Our numbers are growing in the Bamako Branch. Here are our beautiful Primary children. Today we taught them about the song “I Am a Child of God” and what the words mean and how we can stay on le bon chemin, or the good path to return to our Heavenly Father.
It was nice to celebrate my 61st birthday here, with our members who sang to me in French, Bambara and English!
We had a great evening visiting with Mike Maughan and Sekou. Mike’s been with the expedition in Ouelessebougou this last week and he flies out late tonight. We loved hearing more of the details of Sekou’s life and conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. He’s a remarkable man and a stalwart here. We’re grateful for him and for good people like Mike who come over to learn about this country. Mike’s grandfather, Marion D. Hanks, was the founder of the Ouelessebougou Alliance in Utah. Their family carries on the tradition of helping and serving here.
There is a chicken farm in the village of Mountougoula, about 1.5 hours from Bamako where some very important things happened. It was in this place that Elder Bednar, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, came to organize the first Branch in Mali. I think Heavenly Father picked a good place to begin His work here in Mali. It’s not too different than a stable with animals long ago, or a grove of trees or a mountain top.
23 May 2017 Elder Bednar visits with the members.
3 June 2017 Authorization was given to create the first Branch.
9 July 2017 The Bamako Branch was created and the Farako Group (at the chicken farm) was organized.
Here is this building today:
The Mountougoula Group now meets in a quiet rented building about 25 minutes from here. But this is where it all started.
This was the first baptismal font in Mali:
Today we came to Mountougoula so Pres Sekou and Elder Lewis could conduct some tithing settlements here. We spent the day here and they were able to meet with 5 of the members.
(Missing a photo of Issiaka Ouattara.)
Elder Ikpeti and Elder Sulu also came, along with Frere Mbaya.
While the interviews were taking place, the Elders and I visited with members of the four families living at the chicken farm now. It was a peaceful day and I enjoyed it very much.
This is my friend, Oumou. She has completed a law degree! Her husband Barai works here at the farm. She taught me how to help her clean this calabash of rice. We sat together for a couple of hours picking out the chaff and little rocks.
Gathering firewood:
The women brought us some food:
There is Always laundry to do!
I gave the Elders a tour of the farm and told them the history of what had happened here.
Here are the chickens!
Once a day all the eggs are collected. When the 3 young boys came to gather the eggs, I stayed to help. It was better than Easter morning! The eggs are beautiful, big and many are still warm. We put the eggs into the plastic trays.
Today we gathered all of these beautiful eggs! 108 flats!
Next they are transported to Bamako, over bumpy dirt roads.
I bought a flat to bring home! 1,750 cfa = $3.00.
And that was how we spent this interesting day in this historic place. I enjoyed every minute of it!
This is the shop we visit in our neighborhood when we need something like an extension cord or a light bulb. It’s amazing how many things he can fit into this tiny space!
He had to climb on a chair to find the right kind of light bulb for our fixture. Living here is so fun. We meet so many good helpful people!
After our outings today and a trip this afternoon to the Women’s Garden here in Ouelessebougou we headed back home to Bamako. This Ouelessebougou Alliance from Utah will stay for a full 2 weeks, visiting more villages and doing more good. We’ll meet up with them again at the end. Our thanks to Judy Hut, Director and Friend.
Home Sweet Home!
Before leaving Fajiabougou, we stopped to see their proud little clinic. A former Peace Corps worker helped raise the money for this clinic several years ago. The family and friends of that volunteer continue to help with a bit of support from time to time.
The matron (above) is young and she manages several rooms in the clinic for treating patients and this maternity. There are two rooms are where the babies are born and the mothers recover. The birthing room was occupied– a new mother was on a mat on the floor with her newborn, nursing, and this is the recovery room:
This may be where the matron stays at this clinic:
Here are some industrious young men making grass mats in Fadjiaboubou. Imagine living where if you wanted it, you had to make it or grow it yourself. Perpetual camping for your entire life. Oh, how I admire these hard-working people!
Here are a couple of video clips I took of them working:
Here are some of the ways these mats are used:
Word travels quickly between villages. By the time we distributed Days for Girls kits in Banakoni, the women in Fadjiaboubou had gathered and we waiting for our arrival. It was so fun to pull up into this crowd of excited women and girls.
We divided them into two groups again, and Teningnini and Mariam taught about menstruation and how to use the kits, then traded places. They also teach an element of self defense and how to keep yourself safe.
Later this week we’ll be training Anounou, our Field Director, how to teach the program for me called “Men Who Know.” This instruction is given to the men and boys who always feel gypped when the women get special attention!
Young Mariam and Tenin, our sewing specialists. They have been sewing for 4 or 5 months now, after the last 2 girls graduated and received their own sewing machines. These girls are beautiful and they are happy to be learning a new marketable skill. These girls and older Mariam made all the kits we distributed today and 100s more.
The excitement in the classrooms grew as the kits were handed to each, individually.
Bouba, another Alliance helper was distributing mosquito nets while we met with the women.
Honestly, it just doesn’t get much better than this!
The village elders sat nearby, enjoying the happy women and the children playing behind them. It was a good day in Fadjiabougou.
The heels:
This is the school bathroom:
They also had a great cotton harvest here:
Farewell, friends, until next time!
Our plan for today was to visit 2 villages– Bamakoni and Fadjiabougou–to distribute Days for Girls kits made by our Ouelessebougou Enterprise. These two villages have about a half mile between them. We were excited to visit and teach the women and girls.
Days for Girls is a wonderful international organization that was started by Celeste Mergens in 2008. We help make and distribute sustainable feminine hygiene kits to girls who would otherwise have to miss school during their monthly periods.
I brought our first 1,700 kits to Mali in 2013, and we’ve been distributing them and now making them here ever since. This one is a game changer for me. If we can keep the girls in school, we change the future of the country. An educated mother will see to it that her children are educated. A Days for Girls kit can do more for a girl than anything we might give her. It gives her hope and dignity and opportunity.
Today Teningnini and Mariam taught 2 classes–one of older women (those who had born children) and one of younger. They looked the same to me. Teningnini taught about what happens in our bodies when we menstruate and why. Mariam taught the girls how to actually use and care for the kits.
After that, the girls were all smiles, and so were we!
You may wonder what the girls use before they have these kits. Imagine you are camping and you forgot to bring supplies. What would you use? Rags? Corn husks? Tree bark? Sand wrapped in a cloth? Cow dung? Some girls try to stop the flow by inserting smooth stones or even corn cobs. Anything to stay in school.
There was a tragedy a few months ago in Kenya. My dear LDS Days for Girls leader in Bomet posted this news on facebook, reported here: http://dfgeugene.blogspot.com/2019/09/heartbreak-in-kenya.html
Just weeks before, Anita had visited our Days for Girls sewing center in Orem and we loaded her up with a van full of supplies to take back to her village, Bomet. Gratefully, Anita was right there to help the students and faculty work through the suicide of this young girl who had started her period in class at school, and was shamed.
We can stop this from happening, girl by girl, school by school, village by village.
The girls and ladies hugged us and cheered with us as they received their kits. Each kit contains 2 shields (a piece that snaps around their underwear to hold the flannel pads in place), 8 pads or liners, underwear, a washcloth, a small bar of soap and 2 Ziploc bags to use for soaking soiled pads and keeping the clean ones clean. All of this is in a colorful beautiful drawstring bag. The shields and liners are made of stain hiding dark or busy prints that can be hung to dry without embarrassment. These kits easily last 3-4 years or more.
I’ll never forget a distribution we did here last year in a rural Malian village where a lady came up to me after our class and said, “How did the women in your village know exactly what the women in our village needed??” What a beautiful gift this is!
We had a bit of time afterward to wander through this village and visit with the women here before going to the next village, Fadjiobougou, to share the same gift with the girls there.
Bamakoni is the village where a family named a newborn son John Lewis several years ago. When we returned the next year to visit, little John had died. We continue to visit this family every time we come to Bamakoni.
One of my favorite things here is the creativity of the people who make things like toys and games, especially the children who play with what they can find in the streets. We see little wire cars, lots of bike tires rolled with sticks, and parts and pieces of things fashioned into something entirely different that will occupy a child for hours. Here is a wonderful checker board being put to good use!
Our Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan East and Bamako, Mali Mission 