The Mali Medical Team 211 arrived in Bamako Mali right on schedule.

We faced our first team challenge in Omaha when the bags for checked luggage were running a few pounds heavy in some cases and in other cases packed full but a few pounds light. We planned on this by arriving an extra hour early just in case this happened. So we opened everything up and started shifting, and re shifting, until we ended up with 10 bags at 50 lbs. or 50.5 lbs. If the scale (linked to the computer) detects 51 lbs. it adds $200 to your ticket. We had so many things to take with us for the medical supplies that are needed to do our village clinics to personal items of the missionary families depending on the good will of occasional visitors to bring them things that can't be found here... or, gifts from their families that mail them to us to carry along (vs the high cost and long wait times and uncertainty of arrival in Koutiala and Bamako). It was amazing to see the bags get equalized - not as simple as it may sound... Joyce's son called it when he said, "It's like Tetris"

We had an uneventful flight with great flying weather - rarely even a bump. We would have loved to see some things in Paris, but after processing through security, exchanging money, getting boarding passes for the next leg to Mali ( First priority - we changed from United to Air France) plus round trip travel time, we would have only had 30 minutes at the Eiffel Tower. Besides that, it was "very February" in Europe - with low ceiling and steady drizzle (and no umbrellas).

Not everything went well however. Even with about 6 hours to transfer from United to Air France, half our bags didn't make it to Bamako. Some personal, some supplies... but after the 'great shuffle' a lot of things were mixed up pretty well. Vaughan's 3 pound shaving kit with all toiletries ended up in Chelsea's bag, which was missing. So 5 suitcases are confirmed to be in Paris and will be on the next one-a-day flight to Bamako that arrives every evening at 9:10 PM. Unfortunately, we have to leave for Koutiala at about 9:30 AM, for our 5+ hour transfer to Koutiala, so the missing bags will be collected and join us the day after, on Wednesday afternoon.

We were glad to finally meet Shawn McCabe, one of the resident CMA mission workers assigned in Bamako, who will be our constant companion for the next 10 days. He's a really cool guy who knows Africa, having been raised in The Ivory Coast by his missionary parents. He's an MK (missionary kid) who married an MK, Becky, who are raising their 4 children in Africa. He was super at the airport dealing with the lost luggage in the baggage office - speaking the language - and also dealing with the 'sharks' (baggage porters) at the terminal who sweep in on European travelers, to hire them to collect and transfer their bags to your waiting transport.

Given 350 people in a crowded room around one baggage conveyer belt and 10 bags to get out the door on our own, I started talking with one wiry little 'boss' and his crew. A crew consisted of whoever was hanging around the terminal to earn tips with a cart they had snared when the plane was barely on final approach, and defended like a dog with a bone should someone reach for it - thus, leaving none for the "do it myself-ers" in 'the tourist invested waters') to get our bags. Ididn't agree to the price of 1000 Mali Units per bag saying that he was asking saying it's too much (just because I figured it was a rip off quote for tourists). But that didn't deter him... he stayed with us - pressuring for 1000 / bag as they grabbed the next bag off the belt (the florescent orange duct tape we marked everything with broke through the language barrier of identifying the right bag).

I asked Nancy to find Shawn (who couldn't come to where we were unless permitted) and tell security he was needed. By then we were suspecting the lost bags, so Shawn started the ID and recovery process. The sharks had put the 5 bags on carts, but were getting weary of the extended wait and wanted to be paid now. Shawn didn't bat-an-eye and offered them 1000 units for what they had done thus far (knowing that wouldn't be enough for the baggage handlers) and who would have left us with the bags on the carts where they sat. He told them they'll be paid when the bags are in the transport. Once the 5 bags were in the trailer, he 'argued' a reasonable price for their assistance. I didn't understand the words, but you could tell they weren't happy - dramatizing how they would leave with nothing rather than take what he offered. When he said OK - Go... the price dickering resumed. So he rescued us twice before we got to see the full moon over Mali (hmmm, looked just like Omaha's). We are glad that Shawn will be our constant companion... Showered and in bed for a few hours, til we resume our travels.

More to come with photos... Check the blog again tomorrow.

God Bless,

Later

Vaughan