Next stop: Mali

I just got the news. I will be going to Mali for a couple of months.

I go first to Paris to get to know the emergency coordination (I know most of the team, but now I will be working with them) and train on some of their tools. I go Monday morning 4 June, going down to Bordeaux for the day Thursday and returning to Paris for Friday. Then I leave for Mali directly from Paris Saturday 9 June. I will be replacing someone I know there. There are quite a few people working there that I also know from previous assignments. We already had a program there, but in March, a couple of rebel groups took over the north of the country to set up a sharia law state. This means that there are quite a few displaced people and no functioning medical system in place, so we are providing medical aid to those people. Mali is already over 90% muslim, but of a moderate persuasion. Right now, the 2 rebel groups are arguing over what interpretation of sharia law to install. The one of them wants the stricter form. Here is a news report on the situation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdDOJzXGdig. I will not be able to visit the project itself - no whites allowed by MSF up north for security reasons. I will be staying in the capital of Bamako, working from there with the project in Timbuktu. For now, I should be staying 2 months - it could be more, it could be less. I just found out Wednesday evening, so I am now running around getting my papers in order, booking my train to Paris, doing laundry, arranging for my mail to be forwarded to MSF in Paris, packing my bag, and preparing to close up the apartment again. I’m happy! After 1 month of vacation, I was starting to get bored.