Yelimane run

We headed up to Yelimane recently for a visit. Mark’s old counterpart up there, Kadja, had a baby so we went up to see him. Needless to say, he is a cutie. Kadja was calling Sam his mom and when we asked if that made Mark his dad, Kadja answered “no, of course not.” Her reasoning: Mark is already Ablo’s dad!


The baby’s name is Fassouri. He is a lucky kid, not just because he is from a loving family or because Ablo is his big brother but because he had a sweet nickname from the get-go. Why? He is named for his maternal grandfather, Fassouri Kanoute, who was the mayor of Yelimane at the time of his birth. Therefore, he is known around town as “the mayor.” Old women will stop what they are doing to ask, “and how is the mayor today?” or “well, Mr. mayor, it is an honor to see you.” It is great.

We saw Solo again. That is the kid who, for some reason known only to them, Cousin Mike(y) and Sarah decided was the cutest in Mali. Anyway, it was up to us to break it to Solo that they were not coming back to take him to America. As you can see from the photo, he didn’t take it well.
Yelimane, while remaining unchanged for virtually the last thousand years, has blown up in the past year. They’ve got it all there now. There is a new bank, an internet café, a new market, improved public restrooms for the market and transport station still under construction, a high school, another giant political party building, a huge hotel. Most notable is a veritable skyscraper of three whitewashed stories (it extends to a fourth story with the stairwell that empties onto the roof and appears to add another story). It can be seen for miles around. Yelimane is going to be as big as San Francisco in a few years and twice as sophisticated.

Our jatigi’s (host’s) family has blown up as well. In the year and a half since our Swear-In as volunteers they have produced ten new mouths without a single death. Mali has one of the highest fertility rates in the world. There have been four babies since our last visit alone! Statistics amazingly show that by the year 2015, 46% of the Malian population will be under the age of fifteen. If anyone is wondering what this population explosion will look like, we suggest a trip up to Yelimane for a sneak peek.

Don’t bother looking for the cat, however, unless you are an archeologist: