Week 2

May 21, 2001 -- Another phone update: The group returned on Sunday from Bandiagara in Dogon country to the northeast of Bamako. Sylvia reports a great time, healthy students, and good if strenuous hikes up and down to cliff villages in the Dogon area. They had an excellent group experience, but are now back with their families.

The group was mindful of commencement exercises back at GC, and had their own special graduation ceremonies and hand-made diplomas for the three seniors in the group: Frenchye Magee, Kate Meredith, and Annie Mininger. Sylvia says she presented these with all of the authority she was sure the Mennonite Board of Education would have granted her if they had only known! She reports a fun commencement time in absentia from the GC campus. Group lectures and language classes have resumed.

May 17,2001 -- The SST office heard from the Shirk Charles by phone that classes have been going well this week. The group is leaving Bamako today for a four-day trip to that part of Mali where the Dogon people live. At right-- students travelling in Dogon country in the summer of 2000.

The process of sending images back to Goshen is a good deal more involved in Mali than in any other country hosting SST units. The final leg is a trip through Bamako traffic to a cybercafe in another part of the city. We have no new images this week, but will post new ones on this site as available.

Meanwhile, you may be interested in viewing highlights of the experiences of the summer 2000 unit in Dogon country.