MaliMali sponsors 'Crepissage'

Oh, yes!
Almost forgot the following important message:

Although the library belongs to the population of  Djenne  and normally money is found to do it through a communal collection,  no one had any money in this year...but  MaliMali was able to sponsor it through donations we have had!

Thank you kind people who have sent us money.

'Crepissage' de la Bibliotheque de Manuscrits de Djenne

The Crepissage (mud plastering)  of the Djenne Manuscript Library may not be as famous as that of the Great Mosque of Djenne, but it takes place every year  just like on all the mud buildings of this town.

When the Great Mosque, which lies a stone’s throw away from the Library, is plastered, it is a great Djenne Festival. Everyone takes part and everyone gets messy and covered in mud. But any other building in Djenne is plastered by the masons, often  with the help of the talibes from the Koran schools. This is the case here, with Grand Marabouts de Djenne Yelfa (right,) one of our two  library archivists and well known to readers of this journal by now,  and Hasseye Traore,  President of  the Djenne Manuscript Library management committee  taking a supervisory role only  while Yelfa’s talibe’s do the dirty work. 

 

The mason is precariously perched on top of the ladder

 but however dangerous this work looks,  no one can remember anyone ever falling off a ladder in Djenne during ‘Crepissage’!

I will be trying to find a home for the above sandals before, but if not, there will be a MaliMali sale in my Ladbroke Grove flat at the end of August, with lots of other things too. I will be spending a whole month in my own Notting Hill pad before returning to Mali! Very excited and cheered up by this prospect.

 Those that were part of the 'Sophie Salonistas' may be pleased to learn that Tuesdays will resume again for a short moment, as if nothing had happened in between...

Djenne Jeremiad

A few years ago I found this picture on the floor at Malik Sidibe’s studio in Bagadadji, Bamako, about to be swept out. I asked the grand old man if I could have it, he agreed and even stamped the back of the picture with ‘Malik Sidibe Studio’.

I can never watch this little girl without smiling. She cheers me up every time.

And now she illustrates perfectly what I feel like.  Everything is wrong!

Confusion reigns everywhere:  On the top of the list there is the Kidal crisis which is disturbing me greatly.

Secondly there is a huge MaliMali disaster in London:   the sandals Adama and I worked on for more than two weeks  in Bamako have been rejected by the smart Kensington  shop that ordered them as not being good enough. I have had to return the money and thirty pairs of sandals are sitting in London.  I bear the lady of the shop no grudges, but am of course sorry about what was clearly a misundertanding and a case of misplaced expectations. We worked extremely hard on these shoes and spent a lot of money getting them produced and sent. I think they are lovely. However, it is not Gucci quality clearly, and certain rough edges are unavoidable if you work with a local cobbler at the Artisanat of Bamako.

 

 

Having said that, I am the first to express that if Mali wants to progress there should be no favours given and merchandise should be of competitive quality with the other merchandise on sale to the West London ladies. But that is perhaps impossible at the moment- there is no high quality shoe factory in Mali. Most people seem not to bother to even try to make things here. Edun, the fashion company which is set up by Bono’s wife Ali Hewson to create work opportunities in the spirit of ‘Aid by Trade’ has quietly shifted their manufacture – it does not manufacture in West Africa. If you look at what they do in Mali you will find that they mention that a ‘lining’ in one of their ultra expensive garments comes from Mali!  OK. But  I say: this is what we have. This is what we have to work with, there is no other option but to try!

There is a MaliMali Fedex parcel story which is turning into a tragi-comedy- I really don’t know whether to laugh or cry, but since there are too many other things wrong, I tend to tip over in favour of the latter. This parcel was sent on the 14th of May from Bamako to New York. It is a gift from a father in Australia to his daughter in the U.S. on her birthday which was on the 23^rd of May. There should have been plenty of time for the parcel to wing its way first to Paris and then straight on to New York. But no. The parcel was lost and then found and has been traced to Memphis Tennessee (!) and then to an obscure airport in UTAH! Finally it was supposed to be delivered two days ago. But again, no. I get a message from Fedex saying the address is wrong. I check the address:  it is correct. I have no strength to go on it is too boring. The parcel is still not delivered. The price of Fedex delivery from Bamako is extremely high. The price of the merchandise on the website is often half or even more simply in Fedex charges.

To continue this Jeremiad in the spirit it was begun let’s cast out eyes to the town of Djenne: there is an enormous cement building going up smack bang in the centre of Djenne where nothing but mud is allowed according to UNESCO rules.

Furthermore there is trouble rumbling at the Manuscript library regarding internet access to the manuscripts.

And Petit Bandit is only nibbling half heartedly at his millet and getting thinner and thinner. What is wrong?

Then there is…. And…and…and then….

 LAST MINUTE ATTEMPT

The Malian Army, as mentioned two days ago, have marched north towards Kidal, and have successfully captured the town of Anefis, where they encountered MNLA resistance. There have been 10 rebel casualties reported and two Malian soldiers injured. The Army continued northward this morning, but were stopped in their tracks by the French at the gates of Kidal. Mali jet reports:

‘Only a few  kilometres from the town of Kidal, the Malian forces have been stopped by the French who are manoeuvering to start negotiations in extremis with the rebels from the MNLA so that they put down their arms. France intend to give a last chance to the MNLA , favouring a peaceful reconquest by negotiations.’

We are on the edge of our seats.

 Of course the reconquest of Kidal by peaceful means would be the preferable option. But the possibility seems remote. The MNLA are dug in, and are hardly likely to change their tune. But who knows? With the weight of the French behind the negotiations, and with the French finally asking the MNLA to lay down their arms, perhaps it will work? Even Holland admitted yesterday that the flag of Mali needs to fly at Kidal before elections can be held.

Failing the above scenario, it is hard to know what sort of ‘negotiations’ the French are talking about here. The Malian people have shown clearly that they do not accept an armed MNLA in Kidal. The MNLA have shown clearly that they intend not to give in. So if they don’t accept to put down their arms, what is there to say?

Let's wait and see. But whatever gratitude the Malians feel towards the French and however commendable it is to try and resolve a conflict by negotiations, would it really be possible for the French to force their former colony to dance to their tune ? Mali is, however poor and however weak now, still a sovereign nation. Once more it must be understood by the international community that the MNLA, who are now jeopardizing the peaceful return to democracy by their refusal to lay down their arms, does not even represent the Tuareg people of Kidal! The entire Malian nation including the majority of Tuaregs except this tiny pocket of rebels want the Malian flag to fly over Kidal!

PEACEFUL MARCH TOO LATE!

 A couple of nights ago our friend the journalist Levy had dinner with us in the Djenne Djenno garden under the Malian stars. The conversation turned as always now towards the subject of Kidal. The embryo of a possible solution was engendered, which now seems too late alas…

Our idea was this: ANKATA KIDAL! (Let’s go to Kidal!)

There will be a peaceful march on Kidal. The people of Mali will quite simply begin the long journey northward and go! Like the tiny trickles that eventually make up the great river, one by one the vehicles will join the convoy with white flags and Malian flags draped over every car and lorry. No one with weapons will be allowed to join the convoy. We will march on Kidal and in every village we pass more people will join and they too will drape the white and Malian flag across their vehicles.  Young and old the Malian people will lay down what  they are doing and turn northwards with us. The road blocks will let us through- who will stop us? This is what everyone wants.  By the time we reach Kidal we will be a thousand strong.  What will the MNLA do? Kill us? Of course not. They will be forced to lay down their arms by peaceful means!

We will march on Kidal, Wallai! This march on Kidal will open up the road for the Malian administration and finally the Malian army will follow and the entire Malian nation will be regained peacefully by the Malian people themselves this time!

I was totally ready to drop everything and start to move on this beautiful idea this morning, but the law abiding Keita suggested that we needed to inform the authorities. ‘Don’t be silly!’ I objected. ‘ You don’t ask for permission to start revolutions!’

However, we seem to be too late. Today the Malian Ministry of Defence confirmed that they have deployed troops which are on their way to Kidal. Inhabitants of Anefis, a locality 150 k north of Gao and 200k south of Kidal have confirmed seeing large number of Malian troops, heavily armed. This comes a couple of days after reports of the black population of Kidal suffering arrests and being ‘chased out’ of Kidal. A lorry of 25 young black Kidal inhabitants arrived in Gao this afternoon. These young men had been forced onto the lorry at gunpoint without even being allowed to go and gather their belongings.
Large numbers of people were marching in Gao last Friday and Sunday to manifest their dissatisfaction about the Kidal situation. Today there was a suicide bomber in Kidal who fortunately managed to blow himself up only.
What will the next few days bring?
Ala K'an Deme, Ala k' an Jamana kissi.
(God help us, God protect our country.)

Back in Djenne

Back in Djenne after a schizophrenic two weeks in Bamako: daytime trying to produce not only acceptable but beautiful merchandise in the grime and madness which lies at the heart of the capital: the Artisanat and the central market. It is impossible to imagine a more tumultuous and anarchic location.

But there were consolations at hand in the latter part of the days which were spent in the air conditioned comfort of the Bamako diplomatic lifestyle- either relaxing by my hostess Anne-Maria’s pool or having drinks or dinner at the best of what Bamako has to offer.

But even with such unquestionable perks I was thrilled to come home to Djenne. Went riding tonight on Petit Bandit who seemed pleased to see me- or was it my wishful thinking? Just had a whisky and ginger juice on my terrace and watched once more the football players kick up the dust in the empty space between the hotel  and the Great Mosque.

The heat is no longer tempered by the blasts of the Harmattan but the air is absolutely  still and the heavens seem like the lid of a pressure cooker- there is now no relief until the rains start. Keita and I will sleep on the roof tonight, but the stars are no longer visible and the night brings no cooling down: this is the end and the culmination of the Great Heat.

There were supposed to be 6 Americans here from the US embassy tonight. Everyone got excited of course as usual at the prospect of some proper hotel guests. Dinner was planned, small repairs were carried out, garden was swept with special care and Boubakar was told to go and wash his uniform  which was looking grubby I thought. Then I thought I’d better check if there wasn’t any vegetarians among them, so I sent a text message off, and soon got a reply: ‘they were not coming. It had been cancelled. So sorry!’  Now, would I have known this if I hadn’t texted them about the vegetarians? Who knows.  Perhaps they would have told us…. I texted back saying “no problem but that it is important to cancel things in small hotels in the bush.” Actually I don’t know if there ARE any small hotels in the bush left. We may be the only one!

Kidal Crisis deepens

 

Who ARE these people? What right do they have to discuss the future of Mali??? Where is the Malian government representative???

In recent months the Malian interim government has often been accused of silencing the press. In fact, there are times when they would do well to do so: the total liberty of internet news vehicles like www.malijet.com is publishing incendiary articles often by anonymous sources with resulting comments,  intended for the incitement of hatred- these sort of articles or comments would never be allowed in the Western Press. I will give below two examples, referring to the meeting in Ouagadougou between the Ecowas mediator Djibrill Bassolé and Ibrahim Ag Mohamed Assaleh, the MNLA's representative, where the MNLA said they would accept the presidential elections being held in Kidal, but only in the absence of the Malian army. This is of course a huge insult to the sovereignty of the Malian nation, and totally incomprehensible to the Malian people. A storm of comments was unleashed on Malijet, with more than 250 comments- most of which would never have seen the light  anywhere else but in a place totally untrammeled by censorship. I have just picked two comments, one representing each side:

'The patience of the Malian people has limits. Do not join insult to humiliation. The Malian people will be intransigent on the case of Kidal. Do not let the country descend into blood and fire for the sake of a minority within a minority ! (refers to the MNLA not being representative of the Touaregs)and for sordid reasons. You will be surprised by the reaction of the Malians. For Pity’s sake I ask of the Malian leadership to put an end to this Circus! The scars are too recent to turn the knife in the wound. (Refers to Aguelhoc, the massacre of close to 100 unarmed soldiers by the MNLA, which can be seen as the beginning of the present crisis) There cannot be two armies in Mali. The French Army cannot stop the people if they decide to march on Koulouba. (The presidential palace – euphemism for Revolution.)

‘The Touaregs are happy to let their blood flow for the cause of freedom, that does not frighten us. But just know that the blood of one Touareg is paid by the blood of a thousand negroes, so just make your calculations! I bet you have never taken part in a combat! You are one of these effeminate men with a big belly and a big arse- for a real warrior doesn’t talk like that. There may be some Touaregs in Bamako, but there are plenty of Blacks in Kidal. Don’t cry Aguelhoc- it may be repeated!”

Ala Ka An Deme!
(May God Help us!|)