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

Chapter 3 begins with Holloway finding that the chickpea prophecy has come true, and the dugutigi’s wife Mawa has delivered healthy twin boys. The end of the day finds Holloway and Monique stopping by a villager’s home to remind him that his wife, who had given birth just two days earlier, needs a week of bed rest, but they meet stony resistance. Monique laments, “Ah, I must be aware of what comes out of my mouth. A woman’s husband must always be handled with care, especially this one” (43).

They stop next at Korotun’s house. She is married to Dramane, a wealthy man by village standards. They find Korotun in her home, the side of her face covered with a scarf. When she removes it, the women see that Korotun has been severely beaten. Aside from her face, Korotun has welts on her arm. Her husband beat her presumably for selling sweet potatoes in town, but in truth, he beat his wife because she has not become pregnant. Korotun’s scarf symbolizes the secret world that wives inhabit in their homes.

Korotun begs Holloway for help getting medicine to become pregnant. Monique and Holloway agree to get Korotun some vitamins so she can tell Dramane that she is taking pills to have a baby.