I arrived
in Mali
a week ago, and I have been pretty busy since arriving.
My first
big task has been to take the budget which was developed by my predecessor
(hurray!) and update it with the newest info, then to transpose this budget
into another format, breaking down the figures into 7 activities. I just sent the results off this evening. It is usually tough to try to understand someone
else’s work, but the lady before me was crystal clear in her explanations. It still took 1 week though; seeing how there
were day-to-day activities to perform at the same time.
Next week,
I must get the emergency program employees into the human resources database along with the
correct salary scales, and also assign them to the correct activity within the
program.
The staff
here is great – both the expatriates and the national staff. I have worked with a few of the expatriates
before elsewhere.
I have been
into the center of Bamako
a couple of times for work, but have not yet had time to wander around our immediate area. I live in the house which is just above the
office. Last Saturday, just after I
arrived, we were invited to dinner at the house of the Belgian section of MSF,
which is really close to our place. I
buy bread for the house every morning in a kiosk about 10 yards/meters from our
front gate. There is a great grocery
store a 5 minute walk from the house. And
apparently there are some bars and restaurants in the same area.
On Monday
evening, I noticed that the place just across the street from us had a sign for
Flag beer outside. I asked if that bar
was open, and one of the drivers told me yes, 24 hours a day. This seemed kind of strange, but I decided to
give it a try. I went with a lady who
had also just arrived. We were on the
terrace and the place was pretty dark – only light from the TV. Then we noticed that there were a LOT of women standing around. We finally figured out that it is a
brothel. What the hell. The waiter was pretty funny, and we drank our
66cl beers without being hassled. I went
back a couple of evenings ago, without the lady, and one of the women DID ask
me if I was going to reserve a room. I
told her I was there only to drink a beer and she left me alone, although she
stayed at my table and pouted because I didn’t offer her anything. I will probably go back, now that they have
gotten used to me.
Bamako is a really nice city. It is very green with a lot of trees lining
the streets and in the house compounds. I
am looking forward to getting to know it better. Next Sunday, I hope I will have time to walk
around some, in safe areas, of course.
