African Adventure 3

10-29-07

We six trainees met in our village with the CSPS (the center for health (Santee) and social promotion) and showed the members of the board, the tools we learned regarding village and health facts and issues. They drew their own community map and pointing out the 5/6 wells, the mosque and the CSPS buildings. This was led by Keisha. Then Natalie was in charge of having the men and Lizeta separately and by gender, list their daily activities. I presented the calendar and they pointed to dry and wet seasons, sickness period, time of the year when they have money from harvest and other times when there is no money and finally the feasts they celebrate. Lindsey led the needs matrix, with each group identifying five top health concerns of the village and then comparing each. Becky welcomed the group and Lacey did the wrap up.

Things happen in Burkina time, which calls for patience. One time the premier was in a nearby village, which all villagers wanted to attend and did. It took a couple of meetings to get through the exercise. Later on my host father was telling some visitors at home about the experience, so I know it was understood and fun for them.

That Monday night was a huge dance put on by the women from each quartier of the village at the chief's compound in Somyaga. Around 9:30pm some women arrived at our home. Orokia, Aguero, Mary Angela and the others walked with me from home in the moonlight over to the chief's place, where hundreds of villagers were gathered, waiting, and chanting. We were escorted into his private compound to chairs. After we greeted the chief, who provided cold Coca Colas to each of us, we sat there a bit, then were escorted with our chairs out to a clearing where the dance would eventually be. We had front row seats literally. It began around 11pm.

Each group of women had a chanter on the microphone and the crowd would repeat the line chanted. Like a moving stream the women from each quartier' went in and out of a circle dancing, stomping and chanting. The chief was in a chair in front us, several of his aides on mats near him. The chief gave his brother a card indicating his approval of each groups' efforts near the end of their performance. His brother presented the card to the leader of the chant, who was on the microphone. The brother, maybe in his 50s, joined the circle of dancers sometimes in fun, and then clicked his legs forward and backwards while he was squatting, until everyone there applauded and laughed. What a character! This went on until around 2am. The teen girls in my family and I walked home before that in the moonlight. Because there are relatively no clouds in the sky, the moon provides incredible light at night.

What was interesting was that every so often the generator for the florescent light and microphone quit, so there was an occasional pause in the festivities for technical difficulties. The energetic dancing stirred the dust up, so that intermittently someone came with a bucket of water to sprinkle the dirt down a bit. I noticed a few people covering their nose with an air mask, while I used a shirt sleeve, due to my dry throat and cold.

10-30-07

We were excited to meet in the village to attend a Baptism, but when we arrived we found that an elder woman of the village died in the night. Muslim tradition is to bury the dead the next day. So out of respect we walked over to where the men were walking in a line and group to the cemetery to bury her. Women don't usually attend death rituals, because they give life.

Hundreds of men were there. As we drew near we heard the chanting by older voices and responses by younger ones. We could see that young men were moving the dirt, and filling the grave site until it was covered, then mounded up. Some men walked out to a nearby Kee tree, tore branches off and set them on top of the grave. It was quite moving. As the grave diggers washed themselves, others made way for them. As if on cue, everyone turned and walked away. Burema, a CSPS member, came by and we gave condolences that his aunt had died.

10-31-07 Halloween!

When I arrived at training, Dr. Claude was set up for interviews with table and chairs under a tree outside the bureau office. In typical Burkinabe' fashion, she inquired about my health and well being during our greeting. She was impressed with the statements that I had submitted to PC and that I had heard JFK those many years ago. As head of the health trainees, Dr. Claude wanted to know how I was doing with language training. I told her I was nervous about French and Moore', but that body language was working. She said not to worry, that if I made an effort, people would understand. Next she inquired what size site I preferred, a small village or a metro area, with more resources.

I asked for no more than 5-7 km. of biking to a town. I also requested less heat. After our chuckle, I asked her to be the judge of where to use me best. She asked about La Leche League, and said there are three areas of concern about breastfeeding in this culture. The mothers do not recognize the benefits of colostrum (the first milk and discard it); they do not take much time to nurse ( they are always working); and finally they wean abruptly.

Dr. Claude said when Ron Tschetter (PC director) was in BF in June he asked her if she would consider a senior and she replied “Of course!” She listened to my tale of writing him. She said “You will make it.”

I went to the Internet Cafe' at noon and a fellow trainee, Rob, showed me how to transfer my blog and pictures onto the flash drive Heather got me, and I was so happy to finally get that started and on line now.

In the afternoon Sylvie, a PNP, gave a health session on STDs and one on cooking and eating in BF. She had many tips for us when we are on our own with our diet. We had a section on National Health issues and how Community Based Organizations work with the needs of the community. In our village of Somyaga there is a CBO called “Association les Marainchers”, gardening for profit after the regular growing season.

We always stay Wed and Thurs in town, and since this was Halloween, “the twenty somethings” all got in costumes they had thought up with very little resources and went off to party somewhere. I took a couple pictures of them in their butcher paper and masking tape costumes. I texted my kids to see how they were doing on this big day for their own kids.

Becky bought me a “Laughing Cow” fromage (like cream cheese) that we all spread on our French bread baguettes every morning. After another full day of classes and as it turned dark, I was driven back to village, where Orokia had made macaroni and fish (sardines) for dinner. I was so hungry.

On Friday morning all health trainees (20 people and their language tutors) came to our village. Some of the PC volunteers talked to us about their experience working with CBOs, ie Becca makes soap with her women's group. The group colored it yellow, it sells well and they now have a bank account, where other projects they may want to do get seed money.

That day in the late afternoon we met with our CBO, with 17 in attendance. Two of the 17 men were also Coges members. My host father Amadi was among them, which pleased me. We did two activities with them, the seasonal calendar and the needs matrix. After much discussion the men decided that poverty was the biggest issue in their community. Malaria came in second. The village culture in BF seem more cooperative and builds consensus compared to the US culture. It was also an interesting exercise in terms of timing. Several events in village had to be reckoned with. The whole idea is to build into the community groups the foundation to take care of their own health needs.

When I biked back to my home, Orokia informed me there would be dancing tonight here in our courtyard and that I should be ready. Gradually the women came, until by 10 pm there were about 30 of them, some with babies aboard their backs. I took my kerosene lantern out there where the young women danced and the benches circling the dance area were full of the rest, who chanted together, providing the beat and music to dance by. Orokia was chanting and holding another's toddler. Gramma Awa and I watched from two wooden chairs. Before midnight, I retired, but the festivities went on several more hours.

11-03-07

Saturday we packed up our bikes for early morning transport to OHG for more bike raining. This time we learned how to wash them and how to get the red dirt out of the chain, then oil it. Today I mailed my absentee voter ballot. It had been the first mail I received here. It has to be there by 20 days after the election to count. I also have an option to email it to the office of elections in Clark County. Today was also my second French proficiency test with Matheurn. I am not there yet.

Since it was still afternoon when I got home, I went out to the fields to take pictures of harvest, stacks of millet and bissape. Orokia walked me to another field that had fresh bissape plants. We saw a white jet trail in the sky, first one in the month I've been here. Reminds me of when I was a kid in Felida and we would hear a plane overhead and run outside to see it. Those weren't jets, so we got outside in time.

Close to dark two new vehicles pulled up. Amadi came to say his younger brother, John, is here. He had a friend along who was a doctor of public health, Dr. Deborah. In good English, he asked me why I wanted to come to Africa and how I could live in village without water and electricity. I replied that I was not surprised as I expected the poverty, but the people are beautiful in nature and generous.

As we sat visiting Fatimata, 19, roasted peanuts for us and as she fetched them from the hot coals, I marveled that she did not burn herself. In the courtyard, I gave bon-bons to the children, always a hit.

John was pleased to visit his mother, Awa and asked if I knew her age. He said she is 79-80 they think. He said his father passed almost 30 years ago. John's son Anawar, 29, who speaks a little English, also came to stay the night with his gramma. John works for public health, and he offered to bring me something tomorrow when he returns for his son. After a little discussion he decided to bring me cold water and a cold beer. Well I wouldn't turn that down.

Later in the afternoon, Amadi put his mother on the cell phone with a relative and she was chatting like a school girl and laughing. She reminds me of my mom, who was always so full of life and adventure.

Sunday was the first unscheduled day I've had. I was in my room journaling and hanging a BF map on the wall plus pictures of my family and outdoor scenes I took last summer while camping. I tidied up a bit as my class is coming here to cook a meal on Tuesday.

In the afternoon Orokia came and signaled to me to follow her to the fields. We walked across several already harvested fields, greeting neighbors in their fields as we passed by. We came to where Madi was hacking Kee from the dry ground. He chopped several times at the bottom of the stocks and gathered the 6-8 stems to each plant and stacked them every so often in the field. Orokia had me sit on a metal basin, turned over and watch. Beside me, Aziz was at play with his 2” black beetle.

I watched as Orokia went to the next field to gather a stack of the plants that Madi had made. She took two long stems of the Kee plant to tie them into a bundle. After getting them tied, she lifted them onto her head and walked across the fields to a clearing and stacked them against other plants, then return. I decided to try that. So I tied a stem around a bundle and Orokia helped me secure it properly. She lifted two more bundles on her head and I had one on mine, since she discouraged me from trying two. I set off following her. That bundle was heavy, but I just know my posture was improved. I had to hold it with two hands for security. The neighbor women in their fields chatted and laughed as we passed by. After successfully delivering my “load”, I took Aziz and walked home. Soon Orokia and Madi came home, but Orokia went into another field to do more work.

Later that day, Amadi's brother John, returned as he promised with two 8 oz bags of water, and a cold beer and a bottle of orange Fanta for me. He brought his mother an inhaler, and asked if I could assist her with it. I saw him slip a 2 mil franc into the hand of Orokia and one of the older teens. The successful members of the family share their wealth.

11-05-07 Monday

It was the first time since my test that I had language class, and Theo led the way to the shade under a tree for it. He focused on vocabulary about directions, buying things and getting around in OHG. After seeing the other 5 trainees stay with another tutor, I thought for sure I had failed my test, and behind my sunglasses a few tears trickled down. Theo apologized later, thinking he had upset me, but in truth all the language teachers want us to succeed, so they push us a little. Later I discovered that in fact I had come up a level to middle of the low level in French. After class, the car came to village for all of us and took us to town to shop for our cooking class on Tues at my compound. We went to the central marche' in OHG and bought red long potatoes for fries, and tomatoes, garlic and onions for our veggie burgers. Then our group of six proceeded to Chaine Avion (main grocery store) and got canned green beans, a box of rolled oats, and lentils for the burgers too. We purchased flour and a tub of margarine for our banana bread we would put in the dutch oven.

The next day Sylvie, who had given the cooking class earlier, came to my compound around 3pm. We had Orokia cook the lentils on her open fire to be ready for use asap, while some of us peeled the potatoes and cut them into rounds to fry on the top of the propane gas range in oil. (See pictures.) By the time Sylvie arrived we had the batter for the cake ready to put in the dutch oven, which takes a good hour. Once we hooked up those things we prepared the string beans, and got all the condiments for the burgers ready. We used French bread rolls for the buns. We used mayo for the ketchup. Improvise is the name of the game here when it comes to cooking. Hunger helps a lot too, makes you think creatively. Everyone ate as much as they wanted and then it was time to clean up, as Sylvie had four of these village groups of trainees to help try out the appliances in practice for when we get to our own villages and cook this way. My host family gladly tried the leftovers.


11-07-07 Wednesday

This morning after our Safety and Security meeting, we health trainees had a field trip to the local hospital, where there is a wing called CREN (Centre de Recuperation et d'Education Nutritionelle) for malnourished children. There are two major types of malnutrition in Burkina Faso: Kosh (lack of protein) and Marasmi (lack of food). Here they take the moderate and severe cases. Early detection helps with prevention. The great thing about CREN is that both babies and mothers stay here for up to two months. The head nurse spoke to us in French and our class asked lots of questions. The woman who teaches the mothers how to make enriched porridge, explained the children's diet to us. We saw the charting where the facility keeps track of weight, height and other vitals of the patients, including immunizations and medications. We got a tour of the whole hospital after that.

I went to the Internet in the afternoon and put captions on some of my pictures, which should help folks tell what's going on esp when the pictures go up before the blog does. The next day we boarded the bus for Ouaga, a 3 hr ride. A young man sat next to me and we practiced his limited English and my limited French on each other. Turns out he is a lab technician for the hospital we toured two days ago. We used the dictionary throughout. When I asked what his job entailed, he said he checks for bacteria, infection, parasites, glycemia, leukemia, cancers, etc.

Once we got to the capitol, we hailed the green taxis and went to the PC bureau for a quick tour and then the transit house, where we stay anytime we are in the capitol for overnight. It is a big hostel virtually. While there we had another Safety and Security class about guys who get onto the bush taxi, drop their change and take your money while you are gathering up their coins. They also said people will reach in an open window and grab your purse, etc. That afternoon we had a catered lunch at the bureau, where I had ordered a fish on a bed of peas with French bread, and fruit juice to drink. Dessert was a papaya. Excellent!

When the staff gathered to make the announcements, they had Becky unroll a map of Burkina Faso with all the Health placements in green and all the SED (Small Enterprise Development) placements in red. The PC country director said the placements were a group decision, with all those participating, trying for the best match of local needs with our skills. Then Becky was asked to pull a slip out of the bag and read the description and the director of each program verified which trainee got the site. We all became pretty good at guessing whose selection it was before it happened. This went on for 34 selections.

My slip said “Congratulations. You are going to the village of Sala! It is south of the capitol, 100 km and located 13 km east from Sabou on the main road. The site is perfect for someone preferring a small site of about 2250 inhabitants. The community of Sala is full of resources. There is a barrage and an agent d' agriculture. Transport is available everyday from Sabou to Sala. What you might not know is that your ICP has his own car and is more than willing to chauffeur you around!” The group guessed my name right away, since I get driven from village to town a couple times a week, a senior benefit. (See the site map picture.)

A panel of PCVs talked to us about their experience in BF and we asked lots of questions. I asked what they did when visitors come and they said “Meet them at the airport for sure, then spend a few days in the capitol and a few days in village and maybe see a few sights.” They said tours can be arranged, ie the Elephant Park Central near Ghana, and the Banfora Waterfalls in SW. The International Art Festival is popular every two years, as is the Film Festival on alternate years.

We celebrated our news by going out to dinner at Verdoyant, an Italian restaurant, and shared our food at our table. Right when I finished eating, Heather rang me on the phone. It was wonderful talking to her. She is traveling to Michigan tonight to meet her rental manager. So I could share my news with a family member and that is a good feeling. We all got to stay at the Nazemse Hotel in Ouaga and from there we could conveniently shop downtown.

The next day I went to 3 fabric stores until I found pagne material I wanted. It is a blue and white pattern of pintards, native birds. It will make a nice “swearing in” dress. I also went to Marina Market, a modern western store, where I bought groceries for Thanksgiving dinner. The girls who have adopted me as their gramma while we are here, want me to teach them how to make veggie lasagna and I want to make pumpkin pie. Awa the gramma at my compound gave me a long orange looking gourd she called pumpkin, so that's what I plan on making the pulp with. I won't bore you with the fiasco I had with my credit card, and cashing traveler's check, just to find out they would take American money, since I was short on francs right then. Back on the bus to OHG, a two and half hour ride.

Saturday morning was taken up with a language class and one on malaria. Then we returned to our villages and a free schedule in the afternoon.

11-11-07 Sunday

After I got up and going this morning I watched the family activities. The women were grinding shea butter on the big circular cement table in the courtyard. This surface had big oval grinding stones set in it's surface. Those foot long rectangular areas were smooth and raised up on either end, which made grinding natural; stone against stone. The women had already mashed the grain in the wooden bowl with their big pistils. They pound in cync with each other, one up, one down, sometimes three in concert. The mix was very dark in color. Evidence of harvest is all around the compound, peanuts drying on the rooftops, straw drying on wooden lattice frames, sheds secured for storage. Gramma Awa was plucking bissape blossoms to dry.

I went out to the peanut field where Aguero and Ramata were digging up peanuts by pounding the dirt to loosen the roots (which hold the peanuts) and harvesting the whole plant. The dried stem and leaves are foliage for goats later on. The teen girls let me take their photo, then they took one of me hacking at the bush. Ramata took the picture backwards and got her arm—so I gave a quick Fugi lesson and we all laughed. Humor cuts across cultures!

Almost midday I got company, Becky and Lacey walked the back path here to visit me. I took them around to meet all the family members. They so loved the 80 yr old gramma Awa, who reminds me of my mom. She's so excited to have someone come by and visit.

In gramma's courtyard we watched the two Minata's ( her granddaughters from two of her children) boil the kee they had mashed earlier. The mixture was in a big kettle over a very hot fire, and the oil came bubbling up to the surface, like a cauldron. The dark brown pulp underneath the yellow oil kept coming through. Both girls invited us to watch them skim off the oil and when that cools, I understand that it is the shea butter so famous for skin application. I use it on my feet and the cracks are gone overnight. That's an important remedy when everyone here wears flip flops. My Chacos are all that I wear. See the pictures of this mixture in the pot.

My two friends and I sat on my front porch visiting a long time then Orokia brought us lunch. White potatoes and sauce, yummy! We read and journaled and relaxed with no schedule. That was great. When they were ready to leave, we all vowed to continue this as a Sunday ritual.

In the late afternoon Orokia said Aziz,5, was sick and I remembered that she said he woke up with a headache that morning. Amadi gave her money to have their youngest child seen at the village clinic by the accouchuese (midwife) as he had a high fever and was sweating by then. Orokia was cleaning up after being in the field most of the day harvesting. Amadi's motobike needed a new spark plug, so I offered to transport Aziz on the back of my bicycle, which has a rack there. Orokia put him on the back holding onto me and she tucked his feet up under my seat. Off we went! I was a little nervous but knew we shouldn't stop until we got to the clinic. We were there in 5-10 minutes, following us was Orokia on an old bike and she headed over to the midwife's place to get her to come to the clinic.

The two women talked for a while and then the Accouchuese started writing out a list of pills for Aziz to take and all the directions about dose and times, etc. She went over the directions carefully with Orokia: Beogo, Zombre, Lungo (morning, noon, night) in Moore'. I inquired about any tests needed and she said from his high fever and cough, she knew Aziz has “Malaria”. Soon we were sitting on the front porch of the clinic and Aziz was given 2 small pills, probably Tylenol to bring down the fever and make him more comfortable. He gulped them down with water, and almost immediately threw them up. There is not the luxury of liquid medicine here for this age. After we rode back home, Aziz laid on the bench by his dad and went to sleep. Much later Orokia came walking home, as she stopped by the boutique to get some things for tomorrow's lunch, then had a flat tire on the way. What an amazing woman she is!

11-12-07

While I didn't have the day off, I had wanted a little change in routine on my birthday. So I had asked my host mother if she could be the first host mother to make lunch for the village PC trainees and two language teachers, who would pay her two mil francs. That meant we all would come to my home for lunch. I tidied up my room and sat down to open the big envelope Connie had sent me saying “Do not open until Nov 12”. What a surprise! All kinds of people at my send off party wrote notes that day in anticipation of my birthday. I got teary at all the msgs. Thank you so much!

I biked to village for class, and was greeted with birthday wishes, even from my French teacher Theo, who calls me “tante” (aunt) Mary Kay. After the morning of French and KAP study prep work, we went to my house for a lunch of beans and rice with tomato sauce. The way that Orokia prepares it is so tasty. Everyone ate til they were very full. Then the group gave me a card and sang to me. We got to stay at my house for class in the afternoon. Patrice taught me French under the big tree in the field where the millet had been. We worked on the passe' compose' of “to be” and “to have”.

We returned late afternoon to the center of village to organize for a door to door KAP study questionnaire on Malaria. Around 6pm when most villagers are home from their day's activities, we split into two groups, each with a language teacher to help us and with two members of the community to ask questions prepared in French. Our language teacher translated the French into Moore' for the villagers. The study captures what the villager's Knowledge, Attitude and Practices are with regard to malaria (or whatever health issue you want to study). Every compound we went to crowds of people gathered to listen and observe. The men usually responded, but at times would ask the women to respond. There was both accurate and inaccurate responses, all of which we recorded, without comment. This is one of the tools we will use to determine the needs in village when we get to site.

By the time we finished it was dark out and I could no longer read from my paper, so younger eyes took over.

Lacey said we were supposed to wait at the boutique (village store) for the other group to finish, and that Theo was bringing something from town, so we waited....... A crowd started gathering and chatting, then Theo showed up on his motobike with a gym bag, then my host parents showed up on their motobike, and finally the other group of trainees and their helpers arrived.......Then everyone sang Happy Birthday to me in English, then in French! Boy was I surprised. Soon Theo opened his bag and “Voila!” there was an ice cold beer! Cold beer and pop in the village of Somyaga, in Africa where the temp outside was 90 degrees all week. The trainees pulled a good one on me. What a way to celebrate! My host parents followed me home on their motobike with their headlight showing me the way. All in all it was a pretty unique way to spend this birthday.

African Adventure 2

10-17-07

This morning I was up at six, because a car was coming for me. We were going to town, OHG and have a little break from the intense schedule. The night had not cooled down much and the bucket bath was refreshing at this point. Before leaving our village, we trainees met with the community health board, a group of six members (one woman) plus the local male nurse, who is always the secretary on the board. We asked them questions we had prepared in French the day before. The RN led the responses, and the board members were very interested in who we are and what line of work we had done. Translating this into their language (Moore') was challenging for the RN it appeared. This health board is representative of the ones we will work with in any village we may be assigned to in BF, so this experience should serve us well in the future.

Right when we arrived in town we stopped at a gas station and got yogurt and drinks, anything cold is coveted by all of us at this time. The change of scenery did us all good, we even enjoyed our French class in town. We got on our bikes and went to get lunch, some of us went to the internet cafe, only to find that it shut down the night before, and was still not up and running. I had bought a cell phone by now and the office staff at the internet cafe helped me text msg my kids and set my phone ringer, an important thing really.

While on my lunch break, I biked to the big market in the center of town, a maize of little tables and huts, where the locals sell produce and handmade items. There are some unusual sales, you can get your motorbike washed on the spot, or your shoes shined, or you can pay to have your bicycle stored. There are always tables filled with flip flops and ones with cell phones, and local food sells well. I did purchase a roll of toilet paper for 400SFA, which is about a dollar. Not really a bargain, but my negotiating skills in French have a ways to go. I later learned that the PC pays 500SFA for a two roll pack of TP.

As I rode back to the training center all of a sudden my phone rang and it was Angie, what a treat to talk to her and find out about things at home. By now I was most certainly late for my class, but that's alright—it was conjugating French verbs in 100 degree weather! Later that afternoon we had a couple hours free time, and again my phone rang and it was Chris, so good to hear from him. He's getting a phone card, cheaper way to talk I hear. All I can do from here really is text msg. That reminded me I need to get post cards to send right away to all my grandchildren. I gave my kids a long list of things I need......I told Chris that I am an expert on bike tire repair, as I had three flats the first two days I had my brand new bike...I now know I can't ride over the grass beside the pathways, which have thorny brush in them. And that is a guaranteed puncture in my tire.

At 5pm with our bikes on top, the van took us back to village, about 7 kilometers, and from there we biked back to our family compounds (less than a mile) just as darkness fell. It is refreshing to cool down every night via a bucket bath under the stars in the sky as my douche is a brick structure, open to the sky above. I have since taken a picture of this structure to show you. My latrine is on one side, and the bath area (douche) on the other. At this time of night it is dinner, then bedtime. It is so dark out by 6:30pm and with the grueling schedule, it is natural to turn in early.

10-19-07

Peace Corps sends a car for me and my luggage by 7am, as we are stopping at OHG for classes and preparation for going to villages of current PC Volunteers all over the country. They call this the “demystification visit”. I assume that means it makes it real to us. Three of us from the Health sector are going to a village 100m. SW of the capitol, called Gao. Meanwhile after our language class, we had a couple hours of free time, and we rode to town and got on the internet at a local cybercafe. One hour is 350 SFA. After that we found the sandwich shop, Melissa one of the trainees is living with a family, whose mom has the shop and hand makes each sandwich as it is ordered. My favorite is hard boiled egg slices and avocado slices, with red onions and tomato slices on the long French roll. Yummy!

The afternoon session for all Peace Corps Trainees was hilarious—Siaka, Saliou, Printout, PCV and others did a skit on what it's like to take a bush taxi. People, animals, and baggage kept adding to an already full bus. Then a pregnant woman with a baby strapped to her back boarded. Then a guy with a goat got on. People had to move seats constantly. Pickpocketing happened. A Muslim got out his mat to pray at one stop. And the driving was erratic to say the least, first Siaka would floorboard it, then shift when the engine was revved up, and all the folks leaned way over as the load shifted. I'm telling you we were in gales of laughter. That was just a preview of things to come.......

We 34 PCT boarded a nice bus to Ouagadougou (the capitol) the next morning. After the three hour ride, we all split up to go to our respective sites in country. Our little group, three trainees and our language facilitator went to a small bus stop and waited over four hours for our bush taxi. Apparently we just missed the first one. Since my tent, mat, and potty chair were tied together, and the single strap wasn't quite doing the job, I bought a long rubber strap from a vendor. By then my pride had deserted me.

To pass our time we found a modern western grocery store in the center of town, We each bought ourselves a treat, mine was a chocolate croissant. Then Becky and I wanted to look in the big mosque nearby, and we had to cover our head with a scarf to look in. Some guy took us around to a doorway, and said we could look in, but not enter, and he allowed us to take pictures. For this experience he wanted us to each give the Imam 2000 SFA. Becky protested, and after a couple minutes we each gave him 500 SFA and left. Bintou told us the guy shouldn't have charged.

Still waiting for the bush taxi, I watched a shoemaker lace together sandals with a long threaded needle. It reminded me of Doug lacing saddles and other leather things. Two customers came by and got shoe shines while they waited, now there's a lost art. “Vous travaillez tres bien! Your work is very good” I told him.

]The bush taxi showed up around 3pm with the driver wanting more money for our luggage after we bought our tickets, but Bintou headed that off. We got on board this old long van with seats. Soon we made another stop several miles across town and lots of goods and people were loaded. We laughed as we watched the loaders stuff 4-5' high with cargo, then proceed to tie five bikes, standing erect over the cab. After that a stack of large metal bowls and a large watering can were tied on the top. We boarded the bush taxi.

A mom and toddler and 20 others got in this 8 person van. As we tried to leave, through the window, the driver and a customer had a long heated discussion about something. I thought they were discussing safety, but no it was the cost of transport for goods. It went on ten minutes or so, while all 2 dozen passengers sweated in the van. Finally we left. I was sitting right behind the driver and noticed he kept looking out the window back toward the rear wheel. About half an hour later the entire wheel separated from the axle with a loud noise. This happened after we had gone 50mph on the road to the south. As luck would have it, we broke down in front of a welding shop by the side of the road in a small town with a dozen little shops. An hour later we crossed the road to the bar and had a cold beer, sitting out in front so we could see the van. As the welder worked on the axle all the passengers sat around watching. The driver and one other worker put the wheel back on. I noticed they only had two lug nuts, and I started worrying about that when our LCF announced that Peace Corps was sending a car for us. Whew! I was so relieved. By now it was 6pm. The PC car arrived and we traveled back to Ouaga. By now it was feeling like Murphy's Law, as we came upon a huge traffic jam—the traffic stopped because the President of the Country was passing by. Our driver extracted our vehicle from the snarl and we proceeded to go 30 km around the back way until we reached the PC transit house (a hostel house for PC). It was sheer luxury, after our day. We ordered dinner in and had a real bed to sleep in for the night.

Now we leave for Gao at 8am for our demystification visit. A PC car drove us 3 hr and 100km south of Ouaga and 50 km east on a dirt road to Stephanie's place. She was awaiting our arrival, and had baked banana bread and sliced up watermelon to welcome us. She had an incredibly homey living situation. Her hut had 4 rooms, a bedroom, kitchen, la douche (shower) and a living area. Villagers had poured a concrete patio after Dr. Claude made a site visit and told the village chief “Fix this my son for Stephanie.” Voila! Stephanie had a compost pile from which two tomato plants were thriving. She had planted five trees nearby too. There was a wall around her yard, and a screen covering the entrance, so animals could not enter.

The four of us asked her questions after question about her life in village. She says the Loges doesn't work that well, but the person in the new mayor position is very helpful to her. As we relaxed we met neighbors who came by and also the girl she pays to help out everyday. The 15 yr old girl has family in Ghana. She lives in Gao with relatives and likes it here. She transports Stephanie's water, washes her clothes, cleans dishes and straightens the house.

Soon we all walked around the village, meeting Stephanie's friends to whom she speaks perfect French and some tribal language. The people adore her and she them, esp certain ones. Her neighbor, Rosalie, helped her get connected to small groups of women and men who already had gatherings. She also went into the village school and taught in the first three months there. Her nearest PCV is Marcos, who is a favorite neighbor. They visit each other weekly approximately.

We bathed in the afternoon, then Stephanie made egg roll soup and a bean dish out of the PC cookbook. We had several language sessions with our LCF Bintou, who is a great teacher. Late in the evening, a neighbor woman brought over dinner: barbecued chicken, rice casserole, cous cous, and sauce. We loved it, sitting out in the yard at a table under the night sky enjoying each other's company. We tented that night, me on the patio, and Becky out in the yard, Bintou on a mat (traditional African sleeping spot), and Natalie in the bed and Stephanie on the chaise lounge.

The propane stove top and the oven in Stephanie's kitchen offer a variety of possibilities for cooking, ie Pancakes. While we had language class the next morning and learned past participles in French, Steph went to market to get bread and cheese for tuna melts at lunch. Here in Burkina Faso I have noticed that food is a main source for conversation. Locals go to marche' (market) every several days, because the heat doesn't allow food to stay edible very long.

Monday morning we toured the health sites in Stephanie's village: CSPS, the maternity ward, the pharmacy. During this time we met the village nurse, called “infirmier”, the midwife, who had just delivered a baby, and the ICP and some village teachers. There were 12 women waiting in clinic for a prenatal visit, which was delayed due to the delivery. This gave us a glimpse of the health aspect of village life, which we will be involved with when we each get our assignment in our village.

We walked back slowly down a path near a cluster of animists, who were engaged in a fetish ritual. They had two poles with a pane (cloth) wrapped around them and guys on either end baring the poles in a ritual dance. Back and forth they went with a crowd of worshipers following them. Stephanie said the fetish is thought to be a spirit that comes to “life” after long periods. We watched from a distance. Further along the path we visited the mayor and asked him historical questions about the village. He said the village was two tribes coming together hundreds of years ago, some were Moslem and some were animists. They live cooperatively.

As we tracted back to the house, we came across the local bar and some of the guys there play music, so after the sun went down we had arranged for them to play drums and flutes and dance. That lasted several hours in the moonlight. When the men had danced a traditional African dance, the women and children joined in, then they enticed us to try it, which we did and had such fun. Their dance steps and rhythms don't come so naturally to we Americans. By that time we were tired and hungry so we each gave the musicians 500 SFA for both the dancers and them and headed home. The neighbor brought dinner again and we were treated to beans and chicken, “To” and sauce. We tented again.

We got up early for our 8am bush taxi ride, but had to scurry when the driver showed up at our door at 7:30. We went back to Ouaga (the capitol) and thankfully the return trip was uneventful. I had to stay overnight in the transit house because Sylvie, the medical officer, had arranged for me to get my front tooth repaired. The clinic PC sent me to, cares for the embassy personnel too. They did a beautiful job for me. The BF dentist spoke perfect English, which he learned in school he said. They had the latest equipment, hardened my filling with a blue light. A second dentist was present and haled from Bolivia, and then a third dentist arrived and he was from Brazil. They all spoke good French and some English, definitely an international dental group. My taxi picked me up in an hour and returned me to the transit house, where I could walk to the PC bureau and spend two hours on the internet for free. I was able to send a group email, which made me happy.

On the way back to the transit center I stopped at a nice restaurant and ordered a salad to go. I sat a watched a tape of an old movie “Miracle in the Woods”, a multi-generational family dilemma.

The next morning the van came to pick up several others with me to return to Ouahigouya.

For the next several days we had classes to process our visit with the PCV. we each visited last weekend. We started to learn about conducting a “Etude de Milieu” (study in the village setting). We were transported to another village and learned tools to use in our study at the village level. They are: Seasonal Calendar, Village Map, Roles of women and men in village, and “Needs Assessment” done on a grid. Because this is hands on training, we had then set aside time to train the village leaders on these same tools, having them do the exercises and drawings themselves. It was a real eye opener, comparing what we came up with and what they did. For example they highlighted the mosque and the six village wells, and we hadn't. We emphasized how hard the women work, and the gender roles we observed. We learned from each other!

One of the field trips we took on our bikes was to the cabaret, where a groups of women brew beer from millet mostly. The alcohol content is not regulated by the state and at times it can be as high as 8% we were told. I took a couple photos of this just to show my brother, Wayne, who worked in this business until he retired. And yes, I like a beer now and again.



10-28-07 Sunday

Today Orokia is taking me to meet Salimata, her mother. Her home is across the village of Somyaga. We biked there. On the way we met her grandmother in a field nearby working. Everyone here greets everyone else where ever they find them. I had saved a votive candle to give Salimata. She is blind in one eye, and doesn't get out much in terms of visiting. I think Orokia introduced me to her sister in law there too.

When we returned home an hour later, a group of women and the two of us walked to the next neighboring compound and visited with them. Many, many people were there, groups of mothers and babies, groups of young men, and also men. The women were together in a hut nursing their babies and visiting. It was close and hot in there. Boys were playing cards together. Other young men were hanging out, listening to music. An elder man in the courtyard was plucking peanuts off the picked plants, and I sat down and tried that too. Orokia and I went into one hut and were served rice with goat meat (a little tough to chew, but tasted OK). Azita went over to the neighbors with us, but returned early.

Sunday is such a restful day during training, and I had a nap. I watched Amadi and Madi (15 yr old son) tie millet into bundles to put up to dry. That is an art, tying those things together, using the stems and braiding them around the top securely. This also served as a hanger. The results were beautiful to see. (view pictures)

This fourth week in training was both exciting and hard. We all had our language level test, which I advanced one level up. When you start at the bottom the only way is up, right? The health sector, the group I'm in, had their interviews with the Director of the Health Sector, Dr. Claude, who is so personable and encouraging. It was like a visit, not an intense interview. We chatted about what kind of site I would like, and what skills I would use in village, and about the needs here in Burkina Faso. She thinks that the women need support about taking more time nursing their babies, and about the benefits of colostrum, the first milk, and also about not weening their babies abruptly. We agreed that all the mothers nurse in BF and that is good. I look forward to offering extra support to these moms.

Dr. Claude is an exceptional woman and had just come from an international conference elsewhere in Africa on malnutrition. Her husband is the fourth highest political leader in BF I understand. She has been with the PC here since 1995. She told me about the director's visit recently, and his hope that more seniors join up. You know how I feel about that.

After two days at the training center in classes, Friday I was picked up with the other trainees from my village and we went to Sissomba, another village to visit there and have class. All the Lori's live here, Lauren, Laura, and Lori, all of whom speak perfect French. We practiced conducting a community meeting. We had a great lunch of beans and rice with sauce.

On Saturday we five rode our bikes to town and went swimming at Hotel de la Mitte and ate American style hamburgers. They tasted extra good to us. What a treat! Just to give you an idea: 1500SFA to swim, 3000SFA for the burger, and 800SFA for a Flagg beer (a qt). Then to the internet (one hour cost 350SFA) and our bike ride home (7 km). A great day and break! Lots of pictures.

African Adventure 1

My Peace Corps Journey

Last weekend the Landis family machine went into full speed ahead—three days of intense moving activities, both getting “things together for my two plus years abroad” to take along, and the emotional roller coaster of emptying my home of 42 years and putting it all in a 10X15' storage unit. I had wonderful help from my family and friends. Someone said “after all this work, you are not missing that flight!”

Since 1961 when I first heard John Kennedy's words “Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather what you can do for your country”, it has been in my heart to join the Peace Corps. And on Monday this very week, I flew from Portland to Philadelphia for “staging”, a time for information and immunization to get ready.

37 of us (excited, scared, eager, sad) bussed from Philly to JFK to depart on an Air France 777. As we neared Manhattan we could see the port area with the Statue of Liberty prominently greeting one and all. When the Brooklyn Bridge came into view I shrieked a little (I had not seen it the other time I was in NY). We drove on for some distance to get to the airport. Now it's here! Today I am leaving for Africa, and what lies ahead. Every time I say that, I lose it.....

10-05-07

We flew overnite to Paris. Since I had requested a window, I got one, but that meant that between me and the aisle were two rather husky Frenchmen, all of us with our knees knocking the seat ahead and I did not get up but once to use the facilities. Boy did I regret that later when my feet and ankles swelled up!

Flying from Paris to Burkina Faso takes six hours, most of that is above the Sahara Desert. As we neared Niger and Burkina Faso and descended toward the ground—the earth suddenly greened up and muddy rivers became visible along with earth toned villages. Then suddenly we were here—in Africa! Being greeted by official PC staff, both local and American. As we deplaned, the African heat enveloped us. We climbed aboard another bus and were taken to SIL, a compound used for retreats. On the bus ride the culture shock began! Marketing in BF was evident everywhere, tables full of cell phones and flip flops, fruits (bananas and mangoes and watermelons) furniture, pagnes (cloth that women wrap up in here) radios and CD players, tee shirts, you name it and there was a shack with some in it....

The traffic flow is amazing—people walking, biking, motor biking, donkeys pulling carts (driven by boys less than teenage) and all kinds but less numerous cars, trucks, and other motor vehicles. The paved roads are two lanes, with sparse traffic lights.

This is harvest time in BF as I understand it. Between the rainy, humid season which just ended and the hot season which starts in February is this beautiful, bountiful time we are now in.

We spent two days orienting and assessing our medical meeds, language needs, and adjusting to the environment. More like culture shock! Our meals were provided in a common dining room. On the second evening our entire class was invited to the lovely and spacious home of the Assistant Peace Corps Director for a lovely dinner. Hors d'oeuvres and sodas were in abundance when we arrived, and we dove in; peanuts and crispy tortillas chips with salsa. All of a sudden a white filling on the corner of my front tooth (which I think I swallowed) was missing, which made me apprehensive to eat any more! Later I asked the host if her family had a local dentist, and they do. So that will probably be an upcoming event.

10-07-07

We received our next shots and our language tests. Right after lunch we all boarded a bus, air conditioning never felt so good, and we headed north 3 hours to our training center in Oauhigouya. We passed through several check points and finally arrived at ECLA, where we will spend the next eight weeks in classes for our volunteer work and a heavy immersion into French and Moore' tribal language, like 4 hours a day. Upon our arrival a huge group of Peace Corps staff and Africans met us with traditional toasting from shells, and an elaborate welcoming ceremony with drums and xylophone like instrument, with much dancing and music. The costumes were colorful and dramatic. The rhythms were contagious.

And there was a dance performance that was high energy and fun to watch. We were officially invited to live and work in this culture.

We spent the next two days at training learning to introduce us to life with our host families. The facilities at each succeeding place got more and more challenging. I was longing for my sons to fix the plumbing here. Leaky toilettes, sinks, showers. This felt like a test, to better prepare us for what was ahead.

We went to the castle of the regional chief of Yatenga at Ouqhigouya. We waited in the receiving room for over half an hour, when he finally entered. We all stood and zhen he sat; so did we. Siaka squatted on one knee and explained our Peace Corps mission. The chief welcomed us into his land, then he took our questions. Siaka translated the Eng for the chief and the French for most of us. The chief apologized for our wait as he was waking from a nap. Several volunteers asked him quest in French and I asked him about his people b ringing issues/disputes to him and if he has a board of little chiefs. He said the disputes are settled locally mostly and if not, then he can address them, and if not he refers them to the legal system. After several others posed questions, and he answered, the chief agreed to have a picture with us, on the condition that we share them with him. (He says he never sees them.) The chief seems like a wise older gentleman with a sense of humor. It was a memorable visit.

10-09-07

This morning we received bike training...how to take the front and back wheels off in order to patch a flat tire. In the next week I used this 3 times in 2 days! There are thorns in the fields that are dangerous for our bike tires. The lesson is to stay on the beaten path!

In the afternoon after our language class etc. we went to our villages, where the local people were gathered under a grove of trees. We numbered six to eight volunteers to each village, and at that time we were “adopted” by our host family. One bench filled with mothers and nursing babies was on our right, another bench with the village leaders, a third bench with the men, and a fourth bench for us to complete the square. The women were very colorfully dressed in pagnes and head dresses. School children stopped to watch from the background. As the PC leader, Siaka, called the family name and one of our names, we joined our host family on their spot until every one of us was “adopted”. I got very teary eyed at this was the moment my life long dream came true.

My father, Amadi, loaded all my bags on the back of his motorbike and headed off. My host mother, Orokia, and I walked home, a mile or more, greeting people all along the way, she speaking Moore' and me practicing. She laughed a lot at what was coming out of my American mouth. When we arrived at their compound, I made a total of 22 family members; 12 children, 3 grammas, 2 grandchildren, 2 mothers, 1 father, a son in law, and yours truly. There are goats and chickens running around the courtyard too.

Excitedly they showed me to my room, and everyone helped me make my bed, complete with a mosquito net. We looked through the rest of the steel box of items left by the Peace Corps, kerosene and a lamp, bleach, salt, tea, cooking oil, vinegar, sugar cubes, and bedding. The water bucket and filter system came soon thereafter. (That's what the bleach is for.)

The older teen girls, who spoke good French, asked me if I wanted to bathe. Their father was off getting a 5 gal bucket of water from the community well on his motorbike. He also had to pray, so it was dark by the time I had my first “bucket bath”. Imagine bathing under the stars in Africa, it's tricky when you know what you are doing. In the PC demonstration, the bather had clear water the entire time, it may take me a year to achieve that. It did remind me of the volume of shower water I used at home.

After my bath, I was hungry, when they brought spaghetti to my room. I picked it up to join the family, and the older daughter put it back down. We repeated this maneuver again, and I realized that I was eating alone! Eventually Fatimata, 17, took me to each part of the family compound, introducing me to the people in each space. I passed out hard candy to the children and votive candles to the women. Since it was already dark out, I could not put names and faces together. They giggled at my attempt to say a few Moore' words. That encouraged me to practice them again, and more laughter. Later we all sat on my veranda and watched the millions of stars in the African sky.

My whole village “Sumyaga” is Moslem. This time of year is filled with fasting during the day and prayer 5 times a day. The upcoming weekend is the Ramadan.

10-12-07

We returned to village to our family after 2 days of training at ECLA. Ramadan occurs after the moon was seen in the sky the previous night, then the celebration begins. All the women cooked special foods, and the men gathered to pray in the village center. We walked to the gathering place and went into a compound to meet the village chief, who wants our pictures sent to his email. Chief Abadon speaks 5 languages. As we walked back home the two little ones, Awa and Aziz let me hold their hands along the way.

Saturday and Sunday are days off from our schooling, but we trainees did meet for a tour of each volunteer's home, after which we drew a map of our village to get more familiar with the key places and our location relative to the rest. The maternity and pharmacie buildings are in the center of the common area with the head nurse's home nearby. The assistant to the nurse also lives close. The chief's house has a temple next to him. Our village has four wells scattered about.

Again we (the kids and I) sat on my porch in the evenings and discovered songs in French and Moore'. I sang “Frere Jacque” to start the entertainment, and the kids continued on....the blend of voices was so beautiful.

Two more days

So I'm packing my house up with a lot of help, and will be on my way Monday morning to the Peace Corps. That is if I get my suitcases packed as well! More later. Mary Kay