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.