Will Mali Bounce Back?
A Eugene Peace Corp volunteer is evacuated to safety
BY CASSADY WALTERS
A
t first, it seemed possible that what
started as a military mutiny on March 22
might simply blow over. After a few
days of sheltering in my apartment, I
emerged to find Bamako, the capital of
the West African nation of Mali, just as I
had left it. Besides an underlying
uncertainty over just exactly how Mali’s
government would shape out, the mood
was bright and the city would be as colorful as always. At
work, a USAID youth-development project, most of my
colleagues insisted the coup could be a positive step for
Mali. They believed Amadou Toumani Touré, Mali’s ousted
president, to be the head of a horribly corrupt government
that was a democracy in name only.
But the military junta, a jumble of 30-something officers
(the leader, Amadou Sanogo, has received military training
in the U.S.), has not proven up to the task. In just a few
weeks, Mali spiralled out of control. Taking advantage of
the political instability in Bamako, the entire northern half
of the country, an area that contains mostly desert in
addition to the illustrious Tomboctou, was declared an
independent nation by a mix of rebel groups. It has yet to be
recognized by the international community. This new
nation, Azawad, carries with it a host of its own problems:
a mounting refugee crisis (refugees fleeing the area now
exceed 300,000), rebel groups vying for control and a
growing extremist Islamist threat.
And yet, when the U.S. embassy in Mali finally called
for an authorized evacuation and Peace Corps made the
C A S S A D Y WA LT E R S I N M A L I
WITH HER HOST-GRANDMOTHER,
B A N TA T R A O R É
decision to evacuate on April 3, I was far from ready to
leave. I had a plan to stay in Mali for a year more. I had a
life that I had worked hard to build in a country that I loved,
surrounded by a community I had created and nurtured. And
this too: I had my pride. The majority of the expatriate
community in Bamako had already evacuated, but I had
stayed behind, relieved that I had been spared evacuation
thus far. Colleagues at work insisted that I was different, a
true Malian. While I knew that the decision to evacuate was
not under my control, I did want to believe in my colleagues’
idea of me and my position in Mali.
When I left Mali the first time in 2010, after two years
serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in a rural village, I
thought there would never be a harder goodbye. Being
forced to evacuate from the country suddenly and with little
chance to say goodbye, proved me wrong. I came home
feeling like the life that I loved had been destroyed. Friends
and family welcomed me home as if my vacation had been
cut short. I did not know how to respond when they said
“You must be so happy to be back!” I had not wanted to
leave and I did not want to be home. The effects of Sanogo’s
coup d’état on Mali are still uncertain, but what is clear is
that it changed the path of my life. What remains uncertain
is what its effects on Mali will be.
A transitional civilian government was put into place in
Bamako on April 14, but Sanogo and the military still seem
to be running the show. Many Malians still support Sanogo
and feel that the coup offers a chance for a renewed
government based on a true democracy. Soon, Mali’s
transitional civilian government’s time will be up. They
were allotted 40 days to set Mali on a new path, and Sanogo
has said he intends to step back into power when those 40
days run out on May 20.
I check Twitter every morning for news on Mali. I call my
Malian friends. Bamako is calm, they report, but everyone is
tense. Instead of telling me that things are safe and there is no
reason for me to leave, they tell me it is safer for me to be out
of Mali right now. The optimism that Mali would quickly
bounce back after the coup is no longer present.
For two months now, Mali has pushed through uncertainty,
always hoping that tomorrow will bring more clarity. May 20
could bring an end to that uncertainty or signal that it will
continue for months to come. I have the ability to leave Mali
behind in a way, by pursuing a life in the U.S. I was forced to
leave, but now I can make my own path: my future no longer
depends on Mali. But millions of others’ lives do still revolve
around how the political situation will develop.
EDITOR’S NOTE: An agreement was reached May 20 to keep the civilian
government in place, but demonstrators stormed the presidential palace and the
president was hospitalized.
Cassady Walters is a 2004 graduate of South Eugene High School. After graduating
from Whitman College in 2008, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali
from 2008-2010. She then returned to Mali in 2011 as a Peace Corps Response
Volunteer to work with the USAID youth-development project PAJE-Nièta. In the
fall she will attend the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies to
pursue a masters in international affairs.
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EUGENE WEEKLY MAY 24, 2012 13