Bankass to Sevare

After eating a big and resting we crammed into an old station wagon and head to Bankass on the way to Dogon country. We were squeezed in this tin box which torpedoed down dirt roads. It felt like a small child pushing an altoid box through gravel a little too fast.

However, it was amazing to see the lightening crackle through an otherwise dark and dry desert. It would sporadically illuminate and allow me to catch glimpses of mud huts on the side of the road and small shops. Feeling the storm dancing alongside the road--sometimes near and sometimes far was incredible. Once we landed in Bankass, we slept on mats on the terrace and watched the storm roll in.

In the morning I took a bush taxi to Sevare where I was instructed to meet Baba Peace Corp. The bus was full of people and little goats nibbling at my ankles. I met an interesting man who prepared public health reports for the government and we had interesting conversation ranging from how muslim polygmy was dangerous for HIV infection rates to Female Genital Mutilation.

Although HIV rates seem relatively low in Mali in comparison to neighbours like Cote d'Ivoire, muslim polygamy plays a unique role in stigma and transmission of the disease. He told me about a story where a family member who was an older brother passed away. Later he found out it was from AIDS and that his wife (4th one) was infected. As customary when an older brother passes away, his wife was given for marriage to his little brother. He had a dilemma since he could not disclose the HIV status of the woman to the parents but he also did not want to see the little brother die the same way. We discussed the role of the health care workers and how one can not change a culture but there are practices that exist that are counterproductive to making the population healthier.