By far the most interesting day thus far on the trip.
First day sans international flight, or flights.
The Hotel
We began the morning with breakfast at the hotel. However, due to logistics and lack of communication the previous evening, not a single member of the group had the correct currency (Communaute Financiere Africaine Francs [$1.00 = 470 CFA]). Therefore breakfast, water and coffee was slightly more expensive than necessary due to paying with in US dollars. Regardless, group found early morning sustenance.
All luggage was stored in one corner of the hotel restaurant during breakfast due to the mosquitoes swarming on virtually all pieces of the luggage in the hotel lobby and the restaurant.
Just prior to our departure from the hotel our tour guide Ali arranged for currency exchange for the group. A large African gentleman entered the hotel shortly after breakfast and convened a make-shift exchange bank on a small table in the hotel lounge/bar. This gentleman exchanged approximately $5000.00 US for the group in approximately 20 minutes and was all business. There was much speculation within the group as to this gentleman’s affiliation(s) as he arrived to the hotel, exchanged considerable sums of currency with strangers, had the capacity to exchange considerably more currency (he had what appeared to be >$5,000.00) and did so without any guards and/or supervision. There was further speculation as to whether or not the gentleman was armed. His armament status was never was never confirmed.
After successful currency exchange, the group assisted our bus driver and the hotel concierge in loading the entirety of the luggage onto the top of the bus. Once loaded, the luggage was secured to the top of the bus with a cargo net and several long ace bandages. After securing the luggage, the group boarded the bus for the day ahead.
Once on the bus and seated, the day’s presiding fellows began outlining the upcoming events for the group. This brief presentation was interrupted initially by various group members audibly expressing concern for the direction the bus was traveling. The audible expression of concern reached a crescendo of fervent shouting and yelling as the bus nearly passed under a low overhang at the hotel entrance that would have cleaved the entire load of luggage off the top of the bus right back onto the asphalt from whence it had just been loaded. Luckily, spurned by the shouts and screams, the driver stopped just in time, mere inches from impacting the overhang with the first bag. After averting the luggage catastrophe the driver reversed the direction of the bus and we began on our way into downtown Bamako.
The Recycling Village
Our first stop of the day was the recycling village in downtown Bamako. En route to the recycling village the bus passed through a large open-air marketplace. The poverty that exists in this community was immediately evident as we made our way deeper into the heart of the city. We passed a multitude of vendors tending innumerable piles of cassava, plantain, citrus and various other horticultural products that were placed near the street, mostly un-shaded, wholly un-refrigerated, and usually inundated with flies. On the journey to the village we also passed an open-air meat market that appeared to be staffed by flies. Approximately 20-30 minutes after we had departed the hotel, the bus made a left hand turn onto an unpaved road and proceeded just far enough down the road to get the bus safely off of the extremely busy street and away from the throng of humanity that comprised the marketplace.
Once off the bus, the group proceeded up the road approximately 2 blocks to the recycling village. The “village” was actually an area approximately 3-4 blocks in diameter situated directly at the bottom of a small escarpment. Within the “village” were numerous “shops” where young men toiled with hammer and chisel taking apart old car parts, empty 55 gallons drums and various other pieces of metal debris to produce usable raw material for their craft. These young men worked in almost perfect coordination as they converted these dismantled metal pieces into makeshift cooking stoves, agricultural implements and various others saleable items. The men worked under the most difficult of conditions. Most “shops” were nothing more than 6’x6’ areas of dusty soil covered with a roof of corrugated sheet metal held up by misshapen logs harvested from nearby barren trees with a small fire burning near the center of the “shop” for heating metal. Instead of the heavy aprons and gloves typically worn by blacksmiths, these young men wore tattered cotton pants and t-shirts (one had a Dan Marino jersey) and usually plastic sandals as they formed heated metal into various shapes with coordinated hammer and chisel reminiscent of a Stomp performance.
The car parts, large drums and lose debris used to manufacture goods in this industrial mecca were salvaged and brought to the men’s “shops” by the women and young children from 2 separate piles of trash that were directly adjacent to the village. The piles resembled large hills of trash like those found in any landfill in the US. They were so large that they significantly obscured the view of the escarpment that stood directly north of the village.
The sights and smells of the village were very interesting.
The Musso-Laddamean Project
Our next visit was to the Musso Laddamean project. The project was located in a thatched hut village approximately 30 minutes across town (with traffic) on the outskirts of Bamako.
Apparently, several years ago a group of Brown University students had organized funds solicited from private donations (French and US philanthropists) to setup a school house and a curriculum to educate women in this village. Annually the project selected 120-180 women from the local and surrounding villages to enroll in the 2-year program and attend school, learn to read and write the local language (Bambara), learn child rearing and learn a skill (weaving, cloth dying, gardening, etc.) to be used to generate income for the family. We were told by our hosts that the project selected women only due to their status as the “backbone” of African society.
Our arrival was met with a multitude of smiles and handshakes from the village people, children and village elders. As we stepped down from the bus into the village we were immediately escorted into the un-powered 10x10’ school house for the presentation by the Community Action Committee (local literate [majority French] village elders).
The village chief Shaka Kone presented to our group the concept behind the Musso-Laddamean Project and how the program came into being, then each member of the CAC introduced themselves to our group and described their role within the village and the project. Luckily, our guide Ali was able to translate from French to English and from Bamabara to English, though somewhat unclear at times.
After the presentation, our group described our function and the reason for our visit. We then presented a plethora of donated items (pens, paper, hats, a video camera, etc.) to the project via Shaka Kone and the CAC. Once the donations had been distributed, the local women and CAC members presented the fruits of their labor to the group for purchase. The list of items for sale included hand dyed cloth shirts, scarves and various other small cloth and leather coin purses. The village sales people were very happy to transact considerable business with our eager and generous group in the space of 5-10 minutes.
Once business had concluded, we proceeded back to the bus stopping along the way to shake hands, exchange pleasantries, briefly investigate the nearby village and play a few quick games of soccer with the awestruck (and apparently very happy) children of the village.
As the bus made its way out of the village we were given a warm send-off of smiles and waves by our new found friends.
The Mali National Museum (and lunch) was our next intended destination.
The Mali National Museum
The bus made its way back through downtown Bamako en route to the Mail National Museum (about 30 minutes with traffic).
On the way to the museum the bus made a brief stopover at a local bank to allow group members to exchange dollars for CFA and stretch our legs. As members of our group were accessing the ATM and replenishing their financial resources, one member decided (unwisely) to take a picture of the bank. Unfortunately, the gentleman in the camouflage fatigues standing near the door of the bank was none-to-happy about foreigners taking photographs of the bank. This man’s agitation and displeasure at the situation were immediately evidenced by his shouting and gruff facial expressions. After a few minutes of heated exchange with Ali we quickly boarded the bus and beat a hasty retreat out of the bank parking lot, leaving the bank guard shouting as the bus sped away.
The museum itself was housed in a large, very aesthetically pleasing, series of buildings within a few blocks of the previously visited Recycling Village. Once off the bus our hungry and increasingly agitated group made its way through the sparsely populated museum and took in some Malian history, trade and textile exhibits before making our way to the museum restaurant for lunch.
Lunch was again an exercise in frustration as their was not adequate seating for our entire group due to 1) the medium-sized group of Europeans who had arrived just before our group, 2) and our time constraints. Hence, everyone got a cool drink from the restaurant and the PF’s arranged for our sandwiches to be packaged up to take and eat on the bus. Unfortunately, as we made our way to the parking lot (sandwiches in hand) to board the bus we quickly discovered that the bus was no where to be found. We found out later (after about 20 minutes) from Ali that the bus had developed a slow tire leak while waiting for us to finish at the museum and that the driver had left for a nearby repair shop to get the repair before setting out for Segou. Once back on the bus we set out for Segou and the former Bamabara kingdom.
Bus Ride to Segou
After the National Museum we boarded the bus for a ~3 hours ride to the town of Segou. Approximately 1 hour into the trip the bus developed a slight lean to the left (driver’s side) due to having blown a tire. Luckily 2 of our more industrious classmates helped the driver remove the destroyed tire and replace it with and effective spare.
During the approximate 30 minute tire change ordeal several of the class members were able to visit a roadside medical clinic in the middle of nowhere. During the clinic visit we were able to hand out some toys (a doll and a soccer ball) and some good old-fashioned American goodwill to the local population. The locals at this destination were considerably different from those who we had encountered before in so much as they were not approcahing us with their hands out, but instead with genuine interest in finding out who we were and why we were there.
Feeling filled with the satisfaction of charity we again boarded the bus for Segou…
PF's: Les Crutcher, Lori Kautz, Bryan Wilson
Trip Writer(s): Jon Munger, Kevin Steward, Kevin Healy
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