Here’s a look at where everyone is these days in the Abidjan East Mission.
This correction was made after the photos were taken:
Weekly Mission Staff Meeting
Every Tuesday Pres Binene holds an office meeting with the Mission Presidency, the Mission Clerk (Eveque Mel), the Assistants. We attended today and enjoyed the discussions of how to make this mission even better.
After the meeting, Pres Binene took us outside to show us a surprise. He ordered a vehicle for us and it has arrived! We are excited. The next trick will be getting it to Bamako!
Things we dream of
Sometimes when we’re far away in Bamako we think about things we don’t see or eat very often. For John, that’s chocolate. He LOVES chocolate. He claims that’s why he was a missionary in Switzerland long ago. There is a place near the mission home called Maison de Chocolat (house of chocolate). He could hardly wait to go there when we returned this week. So we did. The room was full of dipped chocolates and more sugar than we’ve seen in a long time. I was happy when he came out with only one chocolate chip cookie, (a fairly expensive chocolate chip cookie). The damage could have been worse.
We did go to Burger King at the Cap Sud shopping mall and we splurged and had Whoppers, fries and drinks. Oh my, that was heavenly.
For
Then we went to the supermarche to wander around and pick up a few things to live on this week. I filled the basket with fruits and vegetables while John went looking for chocolate and ice cream.
The single serving size of Haagen Dazs (about 1 cup) was almost $12.00! We will keep dreaming!
The best treat of the day for me was getting to see Elder Quinn Turley. His brother was one of our missionaries in the Washington Yakima Mission not that long ago. This new Elder Turley reported to the Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan West Mission today. He’ll be right next door! Besides our mission family connection, we are also related by blood. Theodore Turley, my 3rd Great-grandpa is also his direct line ancestor. We are 4th cousins!
Back in Abidjan
We are back in Abidjan! The flight from Bamako is about 1 hour and 15 minutes. We stepped off the plane into the balmy humid coastal weather. Things are green here. Trees and grass and flowering plants and there is no dust. It’s like coming to a tropical paradise!
Here is our apartment building and our apartment. We live on the 3rd floor. In the photo above, our apartment goes from front to back on the right side.
We’re still getting things hooked up and working here. We have a fridge now and soon the washer and dryer will be working. It’s great to have this safe and peaceful place to come home to when we’re back in town.
Here are a few pictures I took while we went out on a walk to explore our new neighborhood.
Bread for sale:
A flower shop:
Attiéké for sale:
A woman in her restaurant:
Another restaurant:
Cart for hire:
Used bicycle shop:
More food places:
Beautiful bougainvillea:
Portable sewing machine:
Roasted plantain for sale and cold drinks:
Hot drink salesman:
A local car wash:
Street sweepers:
Backpacks and shoes for sale:
Making Water Pouches for Vendors to Sell
The other day, I heard a strange sound coming from a little shop in Bamako. I went to investigate and found a young man sitting on a low stool filling large bags with small water pouches as they fell from a machine where they were filled and sealed.
In a country that has no drinking fountains, and really hot weather, vendors everywhere sell water pouches. They carry them in head pans and dodge between cars in every traffic jam or go-slow. They are for sale in most shops and from most street vendors. They are cheap and plentiful, selling for 5 to 10 cents. Some vendors keep them in coolers with ice, so that when you bite off a corner to drink, you feel really happy to have something cold.
One of the problems with these water pouches is that you never know how safe the water is. It might be clean, it might not. It looks like the water in this operation is being filtered before it’s bagged.
Come take a look at this interesting process!
This is a good business to have in a place like this!
After filling the large bags with the pouches, they are loaded into the back of a Katatani, or a motorcycle with a bed in the back. Then they are distributed to the vendors.
Here’s an interesting article about some of the pros and cons of adding more plastic to this world where things aren’t recycled:
And this article will tell you all about the water packet industry in Africa. It’s really very interesting.
https://www.smallstarter.com/browse-ideas/packaged-drinking-water-business-in-africa/
A New Branch Presidency in Bamako!
We had a big day today in Bamako. A new Branch Presidency was organized! President Christ Anselme and his counselors, Sekou Dembele and Nourou Sidibe were released. Sekou Dembele was called to be the new Branch President and Trinita Agban-Kosi “Biggo” was called to be his first counselor. The second counselor will be announced soon.
It has been nice to have President Binene here during this reorganization. Today we heard President Sekou and President Biggo share their testimonies. They are good men and will work hard to build the kingdom here in Bamako. We are grateful to them for being willing and happy to serve.
After our testimony meeting, we had Sunday School and Primary. We had a wonderful group of members and friends of the church here today. We love our growing Branch.
Here is our little Primary. These children are so beautiful.
Elder Lewis is visiting with Francois Cissoko after church:
Julien Dossou from N’Gomi visited here today:
The Elders teaching new investigators after the meetings:
Adele Koffi visiting with Valerie, Pres Biggo’s wife:
Sister Lewis, Brigite Kabamba and Adele Koffi:
Brigite with her son, Jeremy and husband Dustin. Brigit was baptized a few months ago. Now other members of her family are being taught.
Francois, Rose, Laurence and Sis Binene:
Rose and Valerie:
Sis Lewis, Sis Binene, Rose and Valerie:
President Sekou and President Biggo before their first Presidency meeting:
A few of our members and friends attending today:
After church and some great visiting, we left with the Binenes for the airport. It’s time for us to return to Abidjan for a couple of weeks. We will miss our friends here. It’s been a very good day and we are really excited for the future.
Nourou Sidibe and his Beautiful Family
This evening we went with Pres and Sister Binene to visit Nourou, the 2nd Counselor in our Bamako Branch Presidency. His beautiful wife had a baby girl 2 weeks ago on Nourou’s birthday. We had a lovely visit on this balmy evening. Nourou has 2 beautiful girls now–we are so happy for him!
A Visit to the Keita Compound
After visiting the chicken farm, Dramane guided us through the back roads to the Keita family compound, about a 10 minute drive away, through bush and unpaved roads. When we arrived Mama Aminata was at the market and someone sent for papa Philemon. The boys were out working–watering a garden somewhere.
We sat and waited while the family members eventually arrived. I enjoyed this peaceful home place filled with the sights and sounds of Mali at its best. Take a look around with me and you will see real life as it happens here. The Keitas have (I think) 7 children, from older down to a baby born last October.
We were greeted by these healthy cows and the donkey as we arrived. Their feed–cut corn stalks–is up on top.
Dramane is the group leader here in Mountougoula. He looks after these families.
Elder Gbedevi, the Binenes and Elder Ikpeti waiting for family members to arrive.
Here we are inside the compound.
Water is hauled in the green and yellow containers.
The clotheslines.
A pigeon coop.
A charcoal pit where they make their own charcoal for their cooking fires.
Two bags of seed corn hanging in the mango tree where the cobs are safe from rodents and insects.
Waiting for the family to come on bamboo recliners.
I am always amazed at the ingenuity of resourceful people who figure out how to make do in places where you don’t just run to a store for the things you need.
A child’s toy made with bottle caps:
It’s so peaceful here. You can tell that a happy prospering family lives here.
As the family members and some of the children arrived, we had a good visit.
John and Dramane helped gather some membership record information from the family to update our records.
They brought out ID cards and birth certificates.
Aminata came from the market with a bucket full of vegetables–a cabbage, tomatoes, onions, and eggplant, to be put into their next meal.
Elder Ikpeti and Elder Gbedevi:
Here’s a photo of 3 of the boys when they were younger. The two older boys in this photo are twins–Lassine and Fousseiny. The 3rd boy is Konimba. Today we also met an older brother named Shaka. These 3 boys have been baptized and now they work at the chicken farm collecting the eggs every day.
Here are the family members here today: Shaka, Philemon, Aminata and the younger children.
Here’s our happy group today (the man on the left is our driver).
At the Chicken Farm
We love having President and Sister Binene here in Bamako. We always have a very full agenda when they visit. This morning we went to Mountougoula with the Elders (1+ hour drive) to make some visits there.
We got to see Sana Konati’s new little baby girl, Sana is Sibiri Ouattara’s wife.
The proud father:
Sana’s henna feet!
Beautiful family!
Some of the families live inside the chicken farm. We visited with them. There is a good cook who comes every day to prepare meals for the workers. She was cooking a pot of chicken and some vegetables that will be made into a sauce to put over rice.
Malian kitchens are usually outdoors where they cook over open fires. Come take a look at what was cooking today:
The cooking garden:
And there is always laundry to do!
The CHICKENS!!
Dramane Bagayako, the general manager of the chicken farm:
Half of the laying hens were gone–one side is empty. Dra said the hens were getting old and it was time to sell them for meat, so they were gone. They’ll move 5000 hens into that side of the cages soon–the next crop is ready to lay. Then they’ll order 5000-6000 new chicks.
This time as I wandered through the laying coops I saw a little mouse on the ground and a big rat running up in the rafters. Reminded me of Templeton in Charlotte’s Web. They must love it there with all the free food on the ground.
The boys who gather the eggs are the Keita sons–there are 3 of them and a friend. These boys attend church. They are paid about $1/day for picking up and packing all the eggs to take to the market. Today they were here loading feed. They ride bicycles to work. We drove to their compound after the chicken farm visit and it was a good distance away. They are great boys.
This is the next crop of layers. Soon they’ll be moved off the floor and into the laying cages.
The chicken poop is piled out back. People can come to buy it by the sack for their gardens.
It’s always interesting to visit the chicken farm and our friends here–this is the place where the church began in Mali. It’s a special place to be.
Next Door to our Church Meeting Place
This is the friendly street we walk down all the time to go to the church, which is actually a family compound just like others along this street. Our services are held downstairs on the main floor. The 4 Elders live in rooms upstairs. We are getting to know our neighbors as we try to visit with them as we come and go. We love it here.
The pot above is a Malian drinking fountain, or a place for a thirsty friend to stop for a cup of water. Below is a laundry room where women are usually at work with their buckets of soapy water and washboards. All the water from all of the compounds runs right into the street. It helps to keep the dust down.
Today a herd of cows wandered through. It was a friendly day in our neighborhood!
This shop is right next to our church compound. Clothing and gaming. Interesting.
This restful spot is just outside our compound. It’s an inviting place for someone to sit for a cup of hot tea or some water. Chairs like this are found everywhere in Mali.
These men passed by with their stuff.
These enterprising men were down the street a bit, working on their projects.
The septic truck came to pump our neighbor’s toilet tanks. The water waste goes into the streets or the trenches lining the streets, the rest is pumped and taken away.
Our cute little neighbor girls!
Every day something interesting is going on around here!
Our Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan East and Bamako, Mali Mission 