Rainer Assé in Mali



Rainer Assé in Mali

Rainer Assé
Graduate student, natural resources
Hometown: Boston
Peace Corps: 1991-94

SOMEWHERE NORTHWEST OF BAMAKO, MALI -- As the Sahelian night envelops the train, a cold wind from beyond the Sahara rushes into our cabin. There are no lights on the Bamako-Dakar Express. But now a burnt orange light streams in through the windows: We are speeding through a bush fire.

My cabin mates huddle under blankets, unconcerned about the tunnel of red and orange flames through which we speed. I look out the glassless window mesmerized by the bits of charred leaves gently floating in through its opening. The sharp sound of crackling leaves and branches fills the cabin.

Soon we are outside the tunnel of flames. I can see smaller bush fires spreading through the Malian savanna. The scent of burning acacia shrubs and burnt grasses drifts towards me. In the distance I see a towering baobab tree illuminated by red flames from behind. Its twisting branches seem to signify knowledge of some old truth beyond my understanding.

I prepare to join my cabin mates in their land of sleep. I huddle beneath a Puelar wedding blanket. Soft Bambara and Malinké voices from a nearby cabin mingle with the rolling rhythms of the train's wheels.

I drift into sleep, into images of charred leaves gently settling over the endless undulating savannas in the land of the Malinké, my new home. Soon I will reach the safe cocoon of my adopted village, Tintila, and I will be home where my friends and adopted family call me Issa. Soon I will be cradled again by the age-old rituals and rhythms of everyday life in the Bafing Valley.

Red angry flames fill my dreams. But soon after, a dream turns to reality. A monstrous bush fire is approaching our village. The men of the village are running past the mosque where only a few hours ago the muezzin sang the final call to prayer for the day. The village griot is running from concession to concession: "People of Tintila awake! Awake! Bush fire!"

Women and children fetch pails of water. The men dash to the blazing flames armed with hoes and axes. We must save our village from the flames. We must quickly encircle our village with a trench to keep the flames at bay. I bend down with my friends. Furiously I dig with the daba that Chambri, the blacksmith, made for me. The flames are closer and higher. An old man from the Dembele family recites an Arabic prayer: "Allah is great! Save Tintila!" We bend and dig. Trees are crackling and toppling. The flames are hot on our faces. We dig.

When this story was posted in December 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:

Our debt to Bill Moyers Former Peace Corps Deputy Director Bill Moyers leaves PBS next week to begin writing his memoir of Lyndon Baines Johnson. Read what Moyers says about journalism under fire, the value of a free press, and the yearning for democracy. "We have got to nurture the spirit of independent journalism in this country," he warns, "or we'll not save capitalism from its own excesses, and we'll not save democracy from its own inertia."

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December 10, 2004: This Week's Top Stories Dodd says Rumsfeld's answer was unacceptable 9 Dec RPCV Blake Willeford runs classic movie theatre 9 Dec RPCV says education is key to curbing AIDS 9 Dec RPCV Dannielle Tegeder opens exhibition 9 Dec Shalala 1st Woman In Touchdown Club 9 Dec "Today we have a new country" says Toledo 9 Dec DDN wins Investigative Reporting Award 8 Dec Celeste on Panel to study Colorado finances 8 Dec RPCV leads Rotary Club medical team to Togo 6 Dec Vasquez to speak at Hawaii, Wisconsin commencements 6 Dec Tom Murphy warns Pittsburgh on budget abyss 2 Dec Venezuela RPCV Martha Egan runs Pachamama imports 30 Nov more top stories...

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Your vote makes a difference Make a difference on November 2 - Vote. Then take our RPCV exit poll. See how RPCV's are voting and take a look at the RPCV voter demographic. Finally leave a message on why you voted for John Kerry or for George Bush. Previous poll results here.

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