July 27, 2003
The Things I Never Knew
"I'm going to Mali to work on a thesis project."
"Maui?"
"No Mali. Its a country in Africa."
I think that is how my explanation of this trip should start because I am pretty sure that is how all my conversations went before arriving in Africa for the first time. Honestly, I didn't know anything about Mali myself before the Kinkajou project. After being here for three weeks I think there are many things about Mali that I couldn't have imagined without experiencing them for myself. I knew that I would be sleeping under a mosquito net. But only after being too tired to set one up last night did I get bitten 15 times on the unlucky leg that stuck from between my matress and my bedsheet. I could get malaria like most Africans eventually do. But I am lucky enough to be on medication to prevent the disease.
I knew I could get a little sick, like most travellers do. My stomach has been troubled, to say the least, for three or four days. But I didnt know that the water that people drink out of is a cloudy greyish brown, comes from the same water that animals use, and it is served in a plastic bag. We brought chlorine and water purifiers and bought bottled water and still got sick.
I knew that people went to the bathroom in a outhouse with a hole in the ground before I came to Mali. But when I went to Dogon country and had to use one of those bathrooms in the middle of the night during a rainstorm I was reminded of the childhood panick of going alone to the bathroom. Instead of just a walk down the hall, I was wading through puddles that I hoped were only water.
Toilet paper and antibacterial soap are priceless, and knowing that other people dont have then makes it easy for me to see why it is condisered rude to use your "dirty hand".
I knew that the architecture would be like nothing I had ever seen. But when passing a Tuareg tent that bordered sand dunes of the Sahara I cant say I was truly in awe of how people can survive anywhere. And it is funny to discover that people in Mali just dont see why right angles in houses are all that necessary. The door scrapes the ground a little and the windows are propped open with a stick, but the rain will wash much of the mud huts away so they will have to do it again next year. Rebuilding the ancient mosque after the rainy season every year is like a village party where everyone comes to help and to celebrate. Instead of being sad at its loss they are glad it is reborn. I didnt know that the people in Mali, thought by many westerners to be "muslims and therefore potential terrorists," could be so welcoming and generous.
I knew that people in Mali were poor, but the fact that i can spend more money on dinner at cheap restaurant is more than some people make in a month is something I was never forced to think about until I was trading CFA in a village. The fifty cents I was bargaining for was so much more to them than it was to me.
I knew that people worked during the day and went to school at night and that it cost a lot of their time to learn to read. I didnt know that to go to school could mean having to farm less (meaning eat less) every day, or that you cant save for tomorrow what you dont even have today. I knew they read by candlelight but it never really hit me that doing so meant sacrificing their eyesight. I knew that the Kinkajou was a really fun experiment for a MIT student to build but I couldnt imagine that this project could help so many people.
I knew that our team would do well in Africa, but I didnt know that Kateri (and her mom) packing extra cough drops could make me feel so much better. Tim's jokes made my stomach hurt from laughing (pestomaker), which took my mind off of the actual stomach pains. Liz was there to cheer us on, and share in our excitement of strange looks, broken down taxis, and bus stations. Beto would do whatever was best for the team (including sleeping on the floor...sorry). Martin was my best friend and I am glad someone made sure I drank enough gatorade and kept the creepy crawlies out of our hut .
I knew our trip would be fun... but this was incredible.
Posted by Stacy Figueredo at July 27, 2003 02:53 PM
