to-do list

T-minus two weeks until I leave. Today I made an offhand list of things I need to do during that time:

get sunscreen
email people who have been to Mali with questions
unpack
repack
find my mosquito net (Did I lend it to you? Let me know if you have any clues.)
READ...about Mali, microfinance, nonprofit evaluations, etc.
learn how to speak Bambara
practice speaking French
get travel insurance
get a Hepatitis A vaccine
fill prescription for anti-malarial meds

That's the abridged version. Think I can pull it off?

From the list, you might have guessed that I'm doing work related to microfinance. MHOP has a branch that makes small loans to women in the neighborhood who want to start businesses. I'll "coordinate" it this summer - this task involves creating a database of borrowers, evaluating its impact since last summer, and working with the borrower selection committee. Probably other things too, but it's so hard to know exactly before I get there. Next week I plan to meet with the volunteer who started this microfinance operation last year. Our conversation should give me a better idea of where things stand.

Stay tuned...