There's work to do!

To everyone that helped fund the cereal bank project: thank you very much! The construction of the building is well under way and should be completed within the next few weeks. The guys in village have been getting together every Monday and Friday to do "golle suudu baba" (the dogon equivalent of community service... "work for dad's house"). The majority of the building materials have been local, so there haven't been any issues regarding where to find things. Plus, I ordered and delivered the windows, received notification that the cement is in, and have nothing but good news. When the construction began, the guys let me help out a little, but being the outsider, they're not too comfortable with letting me get down into the work so much. They really see me as an organizer and fund finder, which works, but leaves a hell of a lot of down time on my part. Once the construction is complete, we'll move into the education phase in order to ensure that everyone associated with the cereal bank has the know how to run it effectively and keep it sustainable. Overall, projects are going well here for me and I have not hit any obstacles. With everything going on, one would think I was busy all of the time. That's not the case, but I am happy to be accomplishing things here.

Here I am surveying the work from the top as the old building is being torn down

This is Daouda. He's ready to help out with his hammer.

Tijani, Amadu and Djugal were able to salvage the door from the old building.

The guys watching on and working to take down the building.

Amadu testing out the fit of the new windows.

Kids bringing water over to make mud for the walls.

Also, thanks to everyone that contributed to my "slush fund" account. The biggest problem with starting even small scall projects here is the lack of available funds. It is extremely difficult to convince someone to put a few dollars worth of CFA into an idea when they need that money to feed there families. With the additional money I received, I have begun a low-input, small-scale rabbit raising project with two guys in village. I purchased wood and chicken mesh wire to build a portable hutch. After building it in a few hours, the villagers were impressed that I was able to do something with my hands! If they only knew I had these kinds of skills... sure I may be worthless with work relating to rocks and mud bricks (actually an entire rock wall fell on my back the other day. I'm all cut up and bruised, but I'll get better), but give me some wood, a hammer, saw and nails, and I'm set! The hutch itself cost around $25 plus however long it took me to build. A few days later I bought 4 rabbits and had them carted up from Bamako for about $5 a piece. We're currently working on a more permanent home for the rabbits made from mud bricks and stone. The portable hutch will come in handy when the rabbits breed and they are carried into market to be sold. Having a hutch that they can't get out of and other animals can't get into will be especially important (no rabbit meat for Rufus!) when it comes to mangy dogs running around.

Here's Adura watching over the rabbits. I am raising them with his and his uncle's help.

Lounging rabbits

I also was given six pigeons to be raised for consumption. If you remember an earlier post, I actually slaughtered one myself a few months back. They're really tasty. Seriously.

Mike and Zack will arrive in Bamako in 2 weeks, so you can imagine how excited I am for that. I have planned out a trip for them that includes the Sikasso waterfalls, rock climbing in Hombori, Elephants and Camels in either Boni or Gossi, and a little time spent at my site. Site should be interesting because I purchased a nice big goat to slaughter and will be getting ready to begin planting the millet for the season. They'll really get the whole Mali experience. Although I am excited to show off my Fulfulde skills, I am nervous about getting around the rest of the country with them considering my near-zero French and Bambara skills. It'll definitely be a test of smarts and patience.

Some updating

Just a quick update. The good internet place is down, so now I have to pay double the price at a slower location. That's no fun.

But, I did just get back from rock climbing in Hombori again. I'm going to try to get up there about once a month because it's only a two hour ride away and the campement there is super cheap. I ordered climbing shoes and a harness from EMS that Mike and Zack will bring to Mali when they come in a few weeks. It's gonna be awesome playing Mali tour guide with my brothers for three weeks. So far I've put together a tentative schedule for us. As this is Mali, nothing is permanent and everything is relative. We'll just kind of go where we go with a few definite destinations once they get here.

The cereal bank project has officially begun. Last week the villagers tore down the old building and began to construct the new one. Yesterday, I picked up the windows I had ordered in Douentza and will bring them to site tomorrow. The guys there will be excited to have everything they need within the next few weeks.

Rufus disappeared for a week and a half, but he's back now. I found him a few towns over chasing some girl dogs around. When he was gone, the village kids dropped a cat (Sally) off at my house. Now that Rufus is back, I had to give the cat to Derek. Rufus goes in to crazy attack mode when he sees the cat. So that's too bad. I has hoping the cat would keep away the scorpions, spiders, and mice. I found a huge white spider with claws crawling on my stomach IN my tent the other night.... no where is safe! The same kind of spider (bigger than my hand) ran out of my house the other night, but I couldn't throw rocks fast enoughto kills him. I unfolded some sheets and a 4 inch long yellow scorpion fell out and ran straight at my feet... but I stomped him out fast. I've yet to find any snakes in my house, but it's only a matter of time. There are some sersiously poinsonous snakes in Mali. Yes. I'm just a little nervous.

I'm trying to find a way to get to Morocco to meet up with Erica in August, but it's hard to find travel deals flying out of Bamako. This place is like a black hole... you can get in, but leaving is a trick I haven't yet discovered. If anyone has info, please let me know.