Hot season is in full force and I forgot just how awful it gets. I think we've been hitting highs at about 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit every day and it maybe cools down to 90 degrees at night. Here's a few anecdotes just to help everyone back home understand my suffering. I have been sleeping outside for about 2 months now because my little cement house with tin roof becomes an oven throughout the day and doesn't cool off until 2 or 3 am. I am up before 6 am every morning because its too hot to sleep any longer. By 9 am I am sweating profusely even if all I am doing is sitting in the shade. My Blue Band margarine is no longer a solid. Leftovers (which I used to be able to keep for a day) start smelling really funky after 2 or 3 hours. My metal chairs are uncomfortably hot to touch even when they are in the shade. Puppy hates the heat so much that he stares up at me and whines hoping I'll make it cooler somehow. He really likes it when I pour water on the dirt or sand and he digs himself a bed since its cooler. After my bucket baths, I can't tell if I'm still wet or already covered in sweat again. In the city, where they have such amazing amenities as fans and showers, many of the freezers cannot get cold enough to make ice.
The one thankful thing is that the humidity is still very low here so everything dries really quickly (a wet cotton tshirt is probably dry in 20 minutes). The rains will start in about a month though and then it will get humid and thats a whole other problem until rainy season really starts in June & July.
I read a great quote lately that I think is great for Peace Corps both literally and figuratively.
The more we sweat in peace, the less we bleed in war.
-Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
A PCV friend also shared another great quote with me that sums up my PC experience.
You cannot do great things but you can do small things with great love.
-Mother Theresa
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Recent Activities
I have done a few fun things lately that I thought I’d share with you all. My Girls Club continues to meet each Sunday. We play games, dance, chat, and I try to teach about a different health topic each week. We spent about the last two months covering reproductive health with specific topics on puberty, male and female reproductive anatomy, the menstrual cycle, family planning, and pregnancy. I was shocked at how little the girls new but happy to see their interest in learning more and asking questions. Over the weeks they started to put information together and relate things to what we had talked about early. I feel like this is so rare here where the school system asks for rote memorization and students rarely really understand a concept.
We’ve also been lucky to have a few guests come do activities with the girls. In January, my friend Yoshi, a Japanese volunteer, came for a project she is working on. A Japanese doctor that worked in Cambodia started it by asking youth to draw a picture of what is most important to them. He then compiled these illustrations into a book with photos of the artists and some background info. The project has grown and he is collecting pictures from around the world so Yoshi asked my girls to draw pictures. She kept the pictures but gave each girl a pack of crayons. I’ll try to post pictures later since I don’t have them here.
My friend and PCV neighbor Dylan also came one Sunday to teach the girls how to use a computer. This is something they had been requesting since the group first started but I had never gotten around to organizing. Dylan teaches IT at a high school so was happy to work with my girls as well. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before but the school in my village has a computer lab with amazing new computers that run off solar panels. They were donated by an NGO about 2 years ago but are rarely ever used for a variety of reasons mostly boiling down to the fact that it was not something needed in my community but rather an NGO coming in and saying “here take these.” I was able to get permission for our group and the girls loved having a chance to play on them. Dylan taught them how to use the mouse, find a program, and the very basics of Word. We realized they were struggling with the mouse so then had them all use the Paint program and they enjoyed making designs. We are hoping to do more computer programs this summer when Dylan doesn’t have classes to teach.
Back in February, there was a huge bike race in Tenkodogo. This annual event is put on by the Minister of Foreign Affairs who happens to be from my village so my community gets very excited for it. Before the big event, there are qualifier races in all of the towns in our region to find the top three men and top three women to compete in Tenkodogo. Last year I went with some folks from village and was told to sit with all chiefs so it was me and lots of old men watching bikes go back and forth. As you can imagine, it was a long day. This year I met up with several friends to watch the race so much more fun. In order to make the event more interesting there also are entertainers and musicians. A comedian from my community wore a crazy outfit and pretended to race along with the bikes. He also happened to be our soccer coach and dressed in drag for International Women’s Day. Also from my village is a group of girls that do traditional Bissa dancing. They are amazing and everyone loves watching them. I have wanted to get pictures and video for a long time but am never close enough or don’t have my camera with. I finally got my chance after the race when my friends and I went for lunch at a nearby restaurant. The girls and their musicians also came to eat and afterwards started dancing just for fun. Unfortunately the internet has been running really slow and I can’t get my videos to upload. Hopefully coming soon though!
This past weekend was very busy for me as you can read partially about in the 8 mars post but also because I came into Ouaga Friday for the twice annual COS party held in honor of a group of volunteers leaving in a couple months. This is the only time that almost all the volunteers come together so it really fun to catch up with everyone that I rarely see. This time the theme was Rubics Cube. I’ve never heard of a party like this before but it was a blast. Everybody comes dressed in 6 items of different colors—orange, red, blue, green, yellow, and white. Throughout the night, you are supposed to trade items so by the end of the night you are a solid color. Many people found crazy clothes and accessories at the market most of which is the stuff that Americans donate to Good Will or St Vinnies and end up getting shipped to Africa and sold. The party was a blast though I ended up getting to bed in the wee hours of the morning and had to be up at 5 am to catch a ride back to village for the second fete of the weekend.
We’ve also been lucky to have a few guests come do activities with the girls. In January, my friend Yoshi, a Japanese volunteer, came for a project she is working on. A Japanese doctor that worked in Cambodia started it by asking youth to draw a picture of what is most important to them. He then compiled these illustrations into a book with photos of the artists and some background info. The project has grown and he is collecting pictures from around the world so Yoshi asked my girls to draw pictures. She kept the pictures but gave each girl a pack of crayons. I’ll try to post pictures later since I don’t have them here.
My friend and PCV neighbor Dylan also came one Sunday to teach the girls how to use a computer. This is something they had been requesting since the group first started but I had never gotten around to organizing. Dylan teaches IT at a high school so was happy to work with my girls as well. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before but the school in my village has a computer lab with amazing new computers that run off solar panels. They were donated by an NGO about 2 years ago but are rarely ever used for a variety of reasons mostly boiling down to the fact that it was not something needed in my community but rather an NGO coming in and saying “here take these.” I was able to get permission for our group and the girls loved having a chance to play on them. Dylan taught them how to use the mouse, find a program, and the very basics of Word. We realized they were struggling with the mouse so then had them all use the Paint program and they enjoyed making designs. We are hoping to do more computer programs this summer when Dylan doesn’t have classes to teach.
Back in February, there was a huge bike race in Tenkodogo. This annual event is put on by the Minister of Foreign Affairs who happens to be from my village so my community gets very excited for it. Before the big event, there are qualifier races in all of the towns in our region to find the top three men and top three women to compete in Tenkodogo. Last year I went with some folks from village and was told to sit with all chiefs so it was me and lots of old men watching bikes go back and forth. As you can imagine, it was a long day. This year I met up with several friends to watch the race so much more fun. In order to make the event more interesting there also are entertainers and musicians. A comedian from my community wore a crazy outfit and pretended to race along with the bikes. He also happened to be our soccer coach and dressed in drag for International Women’s Day. Also from my village is a group of girls that do traditional Bissa dancing. They are amazing and everyone loves watching them. I have wanted to get pictures and video for a long time but am never close enough or don’t have my camera with. I finally got my chance after the race when my friends and I went for lunch at a nearby restaurant. The girls and their musicians also came to eat and afterwards started dancing just for fun. Unfortunately the internet has been running really slow and I can’t get my videos to upload. Hopefully coming soon though!
This past weekend was very busy for me as you can read partially about in the 8 mars post but also because I came into Ouaga Friday for the twice annual COS party held in honor of a group of volunteers leaving in a couple months. This is the only time that almost all the volunteers come together so it really fun to catch up with everyone that I rarely see. This time the theme was Rubics Cube. I’ve never heard of a party like this before but it was a blast. Everybody comes dressed in 6 items of different colors—orange, red, blue, green, yellow, and white. Throughout the night, you are supposed to trade items so by the end of the night you are a solid color. Many people found crazy clothes and accessories at the market most of which is the stuff that Americans donate to Good Will or St Vinnies and end up getting shipped to Africa and sold. The party was a blast though I ended up getting to bed in the wee hours of the morning and had to be up at 5 am to catch a ride back to village for the second fete of the weekend.
Monday, March 29, 2010
8 Mars
8 mars, or March 8, is International Women's Day and is a national holiday here in Burkina Faso. I know I talked about it last year but figure I will share with you my experiences this year. On the actual day, we didn't do a whole lot in my village though I know it is often a big deal in the cities. We were in the middle of a polio vaccination campaign so had a lot of work and not much time for fete-ing. That said, there was a soccer game late in the afternoon and I played again this year. All the women and older girls that were interested in playing divided into two teams. Several hundred people came out to watch so we had a great time making huge fools of ourselves. Every year there is a pagne, wild print fabric, made for the holiday and many people get outfits made for the celebration as well.
This past weekend was our actual fete in celebration of international women's day and it was quite the event. Our village recently finished building a Maison de la Femme, kinda like a women's center. I'm not sure how it will be used since the Maison de le Jeune, or youth center, isn't really used much. Personally, I think both projects were built with NGO funding a project that was unnecessary and doesn't meet the actual needs of the community. Welcome to the world of development work though. Anyways, the chief of my village is married to the Minister of the Promotion of Women so she is the one that actual throws our fete. I guess since she is always busy on the actual holiday with the nationwide fete, she chooses a date at the end of the month to throw a celebration in her husband's village. I think it has been a big celebration for the past few years but this year was even grander than usual because of a special guest of honor. The First Lady of Burkina Faso, Madame Chantal Compaore, came for the ceremony to open our new Maison de la Femme.
As I rode into village the morning of the fete, I was shocked at the hundreds of people biking and walking along the road starting about 20 km away all headed to the party. Once I was close to village, I ended up having to walk because there were so many people the vehicle couldn't get through. I walked over to the area where the big ceremony was just starting and was overwhelmed by the thousands of people hanging out. I saw a few people I knew but didn't recognize a large majority which is unusual for me in village. I finally found my CSPS ambulance and our driver who were ready for any emergencies or accidents and he pushed me through the crowd to an area with chairs on the side to watch the ceremony. The event started with a "parade" of women from many of the surrounding villages weaving through the crowds in a funny marching pattern. There were many different speakers as well as performances by some popular musicians. The girls group that does traditional Bissa dancing also performed.
Afterwards, I headed home to relax since I had gotten only a few hours of sleep the night before. Later I went over to the minister's house when my APCD Dr Claude (basically my boss in PC) called me to come meet Chantal. Dr Claude's husband is the head of the Supreme Court so she is friendly with many of the most powerful people here. I had to get through several guards and police and was asked to confirm my name so that I could enter. I found this funny that since I was the only white person in the village so they had to have known it was me. Anyways I was introduced to Chantal and she asked me about speaking Bissa and how to greet someone.
Even more amazing then the First Lady visiting my village though was how she travelled the 140 or so kilometers from Ouaga. She came in a huge military helicopter! And where did this helicopter park? Right behind my house, next to my family's garden. I think nobody had ever seen a helicopter before so at any given time there were at least 500 people hanging out around my house staring at the helicopter. When she was ready to leave in the afternoon everyone was awestruck as the propellers started turning. Once there was actually lift-off though everybody freaked out and ducked like they would get hit. It flew right over my house on its route back to Ouaga.
That afternoon was another soccer game. This time we were more prepared and much more pressured to win since we were playing women from the next village over and had lost last year. We had soccer practice every night the week before the fete so didn't look like quite so big of fools as we did at the first game. I know I'm not very athletic but its so much harder for me to play here for several reasons. First off it is damn hot and sunny in Burkina Faso and March is the beginning of hot season which makes it even worse! Its also really dry and dusty here on the edge of the Sahara so my mouth and throat feel coated in dust and its difficult to breath after running a little. Finally our "soccer field" is in awful shape. The ground isn't flat and there are lots of potholes so you always have to be careful running to avoid falling. In some sections the ground is super hard, packed dirt but in other places there is lose sand which is extremely difficult to run through and definitely slows you down if you are trying move with the ball. Added to this fact I might have had too much to drink the night before and was already dehydrated before starting to play so had some difficulties at the game. Neither team scored during the game but we won in penalty kicks so everyone was excited with lots of shouting and dancing.
There was a dance later in the night but I was too worn out to go out again. The next day I hung out at my chief and Madame le Minister's house because they offered to give me a ride to Ouaga where I had work to do. I think in most villages, the chief actually lives there and plays a fairly important role. This isn't true for my village though since the chief lives in Ouaga and only occasionally comes back. He has more of a ceremonial position. Instead our Chef de Terre(directly translated is Chief of the Earth but more like chief in charge of traditions as well as farming and hunting) is the one that seems to help in disputes and serve as the "leader" of our village.
This past weekend was our actual fete in celebration of international women's day and it was quite the event. Our village recently finished building a Maison de la Femme, kinda like a women's center. I'm not sure how it will be used since the Maison de le Jeune, or youth center, isn't really used much. Personally, I think both projects were built with NGO funding a project that was unnecessary and doesn't meet the actual needs of the community. Welcome to the world of development work though. Anyways, the chief of my village is married to the Minister of the Promotion of Women so she is the one that actual throws our fete. I guess since she is always busy on the actual holiday with the nationwide fete, she chooses a date at the end of the month to throw a celebration in her husband's village. I think it has been a big celebration for the past few years but this year was even grander than usual because of a special guest of honor. The First Lady of Burkina Faso, Madame Chantal Compaore, came for the ceremony to open our new Maison de la Femme.
As I rode into village the morning of the fete, I was shocked at the hundreds of people biking and walking along the road starting about 20 km away all headed to the party. Once I was close to village, I ended up having to walk because there were so many people the vehicle couldn't get through. I walked over to the area where the big ceremony was just starting and was overwhelmed by the thousands of people hanging out. I saw a few people I knew but didn't recognize a large majority which is unusual for me in village. I finally found my CSPS ambulance and our driver who were ready for any emergencies or accidents and he pushed me through the crowd to an area with chairs on the side to watch the ceremony. The event started with a "parade" of women from many of the surrounding villages weaving through the crowds in a funny marching pattern. There were many different speakers as well as performances by some popular musicians. The girls group that does traditional Bissa dancing also performed.
Afterwards, I headed home to relax since I had gotten only a few hours of sleep the night before. Later I went over to the minister's house when my APCD Dr Claude (basically my boss in PC) called me to come meet Chantal. Dr Claude's husband is the head of the Supreme Court so she is friendly with many of the most powerful people here. I had to get through several guards and police and was asked to confirm my name so that I could enter. I found this funny that since I was the only white person in the village so they had to have known it was me. Anyways I was introduced to Chantal and she asked me about speaking Bissa and how to greet someone.
Even more amazing then the First Lady visiting my village though was how she travelled the 140 or so kilometers from Ouaga. She came in a huge military helicopter! And where did this helicopter park? Right behind my house, next to my family's garden. I think nobody had ever seen a helicopter before so at any given time there were at least 500 people hanging out around my house staring at the helicopter. When she was ready to leave in the afternoon everyone was awestruck as the propellers started turning. Once there was actually lift-off though everybody freaked out and ducked like they would get hit. It flew right over my house on its route back to Ouaga.
That afternoon was another soccer game. This time we were more prepared and much more pressured to win since we were playing women from the next village over and had lost last year. We had soccer practice every night the week before the fete so didn't look like quite so big of fools as we did at the first game. I know I'm not very athletic but its so much harder for me to play here for several reasons. First off it is damn hot and sunny in Burkina Faso and March is the beginning of hot season which makes it even worse! Its also really dry and dusty here on the edge of the Sahara so my mouth and throat feel coated in dust and its difficult to breath after running a little. Finally our "soccer field" is in awful shape. The ground isn't flat and there are lots of potholes so you always have to be careful running to avoid falling. In some sections the ground is super hard, packed dirt but in other places there is lose sand which is extremely difficult to run through and definitely slows you down if you are trying move with the ball. Added to this fact I might have had too much to drink the night before and was already dehydrated before starting to play so had some difficulties at the game. Neither team scored during the game but we won in penalty kicks so everyone was excited with lots of shouting and dancing.
There was a dance later in the night but I was too worn out to go out again. The next day I hung out at my chief and Madame le Minister's house because they offered to give me a ride to Ouaga where I had work to do. I think in most villages, the chief actually lives there and plays a fairly important role. This isn't true for my village though since the chief lives in Ouaga and only occasionally comes back. He has more of a ceremonial position. Instead our Chef de Terre(directly translated is Chief of the Earth but more like chief in charge of traditions as well as farming and hunting) is the one that seems to help in disputes and serve as the "leader" of our village.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Blog Posts
I was hoping I would get online and find several e-mails and/or comments on my last blog with ideas for topics to write about and am disappointed to find nothing waiting for me. I have no idea what to write about anymore so please ask me questions and give me ideas of topics. Thanks!
Hope everyone is enjoying spring in the US. We are definetly into hot season here and even the locals are saying its going to be a bad one. I know I survived last year but I am very scared for the next few months!
Hope everyone is enjoying spring in the US. We are definetly into hot season here and even the locals are saying its going to be a bad one. I know I survived last year but I am very scared for the next few months!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Hanging in Village
I am in Ouaga for the weekend after two months in village--thats two months without internet, showers, speaking English, eating good food, etc. This is definetly the longest I have stayed in village but I really don't feel like I was missing out on much. Now that I am back in the big city and online, I feel overwelmed by everything I need to do. I figure I should try to post a few blogs though as well. Its getting more and more difficult to come up with stuff to write about in my blog so I'll try to just update everyone but also would love to hear what questions you have or things you'd like me to write about.
I don't feel like I have been doing much but seem to be very busy. I had hoped to get a lot of projects started but it just takes so much time to get things going. It doesn't seem like I have done much work but I really haven't been bored or had nothing to do. Every evening I am shocked that the day is coming to an end when the sun starts to set. The days are just flying by! I spend every morning at my health center usually helping with prenatal consultations or baby weighings depending on the day. I also talk to women hanging around about breastfeeding and childhood nutrtion, prevention of mother to child HIV/AIDS transmission, and other health topics. Many afternoons I hang out with my friend Dabre or the women and children in my family.
I did leave village to celebrate Christmas in Tenkodogo with several Peace Corps and Japanese volunteers. Tenkodogo is about 40 km from my village and is my regional capital but I don't go there very often because transport isn't great and its just as easy to go to Ouaga. I'm good friends with Yoshi, a Japanese volunteer, there and am excited to now have a Peace Corps neighbor in the city as well. PC Guinea was evacuated in October and 5 volunteers came to Burkina including one in Tenkodogo. Dylan, my new neighbor, moved to site in early Dec. On Christmas eve, I biked from village to Tenkodogo, the longest ride I have ever done. It wasn't too bad of a ride but was complicated because I was carrying a puppy the whole 40 km in my front basket. I found an adorable puppy in village and claimed him for my own. A few weeks later Dylan told me he wanted a dog so as the amazing neighbor that I am, I decided to bring him the puppy for Christmas. Bob was pretty good riding in the basket but I think was very happy to be done when we arrived. Dylan biked out to visit me a few weeks ago and brought Bob along to see my dog and I so he is quite used to traveling now!
Anyways, there were six of us together in Tenkogodo for Christmas at Yoshi's house. Christmas Eve we made a paper tree with ornaments as well as cut out snowflakes. Yoshi and I then went to midnight mass at the large church in town. It was a huge service outside the church because there wouldn't be room for everyone inside. We somehow missed the memo that it was bring your own chair so weren't too excited about standing outside in the dark and the cold (yes Dec & Jan actually got cold at night!) listening to mass in Moore which neither of us understand. There was lots of singing but we really didn't know what was going on and were so far back that could barely see the priest. After about an hour of this, we couldn't stay awake any longer so headed home. The next day we had a lazy day hanging out, cooking, eating, and drinking lots of beer. Our traditional Christmas meal consisted of sushi and burritos. Yum!
I then biked back to village (much easier going home since I was with the wind and the route happened to be on a slight decline which I didn't realize as I was biking the first day) and continued celebrating with my friends in village. I spent New Years Eve in village and stayed up until 2 am--an unheard of hour for me in village. I hung out with some functionnaires up until midnight and then later checked out the big dance going on at my market where all the village young people were hanging out. Nothing exciting but I am glad to have seen the celebration. Also I think many people were happy that I stayed to celebrate in village. During the holidays here, as in the US, its common to go visit friends and family so I was happy to have a variety of village friends come and hang out at my house.
Our cold season in Burkina is coming to a close and it is once again hot and sunny during the day and hard to fall alseep at night because of the heat. It does eventually cool down around 4 am and feels good when I get up but is hot again by about 9 am. The Harmattan has hit though and the winds off the Sahara have made it even more dry, dusty, and super windy. Everything is constantly covered in a cover of dust, my nose, mouth and eyes are painfully dry, and its hard to bike because of the wind. I am trying to enjoy it though because I know once it stops, the hot season will be here and I am scared to think about that again!
Also I met my friend's niece over the holidays who is a law student at the University of Ouagadougou. She speaks a little English and is very interested in having a penpal in the US. I am wondering if anyone would be interested in writing to her occassionally. She has email so I can pass it on to you.
Finally I posted new pictures from the last couple months.
I don't feel like I have been doing much but seem to be very busy. I had hoped to get a lot of projects started but it just takes so much time to get things going. It doesn't seem like I have done much work but I really haven't been bored or had nothing to do. Every evening I am shocked that the day is coming to an end when the sun starts to set. The days are just flying by! I spend every morning at my health center usually helping with prenatal consultations or baby weighings depending on the day. I also talk to women hanging around about breastfeeding and childhood nutrtion, prevention of mother to child HIV/AIDS transmission, and other health topics. Many afternoons I hang out with my friend Dabre or the women and children in my family.
I did leave village to celebrate Christmas in Tenkodogo with several Peace Corps and Japanese volunteers. Tenkodogo is about 40 km from my village and is my regional capital but I don't go there very often because transport isn't great and its just as easy to go to Ouaga. I'm good friends with Yoshi, a Japanese volunteer, there and am excited to now have a Peace Corps neighbor in the city as well. PC Guinea was evacuated in October and 5 volunteers came to Burkina including one in Tenkodogo. Dylan, my new neighbor, moved to site in early Dec. On Christmas eve, I biked from village to Tenkodogo, the longest ride I have ever done. It wasn't too bad of a ride but was complicated because I was carrying a puppy the whole 40 km in my front basket. I found an adorable puppy in village and claimed him for my own. A few weeks later Dylan told me he wanted a dog so as the amazing neighbor that I am, I decided to bring him the puppy for Christmas. Bob was pretty good riding in the basket but I think was very happy to be done when we arrived. Dylan biked out to visit me a few weeks ago and brought Bob along to see my dog and I so he is quite used to traveling now!
Anyways, there were six of us together in Tenkogodo for Christmas at Yoshi's house. Christmas Eve we made a paper tree with ornaments as well as cut out snowflakes. Yoshi and I then went to midnight mass at the large church in town. It was a huge service outside the church because there wouldn't be room for everyone inside. We somehow missed the memo that it was bring your own chair so weren't too excited about standing outside in the dark and the cold (yes Dec & Jan actually got cold at night!) listening to mass in Moore which neither of us understand. There was lots of singing but we really didn't know what was going on and were so far back that could barely see the priest. After about an hour of this, we couldn't stay awake any longer so headed home. The next day we had a lazy day hanging out, cooking, eating, and drinking lots of beer. Our traditional Christmas meal consisted of sushi and burritos. Yum!
I then biked back to village (much easier going home since I was with the wind and the route happened to be on a slight decline which I didn't realize as I was biking the first day) and continued celebrating with my friends in village. I spent New Years Eve in village and stayed up until 2 am--an unheard of hour for me in village. I hung out with some functionnaires up until midnight and then later checked out the big dance going on at my market where all the village young people were hanging out. Nothing exciting but I am glad to have seen the celebration. Also I think many people were happy that I stayed to celebrate in village. During the holidays here, as in the US, its common to go visit friends and family so I was happy to have a variety of village friends come and hang out at my house.
Our cold season in Burkina is coming to a close and it is once again hot and sunny during the day and hard to fall alseep at night because of the heat. It does eventually cool down around 4 am and feels good when I get up but is hot again by about 9 am. The Harmattan has hit though and the winds off the Sahara have made it even more dry, dusty, and super windy. Everything is constantly covered in a cover of dust, my nose, mouth and eyes are painfully dry, and its hard to bike because of the wind. I am trying to enjoy it though because I know once it stops, the hot season will be here and I am scared to think about that again!
Also I met my friend's niece over the holidays who is a law student at the University of Ouagadougou. She speaks a little English and is very interested in having a penpal in the US. I am wondering if anyone would be interested in writing to her occassionally. She has email so I can pass it on to you.
Finally I posted new pictures from the last couple months.
Cabaret - Burkina Style
I know I have mentioned dolo in other blog posts but figure its time to talk about it a little more since I feel like so much of my time in village is spent at the cabaret. First an explanation of terminology. Dolo is the local brew here made from red sorghum. A cabaret is the "bar" where dolo is sold, usually just a shady spot under a tree or a small courtyard in someone's house. Dolo takes three days to make from when it is first started cooking until it is properly fermented. It is only made from women though both men and women (and children) partake in the drinking. Dolo tastes a lot like hard cider to me except its always warm or (Burkina) room temperature and I would never drink warm booze in the US.
I have enjoyed drinking dolo since I first arrived but it seems like it has become a much more regular part of my life in the last few months. I think part of this is I feel more integrated in my village and comfortable drinking and partly because sorghum was harvested in the fall so there is a lot more around and therefore more dolo being made. The family I live with and all of my neighborhood is Muslim and nobody drinks there so I have to go into the center of village to drink. I try to make it a point not to rub it in my family's face that I drink since I know they don't approve. That said word spreads quickly in village and gossip is rampant so I know that everybody knows and now realize its really not a big deal.
My best friend in village, Dabre, makes dolo occassionally and I enjoy helping her out. She first has to wash the sorghum and then leave it out to sprout. Then whenever she wants to make it, she cooks it down with water in a canary (huge clay pot) over a wood fire. This takes about a day or so until it tastes right. They then do something kind of like straining it so the liquid is put in another pot and the chunky sorghum that is left is saved to feed the pigs. This then sits overnight and ferments. The next morning (often starting at 6 or 7 am), its ready to begin selling.
I try to help with making it but usually don't do much. I am very much involved in the selling though. I guess everyone loves to buy dolo from the nasara (white girl) in village! There are a lot of traditions surrounding selling and drinking dolo. When someone shows up to the cabaret, they are given lengha (like a first taste) for free in a calabash. If it is good, they are then expected to buy more. They can get about a cup worth for 25 CFA or a liter for 100 CFA (about 20 cents). When someone requests it, you take it to them and squat down to hand it to them. You then take a sip first to show that it is safe and good before handing it to the customer. Everyone loves when I am willing to squat in front of them.
I also have recently invested in the dolo industry. The price of sorghum was going up a few weeks ago and my friend had the opportunity to buy about five huge grain sacks for $70 but didn't have the money to afford this since she hadn't yet made dolo from the last sorghum she bought. I bought the sorghum before prices raised with the agreement that I would be repaid once we make and sell dolo again. She has already repaid half and it is nice to be able to help in this way. I wouldn't feel comforable doing something like this with most people but this is my best friend and I am happy to help her increase her income since she can make a bigger profit if she can buy sorghum at a lower price. I feel like I have no money here but my PC monthly living stipend is still much higher than what many large families in village live on. I would like to do more to help but don't know how while still letting people see I am trying to live at the same level as them. I don't want to come across as the rich American with money to throw away since I do see the many NGOs that come through and waste money on unnecessary projects.
Didn't mean to turn this blog into a discussion of development work but I guess every part of my life comes back to that. Anyways I do enjoy my dolo and the community that surrounds partaking in this local Bukinabe beverage. I'd love to share it with you all but unfortunatley it doesn't last and has to be drank within about two days of being made.
I have enjoyed drinking dolo since I first arrived but it seems like it has become a much more regular part of my life in the last few months. I think part of this is I feel more integrated in my village and comfortable drinking and partly because sorghum was harvested in the fall so there is a lot more around and therefore more dolo being made. The family I live with and all of my neighborhood is Muslim and nobody drinks there so I have to go into the center of village to drink. I try to make it a point not to rub it in my family's face that I drink since I know they don't approve. That said word spreads quickly in village and gossip is rampant so I know that everybody knows and now realize its really not a big deal.
My best friend in village, Dabre, makes dolo occassionally and I enjoy helping her out. She first has to wash the sorghum and then leave it out to sprout. Then whenever she wants to make it, she cooks it down with water in a canary (huge clay pot) over a wood fire. This takes about a day or so until it tastes right. They then do something kind of like straining it so the liquid is put in another pot and the chunky sorghum that is left is saved to feed the pigs. This then sits overnight and ferments. The next morning (often starting at 6 or 7 am), its ready to begin selling.
I try to help with making it but usually don't do much. I am very much involved in the selling though. I guess everyone loves to buy dolo from the nasara (white girl) in village! There are a lot of traditions surrounding selling and drinking dolo. When someone shows up to the cabaret, they are given lengha (like a first taste) for free in a calabash. If it is good, they are then expected to buy more. They can get about a cup worth for 25 CFA or a liter for 100 CFA (about 20 cents). When someone requests it, you take it to them and squat down to hand it to them. You then take a sip first to show that it is safe and good before handing it to the customer. Everyone loves when I am willing to squat in front of them.
I also have recently invested in the dolo industry. The price of sorghum was going up a few weeks ago and my friend had the opportunity to buy about five huge grain sacks for $70 but didn't have the money to afford this since she hadn't yet made dolo from the last sorghum she bought. I bought the sorghum before prices raised with the agreement that I would be repaid once we make and sell dolo again. She has already repaid half and it is nice to be able to help in this way. I wouldn't feel comforable doing something like this with most people but this is my best friend and I am happy to help her increase her income since she can make a bigger profit if she can buy sorghum at a lower price. I feel like I have no money here but my PC monthly living stipend is still much higher than what many large families in village live on. I would like to do more to help but don't know how while still letting people see I am trying to live at the same level as them. I don't want to come across as the rich American with money to throw away since I do see the many NGOs that come through and waste money on unnecessary projects.
Didn't mean to turn this blog into a discussion of development work but I guess every part of my life comes back to that. Anyways I do enjoy my dolo and the community that surrounds partaking in this local Bukinabe beverage. I'd love to share it with you all but unfortunatley it doesn't last and has to be drank within about two days of being made.
Finding Gold at the End of the Dirt Road
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)