Two Years of Changes

Up until just a few months ago I was not at all ready to leave my village or Burkina Faso. Its been a hard two years and I've definetly had my struggles but overall I have loved the last two years. I have learned and experienced so much that I never could have in the United States.

Its the little things that really made me feel like it was time to leave. The stuff that I have put up with for two years just started to get to me. I was sick of the difficulties in everyday life. I'm ready for modern conveniences and customer service again!

Even though I felt ready to leave, it still was difficult to say good-bye not knowing when, if ever, I would return and even if I do get back here, if all my friends will still be in village. I have watched the toddlers when I arrived grow into big kids and have seen babies born that are now walking & talking! I have developed close relationships with several individuals and it is hard to leave knowing these friendships will be hard to continue.

My village has also had lots of changes in two years. Just before I arrived a mayor's office, secondary school, and youth center were built. Since I arrived, they have laid pipes, built a water tower, and had faucets to sell tap water in each neighborhood. Unfortunately few people use this since they have to pay for water while pumps and wells are still free. They also bulldozed and created wide roads on a grid system (of course, it all was ruined during rainy season so were back to the same paths worn over many years as before). A women's center was built and officially opened by the First Lady of Burkina Faso but is still not being used. A community meeting room was built but groups are used to meeting under a large tree like has been done for hundreds of years. They also put up electrical lines and a power company building so electricity is coming very soon. They are in the process of putting up a cell phone tower so we now will have service from two of the three companies here.

Anyways, there have been a lot of visible changes over the past two years. Many of the development projects in the village seem like a waste of money but that has allowed me to better understand this frequent problem with development aid.