I had a very amazing weekend visiting my friends and host family from last year! Saturday I got to eat two lunches and two dinners! Bintou, my closest friend here, saved me some of the yams and beef they had for dinner and when I came over I got to eat again. She told me I needed to store up food for when I go back to Sikoroni, where the cuisine is a little less to my tastes. What a friend, eh? I got to make tea with Zana, who is amazing at this activity, play legos with the four-year old Maurice, watch Bintou braid Dadi’s hair, see Tristan and Isolde (an American movie!), and use a toilet! What a vacation!

Yesterday I came back to Sikoroni for a meeting with the clinic committee. It was supposed to be a really straightforward meeting where we distributed receipt books that will be used in the collection of funds in the community. It ended up being a big power trip for the sector chief (not to be confused with the chief of Sourakabougou, who I really like). A little background: this guy holds a hereditary position that does come with a lot of respect and a varying degree of power. This particular chief is pretty much only interested in money. He has sold land in this area that was being used by families because he wanted the money, and lost interest in his involvement in the clinic committee when he found out that we needed money and weren’t interested in dispensing money.

He arrived—long white beard and all--and sat down, all done up in a fluorescent green boubou (long robes), sunglasses, shawl, Hajj hat, and a large multi-colored umbrella. He started out by saying he wanted the committee to disband and that he thought Niang, the director of Sigida Keneyali, should be removed from his position. Basically, this was really frustrating because of its irrelevance. This man is a member of the committee which is a partner of Sigida Keneyali. He had nothing to do with Niang’s appointment and has no power to disband the committee. I was really annoyed that we all had to spend an hour arguing with him rather than devoting the time to the more important matters at hand. Things eventually settled down and it was business as usual.

On the brighter side, Mike finally got his microfinance office! It is a little building in Sourakabougou (Sourakabougou is a part of Sikoroni) right up the road from my house. He has been hard at work painting and cleaning it.

I’m including pictures again! One of me and the lady who sells me peanuts—one of my favorite snacks, Zana making tea, Bintou braiding Dadi’s hair. Also, a picture of the committee meeting yesterday, kids in the courtyard outside my room, and a photo of the view outside my compound’s door. The meeting picture was taken before everyone had arrived. The attendance eventually doubled—Malian time you know. Love you all!