Light Speed in Mali

I got to Mali Monday night. Tuesday afternoon there was a meeting to talk about activities for Malaria Month, which is April. One of the participants was Fanta Coulibaly, an actress in a Malian soap-opera called "D'ou la Famille". We thought hey, maybe we can get malaria messages into the soap, wouldn't that be cool? So we called up the director/writer and he came right over. Thought it was a great idea, except for one thing: filming had finished a year ago! But maybe we could film some skits to air right before the series?

Super, no problem. We agreed on a price and he went home while Djiba and Kouressy went over to the TV station to negotiate broadcast fees. Sidibe (the director) came back the next day for his malaria messages - 4 in total, one for each sketch, to air weekly during April. The first one had to air the following friday. It was Thursday.

Over the weekend Sidibe wrote 4 scripts, presented them to us on Monday, filmed the whole thing (12 minutes total) on Tuesday, edited on Wednesday, screened them for us Thursday, and we aired on Friday, as hoped for. I think we set a world record for fastest production - from concept to airdate - in Africa. When else do you go on a 10-day trip and get to see the beginning AND end of your work?

Plus, the sketches are really funny. L'Hadji, the father, is so incensed by malaria that he comes out of the house with his large-caliber rifle, wanting to shoot all the mosquitos. Sidibe is the Man.

Dance Dance Revolution

I only have fun dancing in Africa, specifically in Bamako. We had drinks on Claudia's roof last night then went out to the Monte Cristo nightclub, which is newly renovated (and next door to PSI's original offices). The Congolese music and the salsa had been playing at Claudia's and continued at the club. I LOVE Congolese music. It reminds me of selling condoms in Ndende and having a good time with my buddies around a table full of empty Regab bottles. Areana and I danced until 3:30 in the morning. That never happens in the States. I don't know why. Ok – so I will admit that here I tend to consume more alcohol since I am never driving home. But that’s not the whole story.

This makes me wonder about that split personality - Bamako/Gabon H vs US H. Here I will go up to random strangers and quiz them about their jobs to see if they're Russian mafia (they were Air France execs). I know it has something to do with my increased sense of my own (comparative) attractiveness here, and my hankering for spy-type activities (and ability to carry them out). My social confidence is greater here than in the States. And because of my Peace Corps experience and Bambara ability I feel I understand my surroundings much better than I often do in the US, where I'm thrust into work situations that fancier than I am used to on an almost daily basis. Here I have things to show and teach people - at home I am still learning. Here I'm a point person and in Baltimore and DC I'm the one asking for directions and advice.

So - the goal: being more like Bamako H in the US (without the hangovers, hopefully).

When I was at PSI I was responsible, among other things, for handling the details of a relationship between PSI and the cellphone company Ikatel, who broadcast our SMS messages on malaria and HIV; making a quarterly newsletter and other layout/design duties; and helping to organize a big concert with many Malian artists, along with a dinner/gala at Oumou Sangare’s hotel to kick that off.

Now my TDY (temporary duty) job is to help organize a concert with multiple Malian artists, perhaps large, perhaps at Oumou’s hotel with VIPs, write and design a ‘plaquette’ or malaria fact sheet/folder, and perhaps work with the new Ikatel, Orange, to send out SMS for Africa Malaria Day.

I’ve called up my old buddies, Oumou’s husband, our Burkinabais production and sound system guy, Habib’s little brother the sound guy, and we’re underway in the planning. My goal is to introduce the team to these folks and they can take it from there. Already we’ve laid out the messages for 4 3-minute sketches to be written and approved on Monday, filmed Tuesday and Wednesday, edited and in the can on Thursday, and broadcast on Friday just before Mali’s most popular soap opera, D’où la famille. Nevermind that this is BCC (behavior change communication) and not advocacy (shh, don’t tell our donor!).

As promised, Areana and I met Julia at the Bla Bla, which is now enclosed in glass and brick and is air conditioned, and has all the charm and atmosphere of a crappy café. The pork chops were still excellent, however. Thursday we hit Sukothai with British engineers and a Dutch guy straight out of the book I’m reading, “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.” They’re doing the design for the Millenium Challenge Corp’s irrigation and road-building project up north of Niono, all the way to Timbuktu. But maybe there’s no water to do this – it’s unclear. The food was excellent and we spoke with the Belgian owner, whose Thai wife runs the kitchen. They’re retired (he’s an ex-consultant).

Today we went shopping, and of course of the four places we went, one was closed until October, and the rest I have to find time to go back to before I leave, to pick up things. Ahmed had some really nice stuff, I got my picture frames, and my bracelet from 2000 is being repaired. Mia Mali is now Mali Chic and was closed for no good reason – I need to get Mary Beth her napkin rings so on verra when I’ll have time to get over there again. Perhaps when we take Areana to pre-enregistrement on Wednesday. We also each got two pairs of sandals at the Grand Artisanat, for 5000 each, which I can’t remember if that’s a good price or not, but we bargained for a while. Areana’s and Julia’s are more fancy and African, while mine are basically leather copies of some strappy teva flip flops from last season – but more my style.

Tuesday March 27th

It was 95 degrees when I landed in Bamako at 8:30. Claudia didn’t check the flight arrival time and wasn’t there to pick me up; fortunately my blackberry found the Malitel network and I was able to call her – probably only cost 10 dollars! On the ride to the hotel she told me that the strategy workshop I had flown out for had been canceled, since the National Malaria Control Program had decided April was African Malaria Month (April 25 is Africa Malaria Day) and that our project would organize all the activities, ideally one every day. April starts on Sunday, so….great.

The hotel is one I’ve been to before for workshops – it’s way out on the edge of downtown, close to our offices (5 minute walk, and 10 minutes from PSI). The wireless is free but inconsistent, and there’s nothing more depressing than a hotel room with no connection. It’s lonely.

Last night was more lonely, mostly because all of a sudden I had no idea what I would be doing, but today we sat down with the team and went over the activities, and there’s a lot I can help out on. Tonight I was hoping to get on the internet but am forced to do work. Tomorrow though Areana and I will head out to the Bla Bla and Thursday Julia and I are going to Sukothai, the best Thai restaurant in Africa.

We called Matt today and it looks like a) he is crumbling by himself in Baltimore and b) we are going to Nairobi in mid-May, after the RBM board meeting, for a strategic planning workshop for Year 2 with Claudia, Matt, Bonnie, myself, Gerald from Kenya, and Emmanuel. Also probably Regina from Mozambique and Djiba from Bamako. And Areana. I guess I’m excited but that leaves me very little time to organize the GHC panel (May 30th) and finish writing the annual report (May 30th). But – that’s life in the fast lane.

What's in the Water?

Sunday at brunch, co-workers told me that someone at the office thought I was cute. Of course I get all excited. "Too bad he's British and gay!" they said. But if our gay British colleague thinks I'm just so adorable, that is a good thing, because he is well known for being awesome and having good taste.

Today it continued - Anna said I looked very huggable. And then Lisa wanted to grab my ass! I mean, our hallway is tight and all, but this is getting a little out of hand. I don't know what people have been drinking lately, but I kinda like it.

Interns dropping like flies

After a terrible terrible 3/4 of the day things actually aren't so bad. No, we don't have the super awesome francophone intern I thought fer-sure would take our career-boosting internship, nor do we have the backup candidate because I said 'sorry!' to her before hearing back from our first choice. Nor do we know what the hell we're doing now that Kim's gone, and we sure don't have any other photos for our Africa Malaria Day photo exhibit besides Net Company #1's (beautiful, gorgeous, amazing) shots. But Net Company #2 is supposed to call me, and there are always more suckers looking for internships, and even when you think someone is ignoring you, maybe they are just busy watching DVDs and don't realize that you're all stressed out because, hey, did you say you were stressed out? So how are they supposed to know?

So I haven't quite failed yet although we're getting pretty close. I like living on the edge. Keeps me humble.

Plus did I mention my bike is HOTT? Pics soon, I promise.

Tylenol PM 1, HK 0

I am having the old insomnia again. Last night I was in bed at 10, lights out at 10:30, and at 11:00 it was clear that the old wheels were turning just a tad too fast. So I took 2 Tyl-pm and at 12:30 I was still awake and miserable.

Of course then I do fall asleep and wake up an hour after my alarm goes off, plenty late for work, with bags under my eyes the size of ping pong balls.

The good news is I'm going to Mali and Ghana in two weeks. The bad news is that one of my bosses is leaving right then and so my other boss will either be all on his own (bad) or training the new person without me (also bad).

Ugh. I'm in the suck. But at least now I know that Tylenol PM is NOT my friend.