Sadiola at last

August 19, 2005

What a day! We awoke at 5:30, had some coffee, and drove to the airport. We met a very nice South African gentleman who was on his way to a site nearby. We walked across the tarmac to a turbo prop plane and boarded. Zachary was nervous about the flight as he had never been on such a small plane. There were very few people flying which meant that we were able to bring all of our bags. This was a great relief as we were afraid that we might have to leave some things behind over weight concerns. It was a smooth flight and we touched down on the dirt runway at Sadiola (Sad-jola) about one hour after we left Bamako. Mohammed and Amy were there to meet us.

Mohammed is the man we have hired to watch Zachary. He greeted us and loaded our bags into the car. The Malians get rather upset when you try to help them with their tasks, so I was only allowed to carry a few bags. Zachary took to Mohammed right away. He is an extremely nice man from Sierra Leone. He once worked for the school but was not getting paid enough. He has agreed to watch Zachary while we work as well as perform some light housework although we will still need to hire a full time gardener/cook/housekeeper.

Amy is the K-1 teacher. We were surprised to see her as no one seemed to know that she was here.

We were whisked off to the office where we met several key individuals and got the keys to our house. Our house is quite nice. It is one story with two bedrooms and a bath. There is a good sized yard with a shed and driveway. The yard is completely fenced. There is a porch and an area for hanging laundry. We unpacked and moved in as best we could. Several neighbors have stopped by to welcome us and bring us various items to help us settle including toilet paper, dish soap, and dinner (but no beer!).

Mohammed took us on a tour of the area including the mine village and the Malian village. The Malian village of Sadiola was actually moved in order to accommodate the mining operation. In accordance with Malian law, the mine is 49% Malian and therefore has many Malian workers. Those that hold higher positions get housing on the mine and get to go to school here. Other Malians live in Sadiola village down the road about 3 miles. It is a fairly large village (about 1000 people according to Mohammed) with dirt roads and mud huts. There are goats, cows, and chickens that roam freely. The mine has provided potable water, but there is no electricity. There is a government hospital and a government school. There is also a community school which is provided by the mine for members of its staff that reside in the village. There are many things for sale in the village and a bus that runs from the mine. There is also a bus that runs from the village to the city of Kayes (it rhymes with eye) which is about 50 miles away. The roads are challenging in the rainy season (now) but not impassable.

It is now about 9:00 (Greenwich Mean Time with no Daylight Savings. We are seven hours ahead of Seattle) and we are all tired. It has been an incredibly long week. We are mostly unpacked but are still awaiting the boxes we shipped from NYC. Over the weekend we hope to see more of the mine and meet some new folks. Monday we will begin work on our classrooms.