yeah samake | Moving Mali Forward

Portable water, education, better healthcare and above all a sense of service

As mid afternoon approached on January 14^th 2012, 300+ men, women and children gathered in Sanakoro Djitimou to greet and welcome a presidential candidate. 10 National PACP party members headed by Party President Yeah Samake met the newly elected PACP representatives in the commune of Sanakoro Djitimou. For this event, 27 different village representatives came to hear Yeah and PACP speak. The mayor’s representative Bagayoko also came to greet the party. The party came to display their new logo and what their values were. Yeah spoke with eloquence of what could be achieved in Mali if he was given the chance to lead his people.

Yeah and his party representatives were greeted with loud singing and dancing. The dancing was unusual in that it represented an old form of dancing showing that the commune had not lost its traditions.

This was an awesome meeting. Yeah was in particular touched by the actions of an older man who came to shake his hand. This man called Traore expressed a deep gratitude for what Yeah stood for and hoped to bring to Mali: portable water, education, and health services. He hoped that Yeah’s sense of service would affect his fellow Malians.

The entire event was covered by National TV and will be aired by ORTM tomorrow night.

It is the hope as rallies like this happen that people can be shown what is possible if Yeah is elected. It will be important on Yeah’s part for him to balance the new with the old so that traditions that do work are not lost. The day fast approaches when a decision will be made. It is a hope that the decision for a new leader will be Yeah Samake.

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Neighborhood bands together to support their candidate

09 Jan

Look at those huge speakers!! Photo courtesy of tomathon.com

The relationship of neighbors is a tricky one. In America, you either hate them or like them or love them. In Mali, neighbor relationships work differently.The neighbor relationship is a sacred one in which neighbors try not to offend each other. In Faladjie, where we live, two events showed the growing support of the neighborhood for Yeah.

The first was a balani that was organized by Nana, our next door neighbor, to raise awareness about the presence of a presidential candidate in the street. A balani is a musical event in which a DJ is hired that plays music so loud that your heart pounds with every beat and your window shakes with every speaker tremor. Balani is a strain of Malian Coupé Décalé with little guitar, fast percussion and melodies played on the Balafon (Malian xylophone). Coupé-Décalé is a music style featuring mostly African instruments, deep bass, and repetitive arrangements. Music affects the very heart of Malian culture and is every bit important here as the busy social life. I remember my first balani two years ago. It was a very special event that was put on by Yeah’s family in Ouelessebougou to celebrate my arrival in the village.

This youtube video truly captures what the balani is all about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaiWl9Yz2uc

The Samake2012 balani was set to start at 5pm but like all good Malian parties started at 9pm. The music blaring invited the youth from ours and surrounding streets to see what all the noise was about. The youth put on several dances throughout the night rapping about PACP and Yeah. The DJ described Yeah’s efforts and the dream that Mali would be free of poverty and corruption if they elected a young leader who had the capacity to bring change. It was an awesome night!! Good heart thumping music, great message and a wonderful support from neighbors.

The balani gave rise to an informal meeting by the youth of the street who asked Yeah to come speak to them so they could see how to best help the campaign. It also provided an opportunity to Yeah to learn what further affects the next generation of Malians. The meeting was a success and provided additional much needed support to Yeah’s already growing campaign.

Yeah speaking in Faladjie

The political atmosphere is amazing right now. Things move so fast that each day differs in political achievements. PACP is becoming the theme of change and many Malian youth and middle aged individuals are seeing it as their chance for a changed Mali. We were blessed to receive the support of our neighborhood. May their excitement be replicated thousand fold through Mali as the election fast approaches on April 29^th.

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Posted by Marissa Samake on January 9, 2012 in Past Posts

Tags: african instruments, balani, change, coupe, hope, mali music, mali neighbor, pacp, samake2012, yeah samake

Building a dream one meeting at a time.

06 Jan

In Mali, campaigns are done a little differently. Here the occurrence of meetings to convert supporters will determine the success of the candidate. Mali is at a wonderful stage politically in terms of the need for a young, innovative leader who can jump start the Malian economy. The current president Amadou Toumani Toure has been in office for 10 years. He is popular mainly because he led the military coup to overthrow the dictatorship of Moussa Traore and then handed power back to his people. During the past 10 years, while Mali has progressed little to none financially, the democracy has remained a stable example to its neighbors. Mali needs change desperately so that it can meet its fellow African countries in the high ranks when it comes to economic development, education and prosperity for its people.

Currently the Malian voting population is dominated by the youth. The youth have only known poverty, unemployment and a bad education system for as long as they can remember. This election will be won if the youth can be won over. The same applies to the woman. The Malian woman works hard and long and at the end of the day equality still does not exist. However Malian women associations are one of the strongest groups in Mali. It is essential that Yeah taps into these two resources. And that is exactly what he did this past week.

One of the meetings was held in Siby. The campaign had already made a stop in Siby a few months back to meet with leaders from surrounding villages. The mayor of Siby was one of the mayors that Yeah took to Utah so that he could be introduced to better governance and could implement some of it in his own commune. Mayor Camara was so impressed with the moral standards and principles that were present in the towns/counties he visited in Utah that he committed to introducing a similar openness in his own commune. The 50 community leaders were eager to meet the candidate that they were supporting. Each of these leaders could potentially bring 500-1000+ supporters to the polls so it was essential that this meeting happen. The meeting was a huge success as it renewed the faith that these individuals had in Yeah and the change that he could bring if he was elected.

Meeting community leaders in Siby

Another meeting that was held was with woman leaders. It will be important to tap into the woman voter population this election. A strategy meeting was held with 20 woman leaders to discuss how this could be done. This meeting too was a huge success as the woman leaders were pumped to go spread the word about their candidate for 2012.

Women community leaders

Yet another meeting was held with the youth leaders. The trend remained similar as these voters were reaffirmed in their faith in Yeah’s ability to lead Mali. Yeah told them it was their time and it was up to them to get out the vote if they wanted change in Mali.

Getting the Youth vote

The focus of these meetings is to inform leaders where Yeah stands on important issues like woman’s health, basic health, education, decentralization and security. These three meetings are a small sample of what Yeah attends on a daily basis. These meetings are essential to the success of the election and could make or break Yeah’s bid for Koulouba (the Presidential palace). The campaign is moving fast and before you know it April 29^th 2012 will be upon us. My hope is that we can together make Mali a better place for its 14 million people. Help support the dream at http://www.samake2012.com