Tuesday March 27th

It was 95 degrees when I landed in Bamako at 8:30. Claudia didn’t check the flight arrival time and wasn’t there to pick me up; fortunately my blackberry found the Malitel network and I was able to call her – probably only cost 10 dollars! On the ride to the hotel she told me that the strategy workshop I had flown out for had been canceled, since the National Malaria Control Program had decided April was African Malaria Month (April 25 is Africa Malaria Day) and that our project would organize all the activities, ideally one every day. April starts on Sunday, so….great.

The hotel is one I’ve been to before for workshops – it’s way out on the edge of downtown, close to our offices (5 minute walk, and 10 minutes from PSI). The wireless is free but inconsistent, and there’s nothing more depressing than a hotel room with no connection. It’s lonely.

Last night was more lonely, mostly because all of a sudden I had no idea what I would be doing, but today we sat down with the team and went over the activities, and there’s a lot I can help out on. Tonight I was hoping to get on the internet but am forced to do work. Tomorrow though Areana and I will head out to the Bla Bla and Thursday Julia and I are going to Sukothai, the best Thai restaurant in Africa.

We called Matt today and it looks like a) he is crumbling by himself in Baltimore and b) we are going to Nairobi in mid-May, after the RBM board meeting, for a strategic planning workshop for Year 2 with Claudia, Matt, Bonnie, myself, Gerald from Kenya, and Emmanuel. Also probably Regina from Mozambique and Djiba from Bamako. And Areana. I guess I’m excited but that leaves me very little time to organize the GHC panel (May 30th) and finish writing the annual report (May 30th). But – that’s life in the fast lane.