On New Year's Eve we will be flying to Bamako, Mali, West Africa, with a layover in Paris. We will be taking a trip organized by Adventures in Rock in collaboration with Women Worldwide. It is a very unique trip which offers a volunteer experience in a Dogon village as well as an opportunity to enjoy the world famous Festival in the Desert, a music festival which takes place in the outskirts of the Sahara not far from Timbuktu.
Our volunteer work will take place in the Dogon village of Kori-Maounde, located on the Bandiagara Escarpment. We will be doing community service projects as well as teaching English classes, while being hosted by members of the community.
We will spend two nights camping in the Sahara at Essakane, the site of the Festival in the Desert. The Festival was begun in 2001 by the Touareg nomads as a way to preserve their tradition of getting together with one another annually to exchange ideas. It has become a large draw for the international community as well, with people coming from all over the world to share in the experience.
American blues music has its roots in Malian music, a fact which has been explored by western performers including Corey Harris and Taj Mahal. Being the blues fans that we are, we are excited by the chance to see traditional and modern Malian music performed in its native land. One of the best-known contemporary Malian musicians was the late Ali Farka Toure. His son Vieux Farka Toure will be performing at this year's festival, and is sure to be a highlight.
We are really looking forward to meeting our fellow travelers: Pamela, Susan, and Tina. I am not sure whether we will have any internet access during the trip, but if we do, we will send an update.
We are supposed to get a snowstorm today, so we hope that our 5:30 pm flight is able to take off. We have our fingers crossed! But an 8 hour layover in Paris will hopefully be enough of a cushion...
No comments:
Post a Comment