Ghana may have been the Gold Coast but Burkina sure seems to have a lot of gold these days as well. There are two small gold mines near my village that I have been hearing about since I arrived but was only able to first visit last fall. Since then I have gone back a few times and am fascinated by it. Many people have told me that around 2006 when the mines were at their peak, there were about 15,000 people living there, three times as many people as in my village. It has greatly decreased in size and I really am not sure how many people are there now; my guess is one or two thousand though the population is very transient so frequently changes. Most of the inhabitants are Mossi (a different ethnic group from my community) and are not from nearby. There are some folks from our area that move out there for an opportunity to strike it rich or to offer services to this population though such as small restaurants and boutiques.
The gold mines are within the area covered by my health center so folks living there will come into village for services as well as coming our market. Of course the gold has brought some wealth but more than this I think it has created many problems in the community. My family has fields near the gold mine and said that several years ago there were lots of issues with animals and crops disappearing. Another issue is that there are many young men living alone at the gold mine, either single or away from their wives, and so prositition is a problem. Prostition among a mobile population can lead to an increased tranmission of HIV/AIDS and we have seen a few cases of women from my village that are known to hang out at the gold mine that have tested positive.
This is the information I knew about the gold mine before going but I really wasn't sure what to expect. The first time I visited was with my major during a tetanus vaccination campaign. I was shocked at how temporary the area looked considering people had been living there at least 4 years. In most villages here, homes are made of mud or cement bricks but at the gold mine, houses were more like lean-tos made from woven straw and plastic sheets. It is a lot like I imagine a refugee camp. The first visit was very short since we had a lot of work to do in other villages as well and I didn't get to look around much.
I then biked out to the gold mine in December with my friend and her niece, a university student on break. She had made dolo and wanted to sell it out there so I was happy to go along. Most of the day was spent sitting under a tree talking to the folks that were taking a break from their work to enjoy a calabash of dolo but I also had a chance to walk around and see the process used to extract gold. I need to first admit to everyone that I really have no clue how this works and how a rock becomes the gold earrings someone makes. On my little "tour" everything was translated from Bissa and Moore to French for me so I know there was a lot being explained that I didn't catch.
Basically what is done though is that lots of pits are dug out in the bush and they take rocks from the pits and then break them up into smaller rocks and eventually into small pebbles which are mixed with water to a make a sludge which is then filtered out to find the gold that is left behind. This is then mixed with mercury to become gold. Or something like that. I'm sure others could explain better but it was these multiple steps that I saw. Once they have flakes of gold, they have a small balance scale to weigh it against the weight of one or a few matches or a 1 CFA coin. The gold is then taken to Ouaga to be sold and shipped.
I made another trip to the gold mine last week when my friend Yoshi visited. I had told her about my experiences there so she was curious to see. This was my first time going alone and unfortunately I couldn't remember exactly which dirt path to take. We ended up very lost in the bush and even when we ran into someone, nobody spoke any French or understand what we were looking for. We did eventually the gold mine but we were definetly on a treasure hunt up until then. By the time we found the gold at the end of one small dirt road, we felt like we had found the jackpot even if we couldn't keep any of the gold!
I hope to continue going out to the gold mine and maybe even trying to do some programs and sensibilizations since I think there is a need for increased health education among this population.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Thursday, December 3, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
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!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
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!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
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!
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!
Monday, October 12, 2009
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.
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.
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.
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