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Showing posts from January, 2011

Halfway through

Halfway through this year's visit to Mali and I've visited Bamako, Segou, Koutiala and I may get to Sikasso. I got here in time for the last of the Harmattan, seasonal winds that keep the days looking smoggy and the nights looking smoky and sexy like an old jazz nightclub. But nothing's old or jazz about the music scene here. I've only had a taste and really, it is gorgeous. The photo above was taken in Markala at the local civil social services coordinating agency. Kida is on the right and the man directly to his left is the agency's director. Our visit was quick, but almost every social services issue a community can have touches base or is coordinated through this agency. In terms of the business at hand, I've visiting all three of the AUPAP project sites, taken photos and am in the process of writing my reports. In all three instances the need is clear. And, as I was going through the photos from last February's visit to Les Poupons I discovered on

In Bamako til Friday

Report: first leg of journey to Mali for 2011. I will represent the VFOM at this year's festival and begin official documentation of the AUPAP site work when I arrive in Segou this weekend. I had a one day layover in Dakar Senegal to visit with my father and stepmother at their home and my aunt who was visiting Africa for the first time. My father determined my one day in Dakar was best spent on two sites: Gorée Island and the new national monument of Senegal. When you understand the geography of the slave trade era you recognize that this is part of the history of Mali's people as well. Voici les images: