Amazing Times with Anna

I have had an exciting, whirlwind month. I can't believe how fast it has blown by but I have had so much fun traveling and catching up with Anna. I have been here a year but haven't done any traveling except for the few places I had to go for Peace Corps so was glad to see more of this country.

We started out the month with a trip to the southwest, probably the most touristic part of the country. We spent a night in my friend Amanda's village just outside Banfora and then went into the city for a few days. Banfora is a very relaxing, friendly place with lots of good food and after hearing so much about it, I was glad to check it out. One day we rented bikes and rode out to a nearby village where there is a beautiful waterfall. Its not huge by American standards but fun to see in a dry desert country where we don't have much water or green anything. Next stop was a little farther north to Bobo-Dioulasso, the second largest city in Burkina Faso. We checked out the Peace Corps office there, hung out with a few volunteers, ate some more good food, and enjoyed the market.

After a week of traveling, we headed back to my village to experience the real Burkina. I had told everybody she was coming and they were so excited to meet some that came all the way from the United States just to visit me and their village. It felt like there was a lot going on or at least many things to show Anna during our week there so it flew by. I helped lead an HIV/AIDS sensibilization at the local high school so we got to hang out with quite a few students and she saw the school. We also did an enriched porridge demonstration and weighed babies to combat malnutrition, one of my normal weekly activities. Then there were other random daily activities in village including drinking dolo, doing the market, and hanging out with friends and family.

I originally didn't want to celebrate my birthday in village but ended up having one of the best celebrations ever. Anna brought me confetti cake mix and frosting so I even got a real American birthday cake complete with a match stuck in to blow out and a make a wish. My new PC neighbor Krystle biked out to visit for a few hours then later in the afternoon my friend Yoshi, a Japanese volunteer came out to spend the evening. I don't drink much besides dolo in village because beer seems expensive, I don't want to hang out at the one shack that sells beer, and my family doesn't drink alcohol so I try to be discreet about any drinking I do in village. Since it was my birthday though I had a friend bring us a few over. Another friend then showed up with dolo to enjoy at my house. Later in the evening, we threw a dance party with my family in my courtyard. I've done this a few times but this was definitely the biggest. We cranked my iPod mini speakers and set up three headlamps on flashing around my courtyard to act as strobe lights. All the kids from 2 to 20 years old came as well as the moms and even grandma stopped by. They loved all of our crazy American dancing and the little ones copied anything we did. Their favorite thing was when we shouted "Put Your Hands Up" and everyone jumped around. Even grandma raised her arms and participated. After a while dancing to my music, everyone spontaneously started singing, drumming, and shaking their booties to traditional Bissa songs. It was a great mix of these two cultures!

After a week in village we headed north into the Sahel and the real desert. We spent a night with a volunteer in Dori and then continued on to Gorom Gorom, the farthest north city in Burkina. The transport from Dori is notoriously bad. We were in the back of pickup truck sitting on top of huge sacks of potatoes. I think there were about 10 people sitting in the bed and there were bars above the bed with at least that many people balancing precariously over our heads. Plus the road is pretty rough and dusty. We arrived in Gorom Gorom and were amazed to find that even the roads were covered in sand. The Thursday market here is famous. It isn't that much different than other markets in Burkina but I did enjoy seeing the many people that came into town. There are several different ethnic groups in this area including many Peulhs like in my village and Tuaregs, a nomadic tribe that raises camels and travels throughout the Sahel and Sahara. The next day we went out into the desert riding camels for about two hours. We arrived in the dunes and spent the evening there with our guides. It was beautiful and such a change from the south of Burkina and even what it looks like in my village. I've always heard that the desert gets cold at night but was shocked just how chilly it really was! We left early the next morning and watched the sunrise over the sands on camelback. After Gorom we met up with my friend Rob in Kaya and then spent the evening in his village nearby.

Next stop was Ouaga for a few days and my mid-service conference. We did some souvenir shopping and hung out in the big city. On Thanksgiving morning one of our staff members had volunteers over for brunch and game time. It was so fun to hang out, eat yummy food, drink coffee, and play games with friends. We then caught a bush taxi back to village and our own version of Thanksgiving dinner including instant mashed potatoes, boxed stuffing and canned green beans! That evening the girls in my family hennaed our feet and hands for the next day's festivities. We had to leave on Thanksgiving in order to celebrate Tabaski in village. We enjoyed hanging out with friends and family, wishing everyone health and many babies in the next year, and eating sheep and goat (or at least pretending to eat it and then giving it to a friend).

Thanks so much to Anna for traveling all the way to Burkina Faso and spending a month with me. It is so great to have someone from home see what my new home and life in Burkina is really like. After more than a year apart we had so much to catch up on and enjoyed comparing our Peace Corps experiences. She also really spoiled me by bringing a whole suitcase of American goodies. I am definitely not feeling deprived anymore!

I have posted lots of pictures of Anna's visit so take a look. Also a few updates. Unfortunately, Karla, my closest PC neighbor and friend in Burkina has been sick for a long time and was sent back to Washington in October to get medical help. She ended up being medically separated from Peace Corps so won't be returning to Burkina. I am very sad that she is no longer here but know it is important for her to get better. On happier news, I have a new neighbor in Tenkodogo. PC Guinea was shut down and 5 of those volunteers came to Burkina including one who will be by me.

One Year in Burkina

A few weeks ago we celebrate one year in Burkina. I meant to write then since I was in town but after writing several other blogs forgot to mention the whole reason I was in Ouaga. Its crazy to think that I have been out of the United States for over a year now. The time has really flown by. It seems like May was a few weeks ago, not 6 months ago. I guess that must mean I am well settled into my life here and I have to say it actually feels like home.

There are still little (well, sometimes big) cultural differences that get to me but overall I feel pretty integrated into my community and content with life in general. I have started feeling very busy. I know this is a good thing but have to admit I am kinda missing all the reading time I used to have! I'm working on several different projects and seem to find more and more activities and things to do in village. Plus I have lots of teens that like to come over and do their homework or just hang out at my house. All in all, it means a lot less alone time which didn't bother me before but am enjoying these changes in my routine.

I am excited to be back in Ouaga today because I have a good friend arriving tonight. Anna was my RA my freshmen year at Madison and we lived across the hall. I dragged her to a Peace Corps info session about a month after school started and she ended up joining before me and serving in Cape Verde. I visited her there and we celebrated her 25th birthday. She nows works at the Peace Corps office in D.C. and has come to spend a month with me and celebrate my 25th birthday in Burkina. We are going to be doing some traveling around Burkina which I really haven't done yet and also spend several weeks in village. I am so excited to show her my friends, family, home, and work!

Ouaga Hip Hop Battle

This week is the International Festival of Urban Cultures: Ouaga Hip Hop. I had a great time at the hip hop battle. Take a look!

Wedding Drums

I finally was able to attend a wedding here in Burkina Faso and loved the experience. The bride was a teen girl from my family so as a member of the "bridal party" we had a processional from our house in the 'burbs to the groom's house in downtown village. There were about 20 teen girls and women that went and we carried the family's gifts to the bride which included everything she needs for her new kitchen such as pots, pans, plates, utensils, etc. See photo of one of my tiny sisters carrying it all on her head. Other gifts included fabric and clothes. Once outside the groom's family's house, we started singing requesting entrance. I couldn't understand most of the words but it was something to do with peace and welcoming us into the home. The family then responded and we all went in. In the first courtyard were lots of men and boys. We then continued into a second courtyard divided by a 4 foot high wall. This is where all the females were. There were already many people there, probably several hundred.

They started dancing and singing in the traditional Bissa style which includes a lot of booty shaking! Music was provided by dumming done on a big metal basin and a plastic water jug. The dancing and music was very fluid and changing constantly. There was no set pattern but everyone seemed to know what to do. Most of the dancers were in a large circle that rotated with drummers inside the circle providing the beat.

In the outer courtyard there was a dj playing modern African music that often overpowered the traditional singing and drumming but this just encouraged women to sing louder. Later in the evening some women moved over to the "men's" courtyard and danced to the modern music too. It seemed like this was not approved of by many though since at least in village teen boys and girls aren't supposed to hang out much.

At midnight the bride's family took her to the shower area to wash her and dress her in new clothes. This was followed by a processional across the courtyard to her new home.

Throughout the celebration there was lots of special food and drinks including rice, chicken, zoom koom (ginger juice), candy, and coffee early in the morning. I went home about 3:30 am because I had to be at work at 6 am but the party was still going strong. Two of the young women from my family just got home when I as leaving for work.

The next day I was paid 100 CFA (about 20 cents but about the cost of a meal in village) for dancing at the wedding. They said that all the women got paid for dancing at the wedding. Bit different than us giving gifts at American weddings!

I posted several pictures of the wedding. Unfortunately it was hard to get any goods ones since it was the middle of the night. I hear this is the beginning of wedding season here so hopefully I will have more opportunities for making a little money from midnight dancing!

Ramadan

Ramadan is the holy month in the Islam religion. During this time, Muslims are suppose to fast from food, drink, sex, and tobacco. During the daylight hours they cannot eat or drink so they break the fast each evening at sundown. In Burkina Faso, Muslims break the fast with Zoom Koom, a juice made from ginger and sugar. Because so much sugar is used during this month, this is a common gift for friends and family.

At the end of the month on the day after the new moon is seen, the fasting is over. Eid ul-Fitr is the celebration of the end of fasting. That morning there is a prayer service followed by large fete. I unfortunately missed the prayer in village this year since I was in Ouaga for a masquerade party celebrating the volunteers that are soon ending their two year Peace Corps service. Since the day is not set and all depends on if the moon is seen the night before, I was hoping to make it back the day before the fete but unfortunatley arrived in village the afternoon of the celebration. I quickly bathed and got dressed in my fancy comple. Everyone, especially the kids, get new clothes for the Ramadan fete and were excited to dress up for the occassion.

In the afternoon, children played together and went house to house eating rice and occassionally meat and candy. Adults also visited with family and friends. I celebrated at several different houses in my community including with the family I live with. Everyone was saying Happy Eid and wishing a happy and healthy year to come. Another common greeting is too wish young women many children in the next year. Everyone laughed when I thanked them for their wishes but said I didn't want any children right now! It is also fairly common to give gifts at this time and I had been collecting gifts to give each member of my family at least something. Up until now I have not wanted to give much since I hate always being asked for things and didn't want people to think I had a lot of money. It was very fun to share small toys with the kids and earrings with the women.

I also took pictures of many members of my family in their fancy clothes. I have posted these pictures along with many others that I have taken this month. Doesn't everyone look so nice? Their fancy clothes are then put away for about two months until Tabaski, the next big fete when people also get another set of new clothes or wear their Ramadan clothes if they can't afford another new outfit.

Life and Death

Since coming to Burkina, I have realized that death is a huge part of life here but haven't really been closely affected until a few weeks ago. Before this, I knew that the infant mortality rate is very high here (around 85 per 1000 live births) and have found that basically every women I meet has had at least one or more child that has died and/or has had a miscarriage. The birth rate is very high here as well and it is not uncommon for me to find women that come in for pre-natal consultations that report this being their 8th, 9th, or 10th pregnancy.

In my own family, there are eight mothers, several who are probably near the end of their reprodutive age. Since arriving in January, three babies have born. I love these children dearly but also see the difficulties on the mothers and their families from having so many kids. I enjoyed the Muslim baptisms and naming ceremonies for these children as I believe I have earlier described.

Recently, the wife of the pharmacist at my health center gave birth to her first child, a boy they named Rodrique. This is one of the few Christian families that I am close to in village so I attended the mass for his baptism. Although we have a Catholic church in town, there is no priest since he travels to several churches in the area and a catechist does mass on the days he can't attend. On the day the priest attended this month, there were three babies being baptised. It was very similiar to a service in the US.

On the other side of the spectrum of life, about a month ago the patriarch of my family passed away. He was blind and very frail when I arrived last December and has been sick for months so it has come as no surprise. I have enjoyed learning about cultural traditions regarding death in my community. Baba (or Grandpa) passed away very early in the morning and when I got up a 6 am there were already mourners coming to the house to pay their respects. I was amazed how quickly the word spread throughout the community. I greeted the family and then went into work that day since I had a big project planned. I was quickly informed that I needed to be at home and would be in mourning with my family for three days as is customary. This meant that I had to sit with the women until the body was taken from the house for burial, wasn't suppose to leave our home courtyard, and ate dinner with my family the first evening. Over the three day period probably a thousand people from our small village and surrounding areas came to the house to pay their respects to his widow, our Yaaba (Grandma).

According to Bissa tradition, the family gathers again on the 5th day for a dinner of rice--a meal reserved for special occasions which I partook in. I've been told there also are celebrations on the 40th day and 100th day. During this time Yaaba is in mourning and is not supposed to leave the house or courtyard. Instead of wearing black which is common in the United States, here she has a gown made of navy blue that she wears every day.

A few weeks after this when I was out of town, the first wife of the president of my community health board (he has three) became sick and came to the health center. She died the next day and nobody really knows why. She leaves behind six or seven kids with the youngest being only about six years old. This seems so shocking to me that she could pass away so quickly with no understanding why but again this is not all that uncommon here.

My most recent encounter with death was a few days ago when I went with our chauffeur on an evacuation for the health center a few towns over to the hospital about 45 km away. We are the only health center with an ambulance in the area so our chauffeur takes patients for three other health centers. On this day, he asked me to go along to keep him company since I didn't have any work. We drove on an awful, rutted path to reach the health center and picked up a ten year old girl with severe malaria and anemia. She was non-responsive and was carried limp into the ambulance. Several members of her family came with us and we returned on the rutted path out to the main road. I was in the front seat and was torn apart listening to her moan over every bump we went. A little ways after making it to the main road, we stopped and I turned around to see. The girl passed away a few moments later while her grandpa was holding her. They listened for a heartbeat and then we turned the ambulance around to take her back home. I was shocked that no one seemed very upset and just accepted that this is a part of life. Back at the health center, the staff was trying to comfort me and tell me not to be discouraged though I was trying to stay in the background and out of the way. I was saddened that they seemed more concerned about me being able to handle this even than the actual death of a young child. One of the nurses made a comment that it was the parents' fault for waiting too long to bring her in. I feel that this is only part of the issue though. There are so many factors at play including the poverty, high rates of malaria, inaccessibility to adequate health services, and ignorance about the importance of early health care. It seems like such a senseless death to me and yet I know it is a common occurence in my village and those throughout Africa.

Here where it is accepted that women will have many children, several of whom probably won't make it to adulthood, it seems that little mourning is done for these youth. In the same culture, the death of an elder is shown a great deal of respect and celebrations continue for a long time after the person has passed away. Such a contrast to our lives and deaths in the United States.

Cultivating

We are in the midst of rainy season in Burkina which means cultivating time. From June or July when seeds are planted until harvest in October, everyone is very busy growing the food that their families will eat for the next year. I grew up in rural Wisconsin and feel I have spent quite a bit of time on a variety of farms. I will admit I’ve never done a lot of actual farming myself but I feel I have a sense of what the work involves in the United States. We always talk about how farmers work and I will agree that but it is nothing compared to farming in Burkina. There are no plows, tractors, or other machinery to help. Everything is done by hand except for the occasional cattle-led plow and carts pulled by donkeys to transport supplies. The planting and weeding are all done by hand with a daba by men and women that are bent at the waist making their way down the rows in their fields.

My family and most people in village and around Burkina are growing a variety of crops that make up the staples of their diet. This includes millet, sorghum, field corn, rice, peanuts, and black-eyed peas. There was a lot of worry in my area at the beginning of the rainy season in June and early July. If there isn’t enough rain, the crops will fail and there will be mass starvation throughout the next year. Also if people plant and there isn’t a rain within a day or two, they will have to replant the fields and this means the additional expense of more seed. Some parts of Burkina, especially north of Ouaga, continue to be concerned with low rain fall, but my village seems to be happy with the amount and regularity of the rains now. It rains several times a week now, sometimes for twenty minutes and other days for several hours at a time.

My family has several sets of fields. Some are right near the house while others are a long ways away. I have only been out in the bush to their fields once and it took 45 minutes to bike there on a day that the route was pretty good. Because it is so far, most of my family is sleeping in a small shack in the fields so that they don’t have to waste so much time going back and forth each day. Its definetly changed the dynamic in my compound with only the elderly and young kids hanging out. Not everyone in village sleeps in the fields since some people don’t have to go as far to get to their crops.

I am amazed at how my village has transformed from dry, dusty, and brown to lush, green, and muddy. Its gorgeous but it also is hell trying to get anywhere. Right after a rain I have to cross two “rivers” to get from my house to my health center. There also is thick mud to tramp through. And lots more bugs and bats now!

Because they are growing the next years’ crops, this means everyone is getting low on the stocks from last year and so malnutrition is becoming more severe. In my family, they are only eating breakfast and dinner even though they are working much harder than usual and several nights there wasn’t even dinner. Its been hard for me to hear that my kids that I spend most of my day with are hungry and so I have started sharing a lot more than usual. At the same time there is lots of talk about the new clothes and shoes everyone is getting at the end of Ramadan in mid-September. Its hard for me to understand priorities when I see children that need food. On that note, Ramadan started on Saturday so most people are fasting including pregnant and nursing women which concerns me but is the norm in my village. I have always been told that those in poor health and pregnant women should not fast but they laughed when I mentioned this. I too am trying to fast while in village though I refuse to give up water. They tell me this means I’m not fasting but I’m not willing to sacrifice my health to show solidarity with my family. Everyone is excited for the fete at the end of Ramadan though and I have promised my family that I will celebrate with them. This will be at the beginning of harvest so should be a nice time for a short break from the hard physical labor that is the daily routine now.

Pictures

I uploaded a few more photos from the last few weeks. My mom requested that I always upload to a new folder because she said its easier to look at them. From now on they will be in chronological order instead of by subject. I also have other cultivating photos that I uploaded a month or so ago.

Transort

So transport is hard here. I guess thats really a lot like everything in Burkina. Things just take longer than they would in the U.S. Not sure I have really explained that though so I want to share about my day yesterday to give an example. I had a meeting at 10 am this morning in Ouaga and had planned to leave village early and catch a car to make it in time even though 1) I've never actually made it to Ouaga by 10 am and 2) its rainy season so nothing ever goes as planned. Thankfully I decided not to risk it and came yesterday instead and made it to Ouaga about 4:30 pm. I would have only been 6.5 hours late!

So back to a day in the life of Kirstin trying to travel about 150 km or 90 miles during rainy season in Burkina Faso.

5:30 am - Got up, brushed teeth, washed, got dressed.

6:00 - Ready to leave, oh no big huge storm clouds rolling in. Do I risk it and leave now even though I have a 20 minute bike ride on a good day to where I can catch a car and then have to wait on the roadside somewhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours until a car shows up? Or do I wait it out since a car may not even come if its raining? Decide to wait.

6:15 - Wind picks up. Dust and garbage blowing everywhere. Probably going to be a big storm. Sky is dark. Better use the latrine now so don't have to get wet later. Let Puppy in the house so he stays dry.

6:30 - Downpour begins. The water landing on my tin roof sounds like an explosion. So loud I can't hear myself think. Puppy is scared and hides under the bed, tangled up in my mosquito net.

7:30 - Still raining hard so decide to take a nap since I'm bored and its dark in my house with the windows closed so rain doesn't come in

9:00 - Rain has let up a little but its still coming down and everything is flooded and muddy. Decide to wait another hour to see if will stop and let some water wash away before trying to bike.

9:30 - Just sprinkling now though it sounds like its really coming down inside my house from the amplification off the tin roof. Start to get ready to go again. Have to drag Puppy out from under bed. Doesn't want to go outside and get wet. Once he's out decides its time to play. Try to catch him and end up sliding in the mud. Dirty already and haven't left the house

10:00 - Take clothes hanging on wall down so they don't get moldy. Cover bed with tarp since rain comes in sometimes. Strap backpack onto bike. Lock up house. Call Puppy and head out.

10:15 - Have to drop off Puppy at Dabre's house, the opposite direction from where I catch a car. Normal path is completly flooded so take long way around. Puppy runs around crazy chasing my bike. Cross two streams of water, Puppy doesn't want to cross so have to get off bike, catch Puppy, and carry him across. Lots of mud several inches thick. Speed up to try to make it through. In one spot, loose traction and bike starts to fall. Backpack weight helps pull my bike over once I lose balance. Fall in deep mud and pants and feet are covered. Try to push bike out and get even more dirty. Finally make it to Dabre's and Puppy takes off without saying good-bye to play with his brothers.

10:30 - Head out to the main road where I can catch a car. Usually think its a pretty easy ride, flat without many bumps. Have to pedal twice as hard to move forward in the mud today.

11:00 - Exhausted by the time I get to the road where I wait for a car. There is another guy waiting that says he's been there since 9 am and no cars have gone by. Pull out a magazine and lean against bike to wait since ground is covered in mud. Still drizzling out so am soaked through with sweat and rain by this point.

12:00 - Car arrives! Hour wait isn't bad on a normal day so very excited.

12:15 - Arrive at the next town over and pile more people in.

12:45 - Wait awhile for no obvious reason. My bush taxi is usually a large van with seats for 21 plus driver. This day (like most days) we had more than 30 inside plus at least one on the roof along with bikes, motos, and baggage stacked as tall as the van is. Also one person hanging on the back.

2:15 - Finally hit paved road after lots of bumping and swerving to miss pot holes and puddles.

3:45 - Make it to Ouaga. Drive to gare where all the bush taxis from my region park and wait for customers. Wait for bike and backpack to be unloaded from roof.

4:00 - Find a taxi. Won't negotiate price. Find another taxi. Same story since I'm white. Finally give up and settle for higher price than normal with third taxi since I'm tired and wet and just want to be done traveling.

4:30 - Arrive in Transit House only ten and a half hours after when I tried to leave. Take a hot shower and enjoy the luxuries of city life like cold beer and pizza!

I normally think getting to Ouaga is easier than getting home when I have to wait several hours at the dirty, noisy gare where I'm constantly being harassed but this was an exceptionally hard trip.

Egyptian Vacation

I’m sitting in the Cairo airport in the middle of the night waiting for my early morning flight to Casablanca before returning to Burkina Faso. The last two weeks have been spent touring ancient sites, relaxing on the Nile River and Red and Mediterranean Sea and catching up with my parents after nine months apart. It’s been a wonderful break for me—my first vacation since joining the Peace Corps. I left behind rainy season in Burkina Faso—wet, muddy, humid--for hot and dry Egypt and found the weather not too bad compared to everyone else’s complaints about the awful heat. I guess surviving hot season has changed me. I also am not at all used to air conditioning and froze in the hotels and whenever traveling!

My parents and I visited pretty much all of the big sights in Egypt and travelled through the cities of Cairo, Aswan, Luxor, Dahab, and Alexandria by car, overnight train, and two nights on a felucca (traditional sailboat on the Nile). Our visit in Cairo began with a trip to the Egyptian Museum, a huge building in the middle of the city with an enormous collection of artifacts. We then visited the three great pyramids of Giza which I was amazed to see are really in the middle of the huge metropolis of Cairo/Giza. You can be surrounded by high-rise buildings and see the pyramids rising between them. I’d always assumed they were in the middle of the desert so were amazed to realize how close they were to what some argue is the second-largest city in the world. We also visited the Sphinx nearby. Just outside Cairo we went to Saqqara where there is a step pyramid that’s almost 5000 years old!

After traveling by overnight train to Aswan we visited the High Dam and Lake Nasser, a source of energy for all of Egypt and several neighboring countries. We also saw Philae Temple, an amazing monument that was moved by UNESCO after sitting underwater following the rising of the Nile because of the new dam. Other temples visited included Kom Ombo, Edfu, Karnak, Luxor, and Queen Hachepsut’s. We spent two days and nights floating on a felucca on the Nile River from Aswan moving north. We had a chance to swim in the Nile as well here. After visiting the source of the Nile in Uganda and rafting this section of the river, it was exciting to see the same waters thousands of miles away. After our felucca trip, we visited the Valley of the Kings which was amazingly intact as where many of the temples we saw. The hieroglyph carvings were incredible and even more so were that colors were still visible thousands of years later.

We then travelled to Sinai including passing through a long tunnel under the Suez Canal. We spent several days relaxing in the small, laid-back town of Dahab and enjoyed snorkeling and swimming in the Red Sea and a camel ride along the shore.

Of course my mom and I found opportunities to shop a bit throughout the trip including the huge Khan al Khalili market in Cairo and numerous tourist stands at every sight. I feel like I have travelled quite a bit but have never found vendors to hassle nearly as much as they do in Egypt. I love to barter and try to get a good deal on souvenirs but actually found many vendors to be extremely obnoxious as they tried to attract some business. I guess this is probably because they have so many more tourists going through than Burkina Faso or some of the other places I’ve been!

I loved seeing so many ancient sites, eating great Egyptian and International food, swimming, and lots of relaxing but most of all I appreciated this opportunity to spend time with my parents. Since coming to Burkina, we have been able to talk every few weeks, e-mail when I go to Ouaga, and text pretty frequently but it’s not the same as sitting together and talking. We were able to catch up on a lot that has happened since last fall and I felt like I could better explain my life in Burkina. They also brought me lots of exciting American goodies that will be so nice back in village and my laptop so I can get online at the PC transit house in Ouaga.

Women Dancing

I finally was able to upload this short video of women dancing at the baptism in my family a few months ago.

Pics

I have posted new pics to Village Life, Family, Puppy, Girls Camp, and Cultivating. We have gone from dry and dusty to very green and wet. Village looks like a completing different place!

Girls Camp

I think I mentioned earlier that I was planning a girls camp. It is now over and though there were many glitches, I think it was overall a success. Lots of Peace Corps Volunteers around the world and over the years have put on girls camps so I was excited about continueing the tradition. I had a meeting at the school to announce the camp to the girls a few weeks before school ended and was thrilled that over 80 girls attended. I thought this was a great sign that lots of girls would apply and I was worried that I would have a hard time choosing 20 girls to participate. I gave them a week to turn in a very easy application with info about themselves and why they wanted to participate. At the deadline I had only received 4 applications. I was extremely disappointed and felt like all the effort I had put into planning at the point wasn't worth it for such a small group. I extended the deadline for another week and by that time had 8 girls. I then found one other girl who had expressed interest so we had a total of 9 participants. I originally wanted to have camp every morning for two weeks. It didn't seem like there was enough to do with such a small group so I cut the program to one week.

The week before camp started I visited each of the girls' houses to give last minute details and get permission from their fathers to participate. It was important that I informed them about the topics we were covering including HIV/AIDS and family planning since some parents may have not agreed. Luckily all but one family was happy for their daughter to participate. The one family that wasn't sure said that she had a lot of work to do in the fields but eventually agreed to let her come. This girl ended up bringing her 2 year old brother every day so I guess they decided to let her baby-sit instead!

Karla, my PCV neighbor, spent the week with me helping during camp. Yoshi, the Japanese volunteer in Tenkodogo, also came for a few days to observe what we had planned. I also had help from Awa, my midwife, when we talked about reproductive health. We did a lot of hands-on activities, icebreakers, and games to get the girls interacting. This was very strange for their girls that are used to being lectured at in school and taking notes from the blackboard. We covered a lot of health topics during the week including: malaria, hygiene, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, male and female reproductive systems, and family planning. I also included topics not as closely related to physical health but that I felt were important such as role models, setting and achieving goals, and planning for the future.

I was surprised how much the girls opened up as the week went on and by Thursday when we talked about family planning, they even asked questions! They loved playing with condoms and each of the girls did a condom demonstration for the group. At first most were shy and embarrassed to touch a condom but they soon were having fun blowing them and tossing around like balloons!

After our nutrition activites I had the girls plan a nutritious meal that included all the food groups. I then had this prepared for a celebration on the last day. The girls were so excited to have rice with peanut sauce and vegetables and chicken. This is a huge treat since even rice is only eaten on special occassions let alone meat.

I talked to the girls about starting a club once school starts again and they were all very interested. I also encouraged them to come to my house any time they wanted to talk or had questions. It has been fun to see them around town and at the market since camp ended since I really didn't know any youth except from my family before camp started.

Puppy Love - Part 2

Life has been hectic lately but I guess thats normal. My puppy got really sick a week ago. He seemed fine in the morning and then was sleeping a lot. He didn't seem to want to move or even stand up but everyone said he was just tired. By the afternoon, it was obvious he couldn't walk or stand up even and by the evening, was having convulsions. I texted my parents unsure of what I could do since everyone kept telling me he was just tired. My dad thought it was distemper which is normally fatal. I gave him antibiotics that night and then took him to see the local vet (which I didn't even know existed in my village). He decided it was either paralysis (a symptom not a disease) or rabies (highly doubted it) and said I should tie him up, keep him away from kids, and that if he got aggressive they would cut off his head and send it for testing in the city. At this point Puppy couldn't move at all and was crying constantly. I didn't get much sleep and was very stressed out. Nobody understood why I was upset and there was a constant parade through my house to see the crazy white girl crying about a dog! As I have said before, dogs are not pets, family members, or friends here. They may be used to guard the house or even eaten. I consider Puppy my best friend in village and spend more time with him then any person so was obviously worried about him and hated seeing him suffer.

I will say that everyone wanted to help us out but I found their responses a little overwelming. They wanted to try all kinds of traditional medicines and everyone had a different solution. We first had some black granules that is from the root of some plant. They mixed it with water and made him drink it and stuck it up his nose. Then they put the black stuff over coal and tried to get the smoke to go on his legs and stomach. We did this three times a day for two days. No change. Then someone else lit straw on fire and put smashed up garlic in it and had that smoke waft onto him. Still nothing. There were several other suggestions made but at this point I felt like we had tortured him enough and he was miserable.

I decided to have him killed (put to sleep as they say in the US) after a week of not walking because he was miserable. That morning I took him outside to pee and his legs were moving. I set him down standing and he could stay up and then took a few steps. In the last two days he has started walking a little faster and yesterday before I left village he could get up from sitting though he still can't get up when he is laying. I am so shocked and really think it is a miracle since it was the day he was going to die. I have braced myself that I will probably encounter death while serving in the Peace Corps since it is a large part of life here with a high infant mortality rate and a low use of health services. I didn't expect my first experience to be with my dog though. I can only begin to imagine what the mothers in my family who have lost multiple children have gone through. To them it is a part of life, and though hard to deal with, it is almost expected that one or a few of your children won't reach adulthood.

The Peulhs

I feel a little weird writing this entry but I have had a few requests to write more about the people and the culture so wanted to share some info I have gathered and observed about one ethnic group in particular. Since I find this tribe so interesting, I've done a little reading in my guide books and asking questions of others around here.

The Peulhs, also called Fulani or Fulfulde, are the second largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso making up 8% of the population. They are very marginalized throughout this country and the region of West Africa though. In Burkina, they make up a majority in the north but also have small villages throughout the rest of the country. The Peulh were the first tribe in West Africa to convert to Islam hundreds of years ago and they spread the religion throughout the area because they traditionally were nomadic herders. Most Peulhs still are cattleherders though many have settled into villages and cities because it is more difficult to move around. The Peulhs sell eggs (when available in rainy season) and milk in the markets. I have been buying Puppy milk from a Peulh girl that stops by my house every few days. He loves it even after it curdles!

On a side note, the name Burkina Faso comes from words in two different languages spoken here: Moore and Jula. The term for people from this country is Burkinabe which comes from Fulfulde, the language spoken by Peulhs.

I have noticed other tribes in Burkina often have only negative comments to make about Peulhs. I've been told that they are too proud and that they are thieves. Since Bissas and Mossis usually are cultivators and Peulhs are animal herders, there often are fights and issues over land use as well. When I was in training, there was a Peulh community in my host village. One day, my friend set down her phone and forgot about it. It was gone when she went back to look a few minutes later and everyone in the village was talking about how the Peulhs had stolen it. No one saw this but the blame was automatically put on them because of the negative stereotypes of this tribe. This is just one example that shows the discrimination they face constantly.

Even though they are viewed negatively by others, Peulh women are renowned for their beauty. They are often lighter skinned and have distinctive facial features along with different style of dress, hair, and jewelry than other tribes in the area. Many women wear large silver coins in their hair and I was told this is a sign of their wealth since each one can cost around $6. Anecdotally I have also noticed that they seem to really love striped shirts! I have posted some pictures from my visit to a village near my home.

I met a missionary family from New Zealand that is living in Tenkodogo. Their work is to convert Peulhs to Christianity which I found interesting since he said there are only about 200 Peulhs that are Christian in the whole country and because they are traditionally Muslim. He and his wife are also working with education and health needs though which is great for this marginalized population.

There is a fairly large population of Peulhs in several small villages in my area. I want to start doing more work with the Peulhs in my community since I feel that our health center is not meeting their needs. They struggle to communicate with the health staff and others in the village since many don't speak Bissa or French. I think they also are often forgotten when there are sensibilizations or other health programs. Since most of their villages are farther away from the health center, it is difficult for them to come in when they are sick especially during rainy season when the route is often unpassable. The Peulh women are less likely to come in to give birth and attend baby weighings at my CSPS as well. On a surprising note, they are more likely to use family planning services from my health center. The rate is still very, very low but I was excited to note this during my Etude. I hope to start doing programs out in the Peulh villages and just received a basic phrase book from Peace Corps so I can at least greet them in their own language.

Babies Galore

I have been at site for about five months and during this time three baby girls have been born in my family. Before this I really hadn't spent a lot of time with babies and young kids but I am growing to really love my youngest neighbors. Lohaimatou is now four and a half months old and so much fun to play with. She loves to smile and always responds when I make funny faces. She's also a little chunker which makes me so happy after weighing underweight and malnourished babies every week. Nuhaimatou is two and a half months old and has been very healthy since her health scare when she was a day old.

Three weeks ago, Mariam, a woman from my family, asked me to look at her health card to see when she was supposed to go in for her next pre-natal consultation since she can't read. I saw that she had missed the date so I told her to go in on Monday morning. She didn't know when she was due because she was unsure when she had gotten pregnant but I was thinking it must be soon. I didn't realize how soon though! This was her fifth pregnancy, she has two older children and two that had died. Monday morning I saw her leave for the health center very early. I went to see how her consultation went and she said everything was good and started walking home. I passed her a few minutes later on bike when I had to run an errand. I got back to the health center about 20 minutes later to find her in labor--she had never even made it home. Since no one knew she was about to give birth, they asked me to go tell the family and have them come with supplies that families provide (fabric & towels, buckets, soap, etc) for deliveries. I biked home and started explaining the news in Bissa to the other women. Less than 5 minutes later another women arrived saying Mariam had already given birth to a girl. Definitely the fastest delivery I have ever heard of! We headed back just in time to watch Mariam walk from the delivery room to the post-delivery, resting room. They handed me the baby while Mariam rested and the other women cleaned up the delivery room. Burkinabe women are so amazing and strong!

It is my understanding that in Islam, it is the tradition for babies to be baptised and given a name when they are seven days old. During the first week, it is very bad luck to call a baby by its name or to ask what the baby's name is even if it has already been decided. Baptisms are huge events in Burkina and a great opportunity for a party. I had missed the two earlier baptisms in my family so was very excited for this one. Traditionally guests give soap to the new mom since she will have lots of laundry to do. Others will give money or other baby gifts. The family then provides a huge meal to all of the guests that come. I didn't see the naming ceremony though I think it is an actual event. Instead I saw all of the men hanging out playing cards separate from the women who were talking, cooking, eating, and dancing. The women were happy to include me and we danced, played with the kid, and ate rice with a little chicken--a real treat for my family.

I don't know of any more pregnant women in my family so think it will be at least a few months until we have any new additions to the family! In the meantime, I hope to talk to them more about contraceptive use especially birth spacing which is a more accepted term here than family planning and allows the educator to focus on the health of the mother instead of preventing pregnancies.

Got Malaria?

I am borrowing the name of this post from an e-mail I sent out four years ago when I was in Kenya. At that time, I had just recovered from malaria so I happy to say I am currently healthy but am doing some work with malaria.

It feels like not much has gotten done this month but I have felt very busy. Part of this I know is the exhaustion from the heat. I see an end in sight though. We have had two huge storms and sprinkles a few other times. Things are starting to look green after many months of dust and dirt. Its almost like spring in Wisconsin except 40 degrees warmer!

With the rains also come the bugs. Even with such a little moisture, I have seen a huge increase in the number of critters out. At night it gets so bad when I am using a flashlight that I usually give up and hang out in my bug hut. Mosquitos are also reproducing rapidly and we are entering into malaria season. Even though Burkina is dry for a good part of the year, this parasite is a huge problem year-round but it gets so much worse with the rains. At least 50% of the patients coming into my health center are treated for malaria. I say treated because there are no blood tests done and anyone with classic malaria symptoms (normally a reoccuring fever) is treated. If they are still sick a few days later, the nurses will then treat them for something else. I wrote a few months ago about the newborn from my family that was treated for malaria. There also have been a few other kids that I know that have gotten malaria since I have been here.

Last week one of my favorite kids, Maneera, had a really high fever and chills. It looked like malaria to me but her dad was gone and her mom said she couldn't take her in then. They gave her Tylenol and the fever went away. I was pretty sure it would be back again and sure enough two days later they came to tell me she was sick. Since I had told them the fever would be back in two days if it was malaria, they really believed I knew what I was talking about and agreed to take her in. While we were waiting to leave, I asked them about mosquito nets. I had brought it up before and the women all said they had them and the kids slept under them but I knew this wasn't true. Our health center gives out nets during the rainy season to pregnant women and babies so the family has several. Anyways I convinced them to find a net and we hung it up right then. Since then I have seen at least a few of the younger kids sleeping under it. I also went to hang out with my family one day and found that the two week old baby was asleep inside a small pop-up mosquito net. I was so excited to see they had such a contraption and were even using it in the middle of the day when the mosquitos aren't so bad. Its great to see even the smallest changes in my family and my village.

There is still lots of sensibilizing to be done but I know rainy season is long so I figure I will have many opportunities.

Puppy Love

I am feeling a little like the crazy dog owner but wanted to share a few stories about Puppy with you! I never realized how different it would be to have a dog here than it was in the States. Plus this is really my first pet that is completely mine since the other dogs I have had were at my parents' house. Along with worrying about his nutrition since I have to cook him dinner (even when I am sick or tired), I also am very concerned about his health. Luckily my aunt who is a vet in Minneapolis has provided me with lots of advice and meds! Then there is the concerns about him getting hurt. Dogs are mean here since they are usually for guards so I am worried about him getting beat up by a bigger dog. Also am worried about him chasing (and possibly killing) a chicken in which case the chicken's owner will probably kill Puppy. I have heard this is a very possible response in this situation. On the other hand, I have seen several chickens and roosters try to attack him when he gets to close to them or their babies. He still isn't afraid of them though.

His biggest fear is of goats and sheep. I didn't think they would ever hurt him though they do like to approach and stare at him which freaks him out and he tries to run away or hide behind me. That was until last week when we had an unfortunate event with a goat! Puppy woke me up one night last week at 3 am to go potty. I had been sick and not sleeping well so was very frustrated but took him out anyways. Often at night there are goats and sheep resting just outside my door but this night one goat didn't run away like they usually do when I get close. Instead she charged and started attacking Puppy. I kicked at her and tried to get Puppy free. He started screaming and woke up the whole family! I finally was able to pick him up and the goat ran away. Several young men came out to see what the matter was. Since it was the middle of the night in hot season, I was in my pajamas of a tank top and shorts (ie not properly covered for village) so really didn't want to be seen! Anyways turns out the goat had just given birth so was being a protective mother. Somehow in the process of fighting her off Puppy I ended up with placenta all over my leg. Only in Burkina!

I am trying to teach Puppy a few commands and decided to use Bissa instead of English. Everyone cracks up when I speak to a dog in any language, let alone Bissa so I enjoy continuing to make villagers think I am crazy. He is getting pretty good at come (burnow), sit (nyinta), and go home (parro) -- at least when nothing more exciting is going on!

I have added pictures to Village Life, Puppy, Workshops & Events, Family, PC Home. I also took a few short videos that I want to try to upload but haven't had time to do yet. Hopefully coming soon!

6 Months Down

About two weeks ago, I hit the six month mark in Burkina Faso. It seems crazy to me because in many ways it feels like I was just trying to decide what to take out of my suitcase to get it closer to the weight limit. I am in such a different place now though and really do feel like I am at home in village! I spent a little over six months in Kenya so this is now officially the longest I have been out of the U.S. (and actually out of WI) and away from my family. I am about a quarter through my service which also seems crazy because I feel like I am just getting started. I have also been in village longer than I was in training in Ouahigouya. Training felt so long compared to the time that has flown by at site!

I want to say a huge thanks to everyone that has been supporting me emotionally and through letters and care packages! First off to my parents who have been amazing at calling and sending cards and packages. Plus they recently booked a trip for us to meet up in Egypt in July. I am very excited to see them! Thanks as well to all my friends and relatives that have shown how much they care about me. I realize I haven't been the best at sending letters (postage is just so expensive for me!) but I really do appreciate hearing from you and feeling connected to your lives in the States and around the world! Special thanks to everyone that has sent me care packages over the last six months: mom & dad, Beth, Suzy, Kim & Jim, Mary B, Jeff & Deanne, Mrs Lee, Anna, Maren, Judy E, Allison, Wayne Crusaders, and Tulane MI! You guys rock! It may be hard to imagine how excited I get over American junk food, easy meals, and magazines.

So what have I been doing you may ask? Well its hot season so I have to admit I sit around at home reading and mopping up sweat from every inch of my body. Its just too hot to do much else! I have been trying to get some planning done though. I have decided to do a girl's camp for two weeks this June so am trying to put together an application, projects & activities, and logistics. There is still so much to do but its looking like its really going to happen.

Back in April I applied for a US embassy grant on behalf of a women's soap-making group from my village and just got word that we were selected. The US embassy had a contest last year to design a pagne (piece of fabric) and then had these printed up. They are giving them to local organizations to sell and then the funds can be used to support the organization's project. Pretty cool huh? Anyways this soap group has 15 women that have all contributed money to participate in a training and received support from the local government. They now know how to make bar soap and made one small batch but don't have the funds to launch a big production. I am in Ouaga to pick up the pagnes at the embassy and take them back to village. I'm a little nervous about how I'm going to get it all back to village on bush taxi but we'll see how it goes tomorrow! The women are going to start selling them and hopefully raise enough money to purchase all the supplies to really get their soap co-op going and keep it sustainable!

I also recently started a moringa pepinaire (I can't think of the English word but its when you start seedlings in plastic satchets). Moringa is this amazing tree that grows great here and can be used for so many things including using seeds to purify water and drying the leaves and making a powder that is super nutritious. Check out this site for more info. Peace Corps really wants volunteers to start moringa in their communities so I got the neighborhood kids to help me start about 30 seeds. Once the seedlings are big enough, they are going to plant them around our compound and out in the field. Eventually I want to get others in the community on board but I figured I would start small. Plus this was a great project for kids!

Back in February I took four women to a HIV/AIDS Training of Trainers. We have now started giving sensibilizations in the community. They set the goal of doing a sensibilization in every quartier (kinda like neighborhood) and satellite village. We have done two so far with at least a dozen more to go. Turn out was great at both with more than a 100 people at the first and about 50 at the second! Plus the audience asked a lot of great questions! I am really trying to encourage the women to work on their public speaking skills and break free from the traditional lecture-style sensibilization that is common here. I saw definite improvements in our second one and am hoping that they will continue to improve as they keep doing them. Its hard for me to stand back and let them put together a presentation. I think a big part of this is giving them an opportunity to learn how to be leaders and is not just about educating the community about HIV.

I spent the past weekend in Tenkodogo with two Japanese volunteers living and working there. Japan has a program sort of similiar to Peace Corps called JICA so it was fun to meet these women and hear about there experiences. One women is working with the local government office and the other is doing health work. Its interesting to see how our jobs are similiar and different. She is posted at the district level and in a city so works with multiple health centers compared to me in a village with one health center. It seems that their organization also has a lot more funding for projects and acitivities. This is something I am struggling with in village because everyone assumes that I have access to a big pot of money for projects but Peace Corps is really about volunteers using community resources and not providing funds. An example is with our HIV sensibilizations, the women really wanted to do some elaborate stuff and expected me to find funding. I did agree to buy condoms for demos but other than that I said we had to use what we had. They are making do and I think its a lot more sustainable. I'm sure I could come up with some great activities if I had access to funding like the Japanese volunteers do but I can understand Peace Corps' reasoning.

I have posted pictures of my puppy, a HIV sensibilization, and a few other random things. I also added captions on some that had forgotten before.

Easter Blessings

I had a great Easter weekend full of adventure. On Good Friday I was at my CSPS weighing babies like normal but it was my first time since IST. My friend Sophie who does them with me casually asked if I was still looking for a dog. I have been asking everyone I meet if they knew where I could get a puppy since the first week I arrived. Everybody says that its not puppy season, that comes with the rains in June. I was feeling frustrated since many of my volunteer friends in other villages had found puppies and I was wanting a buddy!! Anyways I told Sophie that I would love a puppy so as soon as we were done she took me to a house where she heard they had puppies. They had four males that were a month old but I was told to choose from three since I couldnt take the runt. I picked out one with a black nose, white paws and belly, and brown all over. Sophie bought the other two so I can visit his brothers in the future.

Anyways puppy went home with me and everyone was very surprised. There are no dogs in my neighborhood since it is mostly only Christians that have dogs in my village. The kids were scared to death at first and some still wont come near him though he fits in the palm of my hand! Most have quickly realized how fun he is though and started calling him Puppy since thats what I was saying. The name has stuck and I dont think I can change it now so he is officially Puppy. Not the most creative name in the book but I like it better than Patience which was suggested to me by numerous people. I guess thats a popular name here! Puppy hangs out with me at home and sometimes I take him in my bike basket to the market and the CSPS. Its only been two weeks but already everybody asks where he is when I come without him.

Its interesting having a dog here since they are not used to pets. Dogs are for guarding your house or for meat. Yep Christians eat dogs here. Sophie says thats what will happen to Puppys brothers but I cant tell if she is joking. Also on the topic of food, they dont sell dog food so I have to prepare all his meals myself. Usually he eats whatever I eat plus I buy him fresh cows milk from the Fulanis that come into town for the market. It doesnt last long becuase of the heat so this is a treat. I have discovered he really likes beans and also rice when I mix dried up fish with it! He doesnt like carrots though!!

We are now in the middle of hot season and it is awful. My thermometer reaches 120 degrees and there have been times the mercury hits the top. Even at night it is over 100! This makes it nearly impossible to sleep and I have gotten used to always being wet from sweat! I am sleepign outside now in my bug hut tent. Puppy also sleeps outside. I made a little section of my courtyard blocked off for him but he whines when he is left there and I worry about him waking the whole neighborhood so usually he just runs free in my courtyard. He is good most of the night but every morning for the last two weeks he has gotten up at 4 am or a little earlier and wants to play with me. He can see me in the tent but cant get in so whines and jumps on it until I get up. This is going to have to change but I dont know what to do!

OK back to Easter weekend. Saturday morning my PCV neighbor Karla biked to my village. It was her first time here so I was really excited. It was a market day so I showed her around and introduced her to my neighbors and friends. That evening was a special mass at the church. I havent gone to the Catholic church in village though I have repeatedly been asked to come because its all in Bissa and just seemed really boring. I figured Easter was a good time to go. I was told it started at 8 pm and wouldnt be more than an hour and a half. We went to my friends first and then didnt head to church until 9 and it didnt actual start until 9:30. Everyone gathered around outside and they had a big bonfire. Several people started playing bongo drums and there was lots of singing followed by a procession into church. There were about 8 readings I think and a little singing and dancing for each response. After the readings were done we had a big singing and dancing break with people out in the aisles and a group of traditional Bissa dances in front!! It was very exciting and unlike any Catholic church I have been to before!! I didnt understand anything of course but loved the energy. We got home about 1 am--much later than expected but I definetly enjoyed it. I plan to go back for regular mass once in cools down since it was very hot in the church in the middle of the night so I cant imagine how bad it is in the morning.

Sunday Karla and I biked to see An, our other PCV neighbor. She was having a little party for her teacher co-workers and friends. It was fun to hang out together and swap stories about our experiences. An has been here almost two years and heads back to the US in early July. I am sorry that we havent been able to spend more time together since our service overlaps for such a short time. She is being replaced though so I will have another neighbor by the end of summer!

In-Service Training

I have finished IST and am definetly ready to return to village after three weeks of classes. Overall I think the training was fairly productive and I learned some new things to use at site but it just got long! The first week I was in Koupela with five other volunteers for language training. I just did French because our teacher didn't speak Bissa. It was very relaxed and we had fun hanging out.

Second week was in Ouaga and included a two day workshop with our COGES presidents on Project Design & Management. Not as useful as I had hoped but I know that our counterparts enjoyed learning more about Peace Corps. We visited several NGO's and other offices in the big city including: UNICEF, World Food Program, UNFPA, PLAN, Catholic Relief Services, and I think I am forgetting somewhere. We also had safety and security, medical, and admin sessions plus two amazing dinners! One night was Mexican at our Country Director's and another was Thai Curry at the SED APCD's! Thanks for keeping us so well fed!!

This last week we were back in Ouahigouya. We spent two days learning about the Hearth Model, a positive deviance program to improve childhood nutrition. I am hoping to do a workshop in village in the next few months and will describe more then. We also did sensibizations in my host village about a variety of health topics. They were trying to give us experience working in front of a group. I saw my host dad and several other family members so that was nice.

We were very excited to welcome a new member to our training group. PC Madagascar was closed a few weeks ago due to political tension and all of the volunteers were sent home or are being transferred. A health volunteer that started a week before us transferred to Burkina Faso. It is exciting that she could arrive during our IST so we could all get to know her. The crazy thing is that Christie-Anne happened to be a high school friend of Christie, a girl in my group. What a small world!!

Along with all the meetings and classes, we had time for some fun. It feels like I did a lot of shopping and got a few things made at the tailor. Also went to a concert at the French Cultural Center that was great. It was a local musician that sang in four different languages including a song about HIV/AIDS in English!

I also attended a Burkina-Guinea World Cup Qualifying Soccer Game. I ended up having to get to the stadium on my own because I was running late and my friends went earlier to buy tickets. I made a friend in the taxi who was also going to the game and he insisted I buy a jersey and talked down the price by more than half as we were trying to get in. I got there right at 6 when the game was suppose to start and for the first time since I arrived, something actually started on time! And they closed the doors locking everyone else out! My friend slipped my ticket through the gate but the guards still wouldn't open the doors for me. There were quite a few people with tickets that were getting really upset that they couldn't get in. Some tried breaking down the gates and others wanted to fight with the guards. Finally, after Burkina scored their first goal, the guard opened the door saying ten people could get in. Everyone mobbed the door and pushed to get in. My taxi friend helped me get through and I eventually found my friends. They were sitting in the cheap seat section and there were a bunch of guys with a bongo drum right behind us. I enjoyed having a beat to dance to as I cheered! Burkina won 4-2. I hear the next game is at the end of June and I hope to attend. I plan to go early though!

What Does Kirstin Do?

Following training and swearing-in, health volunteers in Burkina Faso are expected to complete an Etude du Milieu (Study of Place) during their first three months at site before returning for three more weeks of training (IST). During our Etude, we are just supposed to be observing and asking questions but not start actual projects until after IST. I have just submitted my Etude and thought I would share some of my findings with you. If anyone is interested in more info, let me know. The report is more than 10 pages long and has too much site specific info to post on the internet but I can email it to you. I have only included health info here since I shared some about the village earlier.

The first health center in my community opened in 1957 which seems to be very old for Burkina Faso. New buildings were built by the state in 2005 for the dispensary and maternity. Our COGES was formed in 1988. My CSPS serves over 17,000 people though there is a new CSPS about to open so we should be dropping down to serving about 12,000 people which is still over the suggested population. There are four nurses paid by the state that were assigned here. The CSPS sees an average of 28 patients per day with the most frequent illnesses being: malaria, respiratory infection, diarrheal disease, parasites, and wounds.

The maternity has an average of 52 deliveries per month with only one trained midwife! Thankfully she is helped by a village midwife and the other nurses. The nurses estimate that the average age for first pregnancy is 17. A few years ago many women were still giving birth at home though this has declined. It is estimated that in my area more than 70% of births are at the maternity.

Consultations cost 100 CFA for adults and 50 CFA for children. The average cost for medications is 1000 CFA. Deliveries cost 900 CFA for villagers and are subsidized by the state. Baby weighings (nutritional consultations), vaccinations, and pre-natal consultations are all free now because of subsidies as well. There are about 500 CFA to the dollar so you can do the math.

My job as a health volunteer is to work with the COGES and other community-based organizations. My counterpart is the major, or head nurse, at the CSPS so I will do a lot of work there but also want to get out into the community to reach people that are not coming for health services.

During my etude, I observed many consultations and went to some sensibilizations (French word with no good translation—kind of like educational programs). I helped with baby-weighings twice a week and tried to talk to people that came in for a variety of services.

Now that IST is almost over, I can begin some actual projects. I am very interested in working more with our baby-weighings and incorporating other activities into this such as monitoring malnourished children and giving enriched porridge demonstrations. I also want to do programs on family planning and HIV/AIDS. Since malaria is the number one health concern by far, this is another area that I need to focus on. I am interested in working with teen girls since they seem to know very little about their bodies and how to stay healthy. These are just a few thoughts but I am very excited to get out there and get busy! Everything moves slow in Burkina so I need to be patient but at least I have a few ways to move forward.

Burkina Faso's Health Care System

I realized I have never really explained much about the health system in Burkina so I figure its about time. Not sure how interested everyone is but am guessing that at least my fellow public health students would like to know some background info. I also figure I can start including some of the acronyms we all use here into my blogs now. Don't hold me responsible if any of this is incorrect since all of my info is from meetings and discussions held in French and there always are possibilities for misunderstandings!

Back in the day, Burkina's health care system was completely state-funded following a top-down approach and not very efficient or affective. In 1987, following the Bamako Initiative, the Ministry of Health went through a huge restructuring to decentralize the health care system and bring a great deal of power to the community level. Instead of all of the money coming from the national government, communities are now expected to help support their local health centers through cost sharing with the goal of greater sustainability. Along with normal health services, there also is a focus on community outreach and preventive health care.

There are national, regional, and district hospitals throughout the country, but the first place that Burkinabe go for health services is their local CSPS (Centre de Sante et Promotion Sociale). There are currently about 1200 CSPSs around Burkina Faso. The idea is that they serve around 10,000 people each though this is not always the case. The CSPS is a general health clinic, maternity, and pharmacy and they all should provide preventive and curative services including prenatal consultations, nutritional consultations (baby-weighings), vaccinations, and family planning.

The staff at a CSPS includes several nurses appointed and paid by the state. There also are community-selected and paid employees that include the pharmacists, guards, janitors, ambulance drivers, etc. The head nurse usually has three years of education past high school and passed exams to reach a specific certification. He (or very rarely she) is called the Major. Other nurses often complete a two year program and certification. Some are specifically trained as midwives to deliver babies and give pre-natal consultations. Others are trained for immunization programs. In reality, most nurses provide a wide variety of services and have to fill in for each other often.

There often are community health agents and village midwifes selected by the community to help the CSPS with programs such as vaccination campaigns, educating the population on a variety of health topics, and encouraging villagers to utilize CSPS services.

The CSPS is overseen by a community-elected board called the COGES (Comite de Gestion--Rural Health Center Management Committee). Elections should be held every two years and nobody is allowed to serve more than four years. Committees are usually made up of six community members and the major. The COGES is the link between the community and the CSPS. The COGES makes money by charging consultation fees, evacuations (ambulance rides to the hospital), and medication sales. They then use this income to pay their staff other than the nurses, provide general upkeep of the CSPS, and purchase more medications. The idea is that this will keep a continuous stock of supplies at the CSPS instead of waiting for the national government to send new medications and constantly running out. There are still frequent ruptures of stock at many CSPSs but it probably is still more effective to have the community overseeing this than waiting for the state to handle any problems.

If anyone has any specific questions, I can try to find some answers though everything is still a bit blurry to me even though I've gone through lots of training and three months observing the operations at my CSPS!

Organic Undies

When I visited the US embassy back in early November, the ambassador mentioned a deal they helped broker with Victoria Secret for organic cotton. I recently heard that the organic bras and underwear made with cotton from Burkina Faso are now available. Check it out! They also have tanktops!

Babies

I’m not really sure what to call this blog or what to really write about but I want to share a few stories to help paint a better picture of what my experience here is like. I haven’t written much about my neighbors, the family whose compound I am living in, because I have been trying to figure out more about them and make the connections of who is related to whom. After three months living with this large extended family, I still haven’t figured it all out but I can give you a general idea.

The patriarch of the family is an elderly, blind man who along with his wife lives in a home that shares a wall with mine. I believe it is several of their sons and families that live in the compound. There also are two other older women that are somehow related. The kids tell me that there are four different fathers that live here but I can’t really keep them straight because I don’t spend a lot of time with them and only can identify two, one who is the traditional leader or chief for our neighborhood. Several of these men have more than one wife and there is at least one women living in the compound whose husband is away working in the city and hasn’t returned for at least a year. This is not all that uncommon in Burkina Faso as many people (especially men) migrate for work and may only return to their families once a year or less often. Anyways I think I have counted that there are eight mothers in the family ranging in age probably from 20 to 50.

The newest mother gave birth in January to a beautiful baby girl that I love to hold and play with. It has been fun to see how she is growing into her role as mother but also makes me realize how different our lives are as she is a year younger than me and has had very little education. She is the only woman in the family that speaks any French though and we still struggle to communicate. She brought her baby, Lohaimato, in for her first baby weighing last week and I was excited to record that she is a healthy weight. I hope to say the same when I leave in two years and when she will complete her monthly weigh-ins at the health center. The other mothers all have children ranging in age from a few months to late teens. The oldest girl in the family is 19 and finishing up middle school; its not uncommon for youth to start school when they are older or to repeat grades. She is the child of relatives that live in a different village though and has been living with her extended family for the last five years to attend school. Her brother also lives in the compound and is the teacher at the madarasa (Islamic school) in my village.

Another woman in my family gave birth in my family last week, two days before I left for IST. This is the first wife of the man whose second wife gave birth in January. Another girl! By reading the woman’s health card I learned that this was her seventh pregnancy, she already has two older children that I play with, has had three children that have died, and has had one miscarriage. She does not know her age but I can’t imagine she is much over 30. It is so sad to hear about how many pregnancies she has had. I have read about Burkina’s high infant mortality rate but its not the same as when I meet women that have lost multiple children.

I guess the delivery went well and she walked home with the baby a few hours after giving birth. Again this is not unusual here! Thankfully most women are now giving birth at the health center though this wasn’t the case only a few years ago. Part of the increase is due to education and part because the government now subsidizes a good chunk of the cost to the health center. It now costs 900 CFA (about $2) for a normal delivery.

The day after the baby was born, several of the women called me over to see it and tell me it was sick. According to Bissa and Muslim tradition, babies are kept inside for 7 days after birth and no visitors are welcomed until the baby-naming ceremony and baptism when they are a week old. Therefore I was surprised that they wanted me to see the baby. They were concerned because her body was hot and they didn’t know what was wrong. The family knows I work at the health center and assumes I am a medical professional even though I have said I am not a nurse. I pulled out my “Where There Is No Doctor” book to try to learn why a newborn might have a fever. My immediate response was to go to the health center but they wanted to wait to see if it would go away. My book said that a fever over 103 degrees was a sign of an infection so I took the temp and it was at 104! They had the baby all wrapped up in clothes and fabric like they always do with infants. I told them to take the clothes off and try to cool her off by putting wet clothes on her head and showed her a picture from the book of this. They didn’t want to since this goes completely against what they are used to doing. They asked about giving her cholorquine, an anti-malarial they purchased at the market. I convinced them that it wasn’t a good idea since it would be too difficult to measure how much to give such a tiny baby and I didn’t think malaria was the concern. I didn’t know what to do but was so scared for this one day old baby, especially after reading about how many of the mother’s other children had died. I was worried I might be over-reacting and letting my American culture to always go to the doctor influence my advice to the family. They didn’t want to go in so I went to get advice from my midwife. She said the baby probably had an infection and needed antibiotics right away so I went home to tell the family. By having the older children translate this to the mother and agreeing to go with mom and baby to the health center, I finally convinced them to go.

I didn’t realize at the time what I was agreeing to by saying I would go with. We walked to the health center and I found the midwife who had already gone home for the evening to come back and see the baby. She wrote out prescriptions and the mother handed me the sheet. I was confused but walked to the pharmacy with her. When it came time to pay there was some confusion and I told the pharmacist she was paying. He asked her in Bissa for the money and from what I could understand of her response she thought since I told her to go and said I would come too, I would being paying for the medications. I agreed to pay for the medications because she had brought no money. It totaled about $7, a very little sum but probably what they would pay for two weeks of food here and what I spend in a month in village. Its not a big deal that I paid but it is so representative of situations I constantly face in village.

Multiple times in a day I am being asked for things: clothes, food, money, bike, a relationship, etc. It makes me uncomfortable and I am never sure how to respond. I want to help people but know that me giving them things is not sustainable and is not going to help them in the long run. Peace Corps’ philosophy is to work with the community, not to just give stuff. So many NGOs (Non-governmental Organizations) come to Africa and drop off huge quantities of goods and then leave. This is not how Peace Corps works and is definitely not what I want to do while I am here. I know that many of you at home would be willing to donate money or items to my community but if I give it to them, they will think I am just like any other NGO. There may come a time in the future that I do ask for donations after I have been here longer and have been able to start projects along with the community but not at this point. I hope that this makes some sense to all of you living in the land of consumerism. I work so hard in village to show that I am trying to live at their level. I purposefully don’t buy soda or treats in village because I don’t want to seem like I have a lot of excess money (and the cokes are warm so not so refreshing!). I do buy what I need and enjoy treats that I get in Ouaga and from care packages (and I LOVE my care packages!!!!) but I don’t want everyone to know about these delicacies because I can’t share with everyone and I don’t want to perpetuate this idea of the rich American. I do try to share occasionally but its hard to find a balance. I am rich by their standards even though my Peace Corps stipend attempts to have me live at their level. For people that have no jobs, any income is more than they are used to.

Last week I also met with a group of villagers to discuss the community’s needs related to health. I thought for a long time about what question to ask to start our discussion and finally decided on “What can we do to improve the health of the community?” I expected answers such as educate the population on specific health topics such as malaria, hygiene, HIV/AIDS or increase the number of outreach visits to other villages served by the community. The group I spoke with brought up a lot of things including those I had expected but when it came down to deciding on the most important thing, they told me they needed a hanger for people waiting at the health center (can’t think of what we call this but its like an awning or a picnic shelter at the park). When pressed on how this would improve the health, no one could explain it to me but they were sure that it would and that it was needed. I was obviously very frustrated and felt that the color of my skin and my nationality were sending the message that I would be able to buy things for them instead of work with them on projects. The discussion was basically left at that once I started asking what we would do together to build this and they realized I would not be paying for it on my own.

So back to the new baby…they put her on an IV anti-malarial treatment along with antibiotics and she spent the night at the health center with her mom and grandma. I stopped by the next morning before I had to leave village and her fever was down. I am really hoping that she is happy and bigger when I see her after three weeks. I posted a picture from the day she was born and will try to take another when I get home. I believe I made the right decision to pay for her medications because she really needed it and I was worried about her family waiting to take her in. I may also have been able to show them that it was important and necessary to get care before it is too late. At the same time, I am afraid that I taught them that if they wait long enough and I am scared enough for the health of their children, I will take the kids in and pay for their care. I don’t want to be pessimistic but its hard not to be sometimes when you are constantly asked for stuff.

I would love to hear comments and opinions from you guys—former PCVs, others that have been in similar situations, and friends and family that may struggle to relate to what I am going through. What would you have done? What can I do in the future to encourage utilization of the health center without involving money? What are your thoughts?

Pics

I posted pictures of my family, the health center, and a few from my house. Take a look!

Disclaimer: I wasn't sure how to spell some names so mostly wrote them phonetically. No promises that they are correct but there are so many variations on spelling for one individual's name that I figure its normal here!

International Womens Day

March 8 is Womens Day, a holiday celebrated around the world including Burkina Faso though its often ignored in the United States. I first learned about the importance of the day when I was working with high school students from Ukraine and Russia on the 4-H FLEX exchange. Several of them told me what a big holiday it was at home and about their traditions for celebrating it.

I have been very excited for the day to arrive since I first got to Burkina over 5 months ago--can you believe its been that long? Of course I am always excited for anything that has to do with gender equality and feminism so it seemed like the perfect holiday for me! Pagnes --printed fabric sold in pieces about a meter and a half long -- are used by everyone here to make clothes, tie babies to your back, etc. Every year the government puts out a special pagne just for International Womens Day and its very popular. I have been seeing women and men wear outfits made out of the pagne from previous years and couldnt wait to get the 2009 pagne. This year the pagne design came in 3 different colors so it was a tough decision which I wanted to get! A few weeks ago my midwife, my counterparts wife, and I all bought matching 8 mars pagnes and I took mine to the tailor to get a comple made. Since March 8 fell on a Sunday, the holiday was observed on Monday with schools and other offices being closed so I wore my outfit that day. I didnt get a picture than but still want to get one of all my village friends and I in are matching outfits! Since people dont have a lot of clothes here they continue to wear the same pagen for several years until it is worn out.

On the actual holiday, there wasnt a whole lot going on in my village other than a big soccer game between two groups of women. Doesnt sound that unusual for the US but here women dont really play sports. I had been telling my neighbor girls that I wanted to play since I had played in high school but nothing ever really happened with that. I went with them to watch the game on Sunday afternoon and eventually decided to just go ask if I could join in. A couple hundred people showed up to watch the game and it was a lot of fun. I think everyone really loved that the one nasara in village was playing! I found it difficult since the field was basically a sandbox and it is so hot and dry here already without trying to run through loose dirt and sand!! We all were pretty bad at playing but had a good time making fools of ourselves!!

Just before I left village I found out that the Minister for the Promotion of Women is coming to my village to put on a big event at the end of the month in honor of International Womens Day. Everyone is very excited for the fete and was talking about what a great time it would be. I am very disappointed to have to miss this since I still will be in training at the time. Maybe next year....

Internet Access

Just a quick note that I am at IST -- In-Service Training -- for the next three weeks so will have good access to the internet every few days. If anybody is interested in emailing me, now is a great time!!

I have a couple blogs to type up and post but will do that later after I catch up on e-mails. Also I have taken a bunch of photos to load up when I have a lot of time and a faster connection! Get excited!

Happy Saint Patricks Day tomorrow!!!! I plan to wear a green shirt and enjoy a cold beer to celebrate!

FESPACO

I am back in Ouaga after a short week in village to enjoy FESPACO, the huge international film festival held in Burkina Faso every two years. This is the fortieth anniversary of the festival and I felt like it was something I could not miss since I probably will be back in the States before the next one. There are over 300 films from around the world being shown in theatres throughout the city during the weeklong festival. There are a variety of theatres ranging from new stadium style air conditioned places selling popcorn and soda and others being outdoor seating on cement benches. I have only seen one film so far but hope to make it to one or two more today. There are tons of volunteers in town so it has been fun to catch up with them and meet new people as well as run errands in the big city. There also is a market for the festival and I enjoyed looking at arts and crafts from around West Africa. I made a few small purchases though so much of what I saw are things I would want to take back to the U.S. so will wait to purchase later on.

The film I saw was called Ouaga Battle so takes place in Burkina Faso. I am happy to have seen a film from here since Burkina is actually well-known for their film industry though it is fairly small. The movie was about rival hip-hop groups and had lots of interesting dance scenes. I felt like I understood most of the dialogue which was French and a little Moore with French subtitles but still struggled to understand the overall film. It was shown in an outdoor theatre on the far edge of the city so was enjoyable to sit outside under the moon and stars and watch a movie. The director of the film was sitting near us and asked us what we thought after the movie. Its not everyday you get to meet the folks that actually create the movie you just watched!

My Rough Guide to West Africa informed me that FESPACO was started by the government of Burkina Faso in order to break free from the colonial hold of France and the French film industry. I guess its fairly uncommon to have a nationalized film industry and Burkina has been fairly successful. Along with the festival, the government also provides equipment to crews producing films and there are several film schools in the country.

HIV/AIDS Training of Trainers

First off, I want everyone to know that I am doing well and am not depressed no matter how much it might have come across that way in my blog from a month ago. I really didn't mean to sound so down and was shocked at the number of e-mails and notes I have gotten from people trying to cheer me up and wanting to make sure I was ok. I think its important to share what I am really going through as a Peace Corps Volunteer though and its not all wonderful. I feel like its important to talk about the challenges of adjusting to site and don't want future volunteers or anyone reading this to think that this is an easy experience. I am still facing challenges on an almost daily basis but I would say everything is getting easier overall. I have gotten to know people in village better and there are a few I would almost consider friends. I am also finding it easier to express myself with my co-workers. I have been away from site for a week now and know that it is going to be strange and difficult when I return home tomorrow. Yes, my village is starting to feel like home and I didn't really want to leave last Monday though I have had some great experiences this past week.

I posted two blogs earlier in the week that I had composed in my head and in jumbled notes while at site. I think I might try to do that from now on since I often think of things I want to share when I am nowhere near a computer or internet. No pictures to post this time though because I wasn't planning on having access to a decent internet connection so don't have the cable to connect my camera.

OK so why have I been away from site so long you ask? I attended an HIV/AIDS Training of Trainers Conference in Koupela during the week. From what I understand, Peace Corps Burkina was awarded grant money from PEPFAR so decided to put on four regional conferences throughout the country for volunteers to attend with people from their communities. Koupela is a fairly small city with about 18,000 inhabitants but it is located at a major crossroads for those traveling between Ouaga, Fada in the east, and Tenkodogo and the Togo border in the south. For this reason, there is a lot of activity in the city and we were able to enjoy some great food including pizza, brochettes (like meat kabobs--yes I am now eating meat when I get to the city), and cold beer, soda, and yogurt. (It seems like all I do is talk about food but I hope everyone understands how much pleasure I get from eating these days!)

I took four women with me to learn about HIV/AIDS with the goal that they will return to village and share the information with others. (Thats why its called a Training of Trainers.) My participants were all village women with little education including the assistant midwife, my Bissa tutor and all-around amazing woman, the 19 year old daughter of the president of the health center board, and a woman from one of my satellite villages that is located pretty far away from the health center. There were eight other volunteers at the conference along with their community members. I was surprised at how little the participants knew about HIV/AIDS and am excited to see how they share the information they received when back in the villages.

We covered a variety of topics including: modes of transmission, body fluids that transmit the virus, social & biological vulnerability for females, how to care for people living with HIV/AIDS, and prevention of mother to child transmission. Other sessions included coming up with responses to saying no to sex and refusing sex without a condom and role plays for what to do in a variety of situations including topics such as teaching condom use in schools and doctor/patient confidentiality when an HIV positive individual refuses to share his status with his partners. (Just a quick note that a recent law in Burkina allows doctors to share a patient's status with his/her partners if he/she refuses to do it him/herself.) A favorite activity was male and female condom demonstrations. None of the participants knew there was such a thing as a female condom so were excited to learn how they work. Each group was also given a wooden penis to take back to village for future demonstrations on how to correctly use a male condom. My women were very embarrassed by this but did promise me that they will help with information sessions including demonstrations. The conference ended with each group putting together an action plan. My women decided that we will conduct sensibilizations (French word meaning something like educational workshop or session) for pregnant women coming to the maternity for prenatal exams, at the schools after getting approval from the parent teacher association, and to each quartier (like a small neighborhood) served by the health center. I also said I wanted to work with the theatre and dance groups in the village to see about the possibility of including health topics in their skits and/or doing condom demonstrations before performances. I think these are some ambitious goals so we'll have to see what actually is accomplished. No matter what, these women had an opportunity to gain so much knowledge and I am sure will share it in small ways with those around them.

After the conference ended, I made an unexpected trip to Ouaga to deal with some medical issues. I am doing fine and its nice to enjoy a relaxing, quiet weekend in the city. Friday night I was even able to attend a party at the Ambassador's house with two other PCVs. The US Ambassador to Burkina Faso is taking a new post in Iraq so will be leaving in about two weeks. In order to say good-bye, she had a potluck for all Americans living in Burkina. There was so much amazing food including desserts and we all gorged ourselves silly! Probably not the best idea but once again I took great pleasure in enjoying some American food! We walked home from the embassy (about 45 minutes) in order to let our stomachs settle a bit!

Tomorrow I am hoping to head back to site and help with the end of the tetanus vaccination campaign that I have missed most of this weekend. We then will be starting round two of the polio campaign and I will be headed back to Ouaga next weekend for FESPACO, a biannual film festival. I have another two weeks at site and then will be attending three weeks of In-Service Training. All of this travelling seems crazy but everything just happened to fall so close together.