Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali

“Monique’s face was youthful, sweet really—a brown symmetrical disk with arching eyebrows, widely spaced eyes, and a slightly upturned nose, making her look like a kid. She was stocky and walked with confidence, her green plastic flip-flops barely visible beneath her wide flapping feet. Strapped to her back with a wide cloth tied over her breasts was her three-month-old son, Basil, fast asleep.” 

This is Holloway’s first description of Monique, the village midwife. This passage is important because it is the reader’s first impression of the main subject of the narrative. As such, it communicates that Monique is confident, competent, and young.

“Now you will see the real work of a woman.”

Monique says this to Holloway before Holloway witnesses her first birth, emphasizing that in a patriarchal society, women still have their own special kind of power: bringing life into the world.

“As Monique dabbed and scrubbed the wound with iodine, the boy began to scream. Flies buzzed about, settling on the gash as soon as Monique raised her ointment-stained red cloth.” 

This quote reflects the realities of operating a health clinic in less than sanitary conditions. Monique must constantly fight against the natural environment when treating her patients.

“Monique used her arms and hands when speaking, clearly but gently pushing her words toward her audience. She looked around and made eye contact with everyone. The mothers clicked their tongues against the back of their throats in understanding.” 

A significant part of Monique’s job is educating the women in her village about female health concerns and about properly feeding their children after weaning to prevent malnutrition, illness, and potentially death. Education is one method that Monique uses to try to save her people.

“He thinks only of himself. If I had known his character, Fatumata, I never would have agreed to marry him.” 

Monique has an arranged marriage to Francois Dembele, a cruel and self-centered man. Their marriage is a burden to Monique, who married him according to their family’s wishes, not knowing at the time the kind of man he was.

“As she reached for the bag the scarf fell away from her face. The lantern light was dim, but I could see that one side was swollen, her eye half closed with puffy tissue. She met my stare, lowered her gaze, and quickly draped the scarf back over.” 

The beating Korotun receives at the hands of her husband emphasizes the power men hold over women in this patriarchal society, in which a wife can be blamed and punished for not becoming pregnant fast enough to please her husband.

“I deliberately took more sips. I was not merely drinking; I was keeping myself alive.” 

Holloway often reflects on the thin line dividing life from death in Mali. A dangerous, life-threatening bout of giardiasis brings home the reality of Malian mortality rates, as Holloway nearly becomes a statistic herself.

“I couldn’t lay a hand on Granny. I could look at death, in a sky blue dress, but could not touch it.” 

Holloway compares her experience and understanding of death, specifically her grandmother’s passing, with the way Malians celebrate the death of a village elder. While the funeral of Holloway’s grandmother was a somber affair, the villagers celebrate the elder’s life by touching and embracing her body while dancing and singing.

“I had never seen the other fellow. He wore a crisp khaki uniform with a green beret, both of which displayed the red, yellow, and green shield of the Republic of Mali.” 

Holloway describes her first look at Pascal Konate, Monique’s childhood friend who has secretly loved her for years. It is significant that he’s wearing his uniform at this first impression, as he is later killed in action.

“He was two years old when he died. He was very sick and had awful diarrhea. It was before my training, so I did not know what to do.” 

Monique discusses the death of her first child, Louis, whom she lost to illness before she became a midwife and health-care worker. The personal connection that Monique has to her position is made clearer to Holloway after she learns this information.

“He gives me what he wants to give me, and I assure you, Fatumata, it is very little.” 

Monique bitterly talks about her father-in-law, who has complete control of the salary that Monique earns as the village midwife. This situation offends Holloway, who is determined to find a way for Monique to manage her own money.

“Every year was a bit of a gamble, deciding when to sow the seeds. Plant too late and growing time would be lost. Too early, before the earth receives sufficient rainfall, and the shoots would die.”

This quote reflects the very fine line between life and death in the village of Nampossela. Every year, its survival depends on forces largely outside its control. Planting is a gamble; rain is a matter of fate. Too little and the crops die, too much and they drown. Unless conditions are just right, the village suffers.

“In contrast, birth in Nampossela was a family and community event and lacked almost all modern medical interventions. Monique has simple tools, clean hands, and a sharp mind. But if a woman needed an IV, or a Cesarean section, or a fetal monitor, it was not an option.” 

Holloway reflects on the realities facing women who give birth in countries like Mali, where modern medical amenities are lacking. Once again, she lists treatment options that are common in America to create a starker contrast with the limited resources in Mali.

“Do you think I get paid for the work I do? No, no. Monique works for the family, so the family gets her money.” 

The dugutigi’s response to Holloway’s request that Monique have control over her own salary reflects the patriarchy that thrives in Mali.

“She has new clothes while we have water for sauce.” 

Monique expresses her frustration at her husband’s infidelities and his decision to spend her hard-earned salary on his girlfriend rather than on food that his children sorely need to survive.

“She would have been beautiful in her father’s eyes if she were a son.” 

Korotun’s long-awaited child is a girl, which she knows will not satisfy her husband. For him, only a boy will do.

“I remember being talked to, being held down tightly, being held very still, and…Hup! The old woman sliced.”

Monique describes when she had her genitals cut as a child. Female genital mutilation was commonplace in African societies as a way for men to control the sexual maturity of women.

“If I had learned one thing from my year in Nampossela, it was that the most mundane habits could separate life from death.”

Holloway considers the mortality rates in Mali and how often the lack of basic cleanliness brought death to a family’s door. This passage reemphasizes the fragility of life in Mali.

“Rape, or forced sex, or whatever term one wanted to apply, was a reality faced by women all over the world, but Monique didn’t seem to have baggage, no perception that she had somehow been violated, no shame or self-reproaching. That, I knew, was a great thing.” 

Monique regards the rape she suffered as a young girl as a normality in Malian culture, which means she does not experience the guilt and shame that Western women often associate with rape and sexual abuse.

“Rewrapping her pagne and squaring her shoulders, she marched off the porch, then turned back to wait for me as I slipped on my sandals. Her face and stance betrayed nothing of today’s events. Her life demanded that her grief reside within her. Outside these walls, her wound would never be revealed—the rhythm of custom and duty its balm and its cloak.” 

At the news of Pascal’s death, Monique grieves only briefly before putting aside her personal problems for the sake of the village. This is a recurring theme in Monique’s life: It’s later revealed that she stays with her husband because divorce would mean leaving the village and abandoning her work there.

“With some talk, and a lot of luck, perhaps Gene could be spared.” 

Monique convinces the village elders to allow birth control pills for women, and she begins to broach the subject of stopping genital mutilation on girls because of the infections and illnesses that can occur after the procedure. She hopes the village will agree to cease this practice before her daughter Gene is old enough to be cut.

“Under our national law, the person salaried is the only person who can claim his salary.” 

Holloway’s efforts to secure Monique’s control of her own salary comes to fruition when Mr. Mariko arrives in the village to declare that the only person who can claim the salary is the person who earns it.

“I had worried that our friendship might lose its spark with her on my turf, that maybe our connection depended on the ingredients of t∂ and heat, but I was wrong. She, and our friendship, blossomed. I saw my world through her eyes.” 

Holloway finds that her friendship with Monique is the real thing, as it grows only stronger when Monique visits America.