Monique and the Mango Rains Monique and the mango rains is a touching story about a peace corps volunteer and a Malian midwife. The story is set in the small village of Namposella and is narrated by the Peace Corps volunteer Kris Holloway. The book gives you an in depth perspective on the life of a woman in Mali and their culture as a whole. In this paper I will be discussing anthropological concepts including rite of passage, patriarchy, and religion and how they apply to Monique and the mango rains. Religion is defined as beliefs and individuals concerned with supernatural beings, powers, and forces.
Most people in Mali and Namposella practice Islam. Upon arriving at the village Kris is given an Islamic name they call her Fatumata. Approximately one in ten villagers is Christian. There is a catholic church in the village where Monique had attended services. Behind the church there is a small hut that represented another religion. The hut was home to ritual objects known as fetiches that belonged to the local minianka religion that had its own complex belief system that protected and helped maintain order in the village.
Monique referred to the practice as animism. Patriarchy is a term used to describe a political system ruled by men in which women have inferior social and political status, including basic human rights. The book itself is an example of patriarchy in my opinion. The life that Monique lives daily shows a lack of power that Women have in her society. One of the main events that caught my eye was in chapter six. The chapter is named cutting, Kris Holloway explains the Malian custom for female circumcision.
