Monique and the Mango Rains by Kris Holloway

So if I say to you and you're a woman, you respond by saying. So what I want you to say- so if I say that means hello in Bambara, which is a language spoken in Mali. And I want to greet you in the same way I greeted them, because in large group gatherings, or even in small group gatherings in Mali no business is conducted without greeting each other first. So I spoke to a large and wonderful global health class this morning. Can everyone hear me with these mics? No? Yes? All right, let's try again, is that better? You can hear? All right.

She lives in North Hampton, Massachusetts with her husband, John, and their two sons. She is a confirmed Francophile, loves chocolate, and sits on a physio ball while at her computer. She currently works as the Director of Institutional Relations at the Center for International Studies, a fabulous study, live, explore abroad organization. She has used her unique background in writing, public health, and development to further the mission of numerous nonprofits and educational institutions, including Planned Parenthood, the National Priorities Project, the University of Michigan, Springfield College, and the Greenbelt Movement International. She holds a Master's degree in public health from the University of Michigan, where she focused her research on maternal and child health.

Kris Holloway served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali, West Africa from 1989 to 1991, where she met her husband, John Bidwell. It is a rare tale of friendship that reaches beyond borders to vividly and irrevocably unite another woman's world with our own.

Monique and the Mango Rains is the true story of the life and death of a remarkable West African midwife, seen through the eyes of a young Peace Corps volunteer, who worked side by side with her, birthing babies and caring for mothers in a remote impoverished village.

I'd like to introduce our speaker today, Kris Holloway, who is the author of Monique and the Mango Rains- Two Years with a Midwife in Mali. This colloquium is also sponsored by the Cornell Global Public Health Program, Cornell Health International, and the Cornell Student Society for Public Health. SPEAKER: Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for coming to the 2009 Colloquium Series for the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs. ANNOUNCER: This is a production of Cornell University.

Monique and the Mango Rains by Kris Holloway