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.
Friday, August 28, 2009
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.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, August 3, 2009
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.
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.
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