it comes to ironic and/or unfortunate events and it will always make me laugh inside.

That said, on with more important things…

Projet Yèrè Yiriwa

Mali was among the first countries in West Africa to undertake a vast decentralization process for political power. Local governments now have a much greater responsibility to assure a sustainable economic, political and social development. In fact, rural commune governments now receive 80% of tax revenues are distributed directly to them. Evidently, their budgets have also grown tremendously even if only 20% of elected leaders are entirely literate.

Herein lies the context where Projet Yèrè Yiriwa looks to act as a catalyst for sustainable development from the ground up. Each village must identify 10 revenue-generating activities and then prioritize them. Sectors, consisting of 4 to 5 villages, will then go through the same process.

In order for each village to be fairly represented, 5 delegates are assigned for the Projet Yèrè Yiriwa group consultations: the elected leader, the men’s “animateur”, the women’s “animatrice”, a youth representative as well as a women’s representative. The “animateur” and “animatrice” have both received training by the Yèrè Yiriwa coordinators on techniques to mobilize their community and are very much local champions of the project. After the group consultation, they will return to their communities and relay the messages and lessons learned from the Yèrè Yiriwa team.

It was at these consultations that the Yèrè Yiriwa team explained, for example, the benefits that their paying income taxes can bring. Since becoming a democracy in 1992, I am told that Malians – mainly in rural areas – expect the economic and social benefits to automatically come to them. They have been unable to see the link between income tax revenue and new roads or hospitals, to the point where they complain about a lack of essential services from the State. Projet Yèrè Yiriwa therefore looks to establish a clear link in order to show each and every person how their voice can be heard as well as how they can contribute to this development.

Youth are also encouraged to stay in their respective villages instead of moving to urban centres like Bamako. The prioritization of revenue-generating activities aims to show them the bright horizon for the development of their village and how they can play an important part in it.

After having attended 3 group consultations in the villages of Kodiougou, Sôrôna and Garalo, it is apparent that many challenges lie ahead, the biggest one being proximity. Many of these villages are isolated by 10 or 20 km from each other and the roads are in terrible condition. Therefore, it becomes very difficult for the delegates to find transportation or fuel for the trip. In fact, the first consultation I attended was delayed for more than 3 hours because we had to wait for every village to be represented. It was fascinating for a time-is-money-Westerner to observe the infinite patience of the people, even if they were sacrificing an entire day of harvesting their fields or tending to their daily chores. Patience is definitely an abundant commodity in Mali.

It is thanks to the people’s firm belief in Projet Yèrè Yiriwa that the horizon shines a bit brighter than before. You can even see it in their faces when members of the Yèrè Yiriwa team, like Monsieur Ibrahim Togola, speak of concrete power and personal value that each person detains as players on this field of democracy. One can almost feel the earth tremble from people getting up to make their voices heard as they take momentous steps forward.

"Le rêve est devenu réel"

« Le rêve est devenu réel » dit un chef de famille lorsque je lui demande comment l’accès à l’électricité a changé la vie des villageois de Garalo, une communauté rurale du Mali. À l’aide d’un interprète en Bambara, il m’explique que les bénéfices sont nombreux : (i) on peut maintenant garder des médicaments essentiels réfrigérés; (ii) les enfants peuvent étudier en soirée lorsqu’ils ont plus de temps libre; (iii) l’hôpital a maintenant un bloc opérationnel et l’on espère un jour qu’il soit fonctionnel pendant 24 heures; (iv) et l’on peut aussi faire du pain beaucoup plus nutritionnel.

Le 3e point est important à cause de l’emplacement géographique puisque Garalo est situé à plus de 2 heures de route de Bougouni où l’on y retrouve un hôpital. La route est tellement trouée que le trajet pourrait aggraver la condition d’un patient.

La réponse du chef dura pour plus que 5 minutes et je ne devais même pas attendre pour la traduction afin de comprendre que l’impacte est comparable à un miracle; surtout que les gens le croyait fou lorsque Mamadou Moulin Kané a dit aux gens du village qu’il allait électrifier le village.

La centrale, énergisée par le pourghère cultivé dans le village, produit un courant pendant 3 heures chaque soir après le coucher de soleil. Ce qui paraît minime pour l’Occident est, en réalité, une source de vie pour les habitants de Garalo au point même où les enfants crient de joie lorsque les lumières s’allument chaque soir. On me dit qu’on prit le soir avant de se coucher afin de remercier le courage des employés du MFC ainsi que ACCESS, l’entreprise privée qui entreprend l’opération et le maintien de la centrale ainsi que son réseau.

Malgré leur manque d’éducation formelle, les gens comprennent très bien le lien entre le pourghère qu’ils cultivent et les lumières et téléviseurs qui s’allument le soir. Ils disent faire tout leur possible pour aider au développement de la centrale ainsi que le stock de pourghère.

Une de mes premières questions fût : pourquoi on a choisi à Garalo?

En 1999, le directeur du Mali Folkecenter, Ibrahim Togola, avait une rencontre avec le directeur du Ministre d’Hydrologie lorsqu’un homme interrompu pour demander au directeur ce dont il pouvait faire pour électrifier son village. C’était donc par pur hasard que la référence s’est fait avec M. Togola, qui a été intéressé dès le début à élargir les horizons du MFC, spécialisé auparavant qu’en énergie solaire et éolienne. Cet homme était Mamadou Moulin Kané, un résident de Garalo qui était le premier à rêver de voir les domiciles de Garalo illuminé la nuit. Il a persisté chaque jour pendant des années à rappeler le directeur Togola du projet et parfois même en personne puisqu’il était dans les environs ce jour-là (même si Garalo est à plus que 200 km et 4 heures de route). On peut vraiment dire que c’est grâce à lui que les habitants de Garalo profitent d’électricité durable qui sert aussi de catalyseur de développement de la région.

90's Flowchart

Pema's Insight

"to be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest; to live fully is to be always in no man's land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh"

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.

Blogged with Flock

Africa Africa

Toubabou. That is what they call me in Bambara and it means “homme blanc”.

The Flights

It didn’t take long to get acquainted with my seat partner on the plane leaving from Montreal because he was also going to Bamako, but to work for a Canadian mining company in the East of Mali. He has been working there for about 18 months with a pretty nice routine: 2 months of work, 1 month off at home. It was quickly apparent, however, that we were there for different reasons and in different capacities but I did not let that affect my impressions of him.

The flight from Paris to Bamako was delayed for about an hour because there were 3 Malians being deported back to Mali and they were cuffed at the ankles and the wrists, something the other Malians in the plane did not appreciate. They certainly vocalized their opinion, which quickly grew into a shouting match on the plane where the police came onboard and intervened by taking off the 3 “prisoners”. The unfortunate thing is that, had the other Malians been quiet, these refugees would have returned home instead of spending another few nights in prison. That said, sometimes a person’s convictions outweigh any logic and there is certainly honour in that.

The Arrival

It felt like a heavy, musky wall of heat as soon as I stepped off the plane. Passing through customs was very easy and the challenge lied more in grabbing my luggage from the belt and passing through security. As soon I stepped out of the airport there was a crowd of people and I missed my “Benoît Rivard – MFC” sign. After about 2 seconds of panic, I found a phone booth where I made a few phone calls and found the MFC driver that had come to get me.

The first night was spent at Johanna and Ibrahim’s house (my supervisor and the MFC director, respectively). It’s a beautiful home in a not so beautiful setting; of course this is basing “beauty” on a completely different set of standards. The next morning I met their 2 gorgeous little daughters Batoma and Sari (I think those are their names, not 100% sure). Batoma is 4 and already speaks 3 languages: Finnish (Johanna is from Finland), Bambara and French. It becomes quite humbling when a 4 year old is translating what her 2 year old sister is saying to you because she only speaks Bambara and Finnish.

Mali Folkecenter

Yesterday was my first day at work and my first impressions were of amazement at how much the MFC is doing simultaneously. I won’t go into detail on their projects because their website already describes most of it but one project worth mentioning is how they have developed and installed a power plant that runs on jatropha oil. It feeds electricity to a village of over 4,000 people so this is no run-of-the-mill bio-diesel generator. I will eventually make a field trip with some of the staff to take pictures and write about this project so more details will follow in the next few months.

The MFC office has wireless internet so I will be able to stay “connected” to a certain degree so feel free to send me an email if you have questions that I am not answering in my posts.

Varia

It is always hot, day and night. People drive with about a 2 inch buffer zone between cars or motorcycles. The local neighbourhood kids have already come to see me about 5 times in 2 days, one of them is called Bogaah. I am sharing my living accommodations with a family of lizards. Nobody speaks French in the market, only Bambara. All the vegetables are miniature compared to what we are used to eating. Bamako feels like a maze of identical streets and main roads; reference points are your lifelines. I am having a lot of difficulty remembering people’s names at the office. I have yet to play my guitar so I will go do that now.

I have posted the pictures I’ve taken so far on my flickr page (link in the side bar) but there aren’t many of the city itself because apparently the police will confiscate your camera if they catch you taking pictures.

Blogged with Flock

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.

Blogged with Flock

... and Sweet

This will be short, I promise.  There are a few thoughts I wanted to share from conversations I had today with various people.

A teacher once told me that an idea can sometimes ring so true inside that one immediately adopts it as a Truth rather than filtering it through a filter of judgment.   There is an inherent danger in falling for this trap.  This advice was offered when a discussion led to me mentioning how everyone on this planet should watch An Inconvenient Truth.  Her response was not what I expected but it was very much a valid point: to firmly believe in something, one needs to be able to argue as convincingly for either "side".  In other words, one should take information from Al Gore with as much skepticism as if he or she were watching CNN or Fox News.

This, of course, is the opinion of a certain individual and although I don't wholeheartedly agree, she definitely makes a valid point.  It has served mainly as a personal reminder when taking in new information.

Today was a day of stimulating (and long overdue) conversations with friends.  I'm still surrounded by this overwhelming sense of naïvety when I think that I will be in Mali in a week from now.  It's both exciting and a little scary but I feel clarity in the reasons why I'm going and doing this.  Whether I will adhere to this plan for the duration of the internship remains to be seen.

Blogged with Flock