Currently in Mali

Greetings,

I am currently in Mali. I have been here for about a month. Mali has always been a dream for me to visit. Last year in 2023 I attempted to cross into Mali via bus from Mauritania through the Sahara but was turned around at the border where I took another bus with migrants (heading north to europe) back to the capital of Mauritania in Naukchoot. This time I was able to make it via air plane in a much safer route. I am here now working for an NGO doing research, project proposal and consulting in communications. I am having the time of my life. It is quite difficult here I will not lie. Low hygiene, unstable electricity and water, very hot and humid. It is perfect for someone like me to get sick who is accustomed to the Western way of life. I got sick in the beginning of the trip and since then I have gotten my bearings. We mostly eat at home, most of the time some sort of meat made west African style with rice or noodles, that would be dinner. Sandwiches of some sort for lunch and bread and eggs or fruit for breakfast. Life is incredibly simple here I love it. I have not felt the anxiety that I felt when I was back home in the states particularly in my home state of Colorado. I do not know if that is due to familial proximity or the internal and eternal flame of an adventurer who is always seeking another risk to calculate and pursue. Whatever it was, I was not enjoying my time there. As I sit in an office building made of cinderblock walls and plastered concrete with a fan over head, humid and hot with the hum of motor cycles crossing by I know in my heart I have made the right decision. Getting here was no simple feat, last minute logistics, saying good bye to people, and a major delay in New York where I met on the street one of my Colorado Kin whom I stopped due to his shirt being of my Alma Mater. This journey has been met with a lot of upheaval and trust.

I am enjoying my research here. I am looking at the context, analyzing the systems, and bring to the head my suggestions for change, stuff I like to do. Suggestions are always the easy part, the hard part is understanding the context of the people you want to fix. Because then you will have to put yourself in their shoes, and that is just plain hard sometimes. The way they live and myself live are completely different. They are used to the heat and humidity, I am not. They are used to some foods, I am not. There are many things one can infer and many some cant but whatever it is in the day to day life of these people I must be able to sit in it for some time to best get a solution. Saying it is hard, I am not saying I dont enjoy it I am just saying what is are the challenges. I find myself grateful for the small things recently that I dont care for much at home such as do we have power for a fan or water for a shower when I get home. These simple luxuries afforded to me due to my accommodations make life extremely palpable. Although I keep in mind constantly the accommodations I have here are different from that of an average life here in Mali are simply not what I have. My own room, semi consistent internet (4-5 hours a day), money to eat something when I want, a shower with clean water. Many many things that I have they do not. That definitely leads to flaws in my research as I am coming up with solutions to help them. There is only so much you can do to perfect the research environment. I have found that research although good is looking at purifying your sample population and data collection process, I am finding my self to be more of a developer. I am trying to stimulate action and response in systems and functions to beautify or better the life of the people I am surrounded by. In this I am trying to hold onto what makes me, me and learn more and more external and internal information so that I can propose the things I have learnt elsewhere or there for their issues. This has got me into pondering something lately... It is good to have spoiled people, especially around people who have nothing. It is particularly good to have spoiled people who become accustomed to the people around them and sees them as friends and family then they too will fight for them and show them they deserve more. I think there should be a global push to get more 'spoiled' people working around and with impoverished people. One can teach one what they deserve and one can teach the other on accepting on what You have. This is at least what I think.

I cant go to much into my findings now, but I will share some interesting charts I have made from my observations here:

1. Problem is found internally or external from the community.

2. Understand the scope and context of everything with the problem.

3. Brainstorm and discover indigenous or external solutions using any technique one can imagine, there are no wrong answers in the brainstorming phase.

4. Test what is found, if it is a hundred or 2 test them and communicate to stakeholders on what the system is and what is trying to be achieved.

5. Modify to fit the context of the stakeholders.

6. Educate Stakeholders and assure they understand why, systems, maintenance, innovation and outcomes, While in this period educate on the need for further innovation and not just maintenance alone.

7. Problems solution is now engrained in the culture and will be taught generationally therefore solving it.

This graph is referring to how when education goes up old issues go down. In a western context think about migraines, long plagued society. People got smarter then Excedrin was created. A generational issue now solved through the vehicle of education.

Mali specific timing is referring to agricultural products.

Thank you for checking in, reach out if you have any questions.