Mali -- Summer 2000 SST unit
Faculty directors of the Mali group are Prof. David Mosley and his wife Kathleen Massanari (at right). In this file photo the Buscherts (then-directors of the Côte d'Ivoire SST unit) are passing their keys on. Meanwhile, the unit shifted to Mali.
SST students arrived in Bamako well and in good spirits, though somewhat later than expected. Their flight from Paris was diverted from Mali to Guinea. They arrived in Mali at about 10 p.m., and were met with great anticipation by David and Kathleen. They spent their first night sleeping on mats with David and Kathleen in chez Goshen, and began orientation to Bamako on Friday. They meet and go to live with host families on Saturday, April 29.
SST in Mali
This summer marks the first time that an SST group from Goshen College has travelled to Mali. However, the Mali group will benefit from connections and relationships developed by past groups in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire.
David Mosley writes...
Bamako is a city of some 2 million people bisected by the Niger river. The streets are packed with people on foot, with livestock of all varieties, with giant tractor-trailers moving goods in and out of the city, and the omnipresent Sotramas (twenty-year-old green Toyota vans used for public transportation).
During
the first weeks, the students will stay with some Muslim and some
Christian host families. French classes [there is also an official
indigenous language, Bambara] and lectures will be concentrated in
the mornings, in part because the temperature often rises into the
100's by mid-afternoon.
Kathleen and I really like it here. The people are quite fabulous--remarkable for their hospitality and their genuine manner of interacting with others.