When I got to Kayes, Amy and I spent the day running errands to prepare for the trip and we packed. It felt a little like we were going on a big backpacking trip. Our bus left Kayes at 5 am and arrived in Bamako at 1:30 pm. We travelled with another PCV named Dave who took us to an American food restaurant and then directed us to our hotel. The restaurant we went to was a little like walking into America. There were lots of American tubobs and there was really nothing that resembled Mali, it was glorious.
The next afternoon we left for Nicole's site in the San area of the Segou region. We arrived at the bus station too late to take the morning bus so we didn't get to her stop until 11pm. We were literally left on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere waiting to meet Nicole's friend who took us to her site. When we finally arrived safely in her village her host-dad who is a traditional healer made us this amazing tea that's supposed to keep you from getting any stomach problems (i'm certain that it works too) and then we headed to bed.
We started the next morning with oatmeal and then headed out on the town to start several days of greetings. In Nicole's village greetings are teken much more seriously than in mine. I think in my village the greetings are shorter because I can't greet in the local language very well and I'm a little lazy but also my village has a much more urban atmosphere which doesn't require the congeniality of the more bushy villages. In Samabogo (Elephant Mud, Nicole's village), everyone knows everyone, while in mine it is big enough to be sectioned off in the quarters. In between greetings we helped nicole water her garden and we studied Bambara with Amy who is just beginning studying it because she hopes to site-change to a village from the city of Kayes. I enjoy studying with her even though I'm more advanced than her because I always learn new things that I missed the first time around.
As part of our greeting adventure we went a few km out to the bush to meet some of the elder traditional healers and friends of Nicole's host-dad. With this guy we discussed whether or not Nicole should get a dog and I told the story about how my dog ate the baby bird off my lap and how she keeps people out of my concession. I also cracked myself up by suggesting in Bambara that Nicole name her future dog 'cat.' Nicole and Amy were less than amused. The greatest thing about visiting these people were the hilarious gifts we got from them. We mostly got tea and peanuts and sugar but we also ended up with our very own rooster. 
Unfortunately, we couldn't eat the rooster because Nicole had to tell her host-family that we didn't eat me (same as her) because their food is terrible and if they thought we were vegetarians we could avoid eating there altogether. At one point someone asked me if I ate chicken (because chicken is in a different category than meat to them) and I said "yah, of course...i mean, no, no, never. We don't eat animals."
Unfortunately, we couldn't eat the rooster because Nicole had to tell her host-family that we didn't eat me (same as her) because their food is terrible and if they thought we were vegetarians we could avoid eating there altogether. At one point someone asked me if I ate chicken (because chicken is in a different category than meat to them) and I said "yah, of course...i mean, no, no, never. We don't eat animals." For new years eve the three of us pretended to go to bed early and drank a bottle of champaigne each that Amy and I had brought up from Bamako and tried our best to stay up until midnight. Our other activities included pruning Nicole's Moringa trees, making meals/eating the meals Nicole made, learning how to climb mango trees, or, rather, teaching Nicole how, and knitting.
We headed into San to go to the bank and relax for a couple of days before heading to Bamako for our In-Service Training (IST). There is a Stage house, or transit house, there where volunteers can stay for free. 
We made yummy food, bought beads and watched movies like Sister Act and Spaceballs on VHS. We managed to catch Peace Corps transport back to Bamako for IST which was free and comfortable. IST has been a series of ups and downs for me. The health sessions have been informative, but across the board they lack organization and the proper people available to translate. In most cases they're just boring, but it makes me feel unprepared for the rest of my service. I think, however, that it's hard to prepare everyone the same because our villages are too diverse for them to cover everything and every day I feel like my village is an anomaly compared to everyone else.
We made yummy food, bought beads and watched movies like Sister Act and Spaceballs on VHS. We managed to catch Peace Corps transport back to Bamako for IST which was free and comfortable. IST has been a series of ups and downs for me. The health sessions have been informative, but across the board they lack organization and the proper people available to translate. In most cases they're just boring, but it makes me feel unprepared for the rest of my service. I think, however, that it's hard to prepare everyone the same because our villages are too diverse for them to cover everything and every day I feel like my village is an anomaly compared to everyone else. On Sunday, some volunteers organized an event called the Hash Run, which is a 5 km run in Bamako put on by expatriates. 
The idea is that three of four people are the hash (or the hare) and the create a trail and everyone tries to catch them. 
Afterwards there's a big party with lots of food. I didn't do the run but I was present for the food and beer.
The idea is that three of four people are the hash (or the hare) and the create a trail and everyone tries to catch them. Afterwards there's a big party with lots of food. I didn't do the run but I was present for the food and beer. Today, Wednesday, we went to a village to do the beginning parts of a Hearth. A hearth is a 12 days program to promote quick turn around for malnurished children. The first day you do a baby weighing to find out which kids qualify. 
We don't allow healthy kids to participate, nor do we allow severely malnurished children to participate, usually, because they need to be given more help than we can give them. Usually that means going to the regional capital so they can get special food for malnurished children and proper supervision. 
From the kids who do qualify, we invite 5-10 to participate. Everyday for 12 days we make ameliorated porridge (high protein, high nutrient porridge) for them to give to their child three times a day. While the porridge cooks we do a presentation about nutrition or something related to health and then they take enough porridge for the day and come back the next morning to do it again. At the end of the week we weigh the babies again. The idea is to show the women how quickly their children can improve over a short period of time, using ingredients that they have access to in their village. All we did today was weigh babies and eliminate those who weren't qualified. We only had one malnurished baby. 
She was 2 years old and she weighed 4 kg or about 9 pounds. It's difficult to see but impossible to change at our level, so we really have to focus on prevention. Tomorrow we'll make porridge and do an animation. Unfortunately, we won't be able to follow up with this village but normally we'd do it for 10 more days. One of the other strategies for Hearth is to find a woman in the village who represents the average woman who has a healthy child and recruit her to help you do the Hearth because you can use her as an example for the women coming. It also keeps women from saying that it's not possible for the Hearth to help because there is physical proof in front of them.
We don't allow healthy kids to participate, nor do we allow severely malnurished children to participate, usually, because they need to be given more help than we can give them. Usually that means going to the regional capital so they can get special food for malnurished children and proper supervision. From the kids who do qualify, we invite 5-10 to participate. Everyday for 12 days we make ameliorated porridge (high protein, high nutrient porridge) for them to give to their child three times a day. While the porridge cooks we do a presentation about nutrition or something related to health and then they take enough porridge for the day and come back the next morning to do it again. At the end of the week we weigh the babies again. The idea is to show the women how quickly their children can improve over a short period of time, using ingredients that they have access to in their village. All we did today was weigh babies and eliminate those who weren't qualified. We only had one malnurished baby. She was 2 years old and she weighed 4 kg or about 9 pounds. It's difficult to see but impossible to change at our level, so we really have to focus on prevention. Tomorrow we'll make porridge and do an animation. Unfortunately, we won't be able to follow up with this village but normally we'd do it for 10 more days. One of the other strategies for Hearth is to find a woman in the village who represents the average woman who has a healthy child and recruit her to help you do the Hearth because you can use her as an example for the women coming. It also keeps women from saying that it's not possible for the Hearth to help because there is physical proof in front of them. I'm nervous to head back to my village and try this, but that's probably normal. I'm headed back to Kayes on Monday, via the brand new train! I miss my village and my dog and being on my own schedule, so it will be nice to get back.
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