Candido, idéaliste.

Well... After this week back from the country, I spent some days being quite busy, and let's face it, lazy.
I'm getting away again next week, same destination. It's an charming village in the mango and banana production area of Mali, where phone lines are scarce and unreliable. No internet, only the radio an lame ORTM (governmental TV/radio). The community changed its way of communication when USAID financed the local community radio. The radio station is now used to broadcast private messages, in between social programs and music.
Most of the time someone shows up at the radio station with a written text that will be read on air, for 1000 FCFA (1.5 euros). It's often something like "Boubacar Sidibé is asked to come over to the phone booth at 8pm, his family has an important message for him".
People have some kind of control on it, probably more than on public administrations.

Anyway, all this to tell I've been busy, too busy to follow politics news, only able to follow the Washington Rat Race (thanks to my housemates). I could only read the excellent Torpedo. My level of information is quite low.

So see in another week, or when I find something worthwhile.

Je pars en voyage pour une semaine. Prochain post probablement dans dix jours.
A bientôt.

RFI (Radio France International) est très écoutée au Mali. Beaucoup de maliens que je connais sont des fidèles du journal de 18h (20h à Paris). C'est la seule radio en Français qui permet d'être informé sur ce qui se passe dans le monde, et on la reçoit en FM (La BBC est aussi captée).

Je me suis donc mis à écouter le journal et les magazines. Les journaux ne manquent pas de saluer les efforts du gouvernement français, de souligner les divisions du PS. Lors des grèves, on parle des "resistances aux réformes nécessaires". J'ai entendu "Le Figaro" cité plusieurs fois, pas une seule fois "Libération"...
Aujourd'hui, il y avait même une émission (que j'ai ratée), annoncée sur le ton "le libéralisme, cet ami méconnu".
L'ancien patron de RFI est maintenant à Radio France. Les auditeurs de France Inter s'en sont ils déjà aperçu ?

Today after the lesson, I had a talk with Alima.
She's very active in an Women help association, fighting for women rights, against excision...
She explained me the different excision methods with drawings, and showed me some very explicit photos, including a women ready to give birth (the child died). I learnt a lot, really.

They are organizing meetings in villages where they split people in 3 groups. The greens are against excision, the yellows are undecided, the reds are for.
Then they start talking and ask each group for arguments. The reds often come up with "white men want to ruin our culture and traditions. Your association is corrupted".

Alima told me that in the area, about 98% of women had been excised. Didn't know it was that much.