Month: December 2020

Settling Back Into Our Bamako Home –It’s beginning to look a bit like Christmas!

We said good bye to the Bendixsens after our long day on the road.  They flew out Tuesday morning to return to Abidjan.  We are so happy and excited to be back in our Bamako home.  We’ve been away 9 months.   We planned to be away 3 weeks.

We’ve spent these first few days cleaning and organizing.  A film of dust has filtered in and covered everything.   We’ve been airing out the place and trying to get rid of dirt and dust.

We’ve set up our little spot of Christmas here.  We have a few little gifts our kids sent back with Pres and Sis Lewis when they returned.   And we’ve hung our Christmas Santa and angel made from cans of cockroach and bug spray.

We’ve also picked up all the Nativities and carvings we ordered before COVID kept us away.   We are getting them packed up to send home with anyone traveling here who has room to take things back.  Here are some of the pieces from the Noah’s Ark sets:

And here are a few Nativity pieces.  We love the work of Pascal and his carvers.  This is putting us in the Christmas spirit.  We’ve packed up about 50 camels alone!

We have visited our favorite vendors for some fresh produce.  Many of these fruits and vegetables have traveled far to get here.  We are grateful they made it!

We’ve also enjoyed being reunited with our friends.  Oh, it’s good to be home!

Visiting Diatoula

I will continue here with pieces from my personal journal:

As we came into the village, there was a beautiful area of trees that had been planted in rows. It was swept clean under the trees (maybe 20-30 trees) except for a light green carpet of small leaves that had fallen. It was peaceful and beautiful. It felt like a park. There were children playing there–older children–playing a game like tag or dodge ball. They were running and laughing and throwing a softball-sized ball made of plastic bags wrapped into a ball and held together with a string.

We parked the car and joined the kids for a few minutes, then we walked to the center of the village where the school was. All the kids followed us. They were happy and excited to see us. We went by a small area where vendor tables stood empty. Probably their market area, now abandoned for the day. The school yard wasn’t much farther.

Sekou on the left greets Julien Keita on the far right, group leader in Diatoula.

We were noticed quickly by the adults and  Julien Keita came out to greet us. He is our member who is the brother of Philemon Keita who lives by the chicken farm (whose sons pick up the eggs).

He and Dra led us to the school and they went to get the village chief so we could greet him. After a few minutes he came with two other very old men, who we later learned were the chief’s older and younger brothers. Dra told us they were close to 80 years old. They looked wizened with some white facial hair and chin beards. They wore tan colored robes and beenie or Muslim caps with sandals on their feet. Their hands were rough and calloused and dry. Their feet looked worn and cracked. They were happy to see us.

We went into one of the school classrooms with the old elders and they chased all the children out (the children had shown us each of their 4 class rooms). Then Pres Bendixsen had his first experience meeting and greeting a village chief. He will probably remember this the rest of his life. He thanked these elders for welcoming us here. Julien translated his words to Bambura.  Pres Bendixsen told them that we were here to help strengthen the families and people in his village. He talked about how important education and this school is.   They said they were grateful for our visit.  That meeting took about 5-10 minutes, then they left and we played with the happy kids. I’ll bet there were about 50 or more kids who had come. They were so delightful.   We were told that one of the chief’s sons  has been baptized.

Here are the classrooms.  You can see in on the chalkboard in the corner, there are 75 students in this class–38 boys and 37 girls.

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These children are absolutely beautiful.  They were happy and well-mannered and eager to share with us.

I was sad to leave this village.  There is a sweet unified feeling here.  The village was clean welcoming and the children were respectful.  The elders were kind to us.  We were welcomed so warmly.  I was really sad to drive away.  Imagine the good that could come if we had missionaries here!  We have more than 20 new members here.  I can’t wait to meet each of them.

On the road to Diatoula

I don’t often do this here, but this time I’m going to include some bits from my personal journal to describe our first trip to Diatoula:

We left the chicken farm this afternoon to drive to Diatoula. We’d never been there before. I didn’t mention that Sekou finished his work/studies/ rotations at the hospital this morning and then came to the farm to join us and Dra and show us the way to Diatoula. We all got into the rental car and headed out.

It was far. The road/path was bad. Narrow in places (hard for a large vehicle to pass between the brush). We were in the bush of Africa. At one place we had to stop and get our of the car so Sambu could drive through a small stream that crossed the road. A herder was approaching the stream just as we were, with a herd of about 15-20 cows and some big black horned Brahma bulls. When we got out, we discovered we had a flat tire. So Samba and Sekou drove that flat tire car back to the chicken farm to get help.

As they left, the bulls and cows approached us and walked right by us. We just stood there, hoping to keep the peace with them. They went to the water to drink, and while they drank, we crossed the river and went to the other side.

In the meantime, Dra said we could walk the last 2 miles or so to Diatoula. I thought, “what better way for the Bendixsens to get a feel for the distances we are dealing with here and how hard it is to gather our people.” So we started walking. It was hot and dusty.  I had a great visit with Dra the whole time.

After a good long walk, Dra suggested we stop. We came to a compound (the first we really even saw) and he said we could stop and rest there and wait for Sekou and the driver to come and take us the rest of the way. So we went into this compound, a ways off the road.

There were 3 women in the compound who were siting on the ground with a man who had spread a mat on the ground and set up his sewing machine there. He was making clothing for them. They scrambled to find things for us to sit on. They brought a bench and some broken chairs. We were in the shade under a tree. We tried to visit with the ladies who spoke only Bambara. Dra told us that this is where the church held meetings during the rainy season when it was too hard to walk to the church. Apparently, the husband in this compound is a member, but he was off at a funeral today.

So we were there for 20-30 minutes, trying to be social. I asked Dra to ask the sewer how long he’d been there sewing and he showed me what he’d made today–some dresses, a man’s shirt, a boy’s shirt and pants, and he was starting on something else. The women buy lengths of fabric, 8 to 12 yards, then hire him to come. He’d been sewing since 9:00 this morning and had completed these several items of clothing. They were all made from 2 different fabrics. He let me take some pics and video of him working. 

The compound was cooler because of the large shade tree. There were chickens and roosters running around. Things were strewn here and there. People here live close to the ground. The stools and benches are low. Little chairs they sit on are 4-5″ off the ground. There are no tables or places to put things.   We were surrounded by pots and mortars and pestles and buckets and gourds and tools. One of the 3 women was nursing a baby, who then went to play in the dirt. There was a dog. There were 4 beautiful white guinea fowl. Not far from the house was their harvest corn pile, drying in the sun, still in the husks. They’ll shell the corn, then grind it for their food.

It was peaceful and calm and the air smelled heavenly. There was a big tree where we came into the compound. Dra pointed it out to me and said they held church meetings under that tree. It had blossoms blooming that looked like honeysuckle flowers but it smelled like orange blossoms. It was lovely. It felt like a historic sacred spot to me, out here in the middle of nowhere. I wandered around a bit and took some pictures.

Before we left, the husband returned and he was talking with Dra, animatedly. Apparently he was getting his children ready for church Sunday to join the transport to Bamako for our ward conference, but he wasn’t ready and the kids weren’t dressed and so they didn’t wait–they didn’t want to be late to the meeting. He wasn’t happy about that. (22 were in that transport.)  Sekou said he is one of our members and had been baptized.

Eventually Sekou and Samba returned. The tire was changed and we backed out of the compound and turned back onto the path to Diatoula (pronounced ja TOO la).

The guinea fowl:

After this we drove the rest of the way into the village.

A Visit to the Chicken Farm in Mountougoula

As we returned from Ouelessebougou today, we turned off before coming into Bamako to visit our friends at the chicken farm in Mountougoula.  The official name of our group here is the Farako Group.  The names are a little confusing.  The area is called Mountougoula.  Farako is the village where the farm is located.  Dramane Bagayoko is our group leader here.

As we arrived today, Dra’s wife was busy doing laundry, a never-ending job when you live on a farm in Africa!

Pres and Sis Bendixsen with Dramane, Sibiri and Adama

Dra gave the Bendixsens a tour of the farm.  Here’s where the corn is ground.

These are the 5,000 new young chicks, 13 weeks old.  They live in half of the first building.

The second building had 12,000 layers in stacked cages. The Keita boys had just left after coming to pick up all the eggs that roll down to the front.   They harvest 1000s of eggs every day.  The eggs are put into flats of 30 and then the driver loads them into the back of a 3-wheeled motorcycle-truck  to take them over bad dirt roads into Bamako.

The eggs are sold to 6 different vendors in Bamako and to one local place here in their village market. Dra said his vendors would buy more if they had more eggs. Next year,  there will be more chickens and they’ll expand the coops.  Business is good.

We showed the Bendixsens the place where it all began–this empty coop is where the church started here in Mali.  This is the place Elder Bednar visited in 2017.  Next year, chickens will move into this once-sacred place.

Dra and Sekou, who joined us here, our priesthood leaders:

This is the spot where the first baptisms took place.  Every time we visit, there is less evidence of the strong wooden box that was built here and lined with a blue tarp for the baptisms.

We had a nice meeting to talk about the needs of our handful of members here in Mountougoula.   They had to give up the building they were meeting in when COVID struck.  There have been no church meetings here since last March.   We hope they will resume meeting now.

I never leave the chicken farm without eggs.  These are the biggest and best eggs I’ve ever eaten.   It was nice to see our friends here today.

View from the Window–Ouelessebougou to Bamako

This blog post is a long drive from Ouelessebougou heading north towards Bamako.  These are the things we see here, every day, along every route.  Today I just snapped pictures of this fascinating daily life because I want to remember it.  I could stare out of the window for hours intrigued by the sight of these hard-working industrious people figuring out how to feed and support their families in a hot dirty place.  They amaze me.   I wish I were strong enough to do what they do.  Come take a look.  (It’s a long drive.)

 

A Lunch Stop in Ouelessebougou and a Local Bakery

Before leaving Ouelessebougou, we stopped for some cold drinks at a little shop, and then we stopped at a local bread bakery for some baguettes to go with the PB&J we’d brought along.

I love these tidy little shops with their beautiful displays of goods.

Looking for a cold Fanta!

Boys hoping for some spare change.

Here is the Boulangerie where we got some freshly baked bread.

My dear friend, Djiba.

Anounou with the baguettes.  The ovens are behind him.

Here’s the next batch waiting to go into the ovens.

Visiting the Ouelessebougou Alliance’s Women’s Garden

Welcome to the Women’s Garden!  This beautiful Garden of Eden is provided for the Women’s Association of Ouelessebougou by the Alliance.  The women take care of the garden and dividing the plots, then the women tend their little garden spots.  The food they grow provides for their families and some to sell in the market.

I love visiting this garden.  It’s really a beautiful oasis and the women are a delight.  We see the same women year after year here.  There are several wells at the garden and one solar well (but people keep stealing parts of it).

 

 

The wells provide water for doing a bit of laundry while they work.

Papayas!

Here are some of their tools:

Picking leaves for soups and sauces:

A Visit to the Village of Famina

Famina is one of our favorite villages, about 20 minutes south of Ouelessebougou.  We wanted the Bendixsens to get a taste of the village life we love here.   This old tree stands at the entrance to this village.  The village chief was away at a funeral today, so we didn’t get to greet him when we arrived, but we enjoyed wandering through the village a bit to see our friends here.

This lady has a head pan of rice.

It doesn’t take long for the children to find us!  Before long we had a fun gaggle of children following us with their whirly gigs.  They make these toys out of paper and sticks and they twirl when they walk or run, like a pinwheel.

These are typical compounds in the village.  The cooking areas are always outside with cooking fires.

This family was growing calabash gourds on vines.  They use these for bowls and cooking utensils.

These turkeys have no idea what Thanksgiving is!

Today was wash day for these girls.

The mud and mud brick homes bake in the hot sun and they are as durable as cement.

In the village center, we found this community grinder where the families come to grind corn, millet and shea nuts.  They pay for the amount they grind.

Still following us!

This shop was just off the main road by Famina.  30 minutes earlier the entire animal was hanging.  This was all that was left.

Visiting our Ouelessebougou Alliance Friends and the DfG Enterprise

Pres Bendixsen, Djiba Soumaoro, Sis Bendixsen, Ann Lewis, Anounou Sissoko, Teningnini and Boubou

This morning we were on the road early with the Bendixsen’s driver, Sambu.  We wanted them to get a feel for more of our favorite places in Mali, starting with Ouelessebougou, about 2.5 hours south of here.  This is the place where we first visited Mali many years ago, and where we have returned each year since.

The Ouelessebougou Alliance is an NGO which began in the mid 1980s in Salt Lake City.  I first met the organizers in 1987 after I returned from living in Nigeria.  This group has been going strong ever since and John and I have loved working with this organization. Pictured above are our in-country staff.

A few years ago, a Days for Girls sewing center, or Enterprise, was set up in our Ouelessebougou compound.  These 3 women sew feminine hygiene kits that are distributed to young women throughout the 25 villages served by the Alliance.

Teningnini is my Malian sister and friend.

Our faithful staff, Boubou, Djiba, Teningnini and Anounou spent the morning with us.  We gave the Bendixsens a tour of our Alliance compound, and drove around the new Ouelessebougou hospital near the Alliance compound where a medical eye expedition from Utah worked last month.

Next we drove south to visit one of our villages called Famina and then we came back to show the Bendixsens our women’s garden.  We hope someday to have missionaries in Ouelessebougou.  The seeds have been planted here and have been nourished for all these many years.  We hope soon it will be time to harvest.

Bamako Branch Conference

Today was a big day in Bamako–we had our Branch Conference with the Bendixsens visiting.  It was a grand and glorious day to see everyone in one place.

We had a small buses (soutramas) hired to bring everyone to Bamako from the outlying areas.  There were 36 people from N’gomi (8 are members). We learned later that the bus from the chicken farm with 23 people in it was pulled over and blocked from coming because something was wrong with the bus’s registration papers. Only Dramane came from the farm on his motorcycle.  And 22 came from Diatoula, the group beyond the chicken farm.

We think our total count attending was 86. There were about 30 children. We had about 30-35 non-members there today.   We had a fantastic day.

Here are a few pictures from before the meeting began.

The meeting went really well. John did the Mission business. Ibrahima Togola was called and sustained as the new Elders Quorum President. Sekou conducted.  After the sacrament, he and Dina spoke (Branch President and Primary President). Then Biggo and Valerie spoke (1st Counselor and Relief Society President). Then Francois (2nd Counselor), then we heard from Pres and Sis Bendixsen.  Most of these leaders have only been members a short time.  They are the Pioneers of Mali and most were called to these positions right before COVID prevented us from meeting.  Now we are ready to go to work!

And here are some photos from after the meeting had ended.

 

Here is our group photo:

These beautiful triplets are Julien’s sisters.

Here is Ibrahima Togola and his beautiful family:

Here is Rose Coulibaly:

Here are Valerie, our Relief Society President and Dina, our Primary President.  Both are expecting babies this spring!  We’re thrilled for them.

Adele was baptized while we were in Abidjan.  I have really missed her.

Here is one of the transport buses.

It’s wonderful to be here with these friends.  We strengthen and help each other.  That’s what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about.

After the visiting, we had a short leadership meeting while everyone was here.  We had lots to discuss, including our Christmas Sacrament meeting next week, where everyone will be brought together again.  And in the week following, we’re planning our Christmas fete for the 25th.  These are exciting times for our Bamako Branch.