Getting somewhere with my research

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In the days since my last post, I am glad to report that things have progressed quite rapidly (as far as my research and connections go). Instead of jumping straight to that, though, I’ll try to describe the past week’s events in somewhat of a chronological order.

On Thursday, we discovered the disappointing news that we would not be able to travel to Casablanca in December. Although we do have plane tickets going there on December 10, the returning tickets, which we don't have, would cost us each about $650, and we just could not justify spending that much. It didn't help that to get to the airline office we had to walk about a mile in the blazing heat through crowded market streets. The only saving grace of that day was that we had a lunch in what looked to be a humble workers' camp (but wasn't) on the side of the road. Not only was it super cheap, it was quite good.

On Friday, Nora and I went with Sara to the American Club to watch the videotaped Vice Presidential debate. It was definitely kind of odd to be there as we had not encountered many Americans since being here, and so sitting in a room full of 40 of them in what resembled a country club on the banks of the Niger was a strange culture shock. After the debate we met a few people, including an ex-Peace Corps volunteer, a U.S. military employee, a volunteer with a public health NGO, and a teacher who, with his entire family, comes to volunteer in Mali from time to time (to do what, I can’t quite recall). Otherwise, we didn’t mingle too much, for the whole atmosphere of young people who mostly stuck to their established groups and parents who were completely occupied with their kids felt too much like some exclusive club of which we were not a part. We were happy to leave, but before we did, Vina, the ex-Peace Corps volunteer, told us that she would relay to us the contact information of a very well-known public health researcher here, who has done extensive research in Mali for the past 12 years. We’re hoping that she’ll have time to give us a little guidance with our own projects in spite of the fact that she apparently is constantly surrounded by throngs of people eager for any scraps of information that she can provide.

On Saturday, we were meant to hang out with Yaya, who works at Save The Children with Nora. However, his car had broken down en route to our house, and so all of our waiting around was in vain (this seems to be the trend for my Saturdays!). After that bust, Nora and I took a long stroll and ended up at an outdoor bar not far from our house. Although we did not plan to stay long, we called up our neighbor, Canadian Ak, and asked if he would like to join us. He did come out, but we had not been talking to him long until he mentioned to the two women next to us that he thought he recognized their French Canadian accents. After that, it was all over with. Canadian Ak ended up getting into a lively conversation with one woman, who was the research mentor for the younger woman. The younger woman fortunately spoke English quite well, and so Nora and I got into a long conversation with her about our respective research projects. She apparently is researching the treatment of women within the Malian Department of Justice. She also told us about some pretty interesting events that go on at the French Cultural Center in town and asked us to join her some time. In spite of the English (participating in conversations in French wears me out in very little time), I felt pretty exhausted by the night, but the conversation wore on for hours. I think that it was Canadian Ak’s ebullient laughter and extreme animation (the guy is normally so low volume and even keeled!) that kept me awake throughout the night. Fortunately, we parted just before midnight.

The next day, we were able to get up with Yaya around noon. After taking us to the market so that Nora could buy an iron, he took us across the river to his lovely little house in a much quieter district of Bamako. We ended up hanging out with him and his brother-in-law for hours, eating, drinking tea and chatting about everything from politics to culture. Nora and I agreed later that this was exactly what we had been hoping to experience regularly in Mali. He also gave us our Malian names, which by no coincidence were the names of his parents. So now, Nora is Nana, which means peppermint in Bamana, and my name is Datigi, which means the proprietor of a vessel of water in Bamana. Our last name, Dembélé, indicates that we are joking cousins with the Diarras, Konés, Togolas, N’diayes, and Diawaras. Although in the distant past, people with those last names would have been at odds with people with the Dembélé last name due to their membership to warring factions or incongruous social castes, now our last names just entitle us to poke at each other whenever we meet. For instance, the following day, we learned that our friend Sory’s last name is Diarra. He immediately joked that all we eat are beans. We then replied that beans were better than dog meat, which is what he eats.

After we left Yaya’s, we went to Bubakar’s house in a nearby district. He wasn’t there when we got there, but we met some psychology students who lived nearby. With Nora’s help, I was able to ask them about psychology as it is practiced and known in Mali, research that goes on here, who the professors are, and how the classes are conducted. The two psychology students that I met were both new to the discipline, and both were undergraduates. They told me that graduate work in psychology could only be pursued in Europe or in the U.S. Because of that, they assured me that they could link me to a psychology professor who spoke either English or Spanish well enough to communicate fairly easily with me. They also described their coursework to me. Apparently the first year is devoted to the historical background of psychology. In subsequent years, classes are taught on memory, sensation, and intelligence. Apparently, only five classes are offered, and all seem to be taught with a focus on people with psychological disorders or delays. By the time that Bubakar had arrived, I was describing the surveys that I wanted to use, and I had indicated that I was interested in looking at how small differences between individuals and groups of individuals at one level may be related to larger differences on another level. Interestingly, this took them by surprise, because they were being educated with an emphasis on the universal aspects of psychological functioning. Consequently, they were not familiar with research that dealt with individual differences.

In the course of our conversation, I expressed to them my desire to have the surveys translated to Bamana so that they could be orally administered to people in and around Bamako. Fortunately, they knew of someone who could help. They called up Bubakar’s cousin, Tapsi (pronounced Topsy, as in topsy-turvy), and he came over not long afterwards. He spoke French, Bamana, and English, and he taught school nearby. He agreed to help, and we decided to meet on Wednesday so that I could transfer the materials to him then. As the sun set, a powerful storm blew in, and we were forced to flee Bubakar’s in the driving rain. Nevertheless, I was pretty excited about the day.

On Tuesday, Nora decided not to go into work because she had finished the translations that she had been working on there. Instead we went into town so that she could hunt for a map of Segou, where we would be spending the month of October. After hunting down the Malian equivalent of the Office of the Interior, we were given some grief by the officials at the gate for not bringing our passports with us, but an assistant to one of the administrators inside ushered us in. We were passed along to a few people before we were told that we’d have to come back later to get the map, because the person we needed was not there. We then went to the post office to see about getting a postal box. Fortunately that was right around the corner, but once we got there, we were told that we need to bring a copy of our passports, $45.00, and proof that we were residing in Mali (which we could only get by bribing a policeman with $1 or $2). We then went in hunt of a motorcycle helmet for Nora (that would be her main means of travel in Segou) and a mosquito net for our stay in Segou. We met a nice man in the nearby market who led us through the winding passages of the market for what seemed like an interminable distance before we came to a vendor of motorcycle helmets. After some haggling, Nora got the helmet and we were off to catch the bus back to our house. By the time that we got home, I was exhausted by the effort, but Nora was determined to head back for the map. She went out on her own and returned a couple of hours later with instructions to head to yet another office. She returned a couple of hours after that exhausted but happy to have found what she was looking for.

Yesterday, I spent most of the day preparing the surveys that I would have translated. As promised, Bubakar and Tapsi came over in the evening, and for a fee of $110, Tapsi agreed to translate my six single-typed pages of text with the help of a few friends. He said that he could have the job done in 10 days, after which I’ll run them by a researcher here, hopefully gain approval, and then get IRB approval back in the States. If things progress quickly enough, I may be able to start collecting data while were in Segou in November. Here’s hoping. In the meantime, I’m applying for small grants here and there and working on writing up a larger proposal for bigger applications that come due in the new year.

By the way, I’m attaching a couple of photos that I took on my walk this morning. The air was actually a little cool when we got up, so I couldn’t resist walking to the area just north of here, at the foot of the hills. On my walk I met a few people, including an older woman who lavished me with blessings (many of which I did not understand but replied with the standard ‘Amina’ regardless). I also met a group of kids, who despite their good clothes, demanded money from me. I took their photo instead.

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Comments

[Joanne]

Great progress
Great to hear of the progress that you have made in such a short time. Good luck. JAPW