It's been a while

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated my blog. I’m not sure why. I guess because there’s not much that is new. Site is fairly boring. There isn’t much to do in the way of work and of course these first 3 months were to be strictly devoted to integrating and continuing our language studies. My integrating consists of spending several hours a day sitting at the Matrone’s house, chatting and waiting for something to happen. Or sitting up at the boutiki with the same few men that hang out there drinking tea every day.
It’s a very interesting culture here. Unless it’s to work or go to the market for food or to sell their items the women stay at home. The men go to the fields or hang out at the boutiki or with their friends drinking tea. I was very surprised in my village, after all I had heard about the women doing the planting and caring for the fields, to see the men out there planting. Now the planting is done. They still go out into the fields every day to aerate the ground and try and keep the weeds to a minimum. With only the little bit of rain that we’ve gotten it appears that it’s only the weeds that are thriving. The village has planted cotton, corn (lots and lots of corn), peanuts and rice. August is supposed to be the absolute wettest month of the year. I know it’s only the 7th but it doesn’t appear to be raining much more than the months previous. Which is not a good sign. Most of what they grow in Bougoula they grow to sell so that they have money to feed their families. No growing, no selling, no food. This is the most unhealthy part of the year in most small villages. Besides the abundant diseases, infections and the such that most are more susceptible to during rainy season, malnutrition is a huge issue.

Malnutrition already seems to be an issue in my village. At first glance at the children you would think that they eat...plenty... and that they must be healthy. They are chubby and have lots of energy. But after further observation you notice that they are chubby, but only their bellies. A lot of the children have circles of missing hair, or their hair has lost the pigment and so it is red in color. They have dry scaly skin, edema and brown stains on their teeth and pitting due to decay. Also, chronic diarrhea is also a symptom of malnutrition. Unfortunately most Malians, including the little children have tooth decay due to not brushing their teeth and the horrid amounts of sugar they eat (most people in my village are missing some if not all of their teeth, especially the front ones, including the children. If they are there, they are rotting and will eventually come out. Then yet some, very few, but some, have beautiful teeth...go figure.); and most live with diarrhea regularly so they believe it to be somewhat normal. So these signs go unnoticed as actual symptoms of malnutrition. I imagine it will get worse as rainy season progresses.
Most of the families in my village eat serri (corn based cereal...with lots of sugar) for breakfast and toh (pr. toe) for lunch and dinner. All three are corn based meals. Corn is available in village, if not in market all year round. It is cheap and once it’s dried you do not have to worry about it going bad without having electricity/refrigeration. Very few families eat vegetables or fruits. And meat, is almost non-existent. They are none of these things available in village. The market town is only 7k away but is only on Thursday. They do sell some things there on the other days of the week but the only way to get there is to walk. Since most of every lit hour is spent working in the fields and walking 14k (7 there and 7 back) takes up most of the day it is not reasonable to go to the market more than once a week. So there just isn’t anything available. Even if these things were more readily available, most families, were the daily income is $1 or less per day, they just can’t afford it.



Classic case of malnutrition.  Scaley skin, reddish coloring of hair. 
Poor baby is rubbing and scrataching like she's on fire.