Mali

Click here to see my pictures of Mali.

I have rarely received more blank stares discussing an upcoming trip than when I mentioned I would be traveling to Mali. People seemed to be unaware of the location of the country much less any information about it. I found this fascinating given the country’s incredibly rich history.

Mali is one of the largest and most politically and socially stable countries in Africa. It was colonized by the French and is predominately Muslim. Home to Timbuktu, it has a proud heritage as one of the most powerful precolonial African empires, the Mali empire, which controlled much of the trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt and other precious goods in the height of its power in the fourteenth century. It was renowned as a center for trade and Islamic learning.

Mali is also is one of the world’s five poorest countries. The state of the capital city, Bamako, reflected this. Usually a country’s capital shows signs of development and wealth, but Bamako felt like a large, ramshackle village albeit with several highrises and better roads. I was only in Bamako for one night on the front end of my trip but then had a day and a half to explore before I headed home. Despite the dustiness, heat, open sewers, the crowds and the lack of any sort of city planning, I found it to have a certain charm. There is a vibrant energy throughout the city, with roadside stands and markets crowding the streets and animals busily herded through the neighborhoods.

I was several months pregnant at this point and had a nightmare of a travel itinerary – I started in California, had a layover in Atlanta, then a flight to Paris with a layover and then on to Bamako, where I had a few hours to sleep before catching a ride to Segou, a town a few hours west of the capital. I arrived exhausted and done in by the intense heat. Regardless, I really enjoyed my time in Segou, a charming town on the banks of the Niger river dotted with traditional mud architecture, beautiful old mosques and fishing boats. Life seemed to revolve around the river, used for fishing, transport, bathing, washing clothes and dishes and just hanging out and socializing.



I was in Segou for a meeting with the staff from all of the West Africa countries responsible for running CARE's programs. The meeting focused on ways to improve our partnerships with local community-based organizations. Halfway through the week we split into teams and went and interviewed CARE Mali's local partner in their women's empowerment program to get their perspective about how our model of partnership can be improved.

It was fascinating to be discussing women's empowerment issues in Mali at this time. Everyone I met and all of our staff there were heatedly discussing the situation with the "family law." This law would have changed many of the inheritance, land rights, marriage and other family law provisions to be less discriminatory toward women. The big controversy was that apparently the government had voted for the law and it had passed, but the weekend I arrived they had been forced to revoke it and reengage in debate about it due to the strong outcry and opposition from the more conservative Islamic community. One of my colleagues explained his shock at the situation because Mali has always been a moderate country, but over the past few years thanks to strong influencing efforts by countries like Libya and Saudi Arabia it has increasingly become more conservative. This latest situation has brought this trend towards conservatism to the forefront, and many of the more moderate elites were caught unaware.

After the meeting concluded, I drove through the beautiful Sahel landscape back to Bamako in time to have a lovely Vietnamese (clearly) meal with colleagues from Cameroon and Niger. I then spent the following day touring Bamako, spending a full morning at the market, having lunch at a popular colonial remnant French bistro and visiting the National museum to learn more about the history of Mali.

This was my last international trip pre-baby, which was weird! So I'll be on hiatus from posting until I resume my travels, probably sometime in September. Until then!