PICTURES-Making Bogolan at Si Nafa

Life has been good here in Kita. I've done many things from which I've learned a great deal - selling things in the market, doing accounting with Malians, making bogolan, attending a shea formation, making soap, hiking the Kita mountain, cooking with Malians, starting my radio show, going on "chat tours," drinking tea with random people and observing the transactions at local butikis.

I also have to find balance here. I have two services - the women's sewing school and Si Nafa. So, I have to balance my time, switching between the two workplaces while getting to know the rest of Kita. It's hard, and it's a lot of work. 

I'm working almost the same hours as I was back in the States (when I wasn't working 80-100 hours per week, of course). Usually I'm out in my community from 9 AM to 5-6 PM. I try to have an open mind and will try anything with Malians. Making Bogolan at Si Nafa gave me an understanding of just how tedious and time-consuming making Bogolan is. 

In this blog, I have a bunch of pictures that I hope detail what life is like at one of my workplaces - Si Nafa. You also get to see how to make Bogolan. It's a fascinating process!! Enjoy!

This is Sabou, the president of Si Nafa, her son, Younousa, and me. 

This is Sabou, the president of my women's shea cooperative. Sabou is the Malian version of Wonder Woman. She has more skills than any other Malian I've met, and she's a powerful woman in my community. 

This is Baba. I've written about him in this blog twice before. He's taking an afternoon nap here. 

This is called "Toubab soap" and it's one of the highest selling products my service has. Women buy this to wash dishes, clothes, etc.

This is the nyegen at Si Nafa. Sometimes people pay them to use it - usually about 25 CFAs - or the equivalent of 5 cents.

Playing the Malian version of cards - "Crazy Eights"

This is one kind of shea soap my service makes and sells.

This is inside Si Nafa's "magasin," or store. They use it for storage of shea, soap and rice. In these bags are the packaging bottles for their shea butter. Their shea butter sells for keme fila, or 1,000 CFAs, which is equivalent to $2, but it is a lot of money to the average Malian.

I like doing art and drawing time with kids because it helps them practice art, creative thinking and expressing themselves. Unlike in the States, they don't have a big push for creative and critical thinking and art in schools. This is me and Younousa, Sabou's son, drawing hands, chairs, cameras and stars. 

Braiding little Kunba's hair. Kunba cried non-stop while getting her hair braided. This is my friend who works at Si Nafa, and braids women and girls' hair for a living.

"Buy some meat!"

Yum Yum Yum! Don't know what all these body parts are, but they're for sell! I usually don't partake :)

This is the Baobab tree candy my service makes. I've gotten all the PCVs hooked on it here. It has Baobab powder (below), honey, sugar and water and something else in Bambara that I didn't understand. Baobab is so good for you. It has more antioxidants than acai berry, more calcium than milk, more magnesium than spinach, more potassium than bananas, more iron than red meat, is good for your immune system and preventing diseases, gives you a burst of organic energy and helps to replenish the nutrients lost in your body after something like a workout. It's called the "Tree of Life" here in Africa. 

This is the Baobab fruit powder my service sells. You can cook with Baobab powder. Add it into your water after a workout to replenish your body's nutrients and give you a jolt of energy. I add it to my water and immediately feel better, no matter what I am doing. It's like a miracle powder. 

UM Just straight cute. Malians don't naturally smile in pictures, so when I am taking them, I am very stern about forcing people to smile! But these girls were modeling the Bogolan for me and we were laughing, so I got this awesome photo. 

THIS is Bogolan. Isn't it awesome? This is a project a couple of volunteers before me did, of Africa and Mali, all in pieces of Bogolan. I want to make at least one of these to bring back home when I'm done. Isn't this awesome?? And it's hand-made in Mali. By women, it supports women financially, allowing them to make their own money and gain self-confidence from selling something they worked hard to make. It's made from fermented mud that's special and gathered at the base of the Niger River. The mud probably took weeks to become perfect, as it had to dry under the hot, Malian, desert sun to grasp the color. How cool!

This is the other one, the map of Mali. 

Bogolan sold at my service - Si Nafa

It's a shea butter coop - here's some of the shea they sell. It's in the old packaging they no longer use. 

My service can make jams.

Pics of Peace Corps volunteers, trainings, other NGOs who have helped them. A lot of Malians will introduce you to their photo albums and show you pics of them and their kids throughout their live. And they don't smile, so you have to tell them to smile!

MAKING BOGOLAN, THE MUD-DYED FABRIC OF AFRICA

These are leaves they gather here in Mali. First step, acquire a certain type of fabric that's yellow-whiteish. Boil these leaves. Dip the fabric in the leaves. Let the fabric dry under the Malian sun. Dip the fabric again. Let dry. Dip again. Let dry. Do that seven times to establish the base color for Bogolan.

Boiling the leaves

First, boil the leaves in water. Then separate the water.

Separating the leaves from the water.

That's a sifter they use for cooking, and in this case, taking the leaves out.

Add more water to the leaves to boil another batch for more fabric.

Add the fabric to the boiled leaf water.

Add fabric to the dyed water. It smells like fresh boiled tea.

Stirring the fabric in the water to make sure we completely soak the fabric in dye.

The dyed fabric drying under the sun. We must do this another six times per piece

This is Sabou applying the mud. You have to beat the mud into the fabric with a big paint brush, or sometimes, sticks. The beating ensures the mud won't leak out of the stencils. They have a huge trunk of probably hundreds of stencils for their work.

This is almost finished Bogolan. You can see the mud caked on the fabric. They have to re-apply the mud over and over, and it takes hours, even days. 

Finished Bogolan. It just has to be washed now. Then, it's ready to sell!