The Art of Communication

Pictures: First high school in Kolondieba district, built by Save. Sign for the school. Flamboyant tree in the courtyard of the CAP (sort of like the school board)

I have been intrigued by the communication style of the Malians. Now, my experience is mainly limited to Siddi, our driver and Abou, the Save director of the Sahel region. I have been able to observe their interactions most closely. Other observations have been limited to briefer interactions between Siddi and someone he meets in passing or someone he may meet while driving us to the various schools.

Rule number one: You never fail to greet everyone in the room or group with a handshake and, at a minimum, Bonjour, ca va? I noticed that these greetings can go on for a longer time and that there is a definite pattern. One person asks a question, the other sort of mumbles an answer, then that person asks a question and this can go on for a minute or so. Sometimes, when I was meeting someone for the first time, it would go sort of like this....in rapid succession: Bonjour ca va.? (me: oui, ca va. Et vous, ca va) Et la famille? (Why is he talking about my family?? It quickly dawns on me that he is asking about my family!) Et le Canada? Et le sejour a Sikasso and on and on. For Malians, they might cut to the chase and ask, "Et la famille" after the initial bonjour, ca va. Often, though, they will go through all members of the family and ask after them. All this is done quite quickly but for that moment, all your attention is focused on that person.

Rule number two: You don't listen in silence. Abou explained that if you sit quietly and listen to a Malian speak, he will stop dead and ask if something is wrong. So, as we drove to Kolondièba, I listened to their conversation, conducted mainly in Bambara with lots of French thrown in. Sometimes I could get the gist of the conversation because of key phrases in French. I haven't understood Bambara beyond the most basic phrases. As the two of them spoke, I discovered that the listener is expected to participate through murmured agreement, asking short questions, high pitched "eh", laughter, c'est ca! (more agreement), voila! (voice lowered and voila is sort of drawn out---the way a magician might say it). There are no periods of silence while the story is going on. So, their conversation went on in this manner, interspersed with lots of laughs. It was a joy to listen to though I didn't understand most of it.

Rule three: Take time at the end of a transaction or conversation. I think I violated this rule I so crudely described. When I went to the tailor to have the outfit made, he took all my measurements, we discussed the style and detailing. This was followed by the discussion of the price. Siddi did that. He began that by looking straight into the tailor's eyes, a fairly serious look on his face. In this case, the negociations were over quickly. The tailor named a price and Siddi looked at me immediately. Luckily I was fairly quick on the uptake that day and understood immediately that the price was a fair one. So, I accepted and stood to leave. This was the faux pas. I looked at Siddi. He was still sitting, exchanging words with the tailor. It wasn't over.I melted back into my chair. I'm not sure if this is a hard and fast rule but there was something there. No one seemed bothered by the fact that I got up. I haven't confirmed this observation so will let you know if there are any updates.