Security Problems

Ini Wula (Good Afernoon)

Hope all is well. The last 2- 3 days have been really packed so i thought id blog again.

On Wednesday, me and Felicity went to UMAV again with group of young people from the U.K. with learning disabilities (aka Fran’s Group) to record more of their stay here in Bamako. They taught another English lesson, where even more interesting questions were asked by both groups. They even sang London’s burning for the class after the teacher requested an English song. The class responded by singing a Malian song as a thanks. After the English lesson we took part in goal ball (Dodge-ball but for blind people) it was really fun and amazing to see how it had been adapted for blind children. At Lunchtime we joined the dinner ladies in serving the children rice and peanut sauce. The children usually come into the canteen and sit down, whilst the partially sighted children help the dinner ladies in giving out the food. They tend to tap the children on the shoulder to indicate that their food is on the table. Overall it was a really enjoyable morning, and I much preferred it to be in a French meeting.

Today, I went back to Amaldene to observe the departments that I had not yet seen. I went the Psychology which I thought was probably the one that I found the most interesting alongside occupational therapy. The teacher who is only 24 was very busy whilst we there, he saw 2 different girls one which was Autistic and another who was epileptic. As well as a mother who wanted to know what conclusion he came to on the assessment he carried out on her son on Monday (which is evaluation day). Whilst in the psychology department, it became apparent how dangerous child birth can be for the mother and child especially in developing countries. At Amaldene I have come across a lot of children who have a range of learning difficulties because of problems faced during childbirth, namely the child not crying at birth.

The security situation in Mali especially in northern Mali has turned for the worse. The Tuareq fighters that fought alongside Gaddafi want independence from the south. They are now heavily armed and have taken over 3 cities in the north. The wives and families of the soldiers that were killed during the fighting have started demonstrating in Bamako, and apparently these demonstrations are turning violent. Tuareq families in Bamako are reportedly being targeted (and some of the staff have told me, I look tuareq GREAT).  We have been advised by the British Foreign Office not to go into certain areas of Bamako mainly the city centre. Hopefully everything will be okay soon. Also this weekend we are visiting Siby where the waterfalls are, so that should be really fun and I’m looking forward to it.