As I near the end of my service in Mali, I cannot help but feel my time here is just starting. I guess that’s the big pay off for sticking it out the full two years; to realize at the end that it all has just begun. The best part is that in recognizing how little time I have here left I can savor the passing moments: working with the tailor, participating in the daily shop talk and gossip, attending my association’s adult literacy classes with my teacher and being so proud of what amazing strides these women have taken in such a short time. Feeling accepted, loved and at home where before I felt uncomfortable, hot, guilty and so very alone.
The last few months have been a whirlwind of soul searching, hosting, teaching and learning for me. I helped train a promising new group of volunteers in February who helped me realize just how much I’ve accomplished here already and motivated me to finish off my service strong and with good intentions - something that is often forgotten amongst end of service volunteers with temptations of “senioritis.” Then, my home that I miss so much was brought to me when my cousin came to visit with her friend in March. While it was challenging to represent my whole life here in a short three weeks, whilst acting as their translator and tour guide, the rewards of quality time outweighed the company stress. And after short recuperation, I was back at site, full of my overload with American time and ready to reassess why I’m here and what I want to show for it.
I came back to a surprisingly prepared women’s association, all geared up and ready to realize their dream. They had the plans, the trainers and most importantly, the budget outline ready for me to write up a proposal in hopes of getting a SPA (small project assistance) grant through Peace Corps and USAID. Only five weeks later and I’m here in Bamako, waiting for my 4 million CFA grant (about $8,000.00) to build a multifunctional education and sewing center for my women’s association that is open to all women in the community. The center will start primarily to teach sewing as a skill, but the space is available for their adult literacy classes (funded by my stateside mothers) as well as nutrition and HIV/AIDS trainings and a community garden. And my favorite part – they’ll be learning to sew on recycled plastic bags picked up locally and sell the products for a profit.
It’s truly amazing to be at this point in my service. I’m at the best my language can be, I’m working with highly motivated community members who make my volunteer work effortless, and I have strong relationships with people here who trust me, I trust them and we are truly the happiest just to be around each other.
My counterpart and friends keep asking me to extend another year (or two or three!) and when they look at me and I think about all they have done for me these last two years, it breaks my heart to tell them “no.” I simply say, “My mother will not agree. She will not be happy and she wants me home NOW!” That, they understand, because mothers are the most important.
