The Safest Place I've Ever Lived In

I pride myself on that I feel like I am slowly getting my bearings around here, after 8 months in Mali and 6 living in my village (go me!). Things that normally would have shocked me a year ago seem commonplace now, and I am forgetting how different I found life here. However, there still are those moments of surrealness, where I shake my head and remind myself to let it go. Like when I come to my host family’s for dinner one night, and find a cow head roasting in a fire, its big tongue lolling out of its mouth. I stood there in the compound, watching it slowly roast. I’m not sure who was more intrigued: me, by the fiery cow’s head, or my family, intrigued that I was intrigued (no, I don’t know what happened to it afterwards, and no, I don’t want to know). Or when the doctor tells me that everyone will be on vacation for “Paques” next month, and seeing my confused look, explains to me that this is when Jesus Christ died and then rose from the dead (“it’s a Christian holiday”). I guess I am grateful that there are still moments like these that keep me on my toes.

Anyway, time for your cultural notes of the day from Mali. This topic was suggested by my father, who m in our phone conversation the other day, was surprised by the polar opposites that make up security, and violence, in our separate worlds right now. While the BBC keeps me up to date on how the drug cartels are running amuck in Mexico, the only thing dangerous about my village is the donkeys wandering around. In reality, there is little crime or violence in my little town, and if there is, there is no police force that would deal with it. As far as I have been able to tell, any matters dealing with property damage or loss, or other such disputes, are either taken to the chief of village or to the commune mayor’s office. There are no security forces, either local or military, in my area; as far as I can tell, there is a slight presence at the Guinean/Malian border 25k south of me, and in Kita, 90k to my north. Which often surprises me, because although Mali is a fairly peaceful country (especially in my area) it is also well-known that people are continuously smuggling goods (and God knows what else) from Guinea.
The only governmental presence I have seen is the mayor’s office, the nature reserve rangers, and the border control force (the only people I’ve seen with weapons). Because of the decentralization process that Mali undertook 10 to 15 years ago, the aim is that local communities are responsible for development and governance, and not the central government. Although this doesn’t mean that my village is responsible for patrolling the area, there is less of a federal presence, at all governmental levels, than one would expect. It is meant to encourage local participation in solving local problems, although so far I have heard mixed results.