Borko

80 km (about 50 miles), that is what we decided to do. If you head north on the road that our village is on for 80 km you hit a village by the name of Borko. We had heard that it was a kind of Oasis so we wanted to check it out for ourselves.

Two friends of Ashley and I, Susan and Rabayah, decided to join us for the adventure. We left our village at about 8am after eating with my friends Umars family, his wife made us rice and sauce. We biked about 40 km the first day to our friend Ryan’s village. Ryan was away, which we had known but he said we could stay at his house. The day was great, it was warm and we biked into a headwind all day but it was still a nice ride. We past little villages and farmers in their fields and we stopped and greeted everyone we met along the road.

When we arrived in Pellani (our friend Ryan’s village) we went through the protocol of going to the Chief of the Village and greeting him (as well as presenting him with a little gift of a small sac of Ku which is similar to a potato) and then going around village and greeting all of the elders, after that we settled in for the night.

The next day we got back on our bikes and started off for another 40 km day of biking. The second day we biked into an even heavier headwind which made our going slow, but we eventually made it to Borko around sunset. With some stunning views and a nice downhill decent into the valley that Borko is in the day ended up being a success.

As we rolled into the town with the sun almost set and not knowing anyone we wanted to try to find the Chief of the Villages house so we could ask him to find us a place to stay (which is standard). The first guy we met on the street we told him we had just arrived in town and we wanted to spend the night. He said no problem and took us to his house and pulled mattresses out into his concession area (what we would consider our yard) for us to sleep on and his wife cooked us rice, onions and with a little meat in it. We ate and went to bed pretty fast. That is how Mali works, you show up in a village and just about anyone will take you in…it is pretty fun. In the morning we explored Borko and our host family made us breakfast and lunch. After lunch we got into a Bush Taxi (it only comes to Borko once a week – every Monday at noon – we knew that from some friends of ours how had been to Borko before and told us the Taxi schedule) and went to Sevare (one of the biggest towns in our region).

It was a great 80 km bike ride and a wonderful visit to Borko, which is possibly the most amazing place I have been to in Mali thus far.



Onion fields along the road
rest stop for lunch
Our friend Ryan's house - where we stayed our first night


5km to Borko...this is a new road that was build last year...before that it was just donkey cart tracks
Ashley enjoying the view

Reminds me of the Southwest of our country
Ashley is becoming a biking champ
the famous Caiman alligators of Borko - the Dogon people believe the Caiman are their ancestors and so they feed and take care of these wild alligators
Ashley and I went up to have a touch
This is the concession we slept in our second night


Borko is a beautiful Oasis - the Dogon people that live in Borko grow onions, tobacco, lettuce, tomato's, garlic, peppers, and all kinds of other things...they are blessed with natural springs that irrigate their fields
Official Borko signage
Getting on the Bush Taxi - you can see they already loaded up our bikes
Ashley listening to her music sitting next to sacks of onions in the back of the Bush Taxi

Joke of the Day...

Ok, so a Malian is walking in a field and he falls into a deep hole and can't get out.

A missionary walks by and hears the Malian yelling for help so he throws a Bible down to him and continues on his way, leaving the man stuck in the hole.

A while later a NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) worker walks by and hears the Malian yelling for help so he throws a stack of $100 bills down to him and then he also continues on his way, leaving the man still stuck in the hole.

A while later a Peace Corps Volunteer walks by and hears the Malian yelling for help and runs away and then quickly returns with a mosquito net and a backpack and jumps in the hole with the Malian. The Peace Corps Volunteer turns and says to the Malian, "don't worry, we have two years together to figure a way out of this hole".

These guys are hysterically laughing at my joke - (the photo is of traditional Dogon statues - the village of Sangha)

Our Village

So this is an excerpt from a paper that Joe had to write about our village, I thought it was interesting so I decided to post it.

Kalibombo is a small village of about 600 people located five kilometers north of Bandiagara on the road to Kendie. The village sits directly on the main road, which is a  well-built and maintained dirt road, constructed by a German NGO (Non-government Organization). If you continue on the road heading North past Kalibombo you will pass through the villages of Kendie and Borko(and several other small villages) and eventually reach Dountza which is on the main highway to Goa.

Kalibombo's ethnic majority is Dogon but has a small yet important Puel population.  Most villagers speak Dogoso, but understand and speak several other Malian languages and local Dogon dialects such as Bambara, Puel, and Toroso.  There are only two men in the village who speak French.

Kalibombo is a Muslim village that seems to have animist tendencies.  The villagers are not overly religious but do celebrate major Muslim holidays and participate in Muslim traditions such as fasting during Ramadan and celebrating Tabaski as a village community.  The village has one, modern looking, mosque which was built within the last several years replacing a more traditional mud mosque.  The villagers stated that the money to build the new mosque came from Burkina Faso but I suspect the money originated somewhere in the Middle East, possibly Libya or Saudi Arabia.  The Mosque also recently received a gift of a solar panel that will power one light strip outside the mosque as well as the speaker system that broadcasts the call to prayer to the village.

There are young men in the village that study the Koran and memorize prayers in Arabic, and several older men including the Imam who faithfully attend prayer five times a days, but overall the villagers would not be described as overly zealous Muslims.  Women do not attend prayer at the Mosque and do not attend prayer for baptisms or marriage celebrations.  The village is aware that I practice the Christian faith and yet allow me to attend their religious ceremonies and recite prayers with them. 

Kalibombo lies within in Mopti region in a sub-region known as "Dogon Country" because of the uniqueness of the Dogon people and the beautiful land they live on.  Kalibombo is in a region of Africa known as the Sahel, which means that it has a dry desert feel yet has a lot of ground shrubs and small amount of equally distributed trees.  Subsistence farming is the work of every family in the village.  The land is suitable for the cultivation of millet, peanut, and okra.  Mangoes, guava, limes, and several regional fruit trees grow in gardens.  Onions and garlic are also grown in small terraced fields, but there are few of these fields because of the amount of water that is needed to grow onions and the villagers only method of irrigation is by hand.

Annual precipitation is low with a rainy season beginning in June and ending in late September.  The precipitation comes in the form of hard and quick down pours.  Kalibombo is located on the tip of an elevated rock plateau peninsula, with no water source on the plateau.  To access the three water sources of the village requires descending in elevation off the rock plateau.  To the east of the village about 800 meters is a hand pump that was installed by a Japanese NGO in the campaign to eradicate the guinea worm (villagers don't use this water source because of the distance it is from the village even though it is the most secure clean drinking water source.)  To the south of the village about 1300 meters is a well.  To the west of the village about 400 meters is a natural spring.  The natural spring is the main drinking water source for the village.  There is no protection to the water source at the spring.  Animals drink and defecate near the spring head , woman and children also wash clothes and their bodies close to the spring head.

Kalibombo has an elementary school.  The school building is the best constructed structure in the village(the mosque and school are the only community buildings) and was constructed with money from the Malian central government.  From what I have observed the level of education of the village is extremely low.  Only two men speak French.   Only one adult reads or writes above a fourth or fifth grade level.  Approximately one-third of the children in the village go to school.  I am not aware of any children that currently attend school beyond elementary school.

Mangelo Djibiba is the Chief of the Village and is very respected and has alot of power and control over decisions that affect the village.  The Imam also is very influential as well as the Malian war veteran.  There is also a group of about ten older men that serve as the village elders that also have much influence.   If you want to hold a meeting, or do any community activity you must first get approval from the Chief.  The Chief also controls the land and trees.  So, if you want to cut down a tree for firewood or harvest bush fruit from a particular tree you must get the approval of the Chief.

Kalibombo has one small boutique that is run out of a house near the center of town as well as a metal smith.  Because of the proximity and easy access to Bandiagara, most village business or economic needs are met there.  Bandiagara is the town that villagers use to bring their products to market, which include okra, onions, millet, and firewood. Bandiagara has a hospital and pharmacy. Kalibombo has several traditional healers including the Chief of the Village.

The staple food for families in Kalibombo is millet, mostly in the form of Toa.  Okra, Baobab and hibiscus are the three main leaves used in the preparation of sauces for the Toa.  Few fruits or vegetables are consumed because if they are grown they are sold at market and there is no money to buy vegetables.  

6 Months and going Strong

A few pictures to recap out last 6 months:

Joe and I in our first few months here, we are still smiling 6 months later!!!!

Joe enjoying our cat, in which he has deemed and trained as a "pocket cat." Yes, Yes, Yes, I know, I married him. he he he

Ambabem and I playing in the sand in our village, she is the chubbiest little girl in Mali, I LOVE HER!!!

Last week, Sunday, marked our sixth month in Mali, what an accomplishment for us.  We continue to learn, struggle, and have fun.  Our time in Mali thus far has been far more rewarding and challenging than we could of thought....and all in a good way.  We have been challenged spiritually, socially intellectually, politically, mentally, and physically. (If you can think of any other words with LY on the end of them insert them in this sentence, I am sure they all will fit in with our challenges, bc there are ALOT).

We have been supported by family and friends with packages, letters, phone calls, video calls, and emails and even having my brother come visit.  It is so much easier to stay positive and to keep going when you know people at home support you and when you can eat peanut M&M's and Swedish Fish while reading PEOPLE magazine. :)  It is nice to be connected to home.  We are truly blessed by you all. 

We are now at our original training site, Tubanyso, for a mini-training session.  This is a time where we can get training on things we want to implement at our site, in Kalibombo.  Joe and I will continuing language training in French and Donoso, along with get training on beekeeping, water sanitation, malnutrition, the planting and maintaining of the Arabic Gumme Tree, Urine fertilizer(yes, i did type urine) and also how to make mud stoves.

We are excited to see what the next months will bring, hopefully completed projects, better language fluency, along with long hot nights and a mini-vacation.   

We love it here!!!  We love Malian culture and love the people, it just keeps getting better.

 

We miss Bubba

Bubba left yesterday...we miss him...

A camel and Bubba...

Happy New Year

PART I  - Dogon Trek

So for Christmas we went on a 2 night 3 day trek into Dogon Country.  The trek consisted of hiking through beautiful desert landscapes during the day and sleeping in rural Dogon villages at night.  The hike was awesome except Aaron got sick and started pucking blood on the first day and had to be evacuated but I got to finish the hike.  

A Tellem village up in the cliffs - they are the people who dewelled in these lands before the Dogons.

The ancient Tellem Capital
Joe on top of Mt. Youga
Breakfast at a nice campement (village hostel) in the village of Koundou

A sweet Dogon dance

PART II  - Back to village

Bubba got better and we headed back to our village for a little bit with a few other friends, Jenny and Joelle.

Ashley, Joelle and Bubba outside our house
Ashley sitting with the Baba (Chief of the Village) - far left, Baba's wife and a village elder

PART III  - NEW YEARS EVE & Joe's 29th Birthday

Jenny, Joelle, Ashley, Joe, and Bubba are ready to hit the town of Mopti for New Years Eve
The view from the Bissap Cafe, where we ate Pizza and watched the sunset over the Niger River
I must be old, I needed to drink a Redbull to stay up and play dominos
New Years Domino's game

PART IIII - Boat trip on the Niger

Ashley and Aaron trying to fit in
The people of the boat
We slept on the boat for three nights and each night was a bit cold but Ashley stayed warm in her sleeping bag
The Niger is beautiful
Aaron, Ashley and Joe

Aaron hanging out with the people of Tonka (a small fishing village) as our boat ports to drop off some goods
Our boat at the harbor in Tonka waiting to be loaded with goods and passangers to head down the Niger
The upper deck of the boat
Sitting on top of the boat for a great sunsut

Enjoying The Journey

Bubba holding our new chicken
Joe enjoying the firepit and "patio" Bubba and Joe built
Joe and Bubba beginning construction on the patio and firepit
The Dishwasher broke so Ashley had to wash these dishes by hand
Bubba watering an onion field
Umar and Joe at Umar's onion field
Guava season...my new candy