Ini kibari!
I have neglected my blog for quite some time, so it’s time for an update. It’s funny, the more time I spend here, the more I become normalized to everything around me, and I find I can’t think of any news to post on my blog!
Let me think…last time I wrote, I just got back from Bobo, and was pathetically sick. I had some germ/parasite and another bout of malaria, which then affected my overall mental state, meaning I got super depressed and wanted to come home. I got so sick/depressed I couldn’t stay at home alone, and went to stay with some Spanish friends at their NGO for some moral support. The fact that there are toilets there as well was definitely a pull factor, since it made my life much easier. Everyone in Houndé knew I was sick…it’s incredible how fast news travels. I even got calls and messages from people in Ouaga and Bobo…don’t ask me how they knew. The fact that I left my house made everyone think that I was deathly ill, and so the whole office came to visit, and it was a really special boost to know that people care so much about the wellbeing of others, and take the time to make sure you’re alright.
After I got better work started up again, and I had lots of catching up to do. We’re working on a project to get milk for HIV-positive mothers to give their children, training our kids to become group leaders in their meetings, setting up microcredits for our girls who don’t go to school, and lots of other exciting little projects. We received money to pay school fees for our kids who couldn’t pay, so it was really neat because I got to go into all the surrounding villages and visit the schools there. Most of these villages are really in the bush, and a lot of the kids had never seen a toubabou (white person) before. At one of the schools I was sitting outside waiting for my colleague, and a whole bunch of little kids were hanging out windows watching my every move. At one point I took some bread out of my bag and started eating, and the kids started screaming ‘elle mange!!’ (she’s eating!) and calling their friends. I was like, just because my skin is lighter than yours does it mean that I don’t eat??? Quite the experience…
At another school, one of the teachers brought me to each class to show me to the kids because he said they had never seen a foreigner before, besides on TV. It was kind of weird…I felt like some kind of artefact bring brought around and displayed, but the kids were really cute. The teacher asked the kids to describe what I was like, and one little boy got up and said, ‘elle est jolie!’ Teehee.
Right now we’re organising an Eid/Christmas/New Year’s party with our kids, and it is too much fun. They’re doing little plays, and my girls are doing one on the importance of female education. They’re choreographing dances, writing a rap piece, and it is just the cutest thing.
This weekend I’m invited to the AGM of a women’s association in a little village called Karangasso-Sambla. It’s where my friend Emanuele did her research, so I’m excited to meet her people and discover another little corner of Burkina.
My mom and siblings finally booked their plane tickets, and arrive the 15th of December! Craissy pahty! We’ll spend Eid here in Houndé, and then go up north to go came trekking through the Sahelian Dunes! Pretty cool, huh?
I’ve gotten so caught up in my little world here that I forgot that I’m still a university student, and have a thesis to write next year. Imagine my panic and dismay when I received an email reminding me that my 20-page research proposal is due in 2 weeks. Right…like that will ever happen. One thing is sure and that is that nothing is getting sent off to UofT before the second week of January. I have no idea how I’m going to manage a research project when I get internet access once a month…
So yes, I guess I did find some news to tell you! I hope everyone is well, and please send me some news from home! Even if my internet access is limited, it always makes me happy to have lots of emails waiting for me.
Lots of love!
Sara
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Fun in Bobo
Ani sogoma!
Here's a little entry with the latest updates! I got back from Morocco safe and sound (with my 30kg of supplies...ehe...), and got to stay with Nathalie before heading back home to Houndé. When I was arrived REVS+ was in the middle of a campaign to offer 1000 free HIV tests in Houndé's surrounding villages. I accompanied the group out to 2 villages, and it was super interesting! We had hundreds of people come to get tested, and it neat to do the pretest counseling, and then deliver the results. I also got to experience the harder side of our work, when we had to tell one man that he was HIV positive. I was amazed at how he took it...calmly and seriously, and I can only pray that he doesn't get discouraged, but that he realizes that it's not the end and that he can live a normal and rewarding life.
Just as I started to settle into Houndé life again, I was sent off to Bobo for the annual Uniterra meeting for the HIV/AIDS sector. We spent the last two days collaborating with other partners and discussing our work. I think that it will really help us continue our work, since now my role within my organization and within Uniterra is much clearer for everyone. I also got to spend some time with the other volunteers, including Nathalie, and I've been the official Bobo guide for the weekend. I also get a whole lot of sympathy from everyone, since they all come from Ouaga, and think that I'm really living the extreme in Houndé. But I also realize that my experience is very different from theirs, and I really don't think there's too much I can be scared of after this. By the way, I don't know if this is too much information, but if we're talking about adapting to new and different situations, I should mention that I don't use toilet paper anymore. Ok, don't panic or let your imagination get ahead of you...first of all, there's no toilet paper in Houndé. I found one roll, once, and I'm probably the only person who ever bought it. So, short of not going to the bathroom, I had to explore my options. Since everyone here uses a little plastic kettle-like thing, and they all seem to be breathing and still living, I figured it couldn't be the end of the world. When I told my Ouaga people that, I thought that I had caused a collective cardiac arrest. But it's a matter of getting used to something.
So, back to the present. We've been having lots of fun in Bobo, and I've been getting spoiled. We're staying in Bobo's finest hotel, but which, according to our standards, is super tacky (think orange and brown carpeting on the walls), but it has a pool, is comfortable, and oh, it has toilet paper.It's been fun to be with some crazy Canadians...I even got thrown into a swimming pool fully clothed, had to hide from the hotel staff, then walk through the lobby dripping wet pretending that nothing happened...
Today is the celebration for the 10th anniversary of REVS+, so we're here for the day, and tomorrow's the official ceremony with the First Lady of Burkina Faso, and I get to wear my new outfit I got made! Jubilation!
Well, this one was short and sweet. A la prochaine!
Sara
Here's a little entry with the latest updates! I got back from Morocco safe and sound (with my 30kg of supplies...ehe...), and got to stay with Nathalie before heading back home to Houndé. When I was arrived REVS+ was in the middle of a campaign to offer 1000 free HIV tests in Houndé's surrounding villages. I accompanied the group out to 2 villages, and it was super interesting! We had hundreds of people come to get tested, and it neat to do the pretest counseling, and then deliver the results. I also got to experience the harder side of our work, when we had to tell one man that he was HIV positive. I was amazed at how he took it...calmly and seriously, and I can only pray that he doesn't get discouraged, but that he realizes that it's not the end and that he can live a normal and rewarding life.
Just as I started to settle into Houndé life again, I was sent off to Bobo for the annual Uniterra meeting for the HIV/AIDS sector. We spent the last two days collaborating with other partners and discussing our work. I think that it will really help us continue our work, since now my role within my organization and within Uniterra is much clearer for everyone. I also got to spend some time with the other volunteers, including Nathalie, and I've been the official Bobo guide for the weekend. I also get a whole lot of sympathy from everyone, since they all come from Ouaga, and think that I'm really living the extreme in Houndé. But I also realize that my experience is very different from theirs, and I really don't think there's too much I can be scared of after this. By the way, I don't know if this is too much information, but if we're talking about adapting to new and different situations, I should mention that I don't use toilet paper anymore. Ok, don't panic or let your imagination get ahead of you...first of all, there's no toilet paper in Houndé. I found one roll, once, and I'm probably the only person who ever bought it. So, short of not going to the bathroom, I had to explore my options. Since everyone here uses a little plastic kettle-like thing, and they all seem to be breathing and still living, I figured it couldn't be the end of the world. When I told my Ouaga people that, I thought that I had caused a collective cardiac arrest. But it's a matter of getting used to something.
So, back to the present. We've been having lots of fun in Bobo, and I've been getting spoiled. We're staying in Bobo's finest hotel, but which, according to our standards, is super tacky (think orange and brown carpeting on the walls), but it has a pool, is comfortable, and oh, it has toilet paper.It's been fun to be with some crazy Canadians...I even got thrown into a swimming pool fully clothed, had to hide from the hotel staff, then walk through the lobby dripping wet pretending that nothing happened...
Today is the celebration for the 10th anniversary of REVS+, so we're here for the day, and tomorrow's the official ceremony with the First Lady of Burkina Faso, and I get to wear my new outfit I got made! Jubilation!
Well, this one was short and sweet. A la prochaine!
Sara
Monday, October 15, 2007
Mon séjour au Maroc
Assalamu alaikum!
I'm here in Morocco being utterly spoiled, and I also have unlimited internet access! Party city!! So I decided to take advantage of this luxury and post another entry. I wish I could add some pictures, but my camera is being annoying.
So, as you know, I decided to come and celebrate Eid with my relatives in Casablanca, which was honestly one of the best decisions of my life. Before leaving, I spent a few days at Nathalie's beautiful house in Ouaga, which also did me some good since we got lots of time to catch up and share lots of stories. I got to the airport at 1am on Tuesday night, which was an interesting experience. Lots of flirty but harmless men can be found at the airport, and it's funny because as soon as you give them some attitude, they kind of begin to respect you and be friendly. While I was waiting for my plane, Val called me (yay!!!!) and we had to cram 3 months of news into 20 minutes, but it was better than nothing and made me super happy! Yay best friends!
Right after we hung up, I received a random love declaration from an airport worker who claimed he was really nervous, since apparently it was the first time he had ever been moved to approach a girl and compliment her. Right...
So yes, I arrived in Morocco and got picked up by the family. It is such a different world...I feel like I'm halfway between Africa and Europe. Come to think of it, I am...ehe...but I mean in terms of lifestyle and infrastructure and culture. The food is unbelievable, and it's so nice to be with family and to be taken care of.
Last time I came here I didn't like Casablanca, but this time around I'm appreciating the city more. Maybe I was more desperate for a change, but regardless of the reason, I'm finding the city bright, alive and comfortable, with lots of cafes, trees, music, and oh, random men who say "assalamu alaikum" in a really seductive way when you pass by...ah, Moroccan flirting. Teehee.
And I thought Ouaga traffic was bad...I'm convinced I almost died numerous times, but fortunately I am still in one piece.I went to the market with my honourary mother (who has proclaimed me her daughter and is determined to marry me to one of her remaining single sons) and I almost cried when I saw all the vegetables and fruits...it was like they were mocking me, reminding me that in Houndé there is nothing that can compare.
I have eaten like a queen here...Moroccan food is undoubtedly the best food in the world. We've eaten tajines, couscous, crepes, a ton of fresh fruit, moroccan pastries, soups, salads, fresh juices, you name it. How am I going to go back to rice and tomato paste and maggi cubes!! HOW???!!! Bo.
It was lovely to finish Ramadan here as well, since I felt a bit more at home and fasting was much easier. One night we went for evening prayer in the famous Hassan II mosque right beside the water, and it was so full (with 60.000 people) that we joined those who were praying outside on the courtyard beside the ocean. It was absolutely beautiful.
The night before Eid, Nadia and I went to a hammam, the traditional Moroccan baths. It was super chic, and we had someone do gommage, meaning you lie on a table and someone scrubs you down with an exfoliating glove. I was nice and red afterwards, but probably 5 pounds lighter without all the dirt, grime and dust that she had scrubbed out of me. That night, at 1am, my aunt told me she wanted to do henna. We sat in the living room and she did traditional henna on my hands and feet. I desperately needed to sleep, so we wrapped me up in old cloths and the next morning my henna was still intact!
On Eid day the whole family was here, and I helped prepare a giant plate of couscous, which can only be described as perfect. I decided to eat it Moroccan style and make the little couscous balls in my hand, but it is not easy. I ended up having a little mountain of couscous piled up in front of me, but it didn't matter...I was in the world of delightful taste sensations, and nothing could take away the joy. Hehehe. If you think I exaggerate, you have never tried homemade moroccan couscous.
I also got to talk to my family in a video conversation on Eid day, and it was so nice since I haven't seen them since I left. Adam is taller than I am now!!!
Yesterday Nadia, Ayoub and I went for a walk along the beach, watched the sunset and went for ICE CREAM (hallelujah!) at the best glacier in Morocco. Another delightful taste sensation.
We then got picked up by Younes, crammed way too many people into a very small car, and drove out of the city to a restaurant where you choose your meat at the butcher stall, then have it prepared for you. You eat it with traditional bread and mint tea. I ate heart for the firs ttime in my life, and though it tasted good, I was having a psychological issues eating it. Oh well!! One must always try something new, I suppose. I was so stuffed I could hardly breathe.
Ok...I just realized that the majority of this blog entry is focussed around food. Oh well!
I go back to BF tomorrow night, get back to work on Thursday, then next week I have to go to Bobo for a Uniterra meeting, where I have to present the work we've done so far to all the BF Uniterra workers and volunteers. In French. Blast.
So, I hope this entry wasn't too tedious, not even for my brother. Lots of love from Morocco!
Sara
I'm here in Morocco being utterly spoiled, and I also have unlimited internet access! Party city!! So I decided to take advantage of this luxury and post another entry. I wish I could add some pictures, but my camera is being annoying.
So, as you know, I decided to come and celebrate Eid with my relatives in Casablanca, which was honestly one of the best decisions of my life. Before leaving, I spent a few days at Nathalie's beautiful house in Ouaga, which also did me some good since we got lots of time to catch up and share lots of stories. I got to the airport at 1am on Tuesday night, which was an interesting experience. Lots of flirty but harmless men can be found at the airport, and it's funny because as soon as you give them some attitude, they kind of begin to respect you and be friendly. While I was waiting for my plane, Val called me (yay!!!!) and we had to cram 3 months of news into 20 minutes, but it was better than nothing and made me super happy! Yay best friends!
Right after we hung up, I received a random love declaration from an airport worker who claimed he was really nervous, since apparently it was the first time he had ever been moved to approach a girl and compliment her. Right...
So yes, I arrived in Morocco and got picked up by the family. It is such a different world...I feel like I'm halfway between Africa and Europe. Come to think of it, I am...ehe...but I mean in terms of lifestyle and infrastructure and culture. The food is unbelievable, and it's so nice to be with family and to be taken care of.
Last time I came here I didn't like Casablanca, but this time around I'm appreciating the city more. Maybe I was more desperate for a change, but regardless of the reason, I'm finding the city bright, alive and comfortable, with lots of cafes, trees, music, and oh, random men who say "assalamu alaikum" in a really seductive way when you pass by...ah, Moroccan flirting. Teehee.
And I thought Ouaga traffic was bad...I'm convinced I almost died numerous times, but fortunately I am still in one piece.I went to the market with my honourary mother (who has proclaimed me her daughter and is determined to marry me to one of her remaining single sons) and I almost cried when I saw all the vegetables and fruits...it was like they were mocking me, reminding me that in Houndé there is nothing that can compare.
I have eaten like a queen here...Moroccan food is undoubtedly the best food in the world. We've eaten tajines, couscous, crepes, a ton of fresh fruit, moroccan pastries, soups, salads, fresh juices, you name it. How am I going to go back to rice and tomato paste and maggi cubes!! HOW???!!! Bo.
It was lovely to finish Ramadan here as well, since I felt a bit more at home and fasting was much easier. One night we went for evening prayer in the famous Hassan II mosque right beside the water, and it was so full (with 60.000 people) that we joined those who were praying outside on the courtyard beside the ocean. It was absolutely beautiful.
The night before Eid, Nadia and I went to a hammam, the traditional Moroccan baths. It was super chic, and we had someone do gommage, meaning you lie on a table and someone scrubs you down with an exfoliating glove. I was nice and red afterwards, but probably 5 pounds lighter without all the dirt, grime and dust that she had scrubbed out of me. That night, at 1am, my aunt told me she wanted to do henna. We sat in the living room and she did traditional henna on my hands and feet. I desperately needed to sleep, so we wrapped me up in old cloths and the next morning my henna was still intact!
On Eid day the whole family was here, and I helped prepare a giant plate of couscous, which can only be described as perfect. I decided to eat it Moroccan style and make the little couscous balls in my hand, but it is not easy. I ended up having a little mountain of couscous piled up in front of me, but it didn't matter...I was in the world of delightful taste sensations, and nothing could take away the joy. Hehehe. If you think I exaggerate, you have never tried homemade moroccan couscous.
I also got to talk to my family in a video conversation on Eid day, and it was so nice since I haven't seen them since I left. Adam is taller than I am now!!!
Yesterday Nadia, Ayoub and I went for a walk along the beach, watched the sunset and went for ICE CREAM (hallelujah!) at the best glacier in Morocco. Another delightful taste sensation.
We then got picked up by Younes, crammed way too many people into a very small car, and drove out of the city to a restaurant where you choose your meat at the butcher stall, then have it prepared for you. You eat it with traditional bread and mint tea. I ate heart for the firs ttime in my life, and though it tasted good, I was having a psychological issues eating it. Oh well!! One must always try something new, I suppose. I was so stuffed I could hardly breathe.
Ok...I just realized that the majority of this blog entry is focussed around food. Oh well!
I go back to BF tomorrow night, get back to work on Thursday, then next week I have to go to Bobo for a Uniterra meeting, where I have to present the work we've done so far to all the BF Uniterra workers and volunteers. In French. Blast.
So, I hope this entry wasn't too tedious, not even for my brother. Lots of love from Morocco!
Sara
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Life in general
So…don’t hate me, but here it is…another super long blog entry. Jubilation! I would also like to announce that I am typing this on my laptop, which is a cause for much rejoicing, since it has been broken and out of order for a number of months. But finally I was able to find a mechanic who actually knew what he was doing and he did a great job. Except now everything is in French…but ca va aller! I’m currently in bed, staring down a large insect that of course, has to be huge and really ugly, and plant itself right beside my head. Thank heavens for my mosquito net, which puts a bit of distance between myself and this hideous creation.
So…where to start. Since I came back from Ouaga, I’ve been keeping busy with things in Houndé, not wandering far from home. Work has been really interesting, since we finally started going out to visit children, to start getting to know them and their families, and learning about their realities. The majority are AIDS orphans or children living with a positive parent. I am falling more and more in love with these children. Before starting someone told me to be careful, to not get too attached to them, because their lives aren’t easy, I’ll want to help them all. What they should have said is that I’ll want to bring them all home with me, do everything I possibly can to make them happy, and bring them all to Canada with me, because that would have been more accurate. I hear stories that break my heart everyday; the poverty, the maltreatment of orphans, the experiences of abandoned children, but these children also warm my heart when they start to share their stories with me. I’m learning how wonderful it feels to gain someone’s trust, and these children are just too wonderful. We have really exciting projects in mind for the kids…we want to build a library, start a community garden, create a theatre forum and cine-debate club, do visits to villages, and start a homework club. There’s too much, but if any of these ideas can become a reality I will be so happy. All we need is a little motivation and we’re set. And I have reason to be encouraged, because parents are really grateful for what we’re doing…I think a lot of them feel a bit isolated and forgotten, and to see that people are interested in I’ve also started helping with the distribution of food rations, and even though it’s not in my responsibilities, I really enjoy it. All our members come, and it’s a nice way to get to know them, and since a lot of them are the parents of our OEVs, it helps build trust and familiarity. Every time I leave the activity I’m covered in dust from head to toe, but it’s a satisfying kind of dust, if that makes any sense at all. I don’t think it does, so we shall pretend I never said it. Dust? What dust? Huh? Right…
I’m going to start dioula lessons (yes…finally!). Vraiment, moi-même c’est pas la peine…ça fait 3 mois que je suis ici et je comprend que les salutations. But I shall speak dioula before I leave. I’m beginning to understand key words, so if someone starts talking, sometimes I can put together the general idea, and once in a while I’ll scare someone a bit, if they were talking about me and thought that I was completely clueless. Hehehe…how I love those moments.
I hit a bit of a down point for a while, and I think it was a combination of things…I got an amoeba which was really unpleasant, and being sick made everything else worse. At the same time I learned firsthand how much people talk in this small town; people really have a lot of time on their hands, and since I’m one of the only Westerners here, my every move is public knowledge, and that’s before the exaggerations and interpretations enter the picture. It got to the point where someone spoke to my colleagues about things I never did, which I found really upsetting. At first it really got to me…I decided I would never leave my house, and basically become a nun. Meanwhile I was getting quite annoyed with men in general, since there’s a lot of attention sent my way, but most often it’s to try to get a visa to come to Canada (apparently I represent the Government of Canada and have the power to influence immigration laws and to hand out visas to n’importe qui). Then Ramadan started, which made me miss home, then it was my birthday, so all together, I was quite homesick. But, a good friend of mine at work, who most graciously listens to me and my complaints on a regular basis, reminded me that people are going to talk even if I become a nun and never leave my house, so d’ecouter ce que les gens disent c’est pas la peine. En tout cas! As Pamtaba says, ‘il faut tout multiplier par zero’ which I’m realizing is crucial, because otherwise it really gets you down. So, things are now going much better. Work is picking up a bit, meaning that people are approaching me more and more, we’re using our time more wisely, and there’s more communication between people in the office, making for a better work environment. I’m really lucky to have landed wonderful colleagues, but I have a bit of trouble working within their pace and level of motivation. I want to do things, to get things going, and no matter how much people warned us before leaving for placement that we shouldn’t expect to make a huge difference at work, I still think I can do a lot here, and I say that because there is so much potential; it’s going to take is a bit of energy and motivation to mobilise the people in the office to really get our act together, but it’s not impossible. The harder they see me work, the more they get involved, so it’s really encouraging, despite being frustrating at times.
One last element that was really affecting my happiness level was the food. My family knows not to mention the word ‘food’ on the phone because I might start crying…no jokes) but really in Houndé it is really difficult to eat varied meals. If it isn’t rice, it’s spaghetti, and if it isn’t spaghetti, it’s to. Everything is served with a sauce, made with a base of stock and tomato paste. There are other local sauces, made with various leaves, but I can’t eat them on a daily basis. My favourite sauce is made with pate d’arachides (peanut butter), but it’s also heavy and not edible on a daily basis. Ramadan has made my life easier, since it cuts my meals down to one a day, meaning I don’t feel weighed down by starch as many times a day.
At the point where I was nearing depression because of the food, I spent a day in Bobo with my friend Juliette, et on a profiter pour manger à mon restaurant préferé. It’s funny because I never realized how much food affects my overall mood, but after our meal, I was in a really, really good mood for days.
So…overall, as you all must realize by now, I feel like a change of scenery would do me a bit of good. So, if all goes well, I plan to celebrate Eid with my family in Morocco. I’ll be there for 6 days, and even if it’s short, it will be nice to change the air a bit, to be with some family, to eat MOROCCAN FOOD, and to be able to walk down the street and not stand out. Je vous jure, ca va faire du bien.
But, enough of the negative. Though things are frustrating at times, I’m falling more into a rhythm, starting to establish really nice relationships with those people I trust, and starting to get to know my Houndé more and more. As I start to feel more comfortable, I start to feel more at home. I also realize that it has a lot to do with establishing limits, something that’s hard at the very beginning. I think this is the point where I start to be more culturally savvy. It’s neat because I’ve never been somewhere for more than 3 months, especially not somewhere so incredibly different from home, so I’ve never experienced this process of really having to adapt and accept, and navigate within very specific social norms while still being true to my opinions and my way of thinking and seeing and interpreting. Overall, I’m happy, and everyday there are new challenges and lots of little successes. Also, I am in love with my mobylette. It’s the best mode of transportation ever, and I don’t know how I’m going to deal with cars again. It took some time to get used to the roads here, and if you don’t know to anticipate the holes and the animals and the puddles and the jutting rocks, you really are getting yourself into trouble. We had too many problems with the moto at the beginning, but now it’s much better. I finally had the courage to go out at night with my moto by myself, and at the end of the evening I drove home on my own. I nearly hit a donkey, but besides that, all passed sans problème J Speaking of donkeys…I have never heard such an awful racket come out of a living being. They make SO much noise! It’s really incredible, and it’s the most disturbing noise I’ve ever had the misfortune to hear. It’s like a horrible wheezing sound followed by this huge explosion of noise. Really unpleasant, especially because they start at about 4 in the morning. When I get up to eat before fasting it’s really hard to get back to sleep. While we’re on the topic of animals, I’ve been having major chicken problems…my friend Said planted me a garden, and these ridiculous chickens keep coming into my yard and yanking up all my plants. Ça m’énnerve, quoi. There is also a family of pigs who have installed themselves in my yard, since Delphine planted corn beside the house, and they enjoy the shade. En tout cas!
I spent the weekend in Bobo with my friend Aziz, which was a pleasure usual. It’s always nice because chez lui, je peux oublier les frustrations de Hounde, et me decompresser un peu. And he helps me run my million errands. And I eat really well…his mom is an excellent cook. On Monday night I was going to come home, but the organization RAJS (Reseau Africain Jeunesse et Sante) put on a talent show for youth. The theme was ‘how to prevent undesired pregnancies, and Aziz had his OEVs create a little skit and present it. It was really neat…I have never seen kids aged 10-15 discuss sexuality and sexual behaviour so seriously, as though they were talking about what they had for dinner. They talk about how to properly put on a condom without laughing or being embarrassed. I realize that this is a result of living a different reality…one where their parents are infected and they are constantly being reminded of the importance of responsible sexual behaviour. The evening was a huge success! The turnout was wonderful, Aziz’s kids came in second, and got to be hostess, which involved seating all the really important people, and accompanying the guests to the stage. This included the la monseigneur of Bobo (a very important religious leader), Christine Kafando, the Minister of Women and health, and Dhenje, a young Burkinabe hip hop artist, who wrote the most beautiful words. I must find his CD’s.
I must add…after the show, I got a phone call from an unknown number, so I answer and it turns out it’s Dhenje’s manager (don’t ask how he got my number…it seems to be the most widely distributed piece of information…bo). Anyway, Dhenje then took the phone and told me that he had noticed me, blah blah blah, and told me whenever I’m ready he’ll bring me to Ouaga to visit him. That’s right…Sara’s mingling with the stars! He called me again today from his studio to remind me of his invitation. Mamma mia
Nathalie arrived in Ouagadougou!! On my way to Morocco I’ll leave a few days early for Ouaga and do some catching up with her. Ca fera du bien. We spoke on the phone and it was neat because I realized that I have learned lots during my time here, since as I comforted Nathalie and told her everything would be ok, I realized that I have really dealt with a lot, and become quite comfortable and confident.
I have a million things to do before I leave, since I want to catch up on everything and leave with a clear mind. There are so many little things to do…and it’s made more complicated by the fact that the espece electrical company keeps cutting the electricity, so the computer at the office keeps turning off, and people who are starting to get used to the computer (and insist on typing everything themselves…which is really nice, because as I teach them, it shows me they’re getting more confident, but believe me, when you want to type a document in 5 minutes, and it takes someone else 2 hours to write, it’s slightly frustrating…ehe…). Tomorrow Pamtaba and I are going to do the grand tour of Houndé and visit all the children we haven’t yet had the chance to visit. After this come visits to the villages, and I can’t wait. After Ramadan though...petit a petit. Friday is a meeting with my OEV team, to discuss the visits to villages, and to decide when to start our homework club for the kids.
There are a million more details, but they would fill a book, and I don’t want to scare people away from my blog. As my brother says, he reads the first few lines of my entries and then is like, ‘ok, this is lame’, so though I try not to take him too seriously, I shall bring this entry to a close.
Lots and lots of love to everyone at home!
Bisous,
Sara
So…where to start. Since I came back from Ouaga, I’ve been keeping busy with things in Houndé, not wandering far from home. Work has been really interesting, since we finally started going out to visit children, to start getting to know them and their families, and learning about their realities. The majority are AIDS orphans or children living with a positive parent. I am falling more and more in love with these children. Before starting someone told me to be careful, to not get too attached to them, because their lives aren’t easy, I’ll want to help them all. What they should have said is that I’ll want to bring them all home with me, do everything I possibly can to make them happy, and bring them all to Canada with me, because that would have been more accurate. I hear stories that break my heart everyday; the poverty, the maltreatment of orphans, the experiences of abandoned children, but these children also warm my heart when they start to share their stories with me. I’m learning how wonderful it feels to gain someone’s trust, and these children are just too wonderful. We have really exciting projects in mind for the kids…we want to build a library, start a community garden, create a theatre forum and cine-debate club, do visits to villages, and start a homework club. There’s too much, but if any of these ideas can become a reality I will be so happy. All we need is a little motivation and we’re set. And I have reason to be encouraged, because parents are really grateful for what we’re doing…I think a lot of them feel a bit isolated and forgotten, and to see that people are interested in I’ve also started helping with the distribution of food rations, and even though it’s not in my responsibilities, I really enjoy it. All our members come, and it’s a nice way to get to know them, and since a lot of them are the parents of our OEVs, it helps build trust and familiarity. Every time I leave the activity I’m covered in dust from head to toe, but it’s a satisfying kind of dust, if that makes any sense at all. I don’t think it does, so we shall pretend I never said it. Dust? What dust? Huh? Right…
I’m going to start dioula lessons (yes…finally!). Vraiment, moi-même c’est pas la peine…ça fait 3 mois que je suis ici et je comprend que les salutations. But I shall speak dioula before I leave. I’m beginning to understand key words, so if someone starts talking, sometimes I can put together the general idea, and once in a while I’ll scare someone a bit, if they were talking about me and thought that I was completely clueless. Hehehe…how I love those moments.
I hit a bit of a down point for a while, and I think it was a combination of things…I got an amoeba which was really unpleasant, and being sick made everything else worse. At the same time I learned firsthand how much people talk in this small town; people really have a lot of time on their hands, and since I’m one of the only Westerners here, my every move is public knowledge, and that’s before the exaggerations and interpretations enter the picture. It got to the point where someone spoke to my colleagues about things I never did, which I found really upsetting. At first it really got to me…I decided I would never leave my house, and basically become a nun. Meanwhile I was getting quite annoyed with men in general, since there’s a lot of attention sent my way, but most often it’s to try to get a visa to come to Canada (apparently I represent the Government of Canada and have the power to influence immigration laws and to hand out visas to n’importe qui). Then Ramadan started, which made me miss home, then it was my birthday, so all together, I was quite homesick. But, a good friend of mine at work, who most graciously listens to me and my complaints on a regular basis, reminded me that people are going to talk even if I become a nun and never leave my house, so d’ecouter ce que les gens disent c’est pas la peine. En tout cas! As Pamtaba says, ‘il faut tout multiplier par zero’ which I’m realizing is crucial, because otherwise it really gets you down. So, things are now going much better. Work is picking up a bit, meaning that people are approaching me more and more, we’re using our time more wisely, and there’s more communication between people in the office, making for a better work environment. I’m really lucky to have landed wonderful colleagues, but I have a bit of trouble working within their pace and level of motivation. I want to do things, to get things going, and no matter how much people warned us before leaving for placement that we shouldn’t expect to make a huge difference at work, I still think I can do a lot here, and I say that because there is so much potential; it’s going to take is a bit of energy and motivation to mobilise the people in the office to really get our act together, but it’s not impossible. The harder they see me work, the more they get involved, so it’s really encouraging, despite being frustrating at times.
One last element that was really affecting my happiness level was the food. My family knows not to mention the word ‘food’ on the phone because I might start crying…no jokes) but really in Houndé it is really difficult to eat varied meals. If it isn’t rice, it’s spaghetti, and if it isn’t spaghetti, it’s to. Everything is served with a sauce, made with a base of stock and tomato paste. There are other local sauces, made with various leaves, but I can’t eat them on a daily basis. My favourite sauce is made with pate d’arachides (peanut butter), but it’s also heavy and not edible on a daily basis. Ramadan has made my life easier, since it cuts my meals down to one a day, meaning I don’t feel weighed down by starch as many times a day.
At the point where I was nearing depression because of the food, I spent a day in Bobo with my friend Juliette, et on a profiter pour manger à mon restaurant préferé. It’s funny because I never realized how much food affects my overall mood, but after our meal, I was in a really, really good mood for days.
So…overall, as you all must realize by now, I feel like a change of scenery would do me a bit of good. So, if all goes well, I plan to celebrate Eid with my family in Morocco. I’ll be there for 6 days, and even if it’s short, it will be nice to change the air a bit, to be with some family, to eat MOROCCAN FOOD, and to be able to walk down the street and not stand out. Je vous jure, ca va faire du bien.
But, enough of the negative. Though things are frustrating at times, I’m falling more into a rhythm, starting to establish really nice relationships with those people I trust, and starting to get to know my Houndé more and more. As I start to feel more comfortable, I start to feel more at home. I also realize that it has a lot to do with establishing limits, something that’s hard at the very beginning. I think this is the point where I start to be more culturally savvy. It’s neat because I’ve never been somewhere for more than 3 months, especially not somewhere so incredibly different from home, so I’ve never experienced this process of really having to adapt and accept, and navigate within very specific social norms while still being true to my opinions and my way of thinking and seeing and interpreting. Overall, I’m happy, and everyday there are new challenges and lots of little successes. Also, I am in love with my mobylette. It’s the best mode of transportation ever, and I don’t know how I’m going to deal with cars again. It took some time to get used to the roads here, and if you don’t know to anticipate the holes and the animals and the puddles and the jutting rocks, you really are getting yourself into trouble. We had too many problems with the moto at the beginning, but now it’s much better. I finally had the courage to go out at night with my moto by myself, and at the end of the evening I drove home on my own. I nearly hit a donkey, but besides that, all passed sans problème J Speaking of donkeys…I have never heard such an awful racket come out of a living being. They make SO much noise! It’s really incredible, and it’s the most disturbing noise I’ve ever had the misfortune to hear. It’s like a horrible wheezing sound followed by this huge explosion of noise. Really unpleasant, especially because they start at about 4 in the morning. When I get up to eat before fasting it’s really hard to get back to sleep. While we’re on the topic of animals, I’ve been having major chicken problems…my friend Said planted me a garden, and these ridiculous chickens keep coming into my yard and yanking up all my plants. Ça m’énnerve, quoi. There is also a family of pigs who have installed themselves in my yard, since Delphine planted corn beside the house, and they enjoy the shade. En tout cas!
I spent the weekend in Bobo with my friend Aziz, which was a pleasure usual. It’s always nice because chez lui, je peux oublier les frustrations de Hounde, et me decompresser un peu. And he helps me run my million errands. And I eat really well…his mom is an excellent cook. On Monday night I was going to come home, but the organization RAJS (Reseau Africain Jeunesse et Sante) put on a talent show for youth. The theme was ‘how to prevent undesired pregnancies, and Aziz had his OEVs create a little skit and present it. It was really neat…I have never seen kids aged 10-15 discuss sexuality and sexual behaviour so seriously, as though they were talking about what they had for dinner. They talk about how to properly put on a condom without laughing or being embarrassed. I realize that this is a result of living a different reality…one where their parents are infected and they are constantly being reminded of the importance of responsible sexual behaviour. The evening was a huge success! The turnout was wonderful, Aziz’s kids came in second, and got to be hostess, which involved seating all the really important people, and accompanying the guests to the stage. This included the la monseigneur of Bobo (a very important religious leader), Christine Kafando, the Minister of Women and health, and Dhenje, a young Burkinabe hip hop artist, who wrote the most beautiful words. I must find his CD’s.
I must add…after the show, I got a phone call from an unknown number, so I answer and it turns out it’s Dhenje’s manager (don’t ask how he got my number…it seems to be the most widely distributed piece of information…bo). Anyway, Dhenje then took the phone and told me that he had noticed me, blah blah blah, and told me whenever I’m ready he’ll bring me to Ouaga to visit him. That’s right…Sara’s mingling with the stars! He called me again today from his studio to remind me of his invitation. Mamma mia
Nathalie arrived in Ouagadougou!! On my way to Morocco I’ll leave a few days early for Ouaga and do some catching up with her. Ca fera du bien. We spoke on the phone and it was neat because I realized that I have learned lots during my time here, since as I comforted Nathalie and told her everything would be ok, I realized that I have really dealt with a lot, and become quite comfortable and confident.
I have a million things to do before I leave, since I want to catch up on everything and leave with a clear mind. There are so many little things to do…and it’s made more complicated by the fact that the espece electrical company keeps cutting the electricity, so the computer at the office keeps turning off, and people who are starting to get used to the computer (and insist on typing everything themselves…which is really nice, because as I teach them, it shows me they’re getting more confident, but believe me, when you want to type a document in 5 minutes, and it takes someone else 2 hours to write, it’s slightly frustrating…ehe…). Tomorrow Pamtaba and I are going to do the grand tour of Houndé and visit all the children we haven’t yet had the chance to visit. After this come visits to the villages, and I can’t wait. After Ramadan though...petit a petit. Friday is a meeting with my OEV team, to discuss the visits to villages, and to decide when to start our homework club for the kids.
There are a million more details, but they would fill a book, and I don’t want to scare people away from my blog. As my brother says, he reads the first few lines of my entries and then is like, ‘ok, this is lame’, so though I try not to take him too seriously, I shall bring this entry to a close.
Lots and lots of love to everyone at home!
Bisous,
Sara
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The longest entry ever!
Hello everyone,
I know it’s been far too long since I was last able to write, but I have found myself in a sleepy little town the internet hasn’t quite reached. Hmm…I don’t even know where to start. Last time I posted something was just before my big move to Houndé. In the end, I survived the nightmare trip on the bus with a million pieces of massive luggage (I took up 3 trunks under the bus), and managed to fend off the ticket man who insisted I continue on to Ouaga with him. I was greeted by everyone from the office when I arrived, and they were all very helpful in helping me get settled in, not to mention a bit curious to see what sorts of things the toubabu had packed. They even organized a welcome dinner for me.
My house is lovely. It’s right beside the office, and I share a courtyard with a young woman who works at the bank, and a mother who lives with her daughter. They are really wonderful, and have definitely helped me settle in. Their houses are always full of people coming and going, and they’re constantly inviting me over to try something new in Burkinabé cuisine, to watch the latest Burkinabé music video (which, I must say, are extremely amusing), to go to the market, to meet their friends, or watch Maria del Barrio, the Spanish soap opera that is incredibly popular here (and, naturally, extremely dramatic and complicated).
Just as I started to settle into Houndé life, I was sent off to Bobo again, this time with 37 children, to accompany them on a little field trip. For many of the children, it was their first time in a city, since a lot of them have never left Houndé, and come from villages in the surrounding area. It was an interesting trip, filled with multiple dramas, but the children were too cute! They loved playing with my hair, since they’d never seen hair like it. They all thought I was wearing a wig, since here, almost every girl has a wig of some sorts, and either wears it like a normal wig, or cuts it up and makes braids and fancy hairdos with it.
We visited the airport (which they loved…most of them had never seen a plane before), the train station (again…most had never seen a train before), the big market, the government buildings, the industrial zone, and other places I can’t remember.
We slept in an old school building, and it was my first time sleeping on a floor that hard…we had a little mat, which is basically as thin as a piece of paper, and serves only to separate you from the floor, but really, provides no comfort whatsoever. Delphine came with us, and the poor girl was in charge of cooking for 45 people twice a day. No easy task. Actually, make that 44 people, since I managed to get sick and couldn’t eat for the better part of the week. My pants got too big around the waist, and all I craved was Lipton’s chicken noodle soup. But, alas, that was nowhere to be found. I couldn’t keep anything down except for some bread dipped in condensed milk. Bo!
We spent a lot of time at the REVS+ office in Bobo, where the children got to meet the children there, and do some social activities. They had a blast on our last afternoon there, where someone put some music on and made all the kids dance. The man leading the activity then took out a microphone, and blasted over the entire compound that Sara had to report to the dance floor. Ay! So yes, I had to join in the dancing, and people commented on how I’m not like other white people, who don’t know how to move. Hehehe.
I left Bobo with 37 children, new curtains for my house, a parasite in my stomach, and two love declarations from men at the office (slightly awkward). An eventful 4 days!
So, after moving in, things started to roll…slowly. I think one of the things I needed to accept was that things happen slowly, and there’s no rushing them. This was a bit of a shock when it came to work; here, to say that the atmosphere is laidback would be an understatement. Unless there’s something planned for that day, or there’s something immediate which needs to be done, everyone sits in the office and socializes in front of the TV. It’s nice in a way to be somewhere where I really have the freedom to make my own schedule, since it also allows for some mornings off to go to the market, to do some things around the house, but at the same time, I’m finding it hard to even motivate myself, let alone the team I’m working with to start looking at some long term projects, and to get into the habit of documenting what they do, to meet regularly, etc. It’s interesting to experience a different work and office dynamic. Because it’s so relaxed, people are always getting along and laughing, so I can’t complain!
After a few days, I sat down with my team and discussed why I’m here, and what everyone expects out of my placement. I am working with an incredible group of people. They are all dedicated to what they do, and they do it very well. Where I come in is to see where we can expand, and how we can improve what already exists. I wouldn’t do anything to change the quality of work; like I said, people are very good at what they do. What I can do however, and what I’ve been starting to do is look at how they can better organize themselves to be more efficient. I had a meeting with the team of people I’ll be working closely with, and we discussed all sorts of exciting ideas and projects to get things started. The programming for children is pretty much non-existent right now, except for a social activity once a month. We’re going to start visiting each child at home on a regular basis, and start doing follow up. I’ve been creating documents to be used for this, since I’m the only one who knows how to use a computer, but trying to make sure that people are involved in every step. It was a little but tough trying to get people together almost everyday to discuss things and work together, since it’s not something they do normally, but I really felt it necessary to not do anything on my own. The work I was doing got interrupted this week so that I could help write a project proposal for an income generating project. Since I was the only person who had written a project before (well, sort of…it was that one assignment from Project Management…but that despised Results Based Management did come in handy after all!) I was put in charge of the project, and it was quite fun. I worked with 3 other people, and we basically didn’t stop for 4 days straight. Of course, it didn’t help that we were given almost no details, and every time we would show someone what we had done, they would conveniently pull out a document they had forgotten to give us, full of useful information. Oh well! It was a learning process, and it was approved!!!! I feel really good about it, because if the first project I did was a failure, ca ne sera pas interessant…ou bien?
On the homefront, things are coming along. People have started saying that my house is starting to look une maison d’une femme, like a woman’s house, as we’ve started to organize things a bit. I still don’t have enough furniture to make it comfortable when people are over, but I bought a little gas stove, which will make my life a lot easier, since right now we’re cooking on a little thing that uses coal. But the bottle with the gas still hasn’t arrived. The guy at the station has told me that there aren’t any within a 150 km radius, so I guess I just have to be patient. Like I said, things happen slowly, and as Pamtaba, my friend at the office always says, things will come to those who wait. Very appropriate.
Delphine has proved to be a blessing…we get along really well, and she’s been so helpful. As much as I was against the idea of hiring someone to help with the house, I see now that it is completely necessary. I would never have been able to find everything I need, get water from the pump, cook on that blasted coal thing, etc. without someone who knew what they were doing. She’s been keeping me busy helping her make bissap and yamakugi, two local drinks that people make and then sell in the street. Bissap is made from a pink flower, and yamakugi is made from ginger and tamarind. Both are really good, and I’ve been drinking way too much. We usually have a group of girls come over and help, since after we make the drinks, we have to put them in little bags and freeze them, which can take a while.
She also brought me to her tailor, and I am now officially une femme africaine. I got my hair braided last night, and it looked really neat except that it all came out in the night, so I have to go again after not washing my hair for a few days.
We went to visit her family on Thursday; she lives in the outskirts of Houndé, and it was really interesting to see the difference. We had to drive through rice and corn fields, and it was beautiful…very green and peaceful. Her uncle and aunt gave me a bowl of fruit picked from the shea tree, and they caught me a chicken, which is one of the highest forms of respect. I was really touched, although I have to admit, carrying home a live chicken destined for my stomach was a bit odd. I felt sorry for the blasted thing all night, and so the next morning I decided that if we were ever going to eat the chicken, it had to be sooner rather than later, or else I would end up keeping it as a pet. Here, women can’t kill chickens…I don’t know why exactly, but it’s a cultural thing. So, on Saturday morning, I had a house full of children again, since they all came for an activity at REVS+. A few of the boys offered to help with the chicken, so they killed it, plucked it, cut it into pieces, and then roasted the intestines and liver on little sticks for themselves. This reminded me of my impressions of these children when we were in Bobo…these kids are like young children and adults at the same time. They are capable of doing anything, but at the same time can amuse themselves for hours just with each other’s company. They’re so loveable, and not embarrassed to show affection. Little boys here hold hands all the time, which I think is the cutest thing.
Right now we’re working on a little play on stigma to be presented to the parents before school starts in October. We had our first rehearsal last night, and afterwards we had a little dance party at my house…too cute!
Monday was a national holiday for Burkina’s Independence Day. You wouldn’t know it was anything special, since no one celebrates, but we made to, since you can’t get much more Burkinabé than that, and I spent the afternoon with my neighbours making the some of the richest desserts I’ve ever eaten. We made crepes which we filled with my nutella (big hit!) and a cake that was basically solidified cream and sugar. Tasty, but after a few bites, I had to stop. Wednesday was another national holiday since it’s a Catholic celebration, and everyone celebrates everyone else’s holidays, no matter what your religion. So, I we got all dressed up, went to mass (which included much jubilant singing), then we celebrated all afternoon with the neighbours.
For the past few weekends, I’ve been invited to Medicus Mundi, a Spanish organization working in public health here in Houndé. Right now there are 2 people working there, Raquel, the coordinator, and Felipe, there to help her with the million projects she has on the go. When he invites me for dinner, it’s one invitation I can’ refuse. They have everything there! Kitchen appliances, filtered tap water, a stove, an oven, and a toilet!!! I go there and I forget where I am. So far I’ve eaten a Spanish omelette and chicken paella there. I don’t want to complain too much, but the food I eat here has absolutely no variety, and it’s starting to drive me slightly insane. It’s either rice, spaghetti or to, with the odd bean thrown in. You can try to mix up the sauces a bit, but basically; it all starts to taste the same.
I find the food really heavy, so I’ve started buying cabbages, cucumbers and tomatoes and making salads, and eating that with some white rice, hold the sauce. Delphine thinks I’m crazy, and can’t understand how I can eat rice without any sauce, and it took some convincing to get her to make it. This past weekend I was in Bobo, and stayed with my friend Aziz and his family. I got a bit of malaria, but I’m on treatment and I feel a lot better. On Saturday night I even felt good enough to go dancing , which proved to be the best cure of all… *I felt smuch better afterwards J’m going to go to Bobo to visit some friends and to do some hardcore grocery shopping. Tomorrow Delphine and I leave for Ouaga, to visit my neighbour Salome and got to her sister’s wedding.
That’s all for now…I’ll write with more stories the next time I come across an internet connection. A la prochaine!
I know it’s been far too long since I was last able to write, but I have found myself in a sleepy little town the internet hasn’t quite reached. Hmm…I don’t even know where to start. Last time I posted something was just before my big move to Houndé. In the end, I survived the nightmare trip on the bus with a million pieces of massive luggage (I took up 3 trunks under the bus), and managed to fend off the ticket man who insisted I continue on to Ouaga with him. I was greeted by everyone from the office when I arrived, and they were all very helpful in helping me get settled in, not to mention a bit curious to see what sorts of things the toubabu had packed. They even organized a welcome dinner for me.
My house is lovely. It’s right beside the office, and I share a courtyard with a young woman who works at the bank, and a mother who lives with her daughter. They are really wonderful, and have definitely helped me settle in. Their houses are always full of people coming and going, and they’re constantly inviting me over to try something new in Burkinabé cuisine, to watch the latest Burkinabé music video (which, I must say, are extremely amusing), to go to the market, to meet their friends, or watch Maria del Barrio, the Spanish soap opera that is incredibly popular here (and, naturally, extremely dramatic and complicated).
Just as I started to settle into Houndé life, I was sent off to Bobo again, this time with 37 children, to accompany them on a little field trip. For many of the children, it was their first time in a city, since a lot of them have never left Houndé, and come from villages in the surrounding area. It was an interesting trip, filled with multiple dramas, but the children were too cute! They loved playing with my hair, since they’d never seen hair like it. They all thought I was wearing a wig, since here, almost every girl has a wig of some sorts, and either wears it like a normal wig, or cuts it up and makes braids and fancy hairdos with it.
We visited the airport (which they loved…most of them had never seen a plane before), the train station (again…most had never seen a train before), the big market, the government buildings, the industrial zone, and other places I can’t remember.
We slept in an old school building, and it was my first time sleeping on a floor that hard…we had a little mat, which is basically as thin as a piece of paper, and serves only to separate you from the floor, but really, provides no comfort whatsoever. Delphine came with us, and the poor girl was in charge of cooking for 45 people twice a day. No easy task. Actually, make that 44 people, since I managed to get sick and couldn’t eat for the better part of the week. My pants got too big around the waist, and all I craved was Lipton’s chicken noodle soup. But, alas, that was nowhere to be found. I couldn’t keep anything down except for some bread dipped in condensed milk. Bo!
We spent a lot of time at the REVS+ office in Bobo, where the children got to meet the children there, and do some social activities. They had a blast on our last afternoon there, where someone put some music on and made all the kids dance. The man leading the activity then took out a microphone, and blasted over the entire compound that Sara had to report to the dance floor. Ay! So yes, I had to join in the dancing, and people commented on how I’m not like other white people, who don’t know how to move. Hehehe.
I left Bobo with 37 children, new curtains for my house, a parasite in my stomach, and two love declarations from men at the office (slightly awkward). An eventful 4 days!
So, after moving in, things started to roll…slowly. I think one of the things I needed to accept was that things happen slowly, and there’s no rushing them. This was a bit of a shock when it came to work; here, to say that the atmosphere is laidback would be an understatement. Unless there’s something planned for that day, or there’s something immediate which needs to be done, everyone sits in the office and socializes in front of the TV. It’s nice in a way to be somewhere where I really have the freedom to make my own schedule, since it also allows for some mornings off to go to the market, to do some things around the house, but at the same time, I’m finding it hard to even motivate myself, let alone the team I’m working with to start looking at some long term projects, and to get into the habit of documenting what they do, to meet regularly, etc. It’s interesting to experience a different work and office dynamic. Because it’s so relaxed, people are always getting along and laughing, so I can’t complain!
After a few days, I sat down with my team and discussed why I’m here, and what everyone expects out of my placement. I am working with an incredible group of people. They are all dedicated to what they do, and they do it very well. Where I come in is to see where we can expand, and how we can improve what already exists. I wouldn’t do anything to change the quality of work; like I said, people are very good at what they do. What I can do however, and what I’ve been starting to do is look at how they can better organize themselves to be more efficient. I had a meeting with the team of people I’ll be working closely with, and we discussed all sorts of exciting ideas and projects to get things started. The programming for children is pretty much non-existent right now, except for a social activity once a month. We’re going to start visiting each child at home on a regular basis, and start doing follow up. I’ve been creating documents to be used for this, since I’m the only one who knows how to use a computer, but trying to make sure that people are involved in every step. It was a little but tough trying to get people together almost everyday to discuss things and work together, since it’s not something they do normally, but I really felt it necessary to not do anything on my own. The work I was doing got interrupted this week so that I could help write a project proposal for an income generating project. Since I was the only person who had written a project before (well, sort of…it was that one assignment from Project Management…but that despised Results Based Management did come in handy after all!) I was put in charge of the project, and it was quite fun. I worked with 3 other people, and we basically didn’t stop for 4 days straight. Of course, it didn’t help that we were given almost no details, and every time we would show someone what we had done, they would conveniently pull out a document they had forgotten to give us, full of useful information. Oh well! It was a learning process, and it was approved!!!! I feel really good about it, because if the first project I did was a failure, ca ne sera pas interessant…ou bien?
On the homefront, things are coming along. People have started saying that my house is starting to look une maison d’une femme, like a woman’s house, as we’ve started to organize things a bit. I still don’t have enough furniture to make it comfortable when people are over, but I bought a little gas stove, which will make my life a lot easier, since right now we’re cooking on a little thing that uses coal. But the bottle with the gas still hasn’t arrived. The guy at the station has told me that there aren’t any within a 150 km radius, so I guess I just have to be patient. Like I said, things happen slowly, and as Pamtaba, my friend at the office always says, things will come to those who wait. Very appropriate.
Delphine has proved to be a blessing…we get along really well, and she’s been so helpful. As much as I was against the idea of hiring someone to help with the house, I see now that it is completely necessary. I would never have been able to find everything I need, get water from the pump, cook on that blasted coal thing, etc. without someone who knew what they were doing. She’s been keeping me busy helping her make bissap and yamakugi, two local drinks that people make and then sell in the street. Bissap is made from a pink flower, and yamakugi is made from ginger and tamarind. Both are really good, and I’ve been drinking way too much. We usually have a group of girls come over and help, since after we make the drinks, we have to put them in little bags and freeze them, which can take a while.
She also brought me to her tailor, and I am now officially une femme africaine. I got my hair braided last night, and it looked really neat except that it all came out in the night, so I have to go again after not washing my hair for a few days.
We went to visit her family on Thursday; she lives in the outskirts of Houndé, and it was really interesting to see the difference. We had to drive through rice and corn fields, and it was beautiful…very green and peaceful. Her uncle and aunt gave me a bowl of fruit picked from the shea tree, and they caught me a chicken, which is one of the highest forms of respect. I was really touched, although I have to admit, carrying home a live chicken destined for my stomach was a bit odd. I felt sorry for the blasted thing all night, and so the next morning I decided that if we were ever going to eat the chicken, it had to be sooner rather than later, or else I would end up keeping it as a pet. Here, women can’t kill chickens…I don’t know why exactly, but it’s a cultural thing. So, on Saturday morning, I had a house full of children again, since they all came for an activity at REVS+. A few of the boys offered to help with the chicken, so they killed it, plucked it, cut it into pieces, and then roasted the intestines and liver on little sticks for themselves. This reminded me of my impressions of these children when we were in Bobo…these kids are like young children and adults at the same time. They are capable of doing anything, but at the same time can amuse themselves for hours just with each other’s company. They’re so loveable, and not embarrassed to show affection. Little boys here hold hands all the time, which I think is the cutest thing.
Right now we’re working on a little play on stigma to be presented to the parents before school starts in October. We had our first rehearsal last night, and afterwards we had a little dance party at my house…too cute!
Monday was a national holiday for Burkina’s Independence Day. You wouldn’t know it was anything special, since no one celebrates, but we made to, since you can’t get much more Burkinabé than that, and I spent the afternoon with my neighbours making the some of the richest desserts I’ve ever eaten. We made crepes which we filled with my nutella (big hit!) and a cake that was basically solidified cream and sugar. Tasty, but after a few bites, I had to stop. Wednesday was another national holiday since it’s a Catholic celebration, and everyone celebrates everyone else’s holidays, no matter what your religion. So, I we got all dressed up, went to mass (which included much jubilant singing), then we celebrated all afternoon with the neighbours.
For the past few weekends, I’ve been invited to Medicus Mundi, a Spanish organization working in public health here in Houndé. Right now there are 2 people working there, Raquel, the coordinator, and Felipe, there to help her with the million projects she has on the go. When he invites me for dinner, it’s one invitation I can’ refuse. They have everything there! Kitchen appliances, filtered tap water, a stove, an oven, and a toilet!!! I go there and I forget where I am. So far I’ve eaten a Spanish omelette and chicken paella there. I don’t want to complain too much, but the food I eat here has absolutely no variety, and it’s starting to drive me slightly insane. It’s either rice, spaghetti or to, with the odd bean thrown in. You can try to mix up the sauces a bit, but basically; it all starts to taste the same.
I find the food really heavy, so I’ve started buying cabbages, cucumbers and tomatoes and making salads, and eating that with some white rice, hold the sauce. Delphine thinks I’m crazy, and can’t understand how I can eat rice without any sauce, and it took some convincing to get her to make it. This past weekend I was in Bobo, and stayed with my friend Aziz and his family. I got a bit of malaria, but I’m on treatment and I feel a lot better. On Saturday night I even felt good enough to go dancing , which proved to be the best cure of all… *I felt smuch better afterwards J’m going to go to Bobo to visit some friends and to do some hardcore grocery shopping. Tomorrow Delphine and I leave for Ouaga, to visit my neighbour Salome and got to her sister’s wedding.
That’s all for now…I’ll write with more stories the next time I come across an internet connection. A la prochaine!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Food...
Food…
I’ve decided to add a daily meal log from the weekend, since it was full of new culinary sensations, including some delightful taste sensations...
Day 1: We arrived in time for dinner, which was really good…rice with sauce and then chicken with huge pieces of garlic. I’m drinking way too much fanta here, but since the water isn’t always reliable, it’s become my new best friend by default.
Day 2:
Breakfast: a café au lait and bread with butter. But, café au lait here is quite different from our version of it, of which I have made far too many at Bridgehead. It’s a bowl with a blob of condensed milk, into which you pour boiling water. If you want, you can add Nescafe, but it’s not necessary. It was quite gross, in a really unhealthy kind of way, but quite tasty. And the bread with butter…think an entire baguette smothered in margarine. Yaiss…I can definitely see where those 20 pounds come in. It was a bit sad because as we were eating, children kept coming in and trying to sell us things. They all sell these little packs of Kleenex, since most Burkinabé seem to carry them around with them to wipe their hands and such. One woman took out her wallet to get some money to buy one, and kids who were hanging around the door saw her from across the restaurant and raced to be the first to offer her the Kleenex to buy. Also, when we got up to leave, little kids rushed to the table to pick anything we hadn’t eaten. If I had known I wouldn’t have forced myself to eat as much.
Lunch: another baguette (I protested, I swear, but they made me eat it!) and a can of sardines in oil. It hit the spot, after hiking among old ruins for hours under the sun, but I have a feeling my body isn’t too happy with me.
Dinner: we had something called foutou, a Burkinabé specialty. It’s made from yams, boiled and then ground to a pulp, until it becomes white and almost like a dumpling. It’s made into a long ball, and then you put it into your plate, pour sauce into it, and then eat it with your hands. It’s really good, but very filling.
Day 3:
Breakfast: same as day 1
Lunch: the Burkinabé version of ragout, which was yams in a tomato-y sauce with some meat, eaten with rice. Quite delish, but it only added to the high starch concentration of the weekend.
Ah! I forgot to mention the mid morning snack! Everyday between breakfast and lunch, a big plate of goat meat would arrive, with onions and hot pepper (which is really hot here). It comes in a bowl with toothpicks, and everyone sits around the table and eats with the toothpicks. It was really tasty, but the butcher was right outside our house, and I saw the goat in every stage of its demise, so it was a little bit hard to eat it. Ehe...
A la prochaine!
I’ve decided to add a daily meal log from the weekend, since it was full of new culinary sensations, including some delightful taste sensations...
Day 1: We arrived in time for dinner, which was really good…rice with sauce and then chicken with huge pieces of garlic. I’m drinking way too much fanta here, but since the water isn’t always reliable, it’s become my new best friend by default.
Day 2:
Breakfast: a café au lait and bread with butter. But, café au lait here is quite different from our version of it, of which I have made far too many at Bridgehead. It’s a bowl with a blob of condensed milk, into which you pour boiling water. If you want, you can add Nescafe, but it’s not necessary. It was quite gross, in a really unhealthy kind of way, but quite tasty. And the bread with butter…think an entire baguette smothered in margarine. Yaiss…I can definitely see where those 20 pounds come in. It was a bit sad because as we were eating, children kept coming in and trying to sell us things. They all sell these little packs of Kleenex, since most Burkinabé seem to carry them around with them to wipe their hands and such. One woman took out her wallet to get some money to buy one, and kids who were hanging around the door saw her from across the restaurant and raced to be the first to offer her the Kleenex to buy. Also, when we got up to leave, little kids rushed to the table to pick anything we hadn’t eaten. If I had known I wouldn’t have forced myself to eat as much.
Lunch: another baguette (I protested, I swear, but they made me eat it!) and a can of sardines in oil. It hit the spot, after hiking among old ruins for hours under the sun, but I have a feeling my body isn’t too happy with me.
Dinner: we had something called foutou, a Burkinabé specialty. It’s made from yams, boiled and then ground to a pulp, until it becomes white and almost like a dumpling. It’s made into a long ball, and then you put it into your plate, pour sauce into it, and then eat it with your hands. It’s really good, but very filling.
Day 3:
Breakfast: same as day 1
Lunch: the Burkinabé version of ragout, which was yams in a tomato-y sauce with some meat, eaten with rice. Quite delish, but it only added to the high starch concentration of the weekend.
Ah! I forgot to mention the mid morning snack! Everyday between breakfast and lunch, a big plate of goat meat would arrive, with onions and hot pepper (which is really hot here). It comes in a bowl with toothpicks, and everyone sits around the table and eats with the toothpicks. It was really tasty, but the butcher was right outside our house, and I saw the goat in every stage of its demise, so it was a little bit hard to eat it. Ehe...
A la prochaine!
REVS+ Houndé
Bonjour!
Bon…j’ai pleins de nouvelles pour vous. Much has happened in not much time! Last Wednesday was when Amélie and I took the day to explore some of Bobo and its surroundings, and Thursday there was a torrential downpour (which made the weather much mo
re bearable, mind you), so my visit to the hospital was cancelled. I don’t know whether to be happy or disappointed, because it would have been interesting to see, but at the same time, I’ve heard stories about the hospital. It’s where people go when really there’s nothing left for them to do - as in, all efforts have been made to find a cure, but nothing has worked. That afternoon, I went to the children’s event at REVS+, which was too cute. There were about 40 kids there, and the organization had invited a lawyer to come and talk about children’s rights. She asked them to name some children’s rights, and so some of them put up their hands and started to say, a right to health, a right to education, etc, and then one really tiny little girl put up her hand and said, ‘on a le droit a l’amour’ (we have the right to be loved) and all the children started cheering and applauding. It was really touching.
While the activity was going on, Baba, the president of REVS+ Houndé arrived unexpectedly, and told me that the Houndé team was taking a weekend trip to celebrate the end of their HIV testing campaign, and so I was invited to go. After a minor breakdown (apparently I don’t like being thrown into last minute decisions) which my mom and my poor friend Aziz had to witness (my mom via the telephone, and Aziz as he drove me around town on his scooter so I could do all the things I needed to do before leaving) I got myself ready and set off for Houndé with Baba, Ramde (another director) and his wife and two children. The road from Bobo to Houndé takes an hour at the most in a bus, but we were in a tiny little car, and after we had had dinner in Bobo, we left for Houndé at around 8:00. Now, there are no lights on the road…none. So it was a slow ride, to put it lightly, made the more so due to the fact that every time a car was coming towards us, we had to pull over and stop because since there were no other lights, the oncoming headlights were completely blinding. But, because it was so dark, the sky was full of a million stars, and it was really beautiful.
We arrived in Houndé quite late, and I stayed in a little hotel run by Medicus Mundi, a Spanish NGO working in public health. The room that had been reserved for me had conveniently been given to someone else, so I ended up rooming with a Belgian girl named Clara who had also just arrived. She’s studying midwifery and so came to Houndé to do a two-week internship at the hospital and with the midwives in the village. It was nice to have some company, except she got really sick and we thought she had malaria, but turns out it was just an intense stomach reaction to something.
The next day, I was brought to the REVS+ office to meet the other people in the office, and again, people are just to friendly. I received such a warm welcome, and was assured that they would do everything to make sure I felt like I belonged. I also saw my house, which is right beside the office. Literally, right beside…there are about 5 feet separating us. There’s a gate you go through, and then you’re in my little courtyard, which I share with a young woman living in one of the houses, and a family of women (the father lives somewhere else, so it’s the mother and all her daughters), and they were all very welcoming. The house isn’t finished yet, but it will be in a few days. We’re waiting for electricity to be installed and for some furniture. It’s painted a bright (slightly tacky) shade of turquoise, but it’s big, airy, and it will be comfortable.
At 3:00, we all packed all 13 of us into 2 (small) cars and started the 4-hour trip to Gaoua, a small city about 40 kilometres away from both the Ivory Coast and Ghana. The drive was a whole adventure on its own. First of all, there were the roads… I won’t even go into any more detail, but they are a challenge. Baba’s car got a flat tire, but Toure, who was driving the car I was in, managed to change it without too much delay. About 20 minutes after that, our engine overheated, and we started to hear a really loud clanking noise from the hood of the car. Toure fixed that one in no time, by pouring a bottle of water all over the engine, and we were off! Then the motorcycle that was bringing Adama and our guide for the weekend got a flat tire and a clogged engine from the dust on the road. So, we made it to the next town, and sat around for hours while they searched for another motorcycle wheel and someone to clean the engine. After much waiting, we were off once. The rest of the trip was uneventful, besides the fact that we almost ran over a herd (?) of monkeys running across the road and a pack of wild dogs gone wild, but all was well. We arrived in Gaoua, only to discover that the hotel where we were supposed to stay had no rooms available, since the people in the rooms we had reserved had decided to prolong their stay. So, we had to find another place, which we eventually did, but it was slightly lower in its standards. What I mean by that was that it was quite disgusting. The toilet had no water in it, so it was basically a bowl that got more and more full as people used it. And the smell was less than desirable. Ehe…and the showers were…also less than desirable. And, instead of double rooms with 2 beds, each room had one bed, so we got to double up. I roomed with a girl named Yvette, who’s around my age, and working as the pharmacist at REVS+ until she can get a job as a midwife. We had lots of fun, and got along really well. That night we went out to dinner, and then went back to the ‘hotel’ (right…) and hung around there for a while. It was great to get a chance to really meet the team. There’s Baba, Ramde, Salimata and another woman (whose name I forget…she’s Baba’s wife) who are the founding team. Then there’s Salomo, Adama, Baron, Hien, Toure and Traore, who are all counselors, in charge of different groups of people. Yvette does pharmacy, and then Ramde’s wife Aicha came with us, since she used to work as a counselor and was visiting from another province for the weekend. Everyone is so nice…and they laugh all the time. I know it’s going to be a nice work environment because everyone is so respectful of each other and gets along so well. We had a full schedule, but of course it got delayed by numerous hours each day. By the time we all got up, had breakfast and got ready for the days activities it was almost lunch time. People kept going off and running their own errands, buying things you can’t find in Houndé, so it took a while to regroup and set out for the day. But, eventually we did. We first went to the ruins of Loropeni, which are deep in the woods, and a whole fortress of stone ruins covered in leaves and plants. It was really quite beautiful. No one really knows why they were built, but they were built by the Lobi people, one of the many ethnicities here in Burkina.
We then went on to the sanctuary for the Gan kings (on the way we had another flat tire, because the road was pretty much a mountain…a series of sharp rocks, and we were in a small little car…) which was up in the hills. The Gan people (another Burkinabé ethnicity) are animists, and are still ruled by a king. Each time the king dies, a shrine is built in their honour on top of a hill in a small stone hut, with a clay statue inside. The animism is really complex, and we were just introduced to the basics, but it was really fascinating. Lots of chickens are sacrificed to various kings to ask for different things, like rain, a good harvest, a cure, etc. There was one hut built a little bit away from the others, and apparently this was built for ‘le roi méchant’, the mean king, which the group found was hilarious. They joked about it all weekend, and every time anything would happen, they would say, ‘le roi méchant est fâché!’ at which everyone would laugh hysterically. We were followed by a group of little kids (including one of the cutest little boys I have ever seen, with the biggest smile…we played peekaboo and he laughed his little head off) and some of the kids asked if they could touch my hair, since I guess they don’t see hair like mine all the time.
We returned to Gaoua for dinner, but on the way it started to rain like mad. All the frogs came out, and I know we much have killed many of them. The silly things decide to cross the road just as we pass. Bo.
Anyway, we had a nice evening again, going out for dinner then taking a little walk around town. I have to say, people here walk slowly…it takes some getting used to, and a constant effort to slow down and embrace the slowness, otherwise it can become almost a bit frustrating.
Next morning, we went for breakfast and walked around the market. It was neat…you could pass by it without noticing it, but once you walk in, it’s like a small world. It’s all open, but surrounded by other buildings, and you can find anything under the sun. Salomo helped explain all the various foods we saw, since almost none of them looked familiar. I tried dried sweet peas and fresh peanuts, which are amazing. They’re soft and pink. In the afternoon we went to the Lobi cultural museum, and they’re really an interesting culture. Hien from the office was telling me more about them, since he comes from that culture, and he promised to go into more depth.
I now have 4 people who have promised to help me with my dioula if I give English lessons, so maybe that will be a fun way to pass some time.
Yesterday, we returned to Houndé, after another rainstorm, but arrived without vehicle problems. I met Clara again, and met a Spanish guy who is going to be working with Medicus Mundi for the next 5 months.
This morning I took the bus back from Houndé, and am here for a few more days to say goodbye to Amélie, visit some people and to gather all my things before heading back to Houndé for good. This morning I brought all my bags to Baba’s office before taking the bus to Bobo. Hien came to pick me up, and we put my massive suitcase, me and him on a tiny scooter. I was like, ‘je ne pense pas qu’on pourrait le faire’, to which he responded, ‘non non, il n’y a aucun problème.’ Apparemment, il n y a jamais un problème ici. As I was taking my bags out, I was trying to carry my big knapsack, but it’s quite heavy. Hien came to pick it up, and even he was having trouble. Then, one of the young girls who works there walked over, and without a word picked up the bag, put it on her head, and walked over to the scooter as if it weighed nothing. I have to work on that skill, but little by little…we’ll start small.
On the way to Bobo today, the bus hit a baby goat. It was quite a disturbing experience, and I felt queasy for a while, but we just kept going.
How I’m going to take the bus back with my two massive suitcases, my boxes of things that Manue left me, the moped, my computer, another bag of things for REVS+, I don’t know. But, somehow it will happen…ca va aller, as the Burkinabé say.
Well, until next time!
Sara
Bon…j’ai pleins de nouvelles pour vous. Much has happened in not much time! Last Wednesday was when Amélie and I took the day to explore some of Bobo and its surroundings, and Thursday there was a torrential downpour (which made the weather much mo
re bearable, mind you), so my visit to the hospital was cancelled. I don’t know whether to be happy or disappointed, because it would have been interesting to see, but at the same time, I’ve heard stories about the hospital. It’s where people go when really there’s nothing left for them to do - as in, all efforts have been made to find a cure, but nothing has worked. That afternoon, I went to the children’s event at REVS+, which was too cute. There were about 40 kids there, and the organization had invited a lawyer to come and talk about children’s rights. She asked them to name some children’s rights, and so some of them put up their hands and started to say, a right to health, a right to education, etc, and then one really tiny little girl put up her hand and said, ‘on a le droit a l’amour’ (we have the right to be loved) and all the children started cheering and applauding. It was really touching.
While the activity was going on, Baba, the president of REVS+ Houndé arrived unexpectedly, and told me that the Houndé team was taking a weekend trip to celebrate the end of their HIV testing campaign, and so I was invited to go. After a minor breakdown (apparently I don’t like being thrown into last minute decisions) which my mom and my poor friend Aziz had to witness (my mom via the telephone, and Aziz as he drove me around town on his scooter so I could do all the things I needed to do before leaving) I got myself ready and set off for Houndé with Baba, Ramde (another director) and his wife and two children. The road from Bobo to Houndé takes an hour at the most in a bus, but we were in a tiny little car, and after we had had dinner in Bobo, we left for Houndé at around 8:00. Now, there are no lights on the road…none. So it was a slow ride, to put it lightly, made the more so due to the fact that every time a car was coming towards us, we had to pull over and stop because since there were no other lights, the oncoming headlights were completely blinding. But, because it was so dark, the sky was full of a million stars, and it was really beautiful.
We arrived in Houndé quite late, and I stayed in a little hotel run by Medicus Mundi, a Spanish NGO working in public health. The room that had been reserved for me had conveniently been given to someone else, so I ended up rooming with a Belgian girl named Clara who had also just arrived. She’s studying midwifery and so came to Houndé to do a two-week internship at the hospital and with the midwives in the village. It was nice to have some company, except she got really sick and we thought she had malaria, but turns out it was just an intense stomach reaction to something.
The next day, I was brought to the REVS+ office to meet the other people in the office, and again, people are just to friendly. I received such a warm welcome, and was assured that they would do everything to make sure I felt like I belonged. I also saw my house, which is right beside the office. Literally, right beside…there are about 5 feet separating us. There’s a gate you go through, and then you’re in my little courtyard, which I share with a young woman living in one of the houses, and a family of women (the father lives somewhere else, so it’s the mother and all her daughters), and they were all very welcoming. The house isn’t finished yet, but it will be in a few days. We’re waiting for electricity to be installed and for some furniture. It’s painted a bright (slightly tacky) shade of turquoise, but it’s big, airy, and it will be comfortable.
At 3:00, we all packed all 13 of us into 2 (small) cars and started the 4-hour trip to Gaoua, a small city about 40 kilometres away from both the Ivory Coast and Ghana. The drive was a whole adventure on its own. First of all, there were the roads… I won’t even go into any more detail, but they are a challenge. Baba’s car got a flat tire, but Toure, who was driving the car I was in, managed to change it without too much delay. About 20 minutes after that, our engine overheated, and we started to hear a really loud clanking noise from the hood of the car. Toure fixed that one in no time, by pouring a bottle of water all over the engine, and we were off! Then the motorcycle that was bringing Adama and our guide for the weekend got a flat tire and a clogged engine from the dust on the road. So, we made it to the next town, and sat around for hours while they searched for another motorcycle wheel and someone to clean the engine. After much waiting, we were off once. The rest of the trip was uneventful, besides the fact that we almost ran over a herd (?) of monkeys running across the road and a pack of wild dogs gone wild, but all was well. We arrived in Gaoua, only to discover that the hotel where we were supposed to stay had no rooms available, since the people in the rooms we had reserved had decided to prolong their stay. So, we had to find another place, which we eventually did, but it was slightly lower in its standards. What I mean by that was that it was quite disgusting. The toilet had no water in it, so it was basically a bowl that got more and more full as people used it. And the smell was less than desirable. Ehe…and the showers were…also less than desirable. And, instead of double rooms with 2 beds, each room had one bed, so we got to double up. I roomed with a girl named Yvette, who’s around my age, and working as the pharmacist at REVS+ until she can get a job as a midwife. We had lots of fun, and got along really well. That night we went out to dinner, and then went back to the ‘hotel’ (right…) and hung around there for a while. It was great to get a chance to really meet the team. There’s Baba, Ramde, Salimata and another woman (whose name I forget…she’s Baba’s wife) who are the founding team. Then there’s Salomo, Adama, Baron, Hien, Toure and Traore, who are all counselors, in charge of different groups of people. Yvette does pharmacy, and then Ramde’s wife Aicha came with us, since she used to work as a counselor and was visiting from another province for the weekend. Everyone is so nice…and they laugh all the time. I know it’s going to be a nice work environment because everyone is so respectful of each other and gets along so well. We had a full schedule, but of course it got delayed by numerous hours each day. By the time we all got up, had breakfast and got ready for the days activities it was almost lunch time. People kept going off and running their own errands, buying things you can’t find in Houndé, so it took a while to regroup and set out for the day. But, eventually we did. We first went to the ruins of Loropeni, which are deep in the woods, and a whole fortress of stone ruins covered in leaves and plants. It was really quite beautiful. No one really knows why they were built, but they were built by the Lobi people, one of the many ethnicities here in Burkina.
We then went on to the sanctuary for the Gan kings (on the way we had another flat tire, because the road was pretty much a mountain…a series of sharp rocks, and we were in a small little car…) which was up in the hills. The Gan people (another Burkinabé ethnicity) are animists, and are still ruled by a king. Each time the king dies, a shrine is built in their honour on top of a hill in a small stone hut, with a clay statue inside. The animism is really complex, and we were just introduced to the basics, but it was really fascinating. Lots of chickens are sacrificed to various kings to ask for different things, like rain, a good harvest, a cure, etc. There was one hut built a little bit away from the others, and apparently this was built for ‘le roi méchant’, the mean king, which the group found was hilarious. They joked about it all weekend, and every time anything would happen, they would say, ‘le roi méchant est fâché!’ at which everyone would laugh hysterically. We were followed by a group of little kids (including one of the cutest little boys I have ever seen, with the biggest smile…we played peekaboo and he laughed his little head off) and some of the kids asked if they could touch my hair, since I guess they don’t see hair like mine all the time.
We returned to Gaoua for dinner, but on the way it started to rain like mad. All the frogs came out, and I know we much have killed many of them. The silly things decide to cross the road just as we pass. Bo.
Anyway, we had a nice evening again, going out for dinner then taking a little walk around town. I have to say, people here walk slowly…it takes some getting used to, and a constant effort to slow down and embrace the slowness, otherwise it can become almost a bit frustrating.
Next morning, we went for breakfast and walked around the market. It was neat…you could pass by it without noticing it, but once you walk in, it’s like a small world. It’s all open, but surrounded by other buildings, and you can find anything under the sun. Salomo helped explain all the various foods we saw, since almost none of them looked familiar. I tried dried sweet peas and fresh peanuts, which are amazing. They’re soft and pink. In the afternoon we went to the Lobi cultural museum, and they’re really an interesting culture. Hien from the office was telling me more about them, since he comes from that culture, and he promised to go into more depth.
I now have 4 people who have promised to help me with my dioula if I give English lessons, so maybe that will be a fun way to pass some time.
Yesterday, we returned to Houndé, after another rainstorm, but arrived without vehicle problems. I met Clara again, and met a Spanish guy who is going to be working with Medicus Mundi for the next 5 months.
This morning I took the bus back from Houndé, and am here for a few more days to say goodbye to Amélie, visit some people and to gather all my things before heading back to Houndé for good. This morning I brought all my bags to Baba’s office before taking the bus to Bobo. Hien came to pick me up, and we put my massive suitcase, me and him on a tiny scooter. I was like, ‘je ne pense pas qu’on pourrait le faire’, to which he responded, ‘non non, il n’y a aucun problème.’ Apparemment, il n y a jamais un problème ici. As I was taking my bags out, I was trying to carry my big knapsack, but it’s quite heavy. Hien came to pick it up, and even he was having trouble. Then, one of the young girls who works there walked over, and without a word picked up the bag, put it on her head, and walked over to the scooter as if it weighed nothing. I have to work on that skill, but little by little…we’ll start small.
On the way to Bobo today, the bus hit a baby goat. It was quite a disturbing experience, and I felt queasy for a while, but we just kept going.
How I’m going to take the bus back with my two massive suitcases, my boxes of things that Manue left me, the moped, my computer, another bag of things for REVS+, I don’t know. But, somehow it will happen…ca va aller, as the Burkinabé say.
Well, until next time!
Sara
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Bobo
Today was great because both Amélie and I had the day off, and so we organized to do some sightseeing around Bobo. We asked our friend Felix to bring us around, and he brought along his friend, a mechanic. We weren’t quite sure why, until we saw the car. It was the biggest disaster ever. That car is not fit to be driven, let alone along the rural Burkina roads we were traveling all morning. We started off by going to see La Guingette, a beautiful river surrounded in what looked to me like tropical forest, but I don’t know how ecologically and geographically accurate that is. It was beautiful, and really, really peaceful. It’s special because it’s one of the only natural places you can swim here, since the water is so clean, so it’s very popular.
We then moved on to Koro, a really neat village built into the rocks a bit outside of Bobo. It was constructed up high for defense against the French colonizers, and people still live there. It has three sections, or quartiers: one for the farmers, one for the blacksmiths and one for the merchants. Each group stays in their own quartier. There was a group of little kids at the bottom, and one little girl held my hand the whole way up the climb. Very cute. The hike up is long, and you’re climbing rocks the whole way up. What amazed us was that the water pump was at the very bottom of the hill, and women walk all the way down with pots on their heads, fill them up with water at the bottom, and walk all the way back up without spilling a drop.
We finished by going to see the sacred catfish pools at Dafra. On our way there, the car inevitably broke down. No, that was an understatement – as we went over a particularly jagged rock, pieces started falling out from underneath the car. Fortunately for us, we had Felix’s friend the mechanic on hand. His ‘repair’ job was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen...he found some random little plastic flip-flop beside the road, crouched on the ground, and started hitting underneath the car with the shoe. Who would have guessed the power of the plastic flip-flop? And it worked! It was funny because the whole time he kept reassuring us ‘non non, il n’y a pas de probleme…ca va aller’, the most commonly used words here. We ended up continuing to see the catfish on foot (the roads looked a little bit too rocky for comfort, and for the well being of the newly repaired car) and the site was lovely; we had to walk through a botanical garden and forest to get there. I never imagined catfish were so big! (or hideous). We fed them bread, and they all surfaced and it was pretty unattractive. On our way home we took care to drive a little bit more slowly thus facilitating the avoiding of unwanted protruding rocks. We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant in Bobo that Simon had taken us to, where we had riz sauce aux arachides, a Burkinabé special. As usual, I ate too much.
That’s all for now! A la prochaine!
We then moved on to Koro, a really neat village built into the rocks a bit outside of Bobo. It was constructed up high for defense against the French colonizers, and people still live there. It has three sections, or quartiers: one for the farmers, one for the blacksmiths and one for the merchants. Each group stays in their own quartier. There was a group of little kids at the bottom, and one little girl held my hand the whole way up the climb. Very cute. The hike up is long, and you’re climbing rocks the whole way up. What amazed us was that the water pump was at the very bottom of the hill, and women walk all the way down with pots on their heads, fill them up with water at the bottom, and walk all the way back up without spilling a drop.
We finished by going to see the sacred catfish pools at Dafra. On our way there, the car inevitably broke down. No, that was an understatement – as we went over a particularly jagged rock, pieces started falling out from underneath the car. Fortunately for us, we had Felix’s friend the mechanic on hand. His ‘repair’ job was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen...he found some random little plastic flip-flop beside the road, crouched on the ground, and started hitting underneath the car with the shoe. Who would have guessed the power of the plastic flip-flop? And it worked! It was funny because the whole time he kept reassuring us ‘non non, il n’y a pas de probleme…ca va aller’, the most commonly used words here. We ended up continuing to see the catfish on foot (the roads looked a little bit too rocky for comfort, and for the well being of the newly repaired car) and the site was lovely; we had to walk through a botanical garden and forest to get there. I never imagined catfish were so big! (or hideous). We fed them bread, and they all surfaced and it was pretty unattractive. On our way home we took care to drive a little bit more slowly thus facilitating the avoiding of unwanted protruding rocks. We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant in Bobo that Simon had taken us to, where we had riz sauce aux arachides, a Burkinabé special. As usual, I ate too much.
That’s all for now! A la prochaine!
VAD
So, I went to work bright and early like I was told to, since I was supposed to be doing visits to the homes of some of the members of REVS+. This is the way that the organization checks in on families that orphans or vulnerable children living with them, and since these families can sometimes be socially excluded because of this, the visits are meant to help their integration into society. When I got to work at 9:00 am, they realized there weren’t any visits scheduled until 3:00 pm. So I had 6 hours to wait, and nothing, and I mean nothing, to do. Off all days for the internet to die, it chose today. I ended up doing a million sudoku puzzles from my book (I thank my lucky stars that sudoku was invented…they have been a lifesaver here), talking to some coworkers, and while on a walk, I met a woman weaving alone under a tree. She sat me down and gave me a weaving 101 session, which was really cool. It looks easy, but it isn’t. Believe me. I hope I didn’t ruin her material, thus her income-generating project.
Anyway, 3:00 finally rolled around, and we left for the VADs (Visites a Domiciles). These were very interesting. All the houses were in the poorer part of the city, and I don’t really have words to describe it. It wasn’t depressing at all, but you could tell that life and survival became much more intertwined, if that makes any sense whatsoever. Basic would be the word. The people though…everyone welcomed us so warmly, and made sure we were comfortable and taken care of. All the children would run up to us and shake our hands, and in one yard, the kids were all washing themselves from buckets, (therefore were completely naked), so got all giggly and embarrassed. One little boy, however, got so excited to see us that he stopped mid-lather and ran up to me, covered in soap, and offered me his tiny little wrist to shake, since his hands were all soapy. A lot of the families were single mothers taking care of their children (and other people’s children) after there husbands passed away from AIDS. We also visited quite a few grandmothers who were taking care of all their grandchildren. At one of these homes, there was one grandmother taking care of 18 children. The most amazing part of all of this was that when we asked if everything was ok, these women would all say yes. They would show us the children’s school reports, show us family pictures, and thank us over and over again for our visit. One woman asked if I would come back, and told me that I should think of her home as my home.
On our way home we got stopped by the police for apparently ‘running a red light.’ It wasn’t true, but whatever. I was told that a few months ago, the government abolished the police force because they were getting too corrupt, and then brought them back, and nothing has changed.
I met some of Emanuele’s Burkinabé friends today (Manue…tes amis sont tellement sympathiques!), and they took me out for a welcome dinner. We had chicken in the dark (since there are no lights on the street, and it gets dark at 7:00), but it was a lovely evening. Today one of her friends invited me over to his house for lunch to try an authentic African meal, and he was so sweet…he made sure we had lots of mangoes (since I went on and on about the mangoes here) and his mom made me very Burkinabé food. Oh Burkinabé people…if only everyone were so friendly! The world would be a much happier place.
Anyway, 3:00 finally rolled around, and we left for the VADs (Visites a Domiciles). These were very interesting. All the houses were in the poorer part of the city, and I don’t really have words to describe it. It wasn’t depressing at all, but you could tell that life and survival became much more intertwined, if that makes any sense whatsoever. Basic would be the word. The people though…everyone welcomed us so warmly, and made sure we were comfortable and taken care of. All the children would run up to us and shake our hands, and in one yard, the kids were all washing themselves from buckets, (therefore were completely naked), so got all giggly and embarrassed. One little boy, however, got so excited to see us that he stopped mid-lather and ran up to me, covered in soap, and offered me his tiny little wrist to shake, since his hands were all soapy. A lot of the families were single mothers taking care of their children (and other people’s children) after there husbands passed away from AIDS. We also visited quite a few grandmothers who were taking care of all their grandchildren. At one of these homes, there was one grandmother taking care of 18 children. The most amazing part of all of this was that when we asked if everything was ok, these women would all say yes. They would show us the children’s school reports, show us family pictures, and thank us over and over again for our visit. One woman asked if I would come back, and told me that I should think of her home as my home.
On our way home we got stopped by the police for apparently ‘running a red light.’ It wasn’t true, but whatever. I was told that a few months ago, the government abolished the police force because they were getting too corrupt, and then brought them back, and nothing has changed.
I met some of Emanuele’s Burkinabé friends today (Manue…tes amis sont tellement sympathiques!), and they took me out for a welcome dinner. We had chicken in the dark (since there are no lights on the street, and it gets dark at 7:00), but it was a lovely evening. Today one of her friends invited me over to his house for lunch to try an authentic African meal, and he was so sweet…he made sure we had lots of mangoes (since I went on and on about the mangoes here) and his mom made me very Burkinabé food. Oh Burkinabé people…if only everyone were so friendly! The world would be a much happier place.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Banfora
Ani oula!
Today we took a lovely day trip to the nearby city of Banfora, about an hour outside of Bobo. We went with a man named Zerbo, recommended to us by the cook from the hotel in Ouaga. The bus ride was neat, since we were really entering the agricultural zone. There were sugar cane fields on either side, and every now and then we would pass a small village, or just a family compound.
When we arrived, Zerbo’s friend Issa picked us up, and then got in touch with his friends until he found someone with a vehicle. We started off by going to see the Domes de Fabedougou, these huge rock formations formed ages ago by moving water. It was nice to climb to the top and feel the wind again, and breathe in fresh air! A very nice change from the heat down at the bottom.
We then went to see the famous waterfalls of Karfiguela, and were told we could go swimming at the bottom, but given the colour of the water we decided it would be wise to refrain from such activity. Think murky brown bubbly liquid...
We also saw the biggest ant hills ever…this one in the picture is actually on the small side compared to other ones we saw. I look like a miniature person when standing next to some of them. I had to ask the question, how big are their ants? Turns out theirs are the same as ours, just much more motivated and hard working.
After lunch, where we were served what I believe was the equivalent of 3 chickens (SO much food…) we went to Lac Tangrela, to see the hippos. We were taken out in a pirogue, a precarious-looking but completely sea worthy little boat, and we rowed out until we saw a few big noses sticking out of the water. The hippos were the smart ones…they were staying cool while us crazy tourists were out in the blazing 40 degree sunshine.
I know I probably sound like a broken record, but the people here are just so incredibly nice. The children have the most amazing smiles, and really white teeth! And it’s so easy to meet people. On the bus home tonight we made a bunch of new contacts, with everyone willing to help us out with whatever we need. It’s delightful, really.
Donc c’est tout pour aujourd’hui, mes amis. A la prochaine!
p.s. the mangoes here are the most amazing things…ever.
p.p.s. I had picture to post with this entry, but of course, it didn't work. I'll try to make the next entry only pictures from the trip. A bientot!
Today we took a lovely day trip to the nearby city of Banfora, about an hour outside of Bobo. We went with a man named Zerbo, recommended to us by the cook from the hotel in Ouaga. The bus ride was neat, since we were really entering the agricultural zone. There were sugar cane fields on either side, and every now and then we would pass a small village, or just a family compound.
When we arrived, Zerbo’s friend Issa picked us up, and then got in touch with his friends until he found someone with a vehicle. We started off by going to see the Domes de Fabedougou, these huge rock formations formed ages ago by moving water. It was nice to climb to the top and feel the wind again, and breathe in fresh air! A very nice change from the heat down at the bottom.
We then went to see the famous waterfalls of Karfiguela, and were told we could go swimming at the bottom, but given the colour of the water we decided it would be wise to refrain from such activity. Think murky brown bubbly liquid...
We also saw the biggest ant hills ever…this one in the picture is actually on the small side compared to other ones we saw. I look like a miniature person when standing next to some of them. I had to ask the question, how big are their ants? Turns out theirs are the same as ours, just much more motivated and hard working.
After lunch, where we were served what I believe was the equivalent of 3 chickens (SO much food…) we went to Lac Tangrela, to see the hippos. We were taken out in a pirogue, a precarious-looking but completely sea worthy little boat, and we rowed out until we saw a few big noses sticking out of the water. The hippos were the smart ones…they were staying cool while us crazy tourists were out in the blazing 40 degree sunshine.
I know I probably sound like a broken record, but the people here are just so incredibly nice. The children have the most amazing smiles, and really white teeth! And it’s so easy to meet people. On the bus home tonight we made a bunch of new contacts, with everyone willing to help us out with whatever we need. It’s delightful, really.
Donc c’est tout pour aujourd’hui, mes amis. A la prochaine!
p.s. the mangoes here are the most amazing things…ever.
p.p.s. I had picture to post with this entry, but of course, it didn't work. I'll try to make the next entry only pictures from the trip. A bientot!
Friday, July 6, 2007
REVS+
The local partner organization that I’m going to be working for is called REVS+ (Espoir-Egalité-Vie-Solidarité), and yesterday I spent my first day there. I’m doing training until I leave for Houndé, the small town where I’ll be working. REVS+ is based in Bobo, but has antennas in Houndé and a few other surrounding towns. The staff from Houndé came all the way to Bobo to meet me, which was really kind, and they seem like very nice people. There’s one woman in particular, who is actually the woman whose job I’ll be sharing. It’s a neat set up…she’s called my ‘homologue’ (no idea what the English translation is) and basically we’re equals in the sense that our jobs are going to be identical, and my role is to support her in her job by helping create resources and tools so she can be more effective. It seems like a bit responsibility, and I’m wondering how I can do it when she knows so much more about the context and reality of the children we’re working for, but we got along very well, so I hope we’ll make a good team. When I get there, I’ll be shadowing her for about 2 weeks, and then we’ll sit down together and figure out my mandate. Basically, my mandate right now is really general, but essentially it involves providing support and programming for AIDS orphans and vulnerable children. We’ll be visiting the homes where they live, (which could include homes run by grandparents, by one parent, or by the children themselves), visiting hospitals, (which apparently here are used as a last resort…when you bring someone to the hospital, it’s because there’s no more hope…), organizing food distribution to families/children who need it, and organizing activities for them. When I start my mandate, we’ll come up with a list of activities, intended results, resources necessary, and an action plan, so I’ll get lots of say in what I end up doing, but with lots of guidance. I need to start learning dioula, the local language, firstly because it will allow me to communicate with everyone who doesn’t speak French, and secondly, because it sounds so cool!
I got to attend an activity yesterday at the Bobo office, which was basically a weekly gathering for the children to hang out and talk. They were adorable. Some of them look completely healthy, and others you can tell are sick. They are the cutest things ever though…really tiny, but what energy! And they’re very polite and mature…whenever one of them showed up, they would come and shake hands with all the adults. Greetings here are really nice. You really take the time to greet someone, which is no small undertaking. After doing this neat hand shake thing where you squeeze each other’s middle fingers and then do this fancy snap thing, you ask how they are, how their family is, how they slept, how their family slept, how work is going, if they ate well, etc. You don’t just walk by someone…you take the time to acknowledge them and greet them.
So far, I’m liking life here. I know it hasn’t been too long, and I do feel like we’ve sort of been living in a bubble, (we’ve had a driver, someone to take care of running errands for us, a great place to stay, air conditioning, running water, etc.) so I’m glad that I have a whole new experience coming when I move to Houndé and start working.
Arrivée a Burkina!
After a few days in Ouaga, we left for Bobo, not the capital, but pretty much the coolest city in the country. You can feel the difference in the air. People are friendlier, everything is smaller and more manageable, and it rains! That means that it offers some relief from the oppressive Ouaga heat. Amélie and I are staying in a house owned by Save the Children Canada, and we’re well taken care of. Juliette, the girl who works here, took us out and showed us how to navigate around Bobo, and is the most helpful person I’ve ever met.
The roads here are something else. Imagine wide lanes of bright red earth covered in rocks, garbage, other unidentifiable objects, and massive potholes/pools of water. You’re basically thrown all over the place as you drive. Speaking of driving…Simon has mastered the art. I don’t know how he hasn’t killed a million people already. There are people everywhere, on scooters, on carts, on donkeys, walking, on bikes, selling things, plus the odd herd of cattle, and the list goes on. It seems a bit chaotic, but really, it’s just very lively. The colours are amazing, and the outfits…mamma mia! Next week I’m going to get some clothes made from the cotton my mom brought back from
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Blog #2
Hello all,
Well, here we go again, Sara's blog attempt part 2. My Cuba one was a bit of a failure, so we'll see if this one does a bit better. As always, comments are lovely, and I'll do my best to stay as up to date as possible. We'll see what my internet access is like :)
Take care!
~Sara
Well, here we go again, Sara's blog attempt part 2. My Cuba one was a bit of a failure, so we'll see if this one does a bit better. As always, comments are lovely, and I'll do my best to stay as up to date as possible. We'll see what my internet access is like :)
Take care!
~Sara
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