Mali Mercy Mission Returns; Political Unrest Shortens Trip

Stymied more by the political turmoil of Mali than the disastrous four-year drought that continues relentlessly in North Africa, the six-man Guggenheim expedition, including Harden N. Wiedemann '75, returned to Cambridge this week.

Confronted with student unrest and the threat of martial law, they came home three weeks early, noticeably skinnier, newly bearded and disappointed that they had not been allowed to finish their work.

The expedition, which left January 5 for a planned two-month mission, was organized last fall by Hans Guggenheim, professor of architecture at MIT. Wiedemann and two other Harvard students, who later could not get visas for the trip, joined MIT graduate students in planning ways to convert granaries of the Dogon tribe into water storage tanks.

The tanks would be used to save what little rain there was during the wet seasons.

The students had only enough time to convert one granary, since their time was dominated by political considerations from the beginning. Their first week was spent in Bamako, Mali's capital, negotiating with the military government of Moussa Traore for aid in their work.

Best Wishes

Defense Minister Dukari promised them his best wishes at first, and, if the first conversions went well, a minimal amount of aid later on.

Guggenheim and the five students began their work at Sangha, a village of 5000, and after a short period of orientation began to work on a single, unusually large granary in the chief's compound.

"We did this slowly, showing the people each step instead of trying to build several," Wiedemann said yesterday. "They had a village mason, and we explained all the technology, the cements and so on to him."

"Hopefully, when it starts raining a bit in May, they'll see that this was a good idea, and begin converting the granaries themselves," Wiedemann added.

The tank that the students built holds 3000 gallons--enough to get one family through the dry season.

After finishing the tank, the expedition returned to Bamako, hoping to pick up government transportation to villages in northern Mali. "Up there is where the drought has really been worst," Wiedemann said. "They are the ones who really needed the tanks. The Dogons' problem isn't a lack of water--it's just that they have to go good distances for it."

Bamako was in the midst of student demonstrations, however, and the Traore regime quickly showed that it would use force to quell any disturbance. Faced with the possibility of detention in a Mali jail, Guggenheim and the students decided to abandon the trip north and return home immediately.

Great Guy

Wiedemann said they were disappointed by the sudden end of the expedition, noting that before the trip, most of the anticipated problems were expected to grow out of cultural conflict. "Actually, there was very little of that," he said. "The chief was this great guy who walked around in a blue robe, a white turban, and a pair of black All-Star Converse tennis shoes."

Wiedemann stayed with the Waggouseroo Dalo family, which included eight wives and 20 children. "At first they were scared of me," he said. "I was this strange guy coming into their home to live. But then I made good friends with one of the children who spoke really excellent French."

"I just slept in this hut with the 20 children and the father. The only problem was eating their food," he added. "It was just too hot."

The five students and Guggenheim will be collecting data and writing a report on their expedition in the next few weeks. Guggenheim will then send these to the Mali government, in hopes of organizing a similar mission to the northern areas of Mali