Christmas Eve 2020 in Bamako

We started our holiday excitement last night in the middle of the night, waking up to watch BYU play in a Bowl Game.  We watched some of the pre-game excitement on BYU TV starting at 11:30 or so, then we went to bed when ESPN took over.  At 4:30 a.m.  we were up with the prayer calls, for the rebroadcast on BYU TV.  It was a great game and an exciting win for BYU–a nice way to begin our holiday cheer.

On this Christmas Eve Day, I did just a little holiday baking.  Yesterday I made some chocolate chip cookies for John, his favorite food.  Today I made my Grandma’s persimmon pudding.  Last week I discovered a few persimmons at our favorite fruit stand.  I was Thrilled.  It felt like a tender mercy from Grandma, to me here in Bamako.  I’ve never ever seen persimmons anywhere here.

Here is a story about Grandma’s Persimmon Pudding and the recipe:

Grandma Elsa’s Persimmon Pudding

Here is our Christmas tree this year, with the gifts the kids sent over with Pres and Sis Lewis when they returned last month.

At home for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner we always go out to eat Mexican food.  We did the same here, going downstairs to our neighbor’s restaurant for quesadillas.  Because of a rise in COVID cases in Mali, the government has asked that restaurants no longer seat people inside.  Take-out was our only option, and we enjoyed eating at home with our festive Christmas table cloth.

Some people leave out a plate of cookies for Santa.  Tonight I left out mosquitoes for Luigi, our gecko.  We actually have several geckos (all named Luigi) living with us here.  Every time I kill a mosquito, I add it to my “mosquito cemetery” on the floor by my chair.  Then, during the night, they are licked up by one of the geckos.   Today was a good day for killing mosquitoes.  I was happy to leave such a nice Christmas Eve treat for Luigi.

He even made an appearance this evening, which is unusual.  Geckos usually hide behind things like bookshelves or the fridge or A/C units during the day and come out at night or when no one is around.  This is a little baby gecko, only a couple of inches long.  We have a couple of big ones, up to about 6 inches long.

We enjoyed our Christmas Eve and reading the Christmas Story from Luke and Matthew.  What a gift it is to be here now.  Sometimes I imagine life in Nazareth and Bethlehem or Egypt probably wasn’t so different than parts of our life here and what we see everyday.  I’ve lived in Israel and I know that place.  I often imagine Jesus here, walking among the people in the villages and towns, healing and blessing them like he did there.  It’s not hard to imagine.  I like to imagine we followed Him then as we try to follow Him now.  We long for the day He will return to this earth and heal and bless again.

Merry Christmas!

A Troupe of Shoe Shiners

This afternoon after walking over to the grocery market and produce stands, we were surrounded by a little troupe of boys, shoe shiners, who could see our shoes were covered in dirt and dust.  They begged for a chance to clean them for us for a small fee.

We’d barely said “Yes!” before they were pulling our shoes off of our feet.  Then they went to work, pulling bottles of soapy water out of their bags.  They had cut off half-bottles to dip their brushes into and they had enthusiasm!

I’m happy when kids like this are eager to work to earn a bit instead of just begging.  There are thousands of hungry children in the streets of Bamako, begging for help.

They did a great job!

Then it was time to make the payment.  The first boy who approached us said he’d do a pair for 100 cfa (about 15-20 cents).  Then an older boy said no, it would cost 1000 cfa for a pair.   When John asked the true price, the older boy admitted he had lied to us about the price.  We gave them 500 for both pair and they were thrilled and happy to have earned some money.  They were already asking about the “next time.” I’m sure they’ll watch for us from now on.

A Little Christmas Shopping for the Branch Party

This morning we went to visit Valerie, our Relief Society President, at her apartment.  She has been working hard to organize the food and gifts for the Branch Christmas Party on Christmas Day.  She’s planned a wonderful meal which she and the other ladies will prepare.  She also suggested we have a small toy for each of the children.

We’ve received a directive from the government that no more than 50 people can gather at one time in one place because COVID cases have been increasing here in Mali.  So our plan to bring everyone together again has changed a bit.  We’ll have a Christmas celebration in each of our 3 areas instead.  Today we wanted to find and purchase the toys for the children.  We expected to have to go into one of the busy bustling market places, but instead, when we arrived at Valerie’s we found the market had come to us!

These two young girls came with their headpans full of toys and we were able to pick out the things we wanted right in the courtyard of Valerie’s apartment building.

Figuring out the cost and our budget:

After completing our transaction, the girls picked up what was left, loaded their headpans and returned to the market, happy for such a happy Christmas sale!

We took the toys for the Mountougoula and N’gomi groups to pass along to Pres Sekou who came for them later.

I love this road by the church.

Heading out to find a taxi, we always pass by this clay pot of water, with its drinking cup–a welcome gift to those passing by.

Back at our apartment, we met with Pres Sekou and Ibrahima to talk about Branch business and the Christmas parties.

While we were doing our toy shopping, this cute gal was behind us, pulling water from the well in the courtyard.  Several women were working there, doing their laundry.

Random Bits of Interest in Bamako Today

Yesterday on our way to church I found Rudolph!!  He was under our taxi driver!!  Today was a fun day.  We met with Ibrahima, our new EQ President to help him set up his LDS account so he can access the branch information.  Then we went into town to make a bank deposit for the branch.  Below are a few of the interesting things I saw today.

It took 1.5 hours for John to make the bank deposit.  I sat outside on the steps of the bank watching people go by and watching people in the line to go into the bank.  This was my view.  Shoe wearing is interesting here.  Most wear sandals and most sandals are a bit short.  They seem to prefer it that way.

It’s watermelon season here.  This gal passed by with 6 or 7 huge heavy melons on her head.   Unbelievable, the burdens carried here.

We were looking to buy some small speakers for our laptop, so we went in and out of a few stores looking for electronics.  We didn’t have much luck, but I love seeing what’s for sale in these small shops.

Passing by a construction site, we watched some men with their horse and cart picking up the rubble.  Usually donkeys are tasked with this job.  We see donkey carts all over the place, picking up trash that’s been piled up.

Most furniture stores here are outdoors.  The inventory is too big to fit in a small shop.  It requires a bit of dusting during the day to keep the furniture looking its best.

Here’s a cart full of fresh dates.  I think they come from up north.

I love looking on the shelves in the stores to see what’s put where.  Here you’ll see mosquito poison right next to the edibles and food.  There is often no rhyme or reason –here we have imported (Sam’s Club and Costco) black pepper and catsup, then mosquito repellant, then tomato paste, spices, canned okra, garlic, Maggi and more mosquito repellant and zappers.

I bought 2 kg of beautiful green beans from these cute vendors.

And here is a bicycle held together with plastic bags next to a gas station for motorcycles.  What an interesting world we live in!

A Perfect Christmas Sunday 2020

Today was a special Sunday in Bamako.  We celebrated the birth of our Savoir, Jesus Christ.  All of our Malian members came together for this special Sabbath day–from Bamako, N’gomi, Mountougoula, and Diatoula.  As the transport vans arrived, everyone needing a mask was given one and all the proper COVID protocols were followed.

These are the children from Diatoula waiting so reverently for almost an hour for our meeting to begin.  We listened to Tabernacle Choir videos and they were entranced.

Members and friends kept arriving.

The group from N’gomi:

Waiting for the meeting to begin:

President Sekou conducted the meeting. After the sacrament we had 3 speakers–13 year-old Esther taught everyone about Jesus’s birth and the things that happened that holy night. She did a fantastic job.   Then the older Bamako Primary children did their special musical number. We had about 5 go up front to sing “Angels We Have Heard on High.” I led them from the front row and Valerie and I helped with the singing.

Then Frere Rich spoke on the doctrine of Christ (2 Nephi 31) and the things Jesus taught.  Then after another Christmas song, Frere Biggo spoke about loving as Jesus taught.  Love is the key.

The meeting lasted an hour. After the closing prayer, John conducted the mission business, sustaining the 2 new EQ counselors, then we split for short classes. Sekou wanted the men and women to meet in their groups, so they took their chairs and went to rooms and I stayed with the kids in the side room off the chapel where Esther and I taught the story of Samuel the Lamanite.   Then we taught them to sing  “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” to sing at our Christmas Day party.

While we did that Frere Biggo was setting up the projector in the main room and we showed the children the film while the adults continued meeting in the other rooms.  Once the kids were set up watching, I slipped out to see the RS and EQ groups. There were 14 women in Relief Society and about 30 men in the Elders Quorum.

Pres Sekou with Chiaka (N’gomi group leader), Dramane (Mountougoula group leader) and Elder Lewis.

Members and friends visiting after the meetings:

Yesterday we organized our piles of church magazines to give out today to anyone who wanted them.  Many, both young and old, are grateful for something to read or look at.

My dear friends:

Door to Door Mending

When we arrived at our apartment building this evening, this was happening–a young man with his sewing machine on his bike was out front doing some mending for one of our security guards.  I just LOVE watching these menders work.  They go up and down out neighborhood streets, snapping their big old scissors to attract attention.  When you hear the snipping sound, you know a mender is near and if you have anything that needs to be fixed or repaired, you call them over.  This is how it’s done:

If I needed to find work here, I’d seriously think about this job!

A Surprise in the light fixtures

We spent our Saturday at the church, cleaning and preparing for tomorrow.  Today we took the new light bulbs and as we started changing them, we discovered how dirty the fixtures were.  They were covered in dust and filled with dirt . . . and other things.  John pulled some of those other things out, and it wasn’t until we really looked at them that we discovered they were small little toasty dry bats!

The chapel is bright and clean now, ready for tomorrow.

We spent a couple of hours sorting through the teaching supplies and materials that have been sent from Salt Lake the last year or two.  We have permission now to purchase some enclosed shelves to keep everything clean and organized.  That will be a big help.  Things get so dirty here.

This afternoon we met with Pres Sekou and finished planning tomorrow’s Sabbath meeting and the branch Christmas party on Christmas Day.  Our plan is to bring all 3 groups together again like we did for Branch conference, both tomorrow and for the party.  Sekou is an amazing leader.  He is strong and sure.

On our way home, we stopped on our street to check out the new boulangerie on the corner, and then we needed to buy a case of water.  While John was getting the water, I watched this group next door.  The young boy in the red shirt had a shoe shine business.  He walks around the neighborhood with his bag of polish and brushes, stopping anyone who wants a shine.

These disposable diapers were for sale out front.

John was having fun trying to communicate with the shopkeeper who spoke no French, only Bambara.  She was having a little trouble figuring out the correct change.  Take a look at her shop.  There are thousands of shops like this everywhere we go.

Her bed is in the corner where she can take a rest when business is slow.

Next door on the other side was a fabric shop.  Look how fun!

You pick your fabric, then order a dress made by a seamstress.

Finally John came away with the correct change and the case of water and we headed home.

Installing Internet

We’ve been limping along without reliable internet since our return.  In the past we used what they call a “fly box” with a monthly subscription.  Our building also has internet sometimes.  But nothing has been very sure, so today we had installers here, helping us with another method.  Just as we were leaving last February, they were installing fibre on our street here.  We’ve decided to try it, in hopes that it will be constant and faster.

Today the installers were here, connecting our apartment to the cables outside.  It was a pretty fascinating process to watch them bring the wires and cords into our home, covering them up with casings stuck to the walls.

Here is the final resolution to our internet problems.  We hope it will work well and allow us to get the things done that we plan to do each day.

A Shopping Trip During Prayer Time

Today we had an outing to 1001 Marvels, over on the other side of town.  We needed to buy cleaning supplies and lightbulbs for the church.

It’s always interesting to look at the things for sale here, in this Muslim world.  Many of the things at 1001 Marvels come from the middle east, with Arabic labels.  Today I noticed a few singular items from Costco, including a few spices, black pepper and Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce.

The cooking pots and containers give you an idea about how food is prepared here.  The photo above is of thermal bowls to hold rice and stews.  These keep the food fairly warm all day.  I love that so many of them are shaped like baskets or headpans.

At 12:45 the prayer calls began, piped into the store.  They were warning us that it was soon time for the store to close so everyone could go to the mosque at 1:00.  There is actually a place to pray right in the store, but no one was using it because the store closed.  You can see the raised up and  enclosed prayer area below with its fake grass turf.

Then the lights were turned off, starting at the back of the store, to help move us all forward to the checkout stands.

Soon we were in the dark with our cleaning supplies.

We got through the check out just before the store closed.  Phew!

Back on the Road Again–in Taxis!

“Saturday is a special day–it’s the day we get ready for Sunday!”  I’ve sung that song many times in my life, but now I get to sing it in Bamako!  Today we headed to the church to help clean and prepare the building for tomorrow.

From my journal today:

Oh, I wish there were a way to photograph every square inch of the taxis we ride in. There is not a single thing in them that ISN’T broken. The knobs, the handles, the upholstery, the seat covers, the floorboards, the fabric on the roof of the car, the air vents, the rearview mirrors, the windshields, the things on the dashboard. Things are held together with wire and a prayer. There are never seatbelts, so we just pray hard that we’ll arrive in one piece. Did I mention that most of the taxis are filthy? And most come with a swarm of mosquitoes in the back seat. It’s an amazing experience.

Dustin is a member hero.  He is at the church every single Saturday morning with his nephew to clean and prepare the building for church services on Sunday.  We are grateful for his kind service.

After a couple of hours of cleaning, we had meetings this afternoon with our ward leaders, Ibrahima and Valerie (EQ and RS) to plan for the Branch Christmas party on Christmas Day.  We spent the day with them and then with Pres Sekou planning and talking about all the issues needing attention here.  There is so much good work to do.  We are grateful to be here.

Then, at the end of the day, we headed home, through the dusty streets of Bamako.  Harmattan is blowing in and the sky is hazy this time of year.  It adds a wonderful sort of softness to this fascinating place.