This is my family’s resident grandma, or Mamuso as we like to call her in Bambara. I like her so much, even though I can never understand what she says thanks to the language barrier – and her dentures.
Cari and I taught the Macarena to our homestay sibs the other day. Best idea EVER, because it’s given us endless amusement since. The kids want to practice all the time, and I see the younger ones doing it by themselves when they think no one is watching. What’s more, kids who I don’t even KNOW approach us from next door like little zombies with their arms out in front of them, wanting to know which move comes next. Apparently word travels fast.
As my summer adventure hits its halfway mark, my to-do list is growing. Yipes! I’m realizing how little time I have left, and how much I want to get done. For example…
Tomorrow morning I’m going to coordinate two random volunteers to help paint our logo on the side of the “multifunctional center” in which many MHOP-related activities take place. Should be a party. In the afternoon I have a Skype-date with the founder of a nonprofit called Global Grassroots. It teaches courses about social entrepreneurship, and we want to potentially form a partnership with it.
Before Tuesday I have to design and print little advertisements for the microfinance center, because we’re going to resume giving out loans this week. These ads are actually really cool, conceptually. They’ll be little slips of paper (think tableslips) that the microfinance committee will distribute in the Sikoroni marketplace. Because most people there are illiterate, we can’t put much written information on them. Instead, they’ll show our brand new logo (yay!!) that depicts a group of women accepting money from a big hand coming from the sky. Looks less ridiculous than I made it sound. I’m only going to print 100. Committee members will explain the slips to whomever they hand them to, and then the news will travel by word of mouth to exponentially more women all over town. American advertising methods take so much for granted – like literacy. (Another publicity option we discussed was employing the town crier. Yeah.)
We’d paused loan-giving because the committee finished selecting the 20 pilot loan recipients, and wanted to make sure the system could run smoothly before expanding. Ten new women will definitively get loans in the next month. I’m hoping that, within that time, we can put into place a system to make loans on a consistent basis. I’ve been playing with numbers on Excel charts and emailing back and forth with finance-guru volunteers back in the States – not to mention talking with Niang, the Malian director – trying to figure out the best plan. Only now, looking at the hard accounting, is it immediately clear why microfinance organizations find it so difficult to be sustainable. It’s possible for us, but we need a lot more start-up funding (i.e. donations). So, forgive this little plug, but if you want to donate a loan it’s only 37500cfa or $93.75. Checks can be made to MHOP, sent to PO Box 20, Westminster Station VT 05159. Credit cards work from the website, www.malihealth.org.
I’m sorry, enough already. Stay tuned for less self-promotion and more exciting stories!
Cari and I taught the Macarena to our homestay sibs the other day. Best idea EVER, because it’s given us endless amusement since. The kids want to practice all the time, and I see the younger ones doing it by themselves when they think no one is watching. What’s more, kids who I don’t even KNOW approach us from next door like little zombies with their arms out in front of them, wanting to know which move comes next. Apparently word travels fast.
As my summer adventure hits its halfway mark, my to-do list is growing. Yipes! I’m realizing how little time I have left, and how much I want to get done. For example…
Tomorrow morning I’m going to coordinate two random volunteers to help paint our logo on the side of the “multifunctional center” in which many MHOP-related activities take place. Should be a party. In the afternoon I have a Skype-date with the founder of a nonprofit called Global Grassroots. It teaches courses about social entrepreneurship, and we want to potentially form a partnership with it.
Before Tuesday I have to design and print little advertisements for the microfinance center, because we’re going to resume giving out loans this week. These ads are actually really cool, conceptually. They’ll be little slips of paper (think tableslips) that the microfinance committee will distribute in the Sikoroni marketplace. Because most people there are illiterate, we can’t put much written information on them. Instead, they’ll show our brand new logo (yay!!) that depicts a group of women accepting money from a big hand coming from the sky. Looks less ridiculous than I made it sound. I’m only going to print 100. Committee members will explain the slips to whomever they hand them to, and then the news will travel by word of mouth to exponentially more women all over town. American advertising methods take so much for granted – like literacy. (Another publicity option we discussed was employing the town crier. Yeah.)
We’d paused loan-giving because the committee finished selecting the 20 pilot loan recipients, and wanted to make sure the system could run smoothly before expanding. Ten new women will definitively get loans in the next month. I’m hoping that, within that time, we can put into place a system to make loans on a consistent basis. I’ve been playing with numbers on Excel charts and emailing back and forth with finance-guru volunteers back in the States – not to mention talking with Niang, the Malian director – trying to figure out the best plan. Only now, looking at the hard accounting, is it immediately clear why microfinance organizations find it so difficult to be sustainable. It’s possible for us, but we need a lot more start-up funding (i.e. donations). So, forgive this little plug, but if you want to donate a loan it’s only 37500cfa or $93.75. Checks can be made to MHOP, sent to PO Box 20, Westminster Station VT 05159. Credit cards work from the website, www.malihealth.org.
I’m sorry, enough already. Stay tuned for less self-promotion and more exciting stories!
1 comment:
hiya, i spent thanksgiving '96 teaching a dance similar to the macarena (I suspect it was the electric slide or the hoky poky or something else equally dorky) to some kids in Nepal. There is nothing like teaching little kids a stupid dance to get you a) entertained and b) adored. Good one! When I read about the emergent macarena trend in Mali, I'll know where it started. Think of you with envy lots - looks like a good adventure. xo.
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