Pygmalion

September 16, 2005

Picture: Sadiola village from the car

I asked my kids this morning; “If you could do anything you wanted today, what would it be?” My fourth grader answered that he would get on a plane and fly back to South Africa. “I have been here four years and I am bored. I want to go home.” (He has the best British accent)

I can’t really blame him. There really is not a lot to do here. There are no plays or museums or concerts. There are no malls or parks or movie theaters. I remember when I was in fourth grade my parents used to drag me to symphonies and plays and church socials. They made me take piano lessons and sing in the church choir. I hated every minute of it then, but look back upon it with great fondness. It is from these experiences that I gained a love for all music as well as an appreciation for live performances and a diversity of beliefs. It makes me sad to know that my students are missing these things.

On the one hand living here is a great experience. An experience that few others will share. There is much to be seen and learned here. I know that as they get older they will come to appreciate their time here. The idea of keeping my child here for longer than two years, however, is out of the question. Four years would be like a jail term.

How do I rectify the opposition that has formed in my head? Why do I celebrate the Malian lifestyle one day and chastise the ex pats the next? I have already said that I feel the Malians have a great quality of life here. I have no issue with those native children who have lived here their whole lives, so why do I have disdain for the transplants who are doing the same thing? Hard questions to answer.

Last Saturday, when we went to Sadiola with Fricke, he told me how much the village had grown since the mine opened. People showed up from all over West Africa to set up shop and try to make some money. Indeed, Sadiola is a pretty bustling little town. When the mine closes however, the money will be gone and most of the shopkeepers will be without a viable income. We mused over the idea that the villagers might have been better off never knowing this lifestyle, for having never known it they would never miss it when it leaves.

Maybe the same is true for my students. They have eaten the apple. They know what is out there. They have experienced it before and they know they will experience it again. In fact, they will be expected to be successful in that outside world. This Malian life will aid in that success, but these students also need to be immersed in their own culture and their own world in order to learn from it and grow into it.

Having never experienced much of the outside world, most Malians don’t know it, miss it, or long for it. They are immersed in their own culture here and that is a benefit to them. This immersion allows them to understand their own world and therefore should help them be successful in it, unless of course there is no means to succeed. Extreme poverty, disease, famine, and drought are all serious inhibitors to success. Exposure to outside elements could equally help and hinder them. It reminds me of the story of Pygmalion. Henry Higgins “rescues” Eliza Doolittle from her fate in the slums and shows her how to be a lady. She is an outsider to this lifestyle and therefore does not truly fit in. Having been “lifted” out of the ghetto, however, she no longer fits there either. In the end she gets stuck in the middle, trying to fit herself in where best she can. Could this not also be the fate of the Malian?

Philosophy drives me nuts. It is the practice of chasing ones tail. Suffice it to say that we cannot stay here longer than two years. We will travel, explore, and make the best of our time and be very happy when it is time to move on. One has never truly tasted small town life until they have lived in a place such as this.