Tag Archives: bamako

Good riddance, ATT?

[Post-coup situation update for Sunday evening, March 25: Life in Bamako continues to normalize. Fuel stations are open, and new imports of gasoline and diesel have been authorized across Mali’s otherwise sealed borders. I have heard no reports of gunfire … Continue reading

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Amadou Sanogo: Power is his middle name

As events have unfolded since Mali’s coup d’état on Thursday, much has come to light concerning the coup’s apparent leader, Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, President of the Comité Nationale pour le Redressement de la Démocratie et la Restauration de l’Etat … Continue reading

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The Coup, Day Four

7:00 a.m.: Hèrè sira, as they say in Bamanan — we spent a peaceful night. I have not heard further shooting or booms of any kind since 11:15 last night. Power was only out for a couple of hours after … Continue reading

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The Coup, Day Three

7:30 a.m.: Power was cut for several hours overnight. Unfortunately the electrical supply was already becoming irregular in the weeks before the coup, due to increasing demand during the hot season (March through early June). But until Thursday, outages came … Continue reading

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Coup update, Thursday March 22

7:30 a.m.: Whereas last night the only shooting we heard came from across the river, this morning we can hear shots coming from multiple directions. A friend who lives 300m away texted me a few minutes ago to say “bandits” … Continue reading

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Gunfire across the Niger

Our first indication of trouble brewing comes around 1 p.m. Wednesday, when our son’s daycare phones to ask us to bring him home four hours early. They are closing up, they say, because of possible violence in downtown Bamako. Some … Continue reading

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Riding the SOTRAMA

For getting around Bamako, you really have four options. Provide your own transportation. As I wrote in a previous post, more and more Bamakois can afford to do so, whether on two or four wheels. Still, most city residents don’t … Continue reading

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Of wars and rumors of wars

In case you’ve missed it, a violent rebellion has been gathering force over the last couple of months in the north of Mali. Since mid-January, Malian government posts in several northern towns have been attacked, with the attacks claimed by … Continue reading

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Too many women in this town?

A key part of my current Bamako research is discussions with groups of 8 to 10 city residents, in which my research assistants and I ask questions pertaining to family and marriage. We organize each of these focus groups to … Continue reading

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Bamako, 1997 to 2012: What’s changed?

Fifteen years ago this month, I came to Bamako for the very first time. In those days I was a fresh-faced Peace Corps trainee, more eager to get out to my rural post than to experience the city. On the … Continue reading

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