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.