Student SPHere 2008-09

This Halloween was the first one I celebrated since I came to live in Minnesota. I did it because I have a 10 years old niece, who is living with me now, and she was very curious about this holiday when people wear strange costumes. She came from Mali recently and was very curious about Halloween. She asked so many questions about the Holliday that I had to check the Internet about Halloween to answer her questions. Before now, I was never so curious as to find out the origin of Halloween and I didn’t know anything about it beside the costumes and the parties. I found out that Halloween is one of the oldest holidays celebrated today. It is also one of the most popular holidays, second only to Christmas. Halloween is surrounded by myths and beliefs. Most of the time it is viewed as a time for fun, putting on costumes, trick-or treating and having parties. The amazing discoveries were the myths and beliefs of the ancients. Many of these beliefs are same in my country Mali. We were invited to a friend’s house for a party. It was one of the funniest parties I have ever been to in my 10 years in the US. I also found out that Halloween was a pagan holiday honoring the dead, a culture that can be traced back to the Druids, a Celtic culture in Ireland, Britain and Northem Europe. Halloween culture is very similar to some practices in Mali in West Africa. I am from the Bamanan ethnic group in Mali. In Bamanan culture, we also honor the dead. Things have changed little bit since Arabs and European missionaries came in the country. Mali is now 90% Muslim and 5% Catholic and the rest is still pagan. The Bamanan people have a lot of superstitions and beliefs. We also believe that the dead watch after us and protect us from bad things. We also believe that black cats are bad witches and have supernatural powers. In my village, you don’t mention the word “salt� when the sun is down as it may bring bad witches into the house. Seeing an owl in daytime is bad omen. That means death. Mali is a very conservative country and traditions are still very strong. My niece really enjoyed the Halloween and was happy to listen to the story of Halloween that I read to her. The side effect of Halloween was that she slept in my bed that night because she was scared to be alone in her room!

Posted at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This past week was very worrisome for me, and I am sure that I am not alone. I really don’t understand much about the Wall Street and the market. I have been reading on internet about those things, but still have hard time understanding them.
I don’t have to be an economist to feel the actual tension at work place. I found couple of times colleges crying because they are very scared of the situation. Some of them may loose they homes. At work, at the University of Minnesota Medical Center Fairview, we received an email that there was going to be a lay off. Nobody knows what is going to happen. For sure the economic difficulties will affect education also. The presidential candidates are now talking about education plan. I listen a lot to MPR radio station. Today they were talking about how family will have problem to send their children in college in the future. They also talked about the loan forgiveness program during Clinton era. If anybody knows that kind of program it is, please let me know. I am very optimistic and I believe the situation will get better, but it is scary sometimes to think about all these debts when you are a student. That is why I also encourage all students to go out on the 4th of November and vote for what they believe. Vote for a good education, health care and economic plans. It is our civic duty and it is a privilege to have an opportunity to vote. We all love the USA, and we want the best for all citizens. It is a great country with great people.

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This week something amazing happened to me. Until this week I never knew I had an advisor. You may laugh about it and you are right to do it, because it was funny for myself also. To complete my application for the MPH in Child and Maternal Health, I need my grades. When I went to the onestop website to get an unofficial list of my grades, I saw the name of my advisor. I was so surprised that I went to see my program coordinator to get more clarification. What I want to say here is how good the staff is at the School of Public Health. For a year I was going to my program coordinator and she never said, “I am not your advisor, go to your advisor.� Can you see how lucky we are at University of Minnesota? I also remember Dr. Wholey, my management teacher last semester, helping me to install a program on my laptop so I could do my homework. He is not a computer technician, but he was willing to take his time to help me to achieve academically. This week I will meet my advisor for the first time and I am a little worried. What she is going to think about this student who didn’t look for her advisor for a year? I didn’t mean to ignore her or her advice; I just didn’t know I had an academic advisor. If anyone needs advice at school, it is I.

I work full-time and this semester I am taking 5 credits. Last semester I took 9 credits and worked full-time. I work as an RN at Fairview Medical Center. So I am always in the shuttle bus between the two campuses. I also like to walk, so I just cross the Washington Bridge once in a while to go to work after class. I try to balance work and school and it is not easy sometimes, believe me.

I love studying and in my family my father used to tell us girls, “Your first husband is your diploma. Your husband can divorce you, but your diploma will never leave you.� He also told us that in life there are three big things: the power, the knowledge and the riches. In French it is “l’avoir, le pouvoir et le savoir�. You can lose power and riches, but you die with the knowledge. I grew up with those ideas and I never tire of getting knowledge.

I am learning so much at the School of Public Health why did I wait so long get here? One of the most significant things I learned this week was from the ½ hour lecture in my Global Reproductive course about stigmatization. I realized how much we could hurt people without knowing it. This will reinforce my empathy toward people who are different from me.

Posted at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My name is Bintou Coulibaly. I am originally from Mali in West Africa. My native language is Bambara and I speak fluently French. I graduated from Medical school in 1993 in Mali. I Mali I worked in OB-GYN and I always was interested in child and maternal health.
Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world. Women and girls in Mali don’t have much freedom like in all developing countries. The female genital cutting is still practiced in Mali. The government is trying to stop it, but the cultural believe is so strong in Mali that people are still hiding to do it. Girls are web sometimes at the 13,14,15years. The government limited the age of marriage at 18 for girls, but people don’t respect it. Since women and girls don’t have voice, a14 years girl will find herself marry a 30 or 40 years man. These early marriages have a lot of negative consequences in these girls life. Sometimes the pregnancy end up with it complications, because of immaturity of the body. Socioeconomic and psychological damages accompany this situation.
Maybe some of you have heard about genital fistulas. They can be vagino-rectal or vesico-rectal. In Mali near the school of medicine, it is one small village that was created by women who were troughs out by they families because they have fistula. These fistulas are one of the complications of childbirth. They are marginalized from the rest of the society because they smell bad. I am talking about these entire situation in my country, because that is why I am today in the school of public health. I want to advocate for my sisters in Mali and other places in the world were they have been marginalized. I want to be able to make a change in their daily life of suffering. To do that, I need to learn the tools of public health.
The school of public health at the University of Minnesota offers so much in the field, that sometimes I dream with my eyes open. I can see myself going to all over those developing countries, teaching and helping women in child and maternal health, teaching girls how to protect themselves against, early pregnancy, STD and HIV/AIDS.
I am actually in the program of core concepts program. I am applying for the child and maternal and health program, because the program is very good and I know after doing that I will be able to accomplish my dream. I like the environment of the campus. I learn a lot from the core concepts program. I have a wonderful program coordinator Sarah Harper. She always guides me in this program. At any time I email her, she responded. At any time I called her, she will respond to my call. Her academic advices help me trough this program I am finishing this semester. She makes me feel at home at the school of public health. Sarah has a colleague, Ann Ehrenberg. When Sarah is absent Anne is always disponible to answer my questions. She welcomes you with a beautiful smile that makes your day to go smooth at school. I also like the sphere, where I met many others international students. The student center with all it cultural program is so good for all of us whose from outside the country. I pray every to be accepted in the program of child and maternal health, because I like the program and the safe environment of the University of Minnesota.

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