African Adventure 9

31-03-08 Week of Moore-IST

We are at Koudougou this week with the goal of learning more about Moore', Robert and I have JZ for our teacher at the Notre Dame Petite Seminaire. We are in one of the buildings up the hill which has 5-6 units. We began by exchanging some ideas on what to learn. We will start with some pronouns, greetings and numbers. We have both individual and group classes, plus personal study time. At my class today JZ and I practiced numbers and money. Then we talked about the special Mass his extended family had on Sunday and how there was a number of relatives at his mother's house now. So he was glad for the quiet of the seminaire.

In the morning I rode up to the main road and got an omelette sandwich. While I waited for it, a man played his guitar for me. He has a house full of instruments. For lunch Rob and I were in town near the poste, I showed him where the good pork place was and we got enough for sandwiches. Rob was having his “Jour de la Femme” material made into a shirt and pants near there. I was paying for a necklace the shopkeepers let me take earlier this month on credit. Three guys in that boutique were playing the drums, quite beautifully. My friend Achille came to visit me in the evening. We talked and looked at my recent pictures. It was a good visit.

01-04-08 April Fool's Day

This day was much the same classwise. I did tenses of Moore' verbs, which is pretty straight forward, not conjugated like French. At noon I went to the internet to respond to the new PC director of BF with an email regarding senior volunteers. I sent him some attachments, as I had already addressed some issues for seniors in my appeal process before coming to the PC.

Becky texted me an April Fool's msg saying she was leaving PC, which I showed to Rob, who then did the same thing to lots of volunteers and the new director. Dr. Claude called our teacher to see if Rob was OK. Manish checked in with Rob from the airport in Ouaga on his way to China. The CD told Rob that he had him going too. Some of the female volunteers didn't put it that kindly.

After our formal class, Rob and I discussed having dinner at the Conference Center. I invited Achille who met us there. We ordered their delicious salads and shared a riz gras with arachide sauce. After a relaxing meal we went to the internet before going back to the seminaire.

The next morning JZ taught Rob and I the six parts to accomplein and inaccomplein verb tenses. It was a long lesson. JZ had us write out exercises practicing with each example he gave.

When break came and the day was already hot (this is April after all) we decided to grab a sandwich and head for the outdoor pool at the Palmquiste. We read, ate and swam for several hours relaxing in this pleasant environment. (See pictures.) Then some inspectors came to check the pool, and questioned me about my tank top and shorts. They said this would be an exception, bear in mind we were the only guests there. At 2pm they closed the pool because the University had it reserved for a class.

JZ taught me numbers 50,000 francs and above. We went over everyday language and I practiced making up sentences. He said our medical terms we want to learn will happen on Friday as he has an appointment Thursday. He wants my French/Moore teacher to text him for a meeting time to discuss my learning style, etc. I had told him that Georges was coming to KDG for business.

The younger volunteers were going to dinner, but I passed on that as I had already spent one mille going swimming and Achille was coming over to look at my blog #7 so we were having another avocado sandwich together. He said that was his only meal that day, so I was glad to provide that. We went to the internet to upload pictures for Costco to print for me.

On Thursday morning I took my laundry up behind the seminaire office to have it done. After breakfast and studying, I found Melissa's place and left a note on the door. The younger volunteers were in town at the other pool (another hot day in BF). I rode by the FasoTex Industry on my way home. It is a gigantic cotton textile mill in KDG.

When I returned to the office of the seminaire, I found some cards to buy and left there for my room, when Georges arrived from Thyou pedaling to KDG in 3 hrs time. We went back to where JZ was teaching us, and he and Georges met about my language learning. I suddenly had an urge to go for water. I lingered a while.

When I came back, we texted Achille and said we were coming to his work. We had planned to go visit the Municipal grave site of Georges' baby son. First we went by Laurentine's mother's place to meet up with her brother named Georges also, as he would accompany us there. We all four rode our bikes to the Municipal Cemetery and there on the corner of the lot was a tiny mound of dirt where the grave site of Kiemtore' Jean Marc was marked by a beautiful sign my friend Achille had inscribed for them. I cried when I saw it, and couldn't keep it inside any longer. It was so difficult to see that. But as the two guys hugged and hushed me, Georges said “God gives and He takes and Jean Marc is with God.” (See pictures.)

When we returned to the relatives home, Laurentine's mother was stripping the aubergine plant stems. Georges and Achille peeled one and we all took turns eating it. It did taste good. The family served us to' (main grain in diet) and sauce. Soon we headed back to the seminaire to my next Moore' lesson. After it was over we three hung out for a while, trying out my laptop and my MP3 player. Before they left, as my fatigue was starting to show, Georges talked again about his baby's death and he indicated that Jean Mark had a blood transfusion hours before he died. They talked to the head of the unit about that. It is an unanswered question it seems.

04-04-08

One class this Friday morning on Moore' medical terms! JZ showed us how to phrase a community introduction in Moore', explaining our role, etc. Rob and I both think we will use that. As we ended our time together JZ said “You have my number, please call with questions.”

In the next hour I went up the hill for omelette sandwiches for Rob, Georges and I. We discussed the Close Of Service party in Ouaga that Rob was going to leave at noon for. He modeled his clothes the tailor in KDG made for him out of the Jour de Femme material he and I bought in Ouaga last time. They were handsome outfits. (See photos.) JZ came over to say goodbye.

I made a trip to the internet chafe, and my friend, Allasane watched me do computer work for a while. That afternoon I walked around the wonderful marche' in the center of Koudougou. At the end of his workday, I met Achille for a coke and we both waited near his work at the Gare(bus station) for Becky to arrive on the bus from Ouaga for a weekend visit. Achille and two buddies from his work helped when she arrived at 6:45pm dusk to get us all through town and down the hill to the seminaire where Becky got settled in a room. Achille and I went up to town to get some dinner and go to the internet.

On Saturday morning Becky and I ate in the relaxing mission dining room. We caught up on life in our respective villages. We pedaled to the post office to get money and used the internet there. After a couple hours of that I showed Becky around the big marche' at KDG, which she loved. We had fun bartering for fabric at one boutique. We both had the tailor hem a headscarf for us and I found christian fabric for Sally there and Becky got a shirt. We were both happy. We found the arachide woman and the artisan display where we got peanut butter and a leather jewelry case. In our browsing we happened upon the cutest little boy who was drinking water from a clear sachet and it was squirting all over his face. I took a picture of Aziz doing this.

We spent more time at the internet cafe, before going to the Conference Center for dinner and happy hour. We each got a salad and shared a riz gras. When Achille finished work he joined us and we talked about my departing for village in the morning. He will come on his brother's moto to help us because of all those boxes I have to take.

Sunday morning the boys were back at the petite seminaire after a break and were singing in church. Their voices are something to behold. Achille and I went to Mass, and Becky waited for us on her porch all the while listening to the heavenly chanting. Because the mass went long, we had to scurry to the transport station. Achille motoed ahead and Becky (25 yrs my junior) and I pedaled fast, which I later paid for with a pulled muscle above my left knee. Becky dashed over to buy us all an omelette sandwich as Achille was loading my stuff on the taxi brousse. I got aboard too. Becky handed me a sandwich through the window nearly as we pulled away. I waved goodbye to my two friends. (See photo.)

By the time we got to Sabou, I knew my leg was hurting a lot. I sat in the front of the next taxi brousse for the 15 K to Sala. Somehow they knew I would be coming, because the bigger kids were there to meet me and carried all my boxes, luggage, and walked my bike up the hill to my home. The advise of the PCMO was to wrap my leg in ace bandage, take extra Ibuprofen, and no biking for a week. That worked well.

I talked to Chris on the phone that evening to thank him for the fans he sent in time for the April heat. We also talked about the Trader Joe's foil dinner pkgs, which are perfect over rice, pasta, etc. for one person. He sent tons of batteries to run the fans and other things. I shouldn't run out for a long time. After being gone three weeks, my house was covered in a film of red dust from the winds.

07-04-08 Monday-(Tene)

Elevating my leg overnight made it possible for me to walk without pain. I went outside to greet everyone. Issaka introduced me to his brother (husband to Minata and father of her children) Ousmane who had come from Cote d' Ivoire while I was gone. Ousmane speaks a tribal language from there and Moore', but no French. It was comforting to be home and see all my neighbors again. I would have to rest a lot this week, so my pulled muscle will heal properly.

Lorraine called to tell me about their cruise around Mexico, Panama and Columbia ending in Miami. They had a great time. Every time I really need to talk to her, she calls. We talked a long time.

When my teacher came for my lesson, he brought me 4 canaries (vases) from Kokologo where his family function was last weekend. He heard me talk about wanting some to grow flowers in on my veranda. After studying awhile, we talked about scheduling some presentations at Salo, Dana and the COGES meeting. Minata brought over benga and millet for us to eat before Georges left for home. The neighbor kids sat on my porch with me and they told me Moore' words for the animals we all know.

Tuesday- (Talaato)

There were a lot of people outside today and workers came to resurface the outside of our house. It was an interesting process. Fine red sand was put through a screen, then mustard colored powder was mixed with that and finally a white cement powder was added and mixed together carefully with water. The workers used a hand-held sprayer that spun the mixture out when one turned the handle. I noticed someone had nailed together a new ladder for this work. All day the workers labored, completing three sides of the house.

My friend Awa from Villa came by for a visit. We practiced my Moore' expressions. I made us pork sandwiches, but she did not eat the pork (she is probably Muslim). She likes to look at my family pictures and I had some new ones of Tabor and his mother and father. She wanted Chris' phone number for an American contact, but I told her I would have to get his permission.

Georges and his brother came on Maxime's moto with things from the marche' that I needed. We had a lesson (numbers, greetings, conjugations and reading) outside today as the workers were busy on the house. When Maxime returned to pick up Georges I asked him about the sermon he was working on last time I talked with him, and he said it went well. He is on a short break from seminary after all the work of Easter. He is returning now to Fara, where he lives and studies.

Wednesday-(Arba)

By 8am the workers were painting the fourth exterior wall in the back of our house, then they snapped a line to put a 1' border of black paint on the bottom and top. Next Issaka made plywood symbols used as stencils to adorn the top of the walls with a moon, stars, and an airplane. He said it was the plane that brought me here from America. The main painter, Issa was awesome and agile. (See photos.) Minata made the workers Riz Gras for lunch. I gave everyone a power bar.

When Garrett stopped by for a visit we watched a whirlwind go by the house. Scarey! I had my language class outside again because of the painting project. Minata brought over to' and sauce for us, and we played cards with Abdulaye until dark. We love playing Uno together.

Thursday-Lamusa

I decided my pulled muscle was enough better that I could walk to CSPS today and resume some activities. When I got to the accoucheuse's house, Pierette was sitting on the porch with two teachers from Sala Elementary bidding her goodbye, because she had taken a new job as midwife at the CSPS in Koudougou. There is a new accoucheuse coming to Sala soon. I asked her about my teaching the new mothers and she said Monday and Thursday are when it can happen every week.

After greeting the pharmacist Adama, I found Gansonre and Gilbert, both seemed very happy to see me. They each were working with a infirmier stagierre (nurse in training). There were 5 women there with babies to weigh today. I got to do one for Gilbert.

I walked down by the road to the restaurant, where Ramata gave me an igname (potato) to eat. I took pictures of Ramata and her six kids. Everyone works in the family business. (See photo.)

The temp is 105 degrees today, so an afternoon repose was welcome. So were several bucket rinses. I had my regular language class with dialogue, greetings, vocabulary and translation of Moore' into French. I read from the two Moore' readers too. I asked Georges if we could have my lesson tomorrow under a tree at the market as I would be walking there. We decided the interruptions would be difficult there, so we compromised on a tree at the barrage instead. That night I read about the Boston Strangler in a novel called “A Death on Belmont”. Interesting!

Friday- Arziima

On this day I wanted to visit the headmaster at Sala Elementary, so I got together some of the school supplies my American friends have been sending and walked to the school. I also took the email from Lindsay's teacher inviting correspondence between the two groups of students, American and African. Edward was in his classroom with another teacher and we spent some time talking about this request. I told him I would send the letters to America and that I was going to Ouaga the end of April, when I could mail them. Everyone seems excited about the idea.

On my way home I stopped in a quartier across from the school, Ouedraogo Gamsin. His younger brother is the gentleman who talked with me in Moore' last week at the boutique. Two young men who spoke both French and English also spoke with me. Issaka asked for a soccer ball, which I will get in Ouaga when I go. Soccer (football) is the main sport in Africa.

As I passed by the CSPS the major was walking to his car and greeted me warmly and we talked about my three weeks of training. Then he introduced me to the new stagierres, Madeleine and Celine. I observed a couple patients being treated for Palu before going home to rest. The major offered me a ride as far as the mosque on my way to marche' at noon.

I was happy to be back at the marche' because it is central to life in Burkina and to me now. I visited with the boutiquierre, Adama for awhile before going behind his block to the marche'. Next I found Jean Baptiste, who made me a small sachet of pork with pima. I bought bread. I hung out with Marie at the church's hangar for some time. Presently Georges and Laurentine showed up and she and I went to get her shoes repaired. When we came back Georges was surrounded by friends. We sat and visited over dolo.

When it was lesson time, George rode me behind on his bike a short ways. We found a big old tree to sit under. School children enroute home stood and watched our lesson. Pretty soon it was getting dark and Georges insisted on walking me home. Minata came over to visit. I told Georges I would see him at Sunday Mass.

Saturday-Siibri

Today the weather feels heavy, a little wind that blows hot. The morning temp is 90. By evening that would increase to 108! hottest day yet. A man hired to paint the trim on all the metal leuvres was outside working and the fumes made it intolerable inside. So I sat outside a fair amount, visiting with Abdulaye's father, Ousmane. During the afternoon Gerard (Minata's brother and my carpenter) came by with my padded footstool and also to hang some things for me. He put a clothesline up in my bedroom. That night I pulled out my tent for the first time since Fall.

Sunday-Hato

This would be the first time on my bike, so when Zanabou and I rode to church we went early and slow. Jean Baptiste led the services and a girl led the choir. I later learned that Georges had laryngitis and couldn't. The service was long, and several gentlemen got up to speak about fund drive for a new building at the conclusion. Claude found me and took me to his mother, who was serving dolo near the church office under a hangar. Zanabou seems to like the church services. On the way home we went to the boutique in Thyou and got biscuits and a bigger mat for sleeping on the porch. It is still very hot, morning temp 90 and by afternoon 109. I walked over to the chef's quartier and gave him tea from Portland and Vitamin C drink packets. He in turn gave me pintard eggs! He is very pleasant.

After repose I decided to find COGES people who live past the school. I asked at the pump by the school, and a woman pointed East. Later on that path I asked a woman on a cart and she said “keep going”. I came to a quartier and a woman told me Mocktar lives there alright, but he went to Thyou today. A man I have seen often in and around Sala took me to the next compound where Saidou the COGES president lives. Saidou was there and sitting outside. Luckily two young men were also present who spoke French and some English. They helped me tell Saidou about my planned presentations in Salo and Dana. I invited a COGES member to come along. It proved a successful venture. When I go ahead and try something I'm a little anxious about, it often turns out this way.

That night my neighbor girls slept on my porch on the new mat, while I slept in my tent. Fun!

Continued...
14-04-08

Stephanie S. arrived on transport from Gao (30K away) before 8am to visit for a day. When I got ready we went to CSPS to greet the staff. Gansonre invited us to observe a spinal tap procedure. I held the baby's head while Gilbert held her limbs. The fluid came out clear so no meningitis. They ruled that out before treating her for malaria. Before we left the room though, the nurse said that a baby just died in the main room where all the beds are. We saw the baby on the bed with the mother as Gansonre checked for vital signs. Then he covered her head with the pagne she was wrapped in. For me it was surreal as no one was crying. Gansonre was out of the room a few minutes, came back, wrapped the baby and carried it to a back room with the parents behind him. A short time passed and they returned to the main room. I touched the mother on her shoulder as I left CSPS. I can't imagine the loss!

Stephanie and I readied for a trip to the Thyou marche'. We left our bikes out in front of the boutique in Thyou where I always leave mine, and Augustine watches it for me. We went to the produce section and bought local bread, lettuce and mangoes, then found the lady that makes a fresh salad for your lunch. We enjoyed it under an awning nearby to sit in some shade while we ate. Next we found a merchant who sells pagnes so Stephanie could buy a couple, and I found a flowing curtain for my douche entrance. Marie was our guide, who also took us back to the church hangar for dolo before we biked back home. We took my new mat out under a grove of trees and rested and talked. It was too hot in my house.

At lesson time, Georges and I sat behind my house in the shade and practiced Moore', then my next presentation. We fixed the flip charts too. At dinner time Stephanie made Sangria with fresh fruit and I made a tuna salad. We sat on the porch to eat, and Minata came over to visit Steph about how much she misses Julie, the past volunteer, who lived in this house. Then we fixed our beds for the night, both sleeping on the porch under the stars. This happened to be the night the video place was having a dance which lasted until 3 in the morning, and we fell asleep despite the loud music from there.

15-04-08

Stephanie wanted to be on the road early before the sun got up very high, before 6. I made her a sandwich to go, and Minata came over to say goodbye. I got my things together to leave at 7:30am for Salo when Georges came. As we headed up the path to Salo we were joined by a young COGES member Ouedraogo Karim, who speaks both French and Moore'. The 8K trip is 45 minutes top. When we arrived there we went directly to the school. All the classes were doing a gymnastics exam, and Daniel one of the teachers came over and asked if we could come back later to which we agreed. We cruised through the marche' and went onto the village chef's compound to let him know what our agenda was. Minata had sent a gift of lettuce for the chef's wife and we delivered that. This very friendly chef was teasing and asked to marry me. I said “Oh no, once was enough for me!” All the people watching laughed.

Back at the marche' we sat under a big tree while one man, the town crier, went off recruiting an audience for us. We took the interlude as an opportunity to return to the school to give the staff the school supplies and two contact names from Harmony Elementary at home. Within 20 minutes we returned to the big tree where enough people were present that we began our presentation to 35 women and about 15 men. Again I presented in French and Georges translated into Moore'. Karim took the men's group and Georges took the women's group as they decided their five top health issues. We sifted through those results to come up with the common ones. When we paired them against each other for the people to vote, the discussions became lively. It was clear that Palu (malaria)was going to be the principal maladie, but for a long time they debated tension vs meningitis, so we gave each a standing. One older woman was complaining about her legs, and I took her hand and invited her to join me as I finished asking the three questions and giving a conclusion That worked well as she still garnered some attention. Counting time for refreshments we finished in 1h 30m. They seemed genuinely appreciative. We wanted to eat but the food in the marche' was finished. We went home and hung out.

That evening as I sat on the front porch I saw fires in the distance, Abdoulaye told me that they were from the villagers harvesting sugar from trees by boring holes in the trunk. They were very high up in the tree to do this, as the sparks were falling to the ground 20-30 plus feet up. I would like to see how they get the sugar down from there. There are some cultural traditions that preclude my getting that close I gather.

The next day I took it easy between two days of biking to petite villages. Plus the weather was changing. When I went to Thyou to get local bread it probably rained ten drops on me. I spent time visiting my neighbors down by the road. I read in the afternoon. And by evening the clouds gathered in the sky.

17-04-08

After I was up a while Issaka brought over Harouna, a guy who plans to take pagnes and briefcases to America next year to merchandise at small shops there. We talked about that possibility.

On the way to Dana I passed our school at Sala where a lot of excitement was in the air. There was a game of soccer going on and everyone was into it. I soon learned in Dana 10K away that their school was the competition for the Sala students, so my visit to their school would have to wait.

I went to the marche' where the vaccinations were being given by Philippe and Madeline. They said Gansonre was in Dayolo. I also conversed with the two ASCs, Bitiou and Babou there. Soon the nurse packed up to go back to Sala, saying the vaccinations were done. No sooner had they left than more women came. About an hour went by when Gansonre stopped there on his return trip. He vaccinated a number of children.

I found pork sandwich at the marche' with pima, it was an excellent lunch. We talked about next Wednesday when I will return for presentation. The woman serving ignames at her hangar told me excitedly that she was at Salo last week when we presented there. Dr. Claude called and said she will come for site visit next Wed and watch the presentation. I was only a short distance down the road home when the major stopped and picked me up in his car. That is always a welcome treat. I told him we would come over tomorrow and share our experience from presenting in Salo.

18-04-08

I went to the clinic this morning and discovered they were doing vaccinations under the tree in front with both RNs, Gansonre and Philippe, also Madeline. There were 20 women at one point sitting on the logs with babies waiting their turn. (See photo.) Three of them were my neighbors in my courtyard. The major arrived at clinic and greeted everyone. I scheduled a time to talk about Salo with him.

I ate at the restaurant by the road, rice with tomato sauce. When I got home in the afternoon the morning temp which was 86 degrees was up to 108. The humidity was up too. I had a bucket bath and a nap in that order. When my language teacher came, we pedaled to the clinic to discuss our Salo presentation experience with the major. We shared the success of that petite village sensibilization and also discussed the one we will do next Wednesday at Dana when Dr. Claude comes for observation and site visit. He agreed to inform Karim and Gansonre about this. We came back home for my language lesson, which consisted of the dialog, now memorized in French and working on Moore'. I had work on “etre” (to be) and pronouns, a word list and then translating French into Moore'.

Sampoko brought us “Ne pas pret dolo” and Georges really laughed about my expression.

Sally called and we spoke for an hour about things already sent, and things to send, about the cost of mail, the fabric here, the religious devotion of Burkinabe' and of course the weather. She has been able to get into my blog and sometimes the pictures. In every box she sends a homemade baby quilt.

We sat on the porch and played Uno with Abdoulaye until 8:30pm. After that I set up my tent there. We watched the activity down by the road where the men were boring into a big old tree for sugar. We could see sparks flying toward the ground from 40-50 ft up the trunk. With my binoculars I could see the process a little better. About 10pm the winds started up, but even that did not deter the honey harvesters. By midnight the wind was at full gale and I took my tent inside.

The night was one of wind and dust blowing throughout. The temp the next morning was around 86 degrees. I got ready to go to Bolo 13 K in the bush with my neighbor boy as my guide. We stopped by the garden next to the barrage, but Minata had been there and was gone, so I will stop on the way back for lettuce. We biked to the school at Bolo first and passed a huge beautiful Baobob Tree right before the school. There were three classrooms in the school with three teachers each teaching two levels. One teacher requested French primers, when I asked what they need. They all were very pleased with the school supplies I brought them thanks to my support network back in America.

Abdoulaye and I went back to the marche' in Bolo and sat under a hangar, waiting for the major to arrive from a farther village, Bouyou. He came at 11am and so did the women and babies. The nurse Celine gave all the shots while the major wrote medical notes. One of the moms came with twins, but they ran out of the newborn shots, so she will have to return next month for them. The ASC Babou was there and agreed to help with my presentation next month at the first marche'. When vaccinations were done the major and nurse stagierre tried to leave for Sala but they had a flat tire on the moto.

Abdoulaye and I left for home. We got close to the garden and went there to get the lettuce. When we returned to the path, there sat the major and Celine with the same tire flat again (encore). He was carrying a big piler (grinder) on the back of his moto too. They had called Gansonre for help. We pedaled on home. When I rested a bit, I went out back where there was a game of football (soccer) going on. See photos.

20-04-08

This Sunday morning I got ready to go to church with my neighbor girl Zanabou. The service was long, the chant was excellent and led by Georges. The drummers were very good. We stopped for bread on the way to church and stopped at the marche' on the way back. By then we were visiting with Georges' family at the marche'. Zanabou and the girls went off to buy my tomatoes and onions, while we talked with others, Eduard, who sings at church, and Marie and Bazile and made a date for Uno and dinner on May 4. But today I was having Georges, Laurentine, and the girls, Carmel and Reine, over to dinner.

Georges gave his family his bike to use and we set out for home on the bikes. We settled in for the afternoon, as we looked through some pictures. Then I gave the girls some things to play with. Laurentine and I prepared the lettuce for a big salad, and the French bread to fry with garlic. We fried one pan when I ran out of propane gas. I contacted the major, who sent his son to Sabou, but when Abdoulaye arrived there, they were out too. So we would have to go to Plan B, which was make a meal out of the salad and garlic bread. We prepared the bisap (fruit drink) too. I took the rest of the bread over for Zanabou to prepare over the open fire.

We started a game of Uno with Garrett, Abdoulaye, my neighbor boy, Laurentine and myself. Pretty soon Georges arrived and took over someone's hand. We all had fun teasing Georges.

We had dinner around 6pm and played games until after dark. A good time was had by all. The day started at 90 degrees and ended at 106. I slept on the porch again.

21-04-08 Monday

I needed cell tell units to make phone calls and they were out in Sala so I rode towards Thyou to buy some. I rode back around the barrage at Thyou, took a different path and in 15 minutes was on a route to Salo. I started asking people and discovered my mistake. The path branches off and leads back to the CSPS in Sala so I stopped there. Already all five of the beds were filled with patients with malaria, except one child was on a clear drip, which is not for that. I went to the maternite' and met a mother with her new baby and both grandmothers were there. They wanted to talk to me.

At noon I walked over to the restaurant where Karim had benga (beans) the other day and ordered some. The woman proprietor asked if I knew her. She is Gansonre's wife, Mimouna. Out of her environment and home, I didn't recognize who this jovial woman was. By the time I got home after lunch it was already hot. I noticed I was getting a heat rash on my mid drift. That called for another bucket bath to cool down. Today started out at 90 and by afternoon reached 110 degrees.

We had my lesson under the trees in a little grove a few hundred yards from my house. I set up my tent early with Abdoulaye's help. His mom returned from her visit to Bouyou, where she chanted for a funeral. She had no voice left now.

22-04-08 Tues

I went to the cafe' stand next to the boutique in Sala for my morning coffee. When I got to the clinic, Gansonre said no one got any sleep last night because 3 babies were born. This morning he was seeing patients at the clinic with Madeline. There were 4-5 people on IV drips. I requested Gansonre to get word to Karim about the presentation at Dana on Wednesday.

At the maternite' I met the three babies and their mothers. (See photos). Three grandmothers were there too, so I took their picture. I told them I was a grandma too. When I later returned there to get the names of everyone, the fathers were there then, so I took more pictures. The babies have no names yet. That comes with baptism as I understand it.

When we had my lesson in the afternoon, Georges had prepared a new dialog about cultivating. We practiced it and my presentation for tomorrow. We went inside to make our flip charts for tomorrow. Now we were ready to leave early in the morning. I fell asleep listening to Willie Nelson on my MP3 player.


23-04-08 Wednesday

I prepared early today for both the Dana presentation and Dr. Claude's home site visit. I had quite a few things to pack, considering I would go to the school first to introduce myself and donate some supplies for the students. We three, Karim,COGES board member, Georges, my language teacher, and I joined together at the health clinic. We biked to Dana which took an hour, 10K straight south from Sala. We went to the Dana school first and met the headmaster and two teachers. We chatted a bit and then toured the classrooms, each holding two levels of students. Dr. Claude found us there and joined in greeting the students.

We next went to the marche' area where Bitiou and Babou, ASCs were waiting to help us put on the presentation. We looked for a place that would serve our needs and people could gather. We chose the backside of the marche'. We asked the ASCs for table and benches. When they came and the wind was bad, the people solved that problem by tying the table in the tree on its' end to display our flip charts. Then we waited a long time for people to arrive. The conseiller for Dana, Nebie Zila came about this time and translated into Gourounsi for the people, after Georges translated my French into Moore. (See photos.)

We began our presentation at 11:20am. During my introductions I recognized Dr. Claude Millogo from Ouaga, and the people clapped to have such an important person at their village. I acknowledged my helpers too. Then invited the villagers of Dana to help identify their main health issue, so we could together learn more about it and how to respond to it. In order to do this exercise the crowd broke out into two groups, and each one produced a list of the main health issues. We meshed the two lists and had 5 issues to work with. Using the matrix system we had them compare every two maladies and decide the more important one. When the process was completed it showed that “Maladie de L'eau” was the main issue for Dana. We counted over 60 people present for the event. (See photos.) It lasted over an hour and I gave a conclusion statement ending with “Nn Le Le Le”, and Barka Barka, thank you in Gourounsi and Moore'. The people loved that!

We all returned to Sala to meet informally with Major El Hadj. The medical staff were sitting outside. Dr. Claude told me later the major said they were lucky to have me and I have established a presence in this health district. After that Michelle the driver brought us to my house where Dr. Claude and I talked about my role here in village doing sensibilizations. She commented that the people who help me can tell the villagers reaction to what is presented and in turn the helpers are learning health from me. So that it is mutually beneficial. She agreed with my use of the ASCs and Conseillers in satellite villages and also keeping the COGES (health board) informed of all my activities. I appreciated her suggestion to use the “La Sante' Avant Tout” (health for all) book to train the school children, as they seem very open to this. She also thought regular scheduled meetings with the major would help me. It was a good site visit.

Soon there was a huge dust storm so I quickly closed the door and all the windows. For an hour or more the rain fell heavy and fast. I could hear the children outside playing in the rain and laughing as they ran around. I thought when it cleared that it was safe to sleep outside but at 3am another storm came and I went inside for cover.

24-04-08

Around 10 I went to maternite' where they were weighing babies, and I got to do two of them. My language teacher found me there as we had planned a morning lesson. About the time we started studying Zanabou came home from the pump, saying that she had been sent home by the new nurse because he didn't recognize her as being from this village. We decided to bike over to the well by the CSPS to talk with the nurse and clear up any misunderstanding. We did talk with the two student nurses and then the nurse came there and said, no problem! After that Zanabou returned there with an adult, Aminata and had no trouble getting me water.

I asked Georges to write some notes about our presentation at Dana yesterday, which he did. We finished my lesson of dialog and some translating exercises before Georges had to leave for a meeting with his choral group, who were recognizing his birthday yesterday.

On Friday I had arranged to go to Thyou to observe Garrett teaching his classes, Mathematics and English. Each class had 70-80 teenage students in them. He introduced me to his students and asked them if any of them had seen me around Sala, and several raised their hands. He was doing variables with his math students and for some problems he demonstrated by running, speeding up and slowing down. He asked them “Is this consistent?” And they laughed. (See photos.) He uses humor well.

After that class we walked across the playground to the other building and the English class, where 75 students were waiting. Again he introduced me and one young man asked him if I was his wife. He said, “No, she is not my wife!” to which everyone laughed wildly, given the obvious age difference. When he wrote the vocabulary on the board and asked them to translate the words, often he demonstrated it, i.e. boxing, hiding, etc. (See photos.) It was so fun to watch him teach, and I always hear in the community what a good teacher Mr. Emsley is. They are lucky to have a teacher who mixes things up for them. He moves right along and one can tell he has prepared for his classes.

I searched for and found Madame Kiemte's house in Thyou before I left there that morning. I wanted to pay a visit to my friend, whom I had met on the taxi brousse on my last ride up to Ouaga. Alas she was not home. I stopped by the clinic, which was not busy. I offered Gansonre my MP3 player while I am gone to Ouaga this weekend and he was happy about hearing my music. I went home to get it and some school supplies to drop off at Sala Elementary. The headmaster had written the American teacher Ms. Stolberg a letter in French, so I will have my teacher help me translate it into English so I can mail it this weekend. We had my last lesson that afternoon and I paid my tutor 30 mille for April. He offered to bring a rubber strap to tie my luggage on my bike so I can get to the Shell station in the morning to catch the taxi brousse to Ouaga.

26-04-08 A day I won't forget!

While we waited for the taxi brousse to arrive, a man was there selling herbs for ailments. Georges bought remedies for headaches, teeth problems for his father, and stomach problems for his mother. The other unusual thing was that a log had fallen off a camion as it passed us on the way to the station. Georges took it home on his bike that morning as we left for Ouaga. Two hours later I was in Ouaga, getting a taxi to the transit house, dropped off my stuff and headed to the PC bureau. I wanted to stop by the post office/bank to get money, so I turned right on the main road and then left into the poste. I had looked over my left shoulder and not seeing anyone close I turned, but SMACK! I got hit from behind by a kid on a moto. I promptly landed on my backside on the street. My helmet saved me from a skull fracture I'm sure. But my derrière, OUCH! I spent the next week in the medical unit at the PC bureau, and was sent to radiology for x rays, which showed no fractures in my spine. So I was lucky in that way. Cold packs and pain medication for a week, then back to village and more rest for another two weeks. Linda was in the med unit this week too and together we had lots of company: Rob, Laurie, Lindsey, Nakeisha, Becky, Garrett, Audrey, Stephanie, and Aicha, Amade's niece, who teaches language in Ouaga at a Lycee. Before I left for home on May 5, I got a new bike helmet from the bureau staff. Unfortunately I broke a tooth that day before leaving Ouaga and had an emergency dental appt. So I will be back in two weeks for a new crown.