2006.10.12: October 12, 2006: Headlines: COS - Mali: Writing - Mali: Midwifery: The Advocate: Mali RPCV Kris Holloway Bidwell writes out of love, friendship and admiration for Monique Dembele and the women of Mali, and out of a passion for making change

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Mali: Peace Corps Mali : The Peace Corps in Mali: 2006.10.12: October 12, 2006: Headlines: COS - Mali: Writing - Mali: Midwifery: The Advocate: Mali RPCV Kris Holloway Bidwell writes out of love, friendship and admiration for Monique Dembele and the women of Mali, and out of a passion for making change

By Admin1 (admin) (ppp-70-250-74-101.dsl.okcyok.swbell.net - 70.250.74.101) on Thursday, November 16, 2006 - 3:50 am: Edit Post

Mali RPCV Kris Holloway Bidwell writes out of love, friendship and admiration for Monique Dembele and the women of Mali, and out of a passion for making change

Mali RPCV Kris Holloway Bidwell writes out of love, friendship and admiration for Monique Dembele and the women of Mali, and out of a passion for making change

"Monique was really the first feminist in her part of the world," Bidwell said as she recalled Monique's tireless efforts to educate women, difficult trips to the city for scarce medicines and hours and hours she spent tending to women and children despite, and sometimes in defiance of, the lack of support from village elders. For some in Granville, Bidwell's book brings both closure and new beginnings. Bidwell's connection to Monique lasted beyond her two-year stint with the Peace Corps and touched local residents when Bidwell brought her to Granville in 1992. Monique loved Granville, a place "so green with a ground so full of water," Bidwell writes. Kay Bork, research librarian at Granville Public Library and a former French teacher, remembers when Monique visited her French class at the high school and taught the class how to make peanut stew. Carol Apacki, a family friend, remembers her first impression of Monique. She arrived during Bidwell's wedding shower. From remote Africa, "she walked into this room of 20 or so women like she was a queen, just beaming, with such stature and poise and warmth," Apacki said. "She was radiant."

Mali RPCV Kris Holloway Bidwell writes out of love, friendship and admiration for Monique Dembele and the women of Mali, and out of a passion for making change

Peace Corps experience basis for area native's non-fiction book
Kris Holloway Bidwell featured in Granville Reads program
by CHARLES A. PETERSON
Sentinel Editor

Sometimes in life, one experience defines a person for years to come, sometimes forever.

A girl who grew up in Granville, Kris Holloway Bidwell, had that experience when she joined the Peace Corps in 1989 after college and worked alongside a young midwife in Mali, Africa.

ADVERTISEMENT

Her story is told in "Monique and the Mango Rains," Bidwell's first book. She writes out of love, friendship and admiration for Monique Dembele and the women of Mali, and out of a passion for making change.
Bidwell, who authored the book under her maiden name, Kris Holloway, will be in the Granville area for five days, Oct. 22 through 26, to talk to churches, schools and the community. She is the daughter of Jane and Bill Holloway, of Granville.

Bidwell is on a national tour to introduce the book, which was released Sept. 15. Monique and the Mango Rains is the communitywide reading selection for the Granville Public Library's program, Granville Reads. The book is on sale at Reader's Garden and available for loan at the library.

Bidwell will hold a Granville Reads conversation at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Presbyterian Church, an alternative space for a library under construction. She also will speak locally at Denison University, Granville High School and Newark Campus of Ohio State University mong other places, including Columbus.

Monique, at age 24, was midwife and primary health care provider for the southeastern village of Nampossela in Mali, a country where childbirth can mean life or death.

"Most women are married by the age of 18 and have (on average) seven children, one of the highest fertility rates in sub-Saharan Africa," she writes in the book's introduction.

The maternity mortality ratio, or the risk of death during childbirth and pregnancy, is among the top 10 highest in the world. Less than six percent of women use contraception and more than 96 percent have some form of female genital cutting performed during infancy or childhood, she explains.

It was this environment Monique lived and worked, managing a clinic where women from the village and surrounding areas came for prenatal and pediatric care, raising her own children and dealing with a difficult marriage. It was in this environment that Monique and Kris became friends.

And it was in this environment that Monique, herself, died tragically and ironically during childbirth eight years after Bidwell left Africa.

"Monique was really the first feminist in her part of the world," Bidwell said as she recalled Monique's tireless efforts to educate women, difficult trips to the city for scarce medicines and hours and hours she spent tending to women and children despite, and sometimes in defiance of, the lack of support from village elders.

For some in Granville, Bidwell's book brings both closure and new beginnings. Bidwell's connection to Monique lasted beyond her two-year stint with the Peace Corps and touched local residents when Bidwell brought her to Granville in 1992.

Monique loved Granville, a place "so green with a ground so full of water," Bidwell writes. Kay Bork, research librarian at Granville Public Library and a former French teacher, remembers when Monique visited her French class at the high school and taught the class how to make peanut stew.

Carol Apacki, a family friend, remembers her first impression of Monique. She arrived during Bidwell's wedding shower. From remote Africa, "she walked into this room of 20 or so women like she was a queen, just beaming, with such stature and poise and warmth," Apacki said. "She was radiant."

Writing the book was a journey for Bidwell, brought about by anger at Monique's death and the need to improve life for women in Mali by raising social conscience.

The possibility of a book began when she and John went back to Mali after Monique's death. In order to gather strength to write after the passage of so many years, she said she focused.

"Every moment I had to relive being there," she said.

In her Massachusetts home with a piece of soil from Mali for smell, photographs and video for sight and recordings of Monique's voice for sound, she "stayed hyper-focused on everything."

"I felt a huge responsibility," she said.

Bidwell took fiction writing courses, talked with writers and experts on women's issues, and wrote "lots of crap," realizing she had to be willing to write badly to learn to write well.

"I wrote the first chapter 36 times," she laughed.

"I want to put a face on the problems in Africa," Bidwell said. "I feel change can happen at the grassroots level."

Bidwell believes in community conversations about social issues, and it is her goal to engage audiences as she travels the country.

Part of the profits of the book will support Clinique Monique, a clinic in rural Nampossela started by Maxim, Monique's eldest cousin, in her memory. Contributions from the United States are also training Monique's sister, Angele, in midwifery in her quest to continue Monique's work, and educating Monique's three children.

"These are perfect ways to carry on her work."

For Bidwell and the women in Mali, Africa, Monique was transformational. "She was an amazing woman."




Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: October, 2006; COS - Mali; Writing - Mali





When this story was posted in November 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:


Contact PCOLBulletin BoardRegisterSearch PCOLWhat's New?

Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
Election 2006: Results of RPCV Races Date: November 8 2006 No: 1024 Election 2006: Results of RPCV Races
Chris Shays claims victory in closely watched race
Jim Walsh wins re-election to Congress in close race
Tom Petri unopposed for re-election to Congress
Sam Farr wins re-election to Congress
Mike Honda wins re-election to Congress
Jim Doyle wins re-election to Wisconsin Governorship
Kinky Friedman loses in long shot bid for Texas Governor
John Garamendi elected Lt. Governor of California

Top Stories and Breaking News PCOL Magazine Peace Corps Library RPCV Directory Sign Up

Harris Wofford to speak at "PC History" series Date: October 26 2006 No: 1011 Harris Wofford to speak at "PC History" series
Senator Harris Wofford will be the speaker at the 4th Annual "Peace Corps History" series on November 16 sponsored by the University of Maryland at Baltimore County (UMBC) and the Maryland Returned Volunteers. Previous speakers in the series have included Jack Vaughn (Second Director of the Peace Corps), Scott Stossel (Biographer of Sargent Shriver), and C. Payne Lucas (President Emeritus of Africare). Details on the time and location of the event are available here.

October 22, 2006: This Month's Top Stories Date: October 22 2006 No: 1005 October 22, 2006: This Month's Top Stories
The crisis over North Korea's nuclear bomb test 14 Oct
Hill faced strong opposition for denuclearization agreement 8 Oct
John Coyne writes: The first Peace Corps book 20 Oct
Thomas Tighe moderates discussion with President Clinton 17 Oct
PC announces Community College degree program 18 Oct
Donna Shalala expresses dismay over football brawl 16 Oct
Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley defends Lebanon policy 16 Oct
Jan Guifarro elected Chair of NPCA Board 15 Oct
Carl Pope writes: From the pump to the polls 13 Oct
Ambassador Gaddi Vasquez Says Africa a Priority 12 Oct
Chris Dodd opposes Bush terrorism bill 10 Oct
Isaac Edvalson is founder of Africa's Tomorrow 9 Oct
The Man who turned down Shriver 8 Oct
Mae Jemison tells girls to reach for the stars 6 Oct
Loren Finnell receives Shriver Award 4 Oct
Matt Sesow paints onstage during opera 2 Oct
Film examines anti-malaria drug lariam 29 Sep
Blackwill dismisses Musharraf's claims 27 Sep
Ron Tschetter sworn in as 17th Peace Corps Director 26 Sep
Rape Victim Student Gets $1 Million From City College 26 Sep
Ricardo Chavira narrates Public Service Announcements 25 Sep

The Peace Corps Library Date: July 11 2006 No: 923 The Peace Corps Library
The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory or leave a message on our Bulletin Board. New: Sign up to receive our free Monthly Magazine by email, research the History of the Peace Corps, or sign up for a daily news summary of Peace Corps stories. FAQ: Visit our FAQ for more information about PCOL.

Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps Date: September 23 2006 No: 996 Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps
Senator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments.

He served with honor Date: September 12 2006 No: 983 He served with honor
One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor.

Meet Ron Tschetter - Our Next Director Date: September 6 2006 No: 978 Meet Ron Tschetter - Our Next Director
Read our story about Ron Tschetter's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that was carried on C-Span. It was very different from the Vasquez hearings in 2001, very cut and dried with low attendance by the public. Among the highlights, Tschetter intends to make recruitment of baby boomers a priority, there are 20 countries under consideration for future programs, Senator Dodd intends to re-introduce his third goal Peace Corps legislation this session, Tschetter is a great admirer of Senator Coleman's quest for accountability, Dodd thinks management at PC may not put volunteers first, Dodd wants Tschetter to look into problems in medical selection, and Tschetter is not a blogger and knows little about the internet or guidelines for volunteer blogs. Read our recap of the hearings as well as Senator Coleman's statement and Tschetter's statement.

Peace Corps' Screening and Medical Clearance Date: August 19 2006 No: 964 Peace Corps' Screening and Medical Clearance
The purpose of Peace Corps' screening and medical clearance process is to ensure safe accommodation for applicants and minimize undue risk exposure for volunteers to allow PCVS to complete their service without compromising their entry health status. To further these goals, PCOL has obtained a copy of the Peace Corps Screening Guidelines Manual through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and has posted it in the "Peace Corps Library." Applicants and Medical Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey through medical screening and his suggestions for changes to the process.

The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again Date: July 31 2006 No: 947 The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again
The LA Times says that "the Peace Corps is booming again and "It's hard to know exactly what's behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago, Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace.

PCOL readership increases 100% Date: April 3 2006 No: 853 PCOL readership increases 100%
Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

History of the Peace Corps Date: March 18 2006 No: 834 History of the Peace Corps
PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.


Read the stories and leave your comments.






Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: The Advocate

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Mali; Writing - Mali; Midwifery

PCOL34720
90


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: