Jace Cole (dot) com

I’m currently working in the field doing observation and contextual research with development teams in Bla, Mali. I’m working in Base de Bla which is a home base for the NGO that serves 3 programs and over 100,000 beneficiaries.

It’s mad hot here, very desert like. The temp yesterday was near 41C or about 105F. I know, I should be grateful considering the sub zero and 12+” of snow back home in Chicago. The poverty here makes the area we saw in Ethiopia look like a paradise. In Bla, and the Segou region, there is no electricity, water is more scarce, and the heat is brutal. I’m very humbled to be able to have this experience, and know that the work I’m doing will hopefully empower this NGO with the tools they need to help touch more communities like Bla. It’s truly amazing to see how happy the children are here… no matter how bad we think they have it, they don’t know that. They have no perception of how other people live.

I am staying safe, and trying to stay cool. 9 more days then home… I do miss my bed!

In this gallery you’ll find a pictures from Addis Ababa and my visit to the Guraghe Area Development Programme.

‘Addis’ is an amazing city, very beautiful with friendly people.

Guraghe programme is named after the tribal area. There are over 270,000 people in this area that have all been touched by the amazing work of the NGO I’m here working with.

Pics

Arrived in Bamako, République du Mali yesterday. Very interesting and quite a different place than Ethiopia. Mali is the 5th poorest nation in the world. You could tell immediately upon arrival into a single strip airport, our Ethiopian flight being the only commercial aircraft on the field. We parked next to a huge USAF cargo plane. (assuming its here for humanitarian relief)

When there is no other way to communicate its amazing how much French you can recall from 2 years of what i thought was then worthless French class at the old Liberty Benton High School. Mali is very French, and very very few people speak English. Mali was a former French colony and still using the cefa currency.

I’ve been using the brain cells I was sure I killed to bring back the few words I know to get around. Today I was able to communicate that I needed a SIM card and determine the calling rate to the US. Very proud of myself doing that as the GSM celluar system is only 98 CFA or about $0.22 / min much better than T-Mobile’s $4.99/min + Long Distance!

Hope everyone is well!

Enjoy the Super Bowl, I don’t think I’ll be able to see it here, it’s not real “Football”