My name is Bruce Whitehouse. I am an anthropologist living in Bamako, Mali from August 2011 through June 2012. I consider Bamako a “budding metropolis” because, while it’s nowhere near as large as cities like Lagos, Kinshasa or Johannesburg, it is believed to have about two million inhabitants and to be Africa’s fastest-growing city. My aim in this blog is to describe some of the changes that have been taking place in Bamako, and some of the challenges and delights of living in this city. To learn more about my research and work as a professor of anthropology at Lehigh University, see my professional website.
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Bruce,
Wow! I’ve been following your blog since yesterday after a Mali RPCV friend sent me the link, but only just now noticed that it was you! I’m sure you must be the same Bruce Whitehouse from Vermont that met up with my parents before you shipped out to Mali that first time! Stay safe, Bruce. For all of us who have Mali deep in our hearts, this is agonizing to watch, as it must be for you. Your reports are greatly appreciated. “Amba yigiri” – May god fix this (dogon benediction)
-Shawn Davis
Mali ’96-’98
Bruce- I am REALLY appreciating your on-the-ground updates about the coup and am also enjoying going through your past posts and photos. I’m an RPCV from Bamako (Korafina Nord) ’02-’04 and this is some of the best and most reliable info I’ve found online.
Allah ka here caya! Please be safe and thank you again!
-Ben Kudler
Mali ’02-’04
Thanks guys for writing. I’ve been getting lots of e-mails from fellow RPCVs (I was in the Sikasso region from 1997 to 2000). It’s great to hear from you.
Hey Bruce: Shawn Davis sent us a link to your blog and we have been getting more info from it than from BBC or RFI. Keep up the good reporting.
Our best regards from your neighbors in Dakar.
Todd Crosby
Djeure djeff, Todd.
Isn’t it ironic that when you pronounce CNRDRE it sounds like “Cendres”? I’m sure that this is the current morose joke on the Bamakois streets…
I”m just wondering if they’ll burn the Culture Bank in Douentza as Haaram….
Bruce, your blog is the best, most in-depth, insightful news I’ve found all week.
Hi Bruce,
I just stumbled across your blog through friend’s posts on Facebook and remembered that we’d corresponded briefly last year about Peace Corps Sikasso and grad schools. I’ll finish my master’s in Public Administration at Syracuse University this summer, at which point I was supposed to head back to Mali to do some research for a professor. My fingers are crossed that the situation stabilizes so my trip can happen.
Thanks so much for your detailed reporting about the coup. I’ve been sitting here pouring over your blog since I found it a few hours ago and will continue to follow in the coming days.
Stay safe (and cool) in Mali.
Beatrice Scheuermann
Carleton ’07
RPCV, Sikasso ’08-11
salam bruce, thanks for the great blogging, it’s a wonderful source of information on the situation in mali at the moment. best regards holger brune, orientalist m.a. germany
Bruce – I really appreciate your updates and insights as there is little quality reporting. I graduated from Lehigh in 1985 and got an MBA there in 1990. Last June I took my son to Mali to build a school in a village named Bafaga with an NGO called buildOn (over 170 schools built in Mali to date). I must admit Bamako was a bit overwhelming after time in a small village. thanks
Just picked this up via a friend and I was delighted to find just a balanced report in English
Just discovered your blog, Bruce, and haven’t had the chance to read much other than today’s post. I graduated from Lehigh in June of 1982 and headed to Mali a month later for my Peace Corps Stage.
I lived in Loulouni, (region Sikasso) from 1982-Sept 1984. It remains one of the greatest experiences of my life! Enjoy, stay safe!
Carla Askonas (dite Rokiya Sylla)
I Sylla! I know Loulouni – I was perhaps 30 km from there, in a village called Lofine which is NW of Kadiolo. I had a PCV friend in Loulouni whom I visited occasionally. Thanks for writing, Allah ka Mali haminakow nogoya.
Hi Bruce, Just got a link to your site from another RPCV (surprise, right!). Thanks for posting all this, and so glad to hear that you’re also into anthropology. After Peace Corps (I was in Bankass), I ended up in India, but hope to make my way back to northern Mali. Sad that all this has broken out! Thanks for keeping all of us informed from a cultural perspective and not just “press” coverage. Your compassion for the nation and its people bleeds through. I ni ce. I ni bara.
Hello Bruce, Thanks for your reporting. The broader regional implications are pretty edgy. Stay safe. I travelled for a year throughout Africa in ’87 and found the Tuareg some of the most intriguing groups we met. Noble, proud and marginalised, they saved our lives and others, routinely as we stumbled through their homeland. It would be interesting to hear your take on how they are playing into the social problems further south in the Sahel.
ciao Bruce … thanks for all the info … please I have some questions for you about photographers in Mali and about CMD. I am not a journalist … just an ordinary african citizen
How can I possibly contact you privately? Email? Phone?
cheers
‘kola
Thank you for your picture of the happenings in Bamako. This is a most painful time for those outside looking in. I worked in Bamako and Koulikouro Region 2000 – 2010. Leota Haynes
Bruce! Congrats on your blog and your book. Great to see you in print. I always liked your writing. All best wishes to your family, and to Mali…
Meadow
Bruce,
I would like to thank you for this blog. I have worked in Mali for three years (University of Bamako, FLASH) and since the beginning of the crisis I’m desperately trying to get as much (and diverse) information as possible. Your blog is an important contribution.
Take care,
Conny (Bamako 2008-11)
Bruce,
It is very interesting to read your “reports” from Bamakonad surroundings, my wife and I were in Bamako and Segu last year after invitation from our daughter and really enjoyed it, but very sad that things are going the way they do. We got the web adress from our daughter so we could get
“latest news” have enjoyed it very much
You take care and we look forward to see latest news, which we hope will soon bring some positive
things for the country.
Ove Olesen
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