DANCING IN BAMAKO

Dancing in Bamako

Don’t you love the scenes in period films where they dance the quadrille or some other stylized dance so beautifully? I always wish I knew the steps so I could join in.

Driving in Bamako is a little like one of those dances, and I’ve actually learned to enjoy it! For one thing, one is not limited by nuisances such as red lights. Oh, they are there, but they don’t always mean Stop, like in America. Sometimes they mean, Turn left now that oncoming traffic has to stop. Or turn right now that the motorcycles have to stop. (There’s not a blanket “Turn right on red after stop” rule like in America; do this at the wrong intersection and you risk getting a ticket)!

I most enjoy the intersections where the traffic lights are not functioning. That’s where you really learn to dance, edging forward to look for your opening and then plunging gracefully through.

It’s not all as graceful and perfect as it sounds, of course. Remember the scene in BBC’s Pride and Prejudice when Lizzie Bennett had to rebuke Mr. Collins for his missteps? The local minibuses which provide public transportation to the masses, called SOTRAMAs, are the Mr. Collinses of Bamako traffic. They go where they will and as they will. Most of the drivers have not learned the correct steps to the dance (I’m not even sure if most of them have actually learned to drive), and they don’t care to, either. They plunge willy-nilly into traffic as if they didn’t even know it was a dance!

Finally, imagine again that scene in P&P. What if a prankster had released hundreds of cockroaches onto the dance floor, and suddenly everyone had to dance La Cucaracha at the same time as the minuet or the scotch reel? That is what it’s like dealing with the myriad motorbikes of Mali, massing and merging like a swarming horde of maggots, making the dance miserable and maladroit.

If it weren’t for them, driving in Bamako would be perfect. Almost. [To be fair, Bamako traffic was evidently the worst part of my daughter's-in-law trip here last year, so not everyone sees it from the same perspective.]

BLOGGING THE COUP

It’s Day Four since we’ve been in “hibernation” due to the coup d’état in Mali. This has provided a lot of time for reflection, but also for boredom, so it’s a good opportunity to add to my blog for the first time in six months!

In brief, I was headed to Bamako on Wednesday with the team from Christ for Humanity (Ronda Tyson, Vicki Ray, DeMarco Taylor), after a productive ten days in Kayes, and anticipating three days of training ESL teachers in Bamako. Arriving in Kati, about 15km/9m (one hour) from the capital, the bus offloaded us, saying there was a “little problem.” We assumed this was a mechanical issue, but soon learned that there was a strike or a demonstration on the road between us and Bamako. We hoped to get moving again in a few hours, but instead the bus turned around and headed into the bush for protection in case demonstrators resorted to property destruction. By then, we were the only passengers left on the bus, and were in contact with the US Embassy. We learned that the “demonstration” was actually a failed coup attempt. The Embassy advised us to stay in Kati and found us an American lady living here with her son who was willing to take us in.

In the morning, the mutinous soldiers successfully seized the presidential palace and announced on national television at 4.30am the success of their putsch. The reason for the coup is the dissatisfaction of certain factions of the army with the conduct of the war against the Tuareg rebellion in the north of Mali. Tuareg mercenaries returned from the conflict in Libya with state-of-the-art weapons and resumed their decades-long, on-and-off insurgency. Malian troops are undersupplied with arms and even such basics as food, and their weaponry is definitely inferior to that of the insurgents. [To familiarize yourself with the history of the Tuareg conflict, check out the second hyperlink below.]

Our hostess is a poli-sci major, and her Malian friends come and go, so we spend a lot of time discussing “the situation.” Some obvious questions present themselves:

Malian presidential elections are scheduled in one month. Why overthrow the government when the “end” of the current administration is in sight? One Malian man said, “A month is a long time when you are a soldier lacking ammunition and hungry.” Point taken, but one goal of the new ruling committee is to restore democracy. Exactly how does canceling upcoming elections restore democracy?

Where are the generals? The highest ranking officer involved in the coup is a captain, and the president of the Democratic Committee is only 39 years old. Young soldiers are literally running wild in the streets, confiscating vehicles, shooting rifles in the air, looting shops, and assaulting women. No wonder people perceive that their new leaders are not in control. Speculation is that the older soldiers are loyal to the president, or that they have been arrested.

Unintended consequences include giving an advantage to the rebels in the north, who are making a move southward to take advantage of the instability. Furthermore, the north and east are experiencing the worst famine in over a decade, and for the time being international aid has been cut off.

For these and many other reasons we are greatly concerned for the future of our adopted homeland.
Please click on the third link below, which is the blog I wish I had written!

1. My five minutes of fame (I am quoted in this article): http://www.tunisia-live.net/2012/03/22/malian-military-stages-coup/

2. An explanation of the roots of the Tuareg conflict (written by a journalist we know who attended Dakar Academy): http://www.tunisia-live.net/2012/03/23/the-malian-coup-decades-of-rebellion-and-one-night-of-gunfire/

3. An excellent early analysis of the situation: http://africasacountry.com/2012/03/23/malis-coup-first-thoughts/

4. A map of the Tuareg conflict region: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Tuareg-Rebels-a-Threat-in-Unstable-Mali-144089386.html

5. 10 Malian political parties condemn the coup: http://www.malijet.com/actualite-politique-au-mali/40657-declaration-commune-de-10-partis-politiques-au-mali.html

2010 by the Numbers

What we did in 2010: by the numbers

Our organization has had various ways of keeping track of how we spend our time, and this year we were asked for "metrics," which they will presumably publish somewhere to show everyone how effective UWM is. We were slow to gather these numbers, but when finished, we were pretty impressed (I'll try not to break my arm patting myself on the back!).

Some of the items below we did not send to the Mission (I think you'll figure out which ones), but I hope you enjoy the list overall: 

1: woman of the Soninké tribe discipled through weekly Bible studies and baptism preparation. (Jennifer)
1: Christian FM-radio station launched by a Malian Christian NGO with help from UWM (we have provided facilities and electricity, and helped them to find equipment); they currently broadcast about 18 hrs/day.
1: semester served on board of Dakar Academy. (Jennifer)
1: son graduated from Dakar Academy, with honors, and launched into the World. (Benjamin)

2: graduate classes completed for education degree. (Jennifer)
2: new missionaries recruited for MALI, in a seconding agreement with WEC, to reach the Moors. (Andrew & Mary)
2: evangelism and medical teams to the Moors (about 15 participants all told, to 8 villages altogether).

5: meetings of the Malian Assoc. of Evangelicals attended by Jim, where he is serving on the Committee of Reconciliation to head off a split in the organization.

6: men taught in Bambara language Bible school (in partnership with Norwegian Lutheran Mission).

10: meetings with the local Christian school committee.
10: ESL teachers observed and trained in Bamako during 2 weeks in January. (Jennifer)
15: meetings in churches last summer (where  we were featured at the Missions Night of the annual conference of the Church of Christ (Holiness), in St. Louis.) 

22: visits to disciple new Fulani believer in Kayes (who came to Christ through the "Common Ground" method of evangelism). (Jim)

26.5: years of service in Mali.
27: women trained in leadership seminars (in partnership with Marcie Harris). (Jennifer)
28: years married to same spouse!

35: Christian Fulani leaders hosted in JCMWA* annual conference in Kayes for one week
30: visits to Fulani villages for outreach and supervision of the well project in Duduya. (Jim)
40: meetings with the Kayes Pastors' Cooperative for prayer and planning of joint evangelistic events. (Jim)
49: shows of original Star Trek watched!

52: beggars helped on our front porch by prayer, food, Bible reading, cash, work, clothing, loans, empathy, medicine, counsel, etc.
75: friendship evangelism visits among mostly Fulani friends, often playing Bible story cassettes or mp3 players like the Megavoice, and drinking lots of strong, sweet green tea. (Jim)

150: radio broadcasts in the Fulani & Moor languages (on 2 different stations).

168: cards & letters sent by Snail mail, not counting Christmas cards. (mostly Jennifer)

175: dollars paid to the MVA of MD as a fine over an insurance disagreement about our car (they wanted over $3000 and this was the compromise we reached!!!)

12,000: miles traveled June-August in the USA & Canada to facilitate partnerships, raise funds, promote ministry, and keep in touch with supporters including many visits with churches and dear friends.

*JCMWA: Joint Christian Ministry in West Africa, a network of ministries to the Fulani to which we belong.

FAITH 'n' BEGORRAH...!

We had a faith healer in town last week. A very interesting phenomenon which has raised a lot of questions for me, both culturally and theologically.

He was here for three nights and on the second evening the stadium was Standing Room Only. It was such a mob that they basically had to cancel the meeting due to crowd control issues. Now, there are no more than 250 Protestant Christians in Kayes (pop. >100,000); perhaps a few more Catholics, but this was definitely a Protestant event. Everyone else is either animistic Muslim or Islamic animist (however you prefer to express it). So how did a meeting of a minority religion draw so many, especially since getting people to attend a Bible study or visit a church is like pulling teeth?

It's all about POWER. This preacher, Pastor Michel, has a successful healing ministry. That means he has power from Somewhere, and frankly, people don't care if it's from God or the Devil or something else, if they can get close to it or get a piece of it. This may seem strange to the western mindset, especially if you are not familiar with the Flaw of the Excluded Middle (a term coined from but not to be confused with the Law of the Excluded Middle in logic). The Flaw of the Excluded Middle posits that the Western world view has a blind spot that makes it difficult for many Western missionaries to understand, let alone answer, problems related to spirits, ancestors and astrology. The Western two-tiered view of the universe typically leaves out an entire dimension seen quite readily by people of non-Western cultures. We acknowledge the material universe, and those who are some kind of believer usually accept the existence of a high supernatural plane including God, angels, the Devil, and perhaps demons. For many non-Western cultures, however, there is a middle, unseen plane which exists in this world which may include spirits and ancestors, as mentioned above, as well as genies and powers which can (perhaps) be appeased by charms, spells and fetishes.
(For more information on The Flaw of the Excluded Middle see http://www.strategicnetwork.org/index.php?loc=kb&view=v&id=3263&fto=970& .)

Here in Mali the Excluded Middle is a vital part of life. We see it in the charms people wear and attach to their babies, or hang in their gardens. One of my friends has cowrie shells braided into her hair. You would probably think they were pretty ornaments, but I know they are jiginiu, "little hopes," designed to ward off evil spirits. She also uses cowrie shells to tell fortunes, which people take very seriously.

A few years ago the police in Senegal busted up a gang of burglars who had perpetrated a chain of house invasions against expatriates (including us) and rich Africans. The leader of the gang had over 50 fetishes attached to his body (some said to be effective at warding off bullets!) and the police were careful to cut off and burn every last one lest they help him to escape.

Some years ago a plane crashed in Timbuktu. Of 50 passengers and crew there was one survivor. She was taken to the capital to be hospitalized, where they had to put her in a private room (instead of a ward, which is all most people can afford) with a guard at the door. Why? Because if she was the only survivor, there must be something different about her, she must have access to some power or medicine, and if one could only touch her... So to avoid her being mobbed, she was sequestered. Another time people here in Kayes were hurrying to see a man who never went to the bathroom. Yes, I know that sounds funny, but supposedly he never needed to urinate or defecate, and since that meant he was privy to some supernatural power, people wanted to touch him or sit in the circle of his influence. (I told my informant that I was sure he was sneaking off to the latrine late at night, but she just laughed at me).

Certain people have powers as well, depending on their caste in society. The wives of blacksmiths are said to be able to do certain kinds of spells. Griots, the "town criers" for want of a better word, are also powerful. Even though pure Islam discourages such meddling with the occult, there are marabouts, who are basically Muslim shamans. (By the way, I recently learned the former president of Mali, Moussa Traoré, overthrown in the coup d'état of 1990, is not only out of prison and pardoned, but is pursuing a second career as a Big Time Marabout in Bamako!)

Pastor Michel is also in danger of being mobbed wherever he goes. Therefore, the Malian chief of state, President Amadou Toumani Touré (popularly known as ATT, just as we have called certain American presidents colloquially by their initials, such as FDR & LBJ) called the local authorities to arrange a place for him to stay and a security contingent of national guardsmen to surround and protect him. (Can you imagine Pres. Obama personally calling out the Guard for a Benny Hinn crusade?!?)

So even though Pastor Michel may indeed have power from God to heal, people do not come to him because they believe in his God or have any intention of converting to his Christian faith. They want to get close to POWER. And so they came in droves, most bringing their sick loved ones, but many attending just to be there and to see a miracle. I was told that mentally ill people were brought in from all the surrounding villages. Whenever he prayed for them, white birds rose up from the crowd, into the sky. Were their demons being released this way? Don't ask me (I told you I haven't figured out the theology yet)!

I don't yet know the statistics on how many people were healed and of what illnesses. I am told that a few people prayed to receive Christ. I hope it's true and I will be asking in a few months if any of them come to church.

Lest I sound too hard-hearted or cynical, I want to say that I have a great sympathy for the Malian people in this area. Most Malians are sick all the time. They have a poor diet and live in a dirty environment and can't afford medical care, so they often wait until their health becomes a crisis before dealing with illness. We had a conference in Kayes once, with pastors and their families coming from outlying villages. Every one of them sought medical care while they were here in the city; they were all dealing with chronic complaints to some degree. This was quite an eye-opener to me. So I can empathize with people's desperation to find a solution of some kind, even if it's one I do not understand or agree with.

As to the theological questions raised by this ministry, this has become very long and that will be the subject of a future post.

Interestingly, on the weekend after Michel's crusade, I visited a friend in the very neighborhood where the meetings were held. Yet I was greeted at the door of her compound by some middle school-aged boys who said to me, "Christians aren't welcome here. Christians are bad." So after the excitement passes, life returns to normal, and I'm here today, gone to Mali...

The Trials and Tribulations of Travel in West Africa, Part I

I have a love/hate relationship with traveling anywhere in the world, but especially here in Africa. On this side of “the pond” it weighs out a bit heavier on the “hate” side of things because it involves a lot of waiting, not one of my strong points; e.g.

• Waiting to leave. (Bush taxis don’t leave until they are full; this is only 7 passengers, but it may involve a wait of many hours or overnight to get that last passenger. Sometimes I’ll buy the last ticket to move things along, but if there are two or more empty places, I usually can’t afford to buy more than one.)
• Waiting for officials at roadside police posts to inspect ID cards or merchandise so they can extort bribes. (They don’t bother Americans, but in spite of international agreements allowing free travel between African countries, local officials will find a pretext to charge a fine to each traveler from a different country.)
• Waiting for repairs. (From a flat tire to a broken chassis, we’ve seen it all!)
• Waiting to arrive at my destination. (The 500 mile trip to visit my children, for example, is an all day voyage; we have spent as few as 11 hours and as many as 45 [!] depending on road conditions. Currently, I am happy to say, most of the road is in good repair or at least being worked on.)

The “love” part of such trips is finally getting where I am going, especially if it’s a visit to see my kids. And you’ve never enjoyed a shower as much as the one that comes at the end of a long day on a dusty road. Or if Jim & I are traveling together, it means having a whole day to ourselves with nothing to do but talk or fall asleep on each other’s shoulders. Plus, the vehicles are pretty tightly packed, so we end up snuggling as we haven’t done since the early days of our romance (but on the “hate” side again, if I’m traveling alone, that means the same close quarters with a stranger, possibly a man).

Another thing that’s really fun about these trips is shopping enroute, but that’s another post for another day. Until then I’m here today, gone to Mali…

Cloth Heaven

Tomorrow I’m going to a wedding, and with any luck, I’ll be wearing the same dress as most of the other women there (and it’s not because I’m a bridesmaid)!

One thing that is very different here from back home: In the U.S. if a woman walked into church or the office wearing the same dress as another, the reaction would be great chagrin. Not here! Fabrics come and go in popularity, and everyone will buy the same print to have an outfit made, so you often meet people wearing the same thing. Additionally, for events like weddings or holidays, groups go out of their way to buy the same material and wear it together. It’s called a “uniform.” In fact, every year the Malian Association of Evangelicals puts out a Christmas design so that we all go to church on Dec. 25 wearing the same thing.

The textiles are one of the most fun and interesting aspects of Malian life. Brilliant colors and designs guarantee that life in this often-brown (due to the dust) country is never dull. Interestingly, many of the best-quality fabrics are manufactured in the U.K. and Holland, where they have textile industries entirely for export to Africa consisting of loud cotton prints which no European woman would be caught dead in.

Ready-made clothing is rare here. You buy the fabric you like and take it to a tailor. Unlike in North America and Europe, a trip to the tailor is not an expensive luxury. It’s an everyday necessity and quite affordable, and a common profession among men.

Some of the patterns I’ve seen over the years in church, in shops, or on the street:

• Lots of florals and geometric designs.
• Numbers and letters.
• Soccer balls.
• Disembodied fingers.
• Chickens (one of the first uniforms I ever had had chickens, roosters, and chicks on it, with lines of eggs all around. UG-LEE).
• A hand holding a spray can, with a triangle of spray being squirted.
• Eyes.
• Insects.
• Leaves.
• Matches.
• Badminton raquets & birdies.
• Neckties.
• The backs of ladies’ heads showing hairstyles.
• One Sunday in church, I saw a shirt covered in laptop computers.
• I also saw a lady with a large safety pin design on her dress, where the tailor had rather unfortunately located a pin across her buttocks so that it looked like she needed it to keep the seam together!
• Images of people, such as the president of Mali, the First Lady, or perhaps a popular imam (Muslim preacher) and of course, Barack Hussein Obama! One of my Peace Corps friends boasts two different BHO outfits.

If you want to see a sample of African Obama fabric, check out #6 in this gallery:

http://wonderwall.msn.com/tv/Emmys-Undressed-The-Worst-4285.gallery?GT1=28151&photoId=14266#m=sNZM_QbGmxs

Wednesday without Words

Through the Eyes of a Newbie

In the interest of sharing some insights about Malian culture, I want to defer to our friend, Annie Pettit, who spent the holidays with us. Annie teaches high school math at Dakar Academy and is a very good friend of Danielle. We always enjoy "seeing" Mali through the eyes of someone who has never been here before, so I am going to give you the link to her blog for today's Malian Life & Culture entry:

http://anniepettit.blogspot.com

Her three most recent entries are about her visit here.

Rebooting the Blog...

It's embarrassing to look at my blog and see how long it's been since I've posted anything. A few weeks ago I changed the name -- it was at first called "My Non-Political Blog" b/c so many of the blogs I've seen are political, but really that name was supposed to be a "place holder" until I thot of something more original or catchy. Finally, I changed it to the old phrase which we first heard from Ken Durst, Here Today... Gone to Mali.

My biggest problem, I suppose, has been writer's block -- a whole year's worth, from the look of things! Then I saw a format which my colleague/Facebook friend, Mali-Anta, follows:
* Sunday – Quotes for the week
* Monday / Tuesday – Life Model topics
* Wednesday without words – Malian photos
* Thursday / Friday – Anthropology and culture topics
* Saturday – Book reviews

I like the idea of some kind of structure; it saves me from having to agonize over what to write. So here is what I will try:
*Sunday/Monday: Quote of the Week (I collect quotes all the time, this will give me something to do with them for once!)
*Monday/Tuesday: Malian Life & Culture
*Wednesday without Words (WWW): Pictures
*Thursday/Friday: Book Reviews
*Friday/Saturday: Current Event Commentary or Personal Journaling

I may not post on every topic every week, and as you can see, I don't want to commit to an exact day for each post (only WWW wouldn't work on another day!). I will probably also post our monthly prayer letters as they are published, b/c they too give a glimpse of our lives.

And all this is assuming anyone even reads this!

Whose Fault is it Anyway?

As we drove to Bafoulabe for our week of Bible teaching with 2 old friends, Moise (Moses) & Ananias, we were asking what they knew of many mutual friends. We got to a certain career soldier named Jacques, there was a pause, and one said in surprise, "He died! Two years ago (we found out later it was 7 years ago)! Didn't you know?" Since he could only have been about 40, I exclaimed, "Was it an accident, or was he sick?"

"He had AIDS," I was told. That's always an uncomfortable pronouncement, since AIDS is sexually transmitted (here almost always heterosexually) and Jacques was a Christian.

Ananias filled the silence: "He was stationed in the far north (Sahara Desert) so he left his family back home and just visited them from time to time. It was those (Tribe x) women who infected him up there!"

It turns out that Jacques' wife died about 6 months after him (no big surprise there) and their only child shortly thereafter (she was probably conceived after her mother was infected).

Later, as Jim & I processed this conversation, we noticed that even though adultery is a sin in the Christian faith, it wasn't Jacques' fault he and his family died -- it was those (Tribe x) women! Perhaps this was said in the interest of not speaking ill of the dead (although those prostitutes are probably dead as well!), but I think it goes deeper than that.

For one thing, Malians believe that if a man goes without sex for too long, he'll become crazy or unstable. So the unspoken message is that not only could he not help what he did, but that he needed to do it.

Besides, Jacques is our friend, and those prostitutes are strangers...

Jacques is a believer and those (Tribe x) women were Muslims...

Jacques is from "our" tribe and they were from "another..."

So it was the fault of "those (Tribe x) women," not our poor dear brother who was only doing what is natural to a man in his situation.

And we think Western society is guilty of avoiding responsibility...

What Color is God's Skin?

Our friend Neema (nay-mah) passed away last week. She was 35 y.o. and the only truly single person I've ever met here, because she was slightly handicapped. She had polio as a child, and the left side of her body was affected: she limped and had trouble getting into cars that were high off the ground (like most 4x4 vehicles owned by missionaries!), and her hand was twisted. In recent years she was quite sickly, tho I never knew exactly what with; she was always on the prayer list at church. They always referred to it as her sickness, tho I doubt it was still polio. She also had bad gum disease and therefore, terrible teeth.

So I told Jim that I've been picturing what she looks like now that she lives in heaven: standing up straight, with 2 strong arms and a full set of straight gleaming teeth. I imagine she is quite lovely now. He then asked me the funniest question: "Do you still see her as black?" What does that have to do with beauty?? Of course, she's still black!

Now lest you think my DH is a racist, he hastened to explain that his question was not based on which skin color is the most beautiful, but he was speculating whether something which has so divided people on earth will still exist in heaven.

I argued, "How else will we know each other if we don't basically resemble ourselves?" and...

"If God were to make us all one color, which would he choose?" To prefer one over another would simply justify the prejudices of this earth. Unless he went totally far-out and opted for green, purple, blue...

In heaven we will see the wrong in all our prejudices and not feel them anymore. Not all prejudices are based on skin, anyway, so changing that alone would be rather arbitrary. I reminded Jim of a pastor friend we have here, definitely a believer whom I expect to meet in heaven, who is clearly prejudiced against another ethnic group. They and he are the same color, but different tribe, and he is constantly making racist generalizations about them, something he has inherited from his culture, and a blind spot in his life. To him, his remarks are not racist, because he believes them to be true. That's the essence of prejudice, isn't it, the conviction that your beliefs cannot be racist because they are founded on truth?

There's a song that goes like this:
"What color is God's skin?
What color is God's skin?
I said, 'It's black, brown, it's yellow,
It is red and it's white,
Everyone's the same in the good Lord's sight.'"

Like the writer of that song, I don't believe heaven will consist of eliminating our differences, but rather of rejoicing in them.

Politics in Everyday Life

FIRST OF ALL, HAPPY 3RD BD TO DYLAN H.!

Today I realized that when I think of politics, I mean Republicans & Democrats, House & Senate, Libertarian & Leftie, etc... But at this moment, in our work here in Mali, we are involved in a political brawl of sorts that has nothing to do with parties or elected representatives or any of that. We are trying to dig a well in a remote, dry, crummy little village. But because of ethnic politics, we are being blocked from performing this good work for poor, destitute people who really need water.

Dictionary.com defines politics as:
1. the science or art of political government.

2.	the practice or profession of conducting political affairs.

3.	political affairs

4.	political methods or maneuvers

5.	political principles or opinions:

Pretty straightforward (boring) stuff. But then you get to the definition that describes our situation with the village here:
6.use of intrigue or strategy in obtaining any position of power or control, as in business, university, etc.

Or even better, here's the idiom to "8. play politics:"

a.	to engage in political intrigue, take advantage of a political situation or issue, resort to partisan politics, etc.; exploit a political system or political relationships.

b.	to deal with people in an opportunistic, manipulative, or devious way, as for job advancement.

Now we're getting down to it. Politics is about power.

Here's the situation: We are working in a village which is really 3 villages. Ethnic group A were the original inhabitants of what we'll call the A Quarter. Ethnic Group B has had their own 'neighborhood,' the B Quarter, for as long as anyone remembers. The C Quarter was formed over 15 years ago when the C people group were chased out of their homeland (a country ruled, incidentally, by Ethnic Group A) and became refugees. So the local A's in this particular village invited the C refugees to live in an uninhabited sector of their village, perhaps even seeing it as a kind of compensation for the wrongs perpetrated by their brethren in that other country.

Mind you, the A's were not making any great sacrifice. The reason this sector was uninhabited was that it was nearly uninhabitable. It's very rocky, unsuitable for farming, but not too bad for livestock, and group C just happens to be a shepherding tribe. So for them it wasn't too bad, except for one little detail -- no water. They were able to dig some shallow wells which were filthy, plus each day they would send a donkey cart to the A Quarter, a mile or more away, to fill several barrels with clean well water -- a job which takes about 5 hours daily. So when my DH started visiting the C Quarter, b/c of his interest in this ethnic group, all they could talk about was their need for water. They were coping, but certainly not thriving.

The last time we tried to do a water project for C, the leadership of A said, "Only if you help us first." (This project was a less expensive option than a deep well, a first effort). So we did our project there first, and they said, "The C's can keep coming here for their water. You are not to do a water project there." Within a few months, that water project failed. There were a lot of reasons for this, but could the hand of God have been part of it?

To make a lo-o-o-n-n-n-g-g-g story short, we managed to find some funding for a well in C neighborhood. There is an African-American organization that wants to do a lot of good things for the C's, and the C people have said, If you get us water, you can do anything else you want. There is a C Christian worker who wants to promote education, hygiene, improved animal husbandry, farming, and not incidentally, preach the Gospel. Water is the key to all.

This time, DH asked the C village chief to go to his A counterpart and negotiate. (Let's keep the foreigner out of the picture!) Chief A told Chief C, "That's fine, we're all one here, if you can get a well, go for it!" Mind you, this is a culture where you can never say no to someone's face. So his response was really the only thing he could say within the confines of his world view (but it is also okay to stab your neighbor, at least figuratively, in the back.) Nevertheless, DH decided to go to the next higher political entity, the mayor of the commune, to get official permission. You're supposed to do that anyway, so the government knows what's going on.

So there was a meeting at the mayor's place in another village. The chiefs & elders of A & C were all there. The A's were conspicuously silent. So the mayor wrote up an official document, authorizing the well. They were delighted, in fact, since it is a project of this country for every village and hamlet to have clean water, and they can't afford to do it all.

So the day came for the ground breaking, last Monday the 12th. There were several local officials there to each dig up their token spadeful of dirt. No one from A Quarter tho -- in fact, the mayor said Chief A had called him that morning to lodge a protest. "Why didn't they speak up when we all met together?" asked the mayor. "It's too late now, and besides they know that these people have a right to a well!"

By Tuesday 13th the work had been stopped b/c Chief A contacted the next higher government authority, the prefect, who has authority over the mayor. So now we wait...

Okay, so what is political about all this? Lots of things:
1. The person who controls the water holds the power. If C Quarter gets water, they will be less dependent on the A's.
2. If the little boys of C are freed up from getting the water for 5 hours every day, they will be free to attend the village school, where as yet no C children attend. Education is power, too!
3. Chief A says he fears that if C gets water, more people will come to live there. Again, he feels a threat to his power.

There are ethnic conflicts going on here, too, but this is too long already, and I don't want to go into that anyway. One really hard part is that we have a burden for the A people to be reached with the Gospel as well, and are praying for Christian workers to come to our Region in that capacity. We have showed the J film in the A language twice in the village. We fear that this conflict is cutting us off from future positive contact with these A's. :-(