July 13, 2003
Mali Folkecenter
"Mali-Folkecenter's mission is to promote the sustainable management of natural resources and the use of these resources to catalyse local economic growth & sustainable development by working in partnership with rural populations and local entrepreneurs.
Activities include: environmental protection, provision of energy services to meet the needs of rural and un-served areas using renewable energy technologies, drinking water supply, technology transfer and the training of local technicians, and delivery of enterprise development services for rural companies in the clean energy sector. MFC also participates in energy & environment policy work with the Malian government." [
MEETING OBJECTIVES:
Based on their work in solar- and wind-powered power systems, MFC will help us to understand the constraints of providing a renewable energy source for the Kinkajou projector and other DtM products in a rural village. They have also volunteered to help us with logistics in Mali. For DtM, MFC offers the opportunity to partner with an established, respected NGO with lots of creative ideas in appropriate technology (for example their south-south tech transfer of a Nepali grain press to Mali). Many of their projects are good candidates for design challenges.
DtM-Kinkajou Visit to the Mali Folkecenter
The Mali Folkecenter was our first stop after arriving in Mali. Ibrahim Togola, the director, Tom Burrell, the head of the solar and wind projects division, and their colleagues gave us a tour of their facility and an overview of their projects in Mali. Ibrahim and Tom had some great feedback on the Kinkajou design, and we discussed the possibility of using Light Up the World's LED lamps as a replacement for the expensive German-manufactured LED units they've been using. After videotaping a summary of the design review, we loaded into the Toyota for the four-hour drive out to the MFC field sites in the Koumantou region.
Kinkajou gets tested
We tested the Kinkajou at a village in Kaumandou yesterday. It tested pretty well considering how much ambient light we had. We were at the local school house where both adults and children get educated to read. Two men, both former students, were our test subjects. They liked the simplicity of the design and were positive that it could be put to good use, however they were worried about getting replacement parts should something break.
We asked them to remove and replace the microfilm spool and focus the image. They did it with ease. They prefer the white light to the green light. The next thing we need to do is test whether the 1 Watt light is sufficient or not.
We also showed Ibrahim the Kinkajou at the Mali Folkcenter. He liked it and said that he could see many potential uses for it. We also showed him the Light Up the World Lamps, which are cheaper and briughter than the LED lights they are currently using.
It is amazing how dark it is at night in a city so large. Yet peole go about their daily business as though they haven't a care in the world.
UNDP Multifunctional Platform
Here are some brief notes and lots of pictures from our site visit in N'Tjila, where we visited a multifunctional platform installation that has been upgraded through a collaboration between the Mali Folkecenter and the Ministry of Energy and CNESOLER (National Centre for Renewable Energy). This particular platform features a diesel engine modified by the MFC to run on jatropha oil, a heavy vegetable oil made from a locally-available plant. Through a network of heavy leather belts, the engine shaft drives a jatropha oil press, as well as a battery charger and a shea-nut press.
Like most NGO projects, the site was indicated by a sign on the main road--although Tom Burrell at MFC later pointed out that this sign actually refers to a different mulitfunctional platform site in Bougoulaba (near N'Tjila).
Once off the paved road, things got a little dicey but out driver Mustafa plowed through the deepest puddle without any trouble.
Along the way, Tom Burrell from the MFC showed us a hedge of jatropha maintained by the village, and gave us all kinds of useful stats on the processing of jatropha seeds that I will add later.
Martin also took notes.
At the site, the technician fired up the motor to give us a demonstration of one of the presses. This particular press produced a paste from shea nuts. In fifteen minutes, the machine was able to zip through a quantity of nuts that previously took village women eight hours to pound by hand using a kind of oversized mortar and pestle.
The battery charger had broken two weeks ago. Unfortunately for these kinds of projects, spare parts are hard to come by.
Fortunately, the MFC has trained the operator how to fix these and any other maintenance issues with the engine and cooling system, the jatropha press and the shea nut press. The platform is generating funds by pressing karité (shea nuts), so when he has time, the operator will be able to go to Sikasso or Bougouni to replace the broken battery charger component. It is this kind of training that makes the difference between a sustainable or nonsutainable project. As Andy Smith pointed out, it isn't so much Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) that is the important statistic in determining the lifespan of development projects--because even the best pieces of eauipment will eventually break down. Rather, it would be more useful to track Mean Time To Repair.
According to Tom at MFC, there is no problem (at least in Sikasso and other towns) with the availability of spare parts for the multifunctional platform setup in N'Tjila, the generator part in question having originally come from an old car or truck. It is easy to find and replace. All other components for the platform are available in Mali, including the jatropha press, which MFC first brought to Mali from Nepal and trained local technicians to build.
And that was the multifunctional platform. As usual, lots of village kids showed up to watch the proceedings.
MFC Site Visit in Tabacoro
Here are some brief notes and lots of pictures from our site visit in Tabacoro. In this village, the Mali Folkecenter has installed a number of solar panels, and they also operate a training center for solar hardware technicians. We collected some fantastic design feedback on the Kinkajou, which we summarized on video before leaving town.
This was our first overnight stay in a village, and conditions took a little getting used to. For example, by three in the morning everyone had given up trying to identify the various creepy animal sounds in the bedroom.
The first stop in the morning, after lunch at the gare in Koumantou, was the solar training center. As an example for the region, the MFC constructed the buildings in the training center without using an wood. Using arches, domes and barrel vaults, they were able to do without the usual wooden beams used over doors and in the roof. This is an important innovation in a region threatened by desertification. Given the thick walls and domed ceilings. the buildings were relatively cool inside. They were also nice to look at.
We got loads of useful feedback in a design review of the Kinkajou with a team of solar trainers from the village.
Our last stop before heading back to Bamako was the village health clinic. The community doctor gave us a tour of the facility, which included a pharmacy and a maternity with a solar-powered refrigerator and lights.
July 14, 2003
Siby Hiking and Field Test
A beautiful village surrounded by a wall of red stoned mesas, Siby greets visitors at its tourist information center where a tax of 1000CFA per person is requested. Siby is my favorite place in Mali so far. Before we even saw the village, we were mystified by the surroudning greenery and a distant waterfall in the cliffs. There we hired a guide to take us to the great arch. He not only took us to it; he had us climb all the way to the top where we could see for miles around. Small kids followed us, barefooted and with torn clothes. With our hiking gear we appeared over-prepared.
In the village we tested the Kinkajou.
We gave a demonstration to Sekoubu Craovè, teacher of French, History and geography; Sekou Sidibè, director of second cycle de Siby; and Lssa Souleymone CAMARA Directeur Siby i cycle B
The school in Siby serves a village of 20,000 people, and 769 students from the 1-6th grades. There are 156 students in grade 5 alone. It costs 6000 CFA per book currently. Each student has a French book, a mathematics book and a work book. Many of the books are falling out of their bindings and the covers are worn.
The response to the Kinkajou was very positive. The younger teacher saw many potential uses for it. He wanted to use it to post problems at night where the students could write it down and study it and go over the solution the next day. The classroom could be made dark enough to see the Kinkajou during the day.
They like the ease of operation and think that they could put all the 5th year books on it to cut costs. They would like the flexibility to change the material to suit their needs.
One teacher commented on the size of the images, particularly in reference to adult education. He likes how large the image is because many adults are going blind and it is difficult for them to read out of books.
The ministry of education gave them a teaching tool before. It is a wooden box with a roll of paper with images. It has a handle to turn the images. We are very intersted in seeing this device.
Shop 'till you drop
Back in Bamako after yesterday's day trip to Siby. Today's objective is shopping for pagnas (sheets) and prayer mats for the trip to Mopti. This modem is unbearably slow, as is my typing speed on this crazy French keyboard. It looks like we'll be able to post pictures soon. Stay tuned!
In the city
Bamako is hardly a metropolis; on the same busy road you'll see cattle crossing the street, donkeys pulling carts and expensive SUVs raging past the slow and crowded city busses (old green VW vans without seats or doors). Taxi cabs and other old cars fill the air with emissions to rival NY. Many motorcyclists wear a dust mask to filter the pollution. The only tall buildings around are the banks. There are half-built buildings along the Niger river and across from them, on the banks of the river, are professional clothing cleaners, washing and laying out clothes on the hot ground to dry. Busy and noisy street markets line either side of most roads, but even in the midst of it all, people will stop to say bonjour or ça và with a smile and a hand wave.
Bamako is unlike any place I've ever seen.
July 16, 2003
Association Jeunesse Action
The Association Jeunesse Action (AJA), or Youth Action Agency, in Bamako is a sort of school that trains young people between the ages of 9-35 in the skills of trade, business, and craftmanship. We got a tour of their facilities and gave a demonstration of the Kinkajou to 11 employees and students.
ABOUT THE AJA
The AJA employs 35 teachers and craftspeople who have worked with over 1500 students in the last three years. Since its beginning in 1993, the school has seen students all the way through its programs and into the professional world. The school holds pride in over 50 inventions. Their products have gone on to create sustainable business for the students who complete the program in business venture.
Some of their most notable inventions include a condom vending machine to encourage people to protect themselves against AIDS, a medical waste incinerator, a waterpump, peanut sheller, solar powered water heater, and a washing machine. The most remarkable product was the educational reader tool that we had learned about in Siby. Not only did we get to see several of them, but we met the inventors and the artists. Its facilities include a wood shop, metal working shop, and an art center. There is a selection process for its students and the expenses are covered by NGOs such as OXFAM and private sponsors.
There is a school for children between 9-15 with no prior school training, that teaches them developmental skills like reading and math and helps them to develop professional language to train them for apprenticeship.
The school for young adults, ages 18-25, is a trade school specializing in metalwork, woodwork and tailoring. It is for students with some prior schooling up to high school, who are looking for an education in trade.
For students ages 18-35 who have had economic training, the program in micro-enterprize teaches students how to manage a business in the market.
For women ages 18-40 they teach classes in health training, maternal health, fighting poverty, and disease prevention
KINKAJOU A HIT**
Kinkajou was a hit with the group. When we showed the director, he immediately saw it as a potential enterprize for one of his students. We tested the Kinkajou in a classroom of 17 people, including everyone in our team. The walls were blue and there was some ambiant light from outside, the images were clear. No one there had ever heard of LEDs but they understood how everything worked. They said they could build most of the components, if we could provide the LED, lense, circuit and microfilm. As before, it seems that the microfilm is the big road block. But they were very excited to see the product and are eager to get the part drawings so that they can build it. One student wants to start a business and is already thinking of ways to redesign and build the device.
Boite des Images
One of the most exciting discoveries during our trip has been the "boite des images", a sort of low-tech predecessor to the Kinkajou. We first heard about the teaching tool from a group of school directors in Siby. Souleymane Sarr at Association Jeunesse Action (AJA) in Bamako was able to demonstrate the actual device, as AJA makes them for the Ministry of Education.
Souleymane and his colleagues immediately saw the connection between their programs and the Kinkajou. We'll be meeting them again next week to discuss the details of a manufacturing partnership between DtM and AJA.
This device features a series of paper images mounted on a long plastic "tape". AJA has produced tape reels for such applications as technical safety training for their apprentice metalworkers and Bambara language instruction tapes for elementary schools.
AJA also has a program called "Bibliotheque Ambulante", or "Walking Library", where they deliver books on loan to rural communities.
The Kinkajou Team, Week One
We took these pictures yesterday in Kati, a small town about 15 km northwest of Bamako where we met with Maria Diarra and her colleagues at the Institute pour l'Education Populaire. Clockwise from upper left, that's Beto Peliks, Kateri Garcia, Stacy Figueredo and Martin Tolliver. Parents, please notice that everyone still looks healthy.
A Walk in Kati
This afternoon I decided to venture into Kati to a marché in search of pagnas (fabric that we intended to use as sheets for our journey up to Dogon country). Kati is a small town about 10 km outside of Bamako. We had been to the Gran Marché in Bamako a few days earlier and the experience was exhausting.
Tim's African shopping negotiation tactics meant spending about 15 minutes chatting with the sales guy for about every 2,000CFA (~$4) we spent. Progress was slow, but we got to meet a lot of Malian shop vendors and many of their friends. At one stall, we were even offered hot tea. The markets are all outside along the narrow streets and are made up of simple wooden stalls and tables that wind on for blocks. Vendors display their goods including all kinds of food, clothing, shoes, mats, soap and other items for daily living. Walking around the market requires a great deal of attention - hopping between giant red puddles of muddy water, avoiding the impatient taxi vans that bump along through the market streets, and ducking between women carrying stacks of fabric or bowls of fruit on their head. One false move and you could trip over a goat or accidentally stand in a bowl of peanuts.
Fortunately Kati was a lot smaller and quieter. I headed out down the street toward the center of town passing a group of women washing clothes in buckets of soapy water and spreading them out over the ground to dry by the side of the road. Mali is a colorful place. Many men and women wear printed shirts, pants and dresses all made from brightly colored fabrics - they also wrap things up in fabric to wear on their head or women wrap their babies up and tie them onto their back. Walking along the edge of the road I watched almost everyone stare at me as I walked by. There are many different ways for people to call out to get your attention - "piisssst, piisssst…" or they purse their lips and make a loud kissing sound or often the kids just yell out "toubab" or "blanc" which means basically "hey you white person!" They even have a little song that they sometimes chant, "toubabou tababou…". I smile, wave, and say "bonjour…ça va". Yes, I am a white person and I stand out.
The marché in Kati was relatively quiet that afternoon. I found a stall selling pagnas and flipped through the different patterns to find something bright and cheery. The guys helped me pick out two fabrics and cut them to a single pagna length - usually they sell 2-3 lengths for the women to make into dresses or skirts. I didn't bother negotiating the price - the price he gave me was already well below the price we paid for the pagna we bought in the Bamako market after 20 minutes of chatting/negotiating. I even managed to have him take me to a tailor to have the edges hemmed for a mere 100CFA. While I waited, the tailor's friend presented me with a small photo album of all the different dresses and shirts I could have sewn - many of the women's dresses were made with round puffy shoulders, fitted waists, and a number of big ruffles. I admired the dresses and his craftsmanship and declined the invitation to choose a ruffled outfit. I already stand out enough.
I decided to wander around the market and a few of the streets of Kati before heading back. I tried to politely ignore the sounds of people trying to get my attention coming from different doorways along the way. I passed the "American Rap Shack" along the way - an aquamarine shack, with a tin roof and a stereo blasting rap in what sounded like French. I passed lots of goats, chickens, mangos, papayas, and plastic home furnishings. Most little shops along the street have a couple of worn plastic woven chairs out front and usually a couple of guys sitting talking or drinking tea out of little pots that they heat over a small charcoal stove. I greeted many people along the way as I made my way back out of town - declining a couple of taxi rides and waving at groups of curious little kids.
Just as I returned to the headquarters building for the Institute pour l'Education Populaire - it started to rain big heavy drops. The women that were washing their laundry an hour ago were now gathering it up and dumping out their buckets of water. A small kid was running around naked, laughing and getting clean in the rain. I'd survived my first solo marché expedition and, although I was tired of attracting so much attention, it was good to know I could get a ruffled dress made to order anytime I wanted.
Kinkajou in Kati
Keita Maria Diarra, a coordinator and Ashoka Fellow from the Institut pour L'Education Populaire in Kati found out about Kinkajou through Tim's NPR radio interview. While we were in Bamako, we set up a meeting which happened yesterday at her school. We met with Maria and her colleagues, Kady and Yobi. They are a group of highly educated individuals who have received degrees, masters and PhDs in the States. Their feedback on the Kinkajou was extremely valuable. We also got to conduct the meeting entirely in English for the first time.
ABOUT Le INSTITUTE
Since 1990, Mali has been going through an educational reform. Marias organization works with the community to implement new strategies for education. They experiment with the curriculum and find alternative solutions. Because the government is slow at implementing any educational changes, Maria works through the Ashoka program to get the parents involved, like a PTA. The NGO strategy seems to be the most effective at promoting growth and change.
At the Institute, they run a mentoring program in the mornings, an adult training program, and a school curriculum for K-7th grades. Each year the school adds a new grade. In Mali, students must pass an exam after the 6th grade to continue their education. If they don't pass, they get kicked out of school. 20 kids, 100%, from the school recently passed so they got to go to Dogon Country for a field trip.
THOUGHTS ON KINKAJOU
Maria's main concern about the Kinkajou is that if books stay the same, if they are not able to change the content on the microfilm, then the minds of people stay the same. We need to come up with a way to be able to make microfilm or some alternative in Mali. Overall, Maria and her colleagues like the projector and want to implement it into their program. They understand the concept of intermediate technology in that the projector is neither a book nor a computer. In her office that is complete with two PCs a fax machine and a photocopier, they are used to modern technology. Maria wants to be able to provide new educational strategies that keep the students interested. She thinks that the Kinkajou can help her do that.
After our meeting, Maria invited us to her home for dinner. It was very generous of her and her family to welcome us. At dinner we discussed the prospect of developing a pilot study of the Kinkajou in Maria’s school. The teachers will start gathering their curricula and we will implement changes and look for alternatives to microfilm.
July 17, 2003
Somatra Speed Wagon
Somatra, we discovered, is not the way to fly. Bamako to Sevare, including stops in Segou, San and innumerable tiny villages, took just over twelve hours.
Still, the view of the Sahel shading into desert was lovely, and along the road we got glimpses of village life.
Pretty sunset, too.
July 18, 2003
In Sevare
After a twelve-hour bus ride, we bid farewell to the traffic and humidity in Bamako for the red cliffs and desert heat in Sevare. We've reached the zone of the baobab trees, unmistakable with their massive trunks and crazily-twisted branches. Although we're much closer to the desert, being the rainy season it's still remarkably green here. On the road, we passed flooded rice paddies and sandy fields with corn and peanuts. We saw groves of mango trees (although nothing like those in Siby), and teams of little kids tilling the earth with ox-drawn plows.
We spent the night in air-conditioned luxury at the Mankan Te. We'll pass the afternoon touring Mopti, but it'll be an early night as we leave for Dogon Country tomorrow morning at 6 AM.
Sevare is the first place we've visited that I can truly claim to recognize from previous trips to Mali. That said, a lot has changed since 1997. The forest of NGO signs lining the road at the entrance to town has grown, and now includes all the modern development lingo (wetlands conservation, microenterprise development, etc). The Mankan Te restaurant--where Scott and I practiced our judo flips--has gone upscale, with tablecloths on the patio and a new disco ball in the salon. The Peace Corps stage house has moved to a different part of town, and there's now a gigantic gas station across the street. They've put in a new tourist shop next door, which includes this fancy (if incredibly slow) internet cafe.
This morning, I arranged for our trip to Dogon Country with Hassimi Guindo, our guide. Hassimi is a bright young man from Ende, a Dogon village south of Bandiagara. Unlike our blistering 1996 hike from Douentza to Sanga--which Scott and I later christened the "Dogon death march"--this time we'll be travelling in colonial style, with a donkey cart to carry our backpacks and real food awaiting us each night. By skipping the dehydration headaches and mystery meat by candlelight, I may be short-changing the students on a "real" Mali experience, but now that they know the way they can always come back!
Low Tide in Mopti
Today's adventure was a day trip to Mopti, a bustling city about 20 km from Sevare at the confluence of the Bani and Niger rivers. In addition to being a major port, Mopti is also the tourist capital of Mali, with tour groups leaving by boat for Segou and Tombouctou, by bus for Douentza and Gao, and by SUV and bashe (covered pickup truck) for Dogon Country.
Hassini, our guide, lead us on a tour of the city. Our first stop was the port itself, where from the elevated roadway we could look down the cobbled ramp to the river's edge and the collection of slender pirogues (small, flat-bottomed punting canoes) and bulky pinasses (30-40 foot, motor-driven cargo boats, like long canoes with arched awnings made from grass mats). The air was thick with flies and reeked of dead fish--which reminded us, it's time for lunch!
To get to the restaurant, we had some kids pole us across the mouth of Mopti's small harbor.
From this vantage point, we could see into the boatyards on the riverbank where carpenters were constructing pinasses using hand-made nails and gigantic planks from the coastal rainforests. The river was wide and calm, a sort of cafe au lait brown, and the mud huts of the villages on the opposite shore wavered in the heat.
The Bar Bozo, so named for the Bozo ethnic group who fish the Niger, was built on a promontory overlooking the Bani. As we dined on rice, french fries and omelettes, we could watch the boats passing on the river and attempt to guess the nationalities of the other tourists in the bar (a collection of mostly scruffy Europeans).
After lunch, we plunged back into the sunlight for a tour of the city. We walked through the fish market with its baskets of dried, smoked, flattened and generally unappetizing-looking river fish.
We climbed up on a friendly rooftop to get a better view of Mopti's Grand Mosque, a smaller cousin of the massive mud mosque in Djenne.
Having seen the sites, we turned to the artesenal market, where we attracted hordes of salespeople pushing everything from blankets to necklaces to swords to pajama pants to model Harley-Davidsons made from Coke cans. It quickly became exhausting to have to pass up on so many once-in-a-lifetime deals. Our new friends were sad to see us go, and even as we walked away their sales pitches (and in many cases the vendors themselves) followed after us with promises of unbelievably low prices that would beggar their families for generations.
We piled into our rental four-by-four for the short drive back to Mopti, our driver honking at every moped and donkey cart lest they suddenly decide to swerve into traffic. From the raised roadway we could see out over the endless flat acres of green ricepaddies blanketing the flood plains on either side.
Off to Dogon Country
In order to beat the desert heat, we leave for Dogon County tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn. We'll be away for three days, hiking along the Falaise south of Bandiagara. We'll be sleeping under the stars and filtering our own water. We'll be back to Sevare, and our umbilical connection to the internet, on Monday night.
In the meantime I've gone back through the site to add lots of new pictures and content from our trip to date. Send us your comments and suggestions for things to write about and pictures to post.
