Our Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan East and Bamako, Mali Mission

Here is another item I’d like to write about today.  This is a typical traditional Malian stool.  Like the small cooking stoves, these are also found in every compound here.  The women work low to the ground, near the children.  They are experts at squatting and bending and doing their work down low.  You won’t find such a thing as a table and chairs for eating in a traditional Malian compound.  Kitchens are outdoors.  There are no countertops or sinks to work at.  The women here sit low, squat or bend to do their work.

Here are a few pictures from villages with these little stools.  I think they have a lot of personality.  I have one at home, in Utah, to remind me of the incredible women here and how hard they work to provide for their families, especially in their outdoor kitchens.

Most compounds in Mali have these traditional cooking stoves for preparing meals.  They come in different shapes and sizes, but most are small and hold one pot.  Some stoves are particularly used for making tea, which is a popular drink here, prepared several times a day.   Men often are the tea makers, sitting in the shade on  hot afternoons, overseeing the teapots on these small stoves.

These stoves are heated with charcoal, which is made from wood cut and burned in more rural areas.   These coal farms are as hot as hades.  After cooling, the charcoal is bagged and brought into town where vendors put it into smaller sacks for sale.

Most cooking is done outdoors here and compound kitchens usually have several of these stoves for cooking the family meals.

These wire pads for sale here are used in the stoves to save charcoal and heat.

Here are some pictures I took a couple of months ago in Ouelessebougou at the refugee camp where the people are making charcoal to sell.

I love these ingenious children at play.  I’m always on the lookout for the things they make with their own minds and hands to entertain themselves.  This one is a winner!  Like boys all over the world, the boys here love wheels and things that go and they dream of driving.

This one is build with a motorcycle tire and spokes from sticks decorated with plastic soda bottles.  The steering column makes for fun driving.

Watch it go!

Here are some others boys driving their wheels today!

Here’s another simple toy that brings a smile:

Here is a new local fruit!  It’s called Zamba.  I was asking these neighbors about this fruit when a boy came by on his bike to buy one.  I was curious to see what was inside.

With his thumb, he scooped out the orange-colored fruit inside into a small plastic sack.  The lady added 2 spoons of sugar and he mushed it all up, then ate it from the sack.

These are our neighbor friends by the church!

Would you like some?