I saved this goat's life...kind of.

Haketo, a menna dooni! (This is Bambara for: Please excuse me, it's been a while!) I'm hoping to get another post up in addition to this one, but I just wanted to tell a quick story that I forgot to write about back in December.

So, it was back during Peace Corps' In-Service-Training (IST) that I was on a field trip with all the water sanitation volunteers visiting an organization working with composting latrines (yes, human waste CAN be recycled...and very easily I might add). We were on our way back from this trip when our bus driver noticed a goat lying in the middle of the road. The goat was a bit injured because it had fallen off of the roof of another transport (I'm sure the Malian who was traveling was NOT happy to find that his lovely goat was no longer on the roof when arriving at his destination).

The driver had initially stopped because he wanted to drag it out of the road so it didn't get run over...but, of all the kids who were on this bus, the two kids from New Jersey (myself and a friend Matt Clemente) both said..."Let's just take it, no one's coming back for it". No one else wanted anything to do with this goat, so we both hopped out, heaved the goat onto the roof of the bus, tied it down...and went on our merry way.

When we got back to Tubaniso (Peace Corps training center), I went and got one of our cooks and showed him what we so kindly brought back to him. The goat could still stand, but he was definitely struggling to stay alive. Long story short, we ate the goat for lunch the next day :). Feeding 70+ volunteers costs a decent amount of money, so we not only saved the goat from suffering, but we also saved Peace Corps Mali some doh.

Yes, I know, you don't have to say it...what GOOD Peace Corps volunteers we are :).

"Securing" the goat to the roof.

Matt and I with our new friend (who was ashamed to show his damaged face...and that's putting it lightly).