On My Father's Request

My dad emailed me some questions and suggestions about what I should write about on my blog. I actually found this rather amusing, but apparantly my posts are simply not good enough on their own. Anyways, he asked about the daily lives of the average Malian, as well as transportation questions. So Dad, here and the answers...

Gender roles are very defined in Mali. They do practice polygamy, so Muslim men can have as many as four wives. The number of wives generally correlates to wealth. Women do work in the fields in rural communities, otherwise they stay at home. They get up by 6 each morning to begin the cooking and cleaning for the day. All cooking is done outside unless it's raining. Then it's done in the doorway. They use a small metal stove with charcoal and beat up metal pots. Eating is done out of a communal tin bowl with our hands (no utensils). Besides cooking, the women sweek with a small hand sweep things several times a day (Mali is a very dusty country), pull water for themselves, me and the men from the well, do laundry and shop at the local market.

The men are very lazy. Actually they're not, but it sometimes appears that way. My host father, Moussa, is the headmaster of the local school, so their situation is a little different than most. I don't think he'd officially working at the moment. Malian schools have summer break just like we do. He and my host brothers sleep in a little more, but are usually up by 7 or 8. Then the take off and go who knows where. They do not EVER help cook or clean. They come home for every meal, and tend to pass the evenings playing checkers or cards and watching tv. The men are the ones doing all the official work.

Each wife has her own bedroom, and the husband goes back and forth. The sons all sleep on mats in the front room.

Now to transportation. So far I've mainly used PC transport...that being Land Rovers with crazy drivers. In my village I ride my bike or walk everywhere. Locals do the same. If they're going out of town, the use bush taxis. These are bright green mini "buses" that cram as many people, animals and luggage in as they can. For longer trips there are nicer buses of similar quality to a city bus in the States.

Hope this was a helpful insight into Malian life. More updates on what's going on when I have some time.