The Ball 2010

Kadi from DHL is our designated driver and translator for our press conference with the Minister of Sport and Special Olympics. Her boss, Djelika, reminds her that punctuality is vital on this occasion. Kadi is, she freely admits, prone to tardiness — join the club, Kadi.

To her credit, she arrives right on time in her pick-up truck and we are also just about ready to go. Phil climbs into the passenger seat and Andrew leaps on the back. It’s our first morning in Bamako traffic; an interesting experience. Old European cars in the designated car lanes and new Chinese mopeds and motorbikes in the bike lanes. We pass a huge sign hanging outside a government ministry saying “Ride bikes for a cleaner Bamako.” Not a bad idea, but a seemingly hopeless cause. Bamako is highly polluted, with no regard for laws on emissions (if indeed there are any) and traffic congestion is out of control. To top it all, there seem to be more and more people moving to the city.

Bamako bike rider

As we cross the Niger River and head into town, Andrew has our trusty Sony video camera (kindly lent to us by Africa10) in his hand, snapping up everything in sight. He quickly finds out that people are very wary of visitors filming them. It’s a common sentiment in poorer countries around the world, where people think their image might be exploited by the photographer, perhaps appearing on a postcard or in a magazine. As we near our destination, we are confronted by locals pointing at the camera, indicating clearly that filming them is not okay. We can understand their point of view — although these scenes look exotic to us, to them this is normality. In our defence, we feel that we’re not just taking photos away, we’re also bringing something with us: The Ball.

Phil greets the Ensemble Instrumental with The Ball

We arrive at the Carrefour des Jeunes cultural center, we are met by Ensemble Instrumental, a musical group paid by the government to perform at state occasions. Special Olympics athletes and administrators are in the courtyard to greet us as the band steps the music up a notch.

A singer with Ensemble Instrumental

There are more than ten of them in the band: five or six dancers, one man on marimba, two guys on talking drums, a singer and a djembe player. The Ball lands in the middle of the group and Phil jumps on the microphone to add his voice to the mix.

An Ensemble Instrumental musician

A drummer with Ensemble Instrumental

The Ball in the mix

The press conference that follows includes an official presentation of The Ball to the representative of the Minister of Sport, Mr. Morike Traore, words of welcome from the president of Special Olympics Mali, Mr. Mama Garba Tapo and Salif Moulin Diallo, the head of the Paralympic movement in Mali.

Morike Traore and Mama Garba Tapo

The Chinese Ambassador joins us on the podium: from construction through to sport, the Chinese are not missing a trick in West Africa. We stay for a quick TV interview and then we’re on our way again — a little bit wiser about local fears as well as local hopes.

Next up: visa training Burkina Faso-style, followed by a personal audience with the Governor of Bamako. A flavour of just one day in the life of The Ball 2010. Stay tuned.