WAIST (pt 6) - Back in Bamako

When making it down the home stretch to Bamako someone called us and said there was trouble in the city and that we should be careful when we arrived. Apparently that afternoon a sotrama (bus) driver was shot and killed at a gendarme checkpoint in the city when his vehicle was stopped and he tried to flee. This upset the other taxi and sotrama drivers in the city and they started to strike. The reason we were called is that apparently a Volunteer had been in a taxi that was stopped and he was removed from the taxi by angry demonstrators. (He was fine.) We ended up having a PC car come get us at the bus station to avoid any potential problems because it was dark when we got into town. We stayed at the PC transit house in Bamako that night.

The next morning I tried to get back to Segou with a few other people. We couldn't find taxis hardly anywhere, and the ones that did stop for us would not cross the river to the other side of town where all the bus stations to Segou are located. We went to the PC bureau to see what was going on and got some not-so-good news. We were told that no taxis were crossing the river. Most taxis and sotramas were striking to demonstrate "solidarity" for the driver that was killed. Some taxis that were striking were preventing large buses from leaving the city by blocking the roads at the edge of town. Some PC staff members had seen people throwing rocks and police using tear gas. I personally had seen a truck full of police in full riot gear with face masks, body armor, and shields the night before.

Since a decent amount of people wanted to leave the city, our safety and security officer got a PC van to take a handful of people, including myself, to the edge of town to try to find a bus leaving the city. No luck. In fact, it ended up becoming a rescue mission of sorts. Several PCVs had been near the bus stations that morning and got on buses that were eventually stopped at the edge of town by the protesters. They were stranded out there with no way to get back in town. We went and got them. One of the guys said people had stopped his bus by running alongside it, opening the luggage bays, and pulling out baggage. They almost started throwing rocks at the bus. He said he could also see char marks on the pavement where people had previously been burning things in the street. Obviously not the best situation ever.

So, we concluded that we would just have to wait out the strike in Bamako. No one knew when it would be over. I might only last a day. Might be a few. Who knew... The worst part is that it meant that we could go to the American Club, have burgers and cold sodas, go swimming, and watch movies. We were roughing it for sure. The strike ended that night and I was in Segou the next day by lunch time.

At this point I better clear up a few things for all the mothers out there who are by now pulling their hair out. Yes, there was a strike. Yes, someone died. Yes, there was civil unrest for about 36 hours. However, the incident was limited to only a few areas in Bamako and only concerned public transportation. People in private vehicles were left alone. Probably the biggest problem was that since no one was able to leave the city via public transport (what most Malians use), all the hotels filled up, so the city had a little less elbow room than usual. The areas where people were causing trouble were well known and easily avoided, so Volunteers were not in danger and the PC staff did what it could to ensure Volunteer safety. When I was in the PC car that day I went through most of the city and didn't see problems anywhere I went, but I did see a lot of extra police out, which indicated that the local government was taking steps to handle the situation. Everything is now back to normal.