This is Boucari and he is the craziest, yet awesome, old man I have ever met. When I first arrived in village, my Fulfulde was definitely not up to par. One time I responded to a greeting with "baasi fuu wala" ...there are no problems... but I put too much emphasis on the "fuu" and he thought that was the funniest thing he's ever heard. To this day, we greets me with the fully emphasized "baasi fuuuuuu wala."
Here I am in the garden with my friend Amadu. We have the same name here in Mali, so we refer to each other as "toccara." This means "namesake." He was very excited to pose for the photo while standing next to a mango tree.
This is the main street in Dimbatoro. Once you enter into the village, this is the first thing you will see. Of course, there is the ever present donkey cart in the corner!
This is the original cereal bank in Dimbatoro. The roof caved in, so we're working on building a new grain storage house. If you haven't donated to my project, please go to http://www.peacecorps.gov/ to donate. You can click on "donate now" and then "donate to volunteer projects." My cereal bank project can be found under Mali, D. Munsell, MA, Agriculture, Cereal Bank, etc. As of today, I have received over $1200 of the total $2159 needed. We are well on our way to making this project a reality.
The mango collectors.
The stream where the majority of Dimbatoro's water needs are met. Kinda small, huh?
If you remember from a previous post, I went climbing up in Hombori in March. When I went to Bamako last week I got my hands on some pretty good pics from Jared's camera. The next two pics were taken from Jared's belay spot. He strung up a pendulum top rope and beleyed from a perch half way up the climb. Here I am just hanging in the balance.
I'm going up!
Still going up!
1 comment:
Dave
These are the most incredible photos and your descriptions are wonderful.
I tried to call you today but you must be back in your village. I am so glad you shared your village and the people you live with. I can almost imagine what it is like there now. If I put my head in an oven that is 110 degrees, I would then experience the temperatures there - but I am not that brave. I do not know how you, or anyone there, can stand those temperatures. And to think that 110 degrees is mild compared to how hot it will get there soon.
I can't wait to show Zack and Mike. They will be there soon! Dad and I cannot wait until November. We count down the days.
Love Mom
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