An African Phenomenon

Funny story posted by Yahoo! News regarding cell phones and Africa. It's not just an African phenomenon, because it happened when I was in Europe too. Basically, anywhere that there is prepaid cell phone service, people will want to save their money and just beep the other person forcing them to call you back. It's great.

Enjoy!

Phone credit low? Africans go for "beeping"

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - If you are in Sudan it is a 'missed call'. In Ethiopia it is a 'miskin' or a 'pitiful' call. In other parts of Africa it is a case of 'flashing', 'beeping' or in French-speaking areas 'bipage'. Wherever you are, it is one of the fastest-growing phenomena in the continent's booming mobile telephone markets -- and it's a headache for mobile operators who are trying to figure out how to make some money out of it. You beep someone when you call them up on their mobile phone -- setting its display screen briefly flashing -- then hang up half a second later, before they have had a chance to answer. Your friend -- you hope -- sees your name and number on their list of 'Missed Calls' and calls you back at his or her expense. It is a tactic born out of ingenuity and necessity, say analysts who have tracked an explosion in miskin calls by cash-strapped cellphone users from Cape Town to Cairo. "Its roots are as a strategy to save money," said Jonathan Donner, an India-based researcher for Microsoft who is due to publish a paper on "The Rules of Beeping" in the high-brow online Journal of Computer Mediated Communication in October. Donner first came across beeping in Rwanda, then tracked it across the continent and beyond, to south and southeast Asia. Studies quoted in his paper estimate between 20 to more than 30 percent of the calls made in Africa are just split-second flashes -- empty appeals across the cellular network. The beeping boom is being driven by a sharp rise in mobile phone use across the continent. Africa had an estimated 192.5 million mobile phone users in 2006, up from just 25.3 million in 2001, according to figures from the U.N.'s International Telecommunication Union. Customers may have enough money for the one-off purchase of a handset, but very little ready cash to spend on phone cards for the prepaid accounts that dominate the market. Africa's mobile phone companies say the practice has become so widespread they have had to step in to prevent their circuits being swamped by second-long calls. "We have about 355 million calls across the whole network every day," said Faisal Ijaz Khan, chief marketing officer for the Sudanese arm of Kuwaiti mobile phone operator Zain (formerly MTC). "And then there are another 130 million missed calls every day. There are a lot of missed calls in Africa."

'CALL ME BACK'

Zain is responding to the demand by drawing up plans for a "Call-me-back" service in Sudan, letting customers send open requests in the form of a very basic signal to friends for a phone call. The main advantage for the company is that the requests will be diverted from the main network and pushed through using a much cheaper technology (USSD or Unstructured Supplementary Service Data). A handful of similar schemes are springing up across Africa, says Informa principal analyst Devine Kofiloto. "It is widespread. It is a concern for operators in African countries, whose networks become congested depending on the time of day with calls they cannot bill for. "They try to discourage the practice by introducing services where customers can send a limited number of 'call-back' request either free of charge or for a minimum fee." There are plenty of other reasons why mobile operators are keen to cut down on the practice. One is it annoys customers, pestered by repeated missed calls. A second is that 'flashes' eat into one of mobile phone companies' favorite performance indicators -- ARPU or average revenue per user. Miscalls earn very little in themselves - and don't always persuade the target to ring back. Orange Senegal, Kofiloto said, lets customers send a 'Rappelle moi' ('Call me back') when their phone credit drops below $0.10. With Safaricom Kenya, it is a "Flashback 130" (limited to five a day -- and with the admonishment 'Stop Flashing! Ask Nicely'). Vodacom DR Congo's 'Rappelez moi SVP' service costs $0.01 a message.

MORE THAN MONEY

But beeping is not only about money. Donner's 'Rules of Beeping' suggests a social protocol for the practice. "The richer guy pays," he writes. It is acceptable to beep someone if you are short of cash and they are flush with credit. Never beep someone poorer than you.
Never beep someone you are tapping for a favor. You don't want to risk annoying the person you are trying to win over. Never flash your girlfriend, unless you want to look cheap.
"Most beeps are requests to the mobile owner to call back immediately, but can also send a pre-negotiated instrumental message such as pick me up now,' or send a relational sign, such as I'm thinking of you,'" the paper says. It can go even further than that. Cameroonian researchers Victor W.A. Mbarika and Irene Mbarika identified a different kind of beeping-powered relational call in a study for the technology association the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). "Lovers often communicate with text messages or beeping'," said the study. "One party dials another's number and then hangs up. One ring could mean, I am here,' two rings, Call me now.'" And the name they gave this new entry in the beeping lexicon? Borrowing a street slang term for an appeal for sex, they christened it "the booty call."

September 13, 2007 - Ramadan Begins

Tomorrow is the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. I’ve Wikipedia searched a short exerpt for your reading pleasure:

“The third pillar of Islam, which is fasting, is practiced during the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is derived from an Arabic word for intense heat and scorched ground. (in Arabic: رمضان, Ramaḍān) – – and it is the ninth month of the Islamic (Hijri) calendar, established in the year 638 CE. It is considered the most venerated, blessed and spiritually-beneficial month of the Islamic year. Prayers, fasting, charity, and self-accountability are especially stressed at this time; religious observances associated with Ramadan are kept throughout the month.

"Ramadan is the month during which the Quran was revealed, providing guidance for the people, clear teachings, and the statute book. Those of you who witness this month shall fast therein. Those who are ill or traveling may substitute the same number of other days. Allah wishes for you convenience, not hardship, that you may fulfill your obligations, and to glorify Allah for guiding you, and to express your appreciation."[2:185]”

Last year Ramadan started shortly after I arrived. With trying to assimilate into Mali, I didn’t give fasting a second chance. I was already losing enough weight due to sickness. So, I’ve survived a whole year here and I’ve decided that I want to step up my acceptance/assimilation process and observing Ramadan is a good way to try that.

Now, here are some differences between a Malian fast and the Sara Rosen fast. Malians will wake up at 4 AM-ish (before sunrise), pray, eat and go back to sleep until they have to start their days. They will continue throughout the day to ingest nothing – this includes saliva. At 6 PM-ish (at sunset/prayer call), iced cold drinks, tea and fried foods will all be ready for the break fast. Malians will drink and eat a little, saving most of their appetite for dinner. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for 30 days.

The Sara Rosen fast will consist of the following. I will wake up around 5:30 everyday to eat breakfast, going back to sleep until at least 8 (I hope!). I will continue throughout the entire day without eating, but I will be drinking water. My abstention from drinking will include juices, sodas and alcohol. Frankly, if I didn’t drink water for one hot Malian day, I would not be well. At the break fast, I will let Malian’s enjoy their cold drinks and fried foods, and I will enjoy whatever fruit is seasonally available. Dinner will definitely be something for me to look forward to every night (recipes during this month are warmly accepted and greatly appreciated!).

As the most spiritually beneficial month of the year, I’m really going to take this opportunity to become more introspective and spiritual. Whether that means taking 10 minutes a day to meditate and reflect on my day or to actually start practicing Yoga, I don’t know yet. But, I need to figure it out, soon!

It’s going to be a tough month, but I think it will be really beneficial to my overall psyche. Updates along the way are certain and a personal thoughts post at the end of the month (after the fete!) is certain also.

Wish me luck!

P.S. I’ve also started a small experiment. It’s obvious that there will be some connection between not eating and losing some inches. So, I’ve already taken my measurements and will continue to do so each week throughout the month to see what the correlation is. Results forthcoming!

When the Laughing Cow met Ramadan

Sounds like it could start off as a really funny joke, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not a funny joke – it’s my life.

Around the world there is something called “The Laughing Cow” cheese – here it’s called La Vache Qui Rit (obviously, translated into French). Well, how many of you know my addiction to cheese? Yes, raise your hand now. I mean, if you’re not privy to such info, think of me every time you look at a block of Colby-Jack or Pepperjack. Never pass by the bag of already shredded Mexican 4-Cheese Blend without wanting to put it on a tortilla, microwave it for 20 seconds and then dip it in salsa. But, I digress.

So, La Vache Qui Rit. Did he really laugh? I laughed the first time I saw this cheese and I thought, “Wow, how gross is this?” Cheese that can sit on a shelf for 2 years without going bad – are Twinkies in the recipe? I even tried it once…plain. Just popped it right in my mouth and chewed. Possibly the worst mistake for a cheese addict. If you’re looking for a way to get over cheese, pop a triangle of Vache and you’ll never want dairy again. Needless to say, I swore it off, promising myself that every trip to Bamako would be full of dairy and I could survive like that.

Then September 9, 2007 rolled around – a day that will live in infamy. Someone left some Vache at the bureau in the refrigerator and I had some extra bread. So, I decided, you know what, I’ll try it again. Well, 28 hours and 20 triangles of Vache later (yeah, I slept for about 8 hours), I’ve converted to the love that is highly processed cheese.

Well, this new love couldn’t possibly come at a worse time. Starting on Thursday is the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. A month where fasting is the norm and strictly followed. I thought this meant just no food, but it literally means not swallowing anything (even saliva) between sunrise and sunset. So, what does this have to do with Vache? Well, this year I’ve decided to fast. Of course, like most things, I’m making a modified version of my fast and my teammate Beth accurately coined the term “The Toubab Fast.” Basically, I’m still going to continue to hydrate myself all day because if I don’t, I will most likely die from dehydration (I’m not joking) and no one wants that to happen. It’s in all of our best interests, really. Clearly there will be more to come regarding my month long fast.

So, for now, Vache will stop laughing. Maybe he will cry for me because I can’t enjoy him during the sunlight or maybe he will dance around in joy that I can’t consume every package of processed cheese in the cities of Sevare and Mopti. Who knows. But we can all rest assured that Vache and I will be having daily meetings, most likely at the break fast meal at sunset. How romantic!

How Far Will You Go?

Being that "How Far Will You Go?" is the motto of Peace Corps, I've decided to upload some photos to show how far I'm going (or me and my friends), in terms of living in Mali and having a great time.

More will be added later, perhaps in a How Far Will You Go - Part 2 section. But for now, enjoy.

Me and Ben, my old teammate, being "Peulh" in his Peulh boubou.

Me and MaryVirginia in Dogon Country - Going the Distance.

Me and MaryVirginia in Dogon Country - Clearly we took lots of photos there!

Me and MaryVirginia watching the sunrise - how romantic!

MaryVirginia in Indelou - I think we'll submit this for the Peace Corps catalog!

This is me traversing the cliffs in Dogon Country. These are "dogon ladders" to help, but I was the last one to cross/scared out of my mind. I won't even mention how high up we were.

Me on a canopy walkway in a national park in Ghana. Despite having malaria look how happy I am!

Me and Dan, my regionmate, and our two friends, "Mohammed and Ali."

Party at Chez Sara - Heather, Me, Beth and Cathleen. Rooftop parties in Mali are a definite saving grace.

Me and Beth, my current teammate. It's great to have good friends close by.

So, this is us, parts of Team Mali, seeing "How Far We'll Go," and it's going well, despite the constant ups and downs. Next time, maybe I'll actually post pictures of me working! I'll do that at the same time I unveil my top-secret project.

A toute a l'heure!

Il Faut

Il faut. Pretty simple phrase/command, but it has such a story behind it. For those of you who don’t know any French, it basically means “do it,” but is followed by a verb in the infinitive like, il faut aller (which means, “Go!”) or il faut manger (“Eat!”). It’s not the most pleasant way to talk to someone and you should never il faut an elder. Making the command form is easy if you conjugate the verb. For example, allez (“Go!) and mangez (“Eat!”). Well, in Mali all of that changes. Il faut is as everyday as bonjour or any other greeting. Bizarre, right? A culture where you’re supposed to be respectful of each other, but we il faut at every chance we get. Whenever there are French NGO workers/tourists around and we’re talking, I try my best not to il faut them, but it happens. I’m Malian, not French – of course I il faut. But the look upon a Frenchmen’s face when you il faut them is priceless. It’s kind of like, “Excuse me? Did you really just ask me to stop smoking.”

So why is it so bad and where did it come from? Answer is pretty simple and straightforward, but pretty disgusting, in my opinion. During colonization Mali was a French colony. In the government, the civil service, schools, the bank, the market – pretty much anywhere - Frenchmen would constantly order Malian’s around using the rudest form of a command – il faut! As the French were here “doing good” and teaching them, they left il faut as obvious a colonial memory as the French language itself.

Talking to some of my fellow American volunteers or other expats and even Malians, some claim we il faut because we’re too lazy to conjugate said verb into the command form. It seems to me that there are far more syllables in “Il faut aller” as opposed to “Allez!” Just a thought, but I think that’s a silly excuse. I think that Malians il faut because that’s what has been passed down throughout time. It’s the same way that any habit is picked up and passed on. Malians are used to commanding things because historically they were commanded to do things.

I’m not going to lie, I’m an il faut-er at heart and I like it. It’s not that I’m too lazy to conjugate, but normally if I il faut its because I really want the person to do it. And in this society where so few things take precedence and are actually important, il fauting might be the only way to get things done. Now, we might have a problem when I move back to America and I stop saying “Please” and “Thank You” and continue to demand things of people. But, I don’t forsee the reintegration being that difficult.

Il faut stay tuned to my next posting from Mali.

One Year Down, One Year To Go...

Well, here it is – the lamest excuse for not updating. Ready? “I’ve been busy.” Unfortunately, it’s so true. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think of things to write and that my mind isn’t constantly scanning my surroundings in search of the newest story for my blog.

But right now, the biggest thing going on is that I’ve made it for one year! Bravo to me, I guess. As much of an accomplishment as it is, it’s nothing in the long run. That statement alone should clue you into my mood – indecisive at best. Before we even left the USA to come to Mali we were told that the two year service would be a continual rollercoaster, with life always fluctuating. This would include things like homesickness, loving Mali, hating Mali, loving rice and sauce everyday, wanting ice water and anything and everything else you could possibly think of. As much as we believed this rollercoaster theory I was like, “Whatever, I’m going to love every single day of being in Mali.” I lied to myself then, but I tell myself the truth now – this is no easy task and getting frustrated with life is part of it all. That said, the one year mark is one of the lowest. You’ve been here for a year, so your language should be awesome and you should have integrated enough to love Mali and Malians and to have either gotten over or accepted their idiosyncrasies. Well, I’ve been here a year and I manage with the four languages (English, French, Bambara and Peulh) that I fluctuate between each day so that’s not too bad. But my big problem is that Malian’s are really started to get under my skin and it’s almost making me bitter. I just can’t accept certain things – being lied to about the time a bus will leave or being told “If God Will’s It” as an answer to any question from, “Are we eating today?” to “Will we send our shipment to the States tomorrow?” – and I let each of these things get to me. It’s ridiculous, right? I should just laugh it off and move on. But the other annoying thing is that when someone gets under your skin and you react to it, they know and they keep going. They’ll laugh at you or push you until you explode. It’s been a stressful past few months and I’ve exploded more than I ever thought I would. I always considered myself to be so tolerable of other cultures and customs and as this first year winds down, things bother me way more than I ever wanted them to.

All of that said, stress is the number one thing causes these explosions and they in turn, up the stress levels. It seems that right now, things are in a vicious cycle that I need to find a way of breaking. Everyone tells me to just take a break and do whatever I can to reduce the stress. Well, I guess the ultimate solution would be to hole myself up in my house and stay away from Malian’s/people for a few days. Clearly, that does not seem like a healthy answer. So, we’re currently exploring new ways to de-stress. Should you have any thoughts and/or ideas, I would gladly accept them.

Despite the heightened stress levels, I have to say that after a year, it feels nice to say, “Wow, I’ve been here a year!” A really great way to measure personal success is the incoming of the new volunteers – which is currently happening. It’s nice to go around with them, and watch as they have no idea what is going on and you’re the expert. As much as it sucks for the new person, it’s such an awesome feeling. I’m hoping that by feeling like the expert that I can jumpstart myself out of this current funk that I’m in. Wish me luck!

Vacation in Ghana

After a long and stressful month and a half back in Mali (note sarcasm), I decided to take vacation with my friends. It had been planned a long time ago and so despite my 2 month respite in the States, I wasn't going to miss a chance to go to Ghana! Especially with all of this bogolan, I needed a break from Mali.

I left from Sevare and met my friends in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. It was Andreea and her boyfriend Adam who is visiting from the States, Greg and Mary Virginia, aka Merv. We only spent one night there and then headed off to Ghana. I didn't get to see much of Burkina - except from the bus window - so I'll obviously have to go back. From Ouaga we went straight to Kumasi where we spent a few days. One of Kumasi's main attractions - for us anyway - is that it has the largest market, acrage wise, in West Africa. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty overwhelming.

Kumasi Market

Kumasi Market - the market is completely covered with tin roofs and goes on forever amidst the rest of the city. Very awesome market.

We spent only a couple of days in Kumasi before heading down to Cape Coast. I was really excited to go to Cape Coast because there is a lot of slave trade history with a castle built by the British. Also, Cape Coast is on the coast which meant the beach and ocean and after a hot and dry Mali that will always be exciting. Despite my excitement for Cape Coast, I got really sick when we got there - probably malaria - and was pretty out of commission the whole time. It would be alright immediately after taking my medicine, but 2 hours later it was hellish fevers, muscle aches and headaches. That, coupled with the awesome sunburn that I got made for a really great time.

The beach at Cape Coast with palm trees.

Merv and I at Cape Coast. We were getting severely sunburned at this point but didn't know it.

The Cape Coast Castle was really awesome. We took a tour and got a lot of information about the history of the slave trade and how many slaves were kept there and how many were shipped out. I've always been really fascinated by that historical period and events so coming here and seeing firsthand was really great, if not depressing. Some of the numbers we received about how many slaves had gone through this post before being sent off were really scary. We were also told that about 80% of all slaves brought to the castle died before making it to the Americas, either due to the terrible conditions they were forced to live in, being beaten, or finding their own way out of that situation by taking their own lives. Here are some photos of the area:

Memorial plaque.

You can't see all of the castle unless you're out to sea, so, this is as good of a picture as I could get from inside the fort.

The is the hallway and "Door of No Return" where the slaves walked down to board the ships leaving for the Americas.

Cape Coast Castle - In the distance, 12 km off, you can see Elmina Castle which served the same purpose as Cape Coast Castle.

Greg, Me, Adam, Andreea and Merv.

The day after Cape Coast, we headed up to the Kakum National Park. The main attraction here is the rainforest canopy walk. Basically it was a series of suspended bridges on the canopy of the rainforest. Sounds cool, and it was cool, but it was only 14 meters at it's highest point, so it wasn't that scary. And, even though we went first thing in the morning, we didn't get to see any wildlife, save for a couple of monkeys.

The canopy walkway. I know it doesn't look stable, but we're still alive!

Me on the canopy walkway.

Merv and Greg.

After the National Park I still wasn't feeling too well so I decided to leave everyone and head to Accra, the capital to get medical attention at the Peace Corps office. In the end, everything turned out fine and I'm feeling better than I was. The 2nd week of my vacation turned into me working at the West African Trade Hub (WATH) and getting work done on the bogolan project that I've mentioned. So, it didn't turn into this fantastic vacation that I had hoped for, but Merv and I are already planning a trip to Benin and Togo next year. This way, I'll be sure to get some good beach time and a nice tan.

Greg, Adam, Andreea and me on the beach having a drink.