To Have and Have Not
December 21, 2005
One of the things we observed while hanging out in Bamako was the severe difference between rich and poor. There is no real middle class here. People either have or have not. The amount of young people we saw hanging out in upscale clubs was astonishing. A shot of whiskey costs eight bucks and right outside, boys are begging for change, leaning on the donkey cart they rode in on.
Apparently, one has to pay for school up through the seventh grade. After that it’s free. What family can afford to send more than one or two of their kids to school? In a land where a man can marry four wives and having ten kids per spouse is commonplace, there are a lot of uneducated youth. This is a general rule and the amount one has to pay varies from village to village. But the logic of it still evades me; it seems a little backwards.
WorldVision is an organization that has built many schools, hospitals, and wells throughout the country. They have made great strides in providing education on a myriad of issues. There are billboards throughout Mali espousing the virtues of education, good health, and safe sex. There is an equal number of signs admonishing the evils of female circumcision and child labor. I do not know much about the organization as a whole, but Malians I have met who are familiar with their work do nothing but sing their praises. I shall have to do more research.
Let’s talk about female circumcision. Mali is one of the last strongholds of this practice. Apparently it is perpetuated by the women; or so say the men who have been willing to discuss it. It is not a conversation that men participate in here. Young girls who are not circumcised are chastised by their peers and practically thrown out of the village. To be uncut is to be unclean, or so they would have us believe. It’s frightening. Women here work really hard. Everywhere they can be seen cooking, cleaning, farming, carrying goods on their heads, crushing the millet, separating the chaff, and watching the kids. All of these activities are done usually with a baby strapped to their backs and five more running around. For the most part the men sit and watch and expect their dinner to be ready at the correct time. Few women speak French as few women are educated. To some degree this situation is changing as more opportunities for education crop up. Studies indicate that the educated woman is less likely to participate in the mutilation that is circumcision, yet up to 50% of girls get circumcised these days. It is one of those conversations that needs to happen, but no one wants to participate. It is great to see billboards railing against the practice. It seems like a step in the right direction.
Bamako is a weird place. There are Mercedes driving down the road next to donkey carts. The road is dirt and the sewer runs in an open trench next to it. Chickens, goats, and cows roam freely through half finished buildings while right next door is a beautiful mansion. It is an uncomfortable dichotomy. It is the capitol of Mali and the largest city. Why doesn’t the government take care of its own people? I know resources are thin, but the presidential palace is a blight on the horizon of such a poverty filled city. USAid has set up an office there. They have an annual budget of fifteen million dollars to help Mali. Eleven million of that amount goes towards staffing and office expenses. How can the people be helped if this is the kind of “aid” they can expect? I am sad and confused and more than a little disgusted.
MJR
One of the things we observed while hanging out in Bamako was the severe difference between rich and poor. There is no real middle class here. People either have or have not. The amount of young people we saw hanging out in upscale clubs was astonishing. A shot of whiskey costs eight bucks and right outside, boys are begging for change, leaning on the donkey cart they rode in on.
Apparently, one has to pay for school up through the seventh grade. After that it’s free. What family can afford to send more than one or two of their kids to school? In a land where a man can marry four wives and having ten kids per spouse is commonplace, there are a lot of uneducated youth. This is a general rule and the amount one has to pay varies from village to village. But the logic of it still evades me; it seems a little backwards.
WorldVision is an organization that has built many schools, hospitals, and wells throughout the country. They have made great strides in providing education on a myriad of issues. There are billboards throughout Mali espousing the virtues of education, good health, and safe sex. There is an equal number of signs admonishing the evils of female circumcision and child labor. I do not know much about the organization as a whole, but Malians I have met who are familiar with their work do nothing but sing their praises. I shall have to do more research.
Let’s talk about female circumcision. Mali is one of the last strongholds of this practice. Apparently it is perpetuated by the women; or so say the men who have been willing to discuss it. It is not a conversation that men participate in here. Young girls who are not circumcised are chastised by their peers and practically thrown out of the village. To be uncut is to be unclean, or so they would have us believe. It’s frightening. Women here work really hard. Everywhere they can be seen cooking, cleaning, farming, carrying goods on their heads, crushing the millet, separating the chaff, and watching the kids. All of these activities are done usually with a baby strapped to their backs and five more running around. For the most part the men sit and watch and expect their dinner to be ready at the correct time. Few women speak French as few women are educated. To some degree this situation is changing as more opportunities for education crop up. Studies indicate that the educated woman is less likely to participate in the mutilation that is circumcision, yet up to 50% of girls get circumcised these days. It is one of those conversations that needs to happen, but no one wants to participate. It is great to see billboards railing against the practice. It seems like a step in the right direction.
Bamako is a weird place. There are Mercedes driving down the road next to donkey carts. The road is dirt and the sewer runs in an open trench next to it. Chickens, goats, and cows roam freely through half finished buildings while right next door is a beautiful mansion. It is an uncomfortable dichotomy. It is the capitol of Mali and the largest city. Why doesn’t the government take care of its own people? I know resources are thin, but the presidential palace is a blight on the horizon of such a poverty filled city. USAid has set up an office there. They have an annual budget of fifteen million dollars to help Mali. Eleven million of that amount goes towards staffing and office expenses. How can the people be helped if this is the kind of “aid” they can expect? I am sad and confused and more than a little disgusted.
MJR
posted by Bronx to Timbuktu at 2:02 PM
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