Demyst Weekend!

Two weekends ago, all of the PCTs participated in demystification, an activity designed for trainees to better understand the life of a PC Volunteer in Burkina Faso.  Before the weekend, we were split into groups of three or four stagieres, and each group was assigned a current PCV living somewhere in the country.  Each demyst group also had a Language and Culture Facilitator (LCF), or in my group's case, we had two LCFs.  The goal of the weekend was to travel with our groups on local transport and then spend the weekend with the PCV, learning about his or her daily life in Burkina Faso. 

                

On Thursday morning, all oft the PCTs departed for Ouaga on a PC bus.  During the morning, we had a security session at a hotel in the capital city, and then in the afternoon, we had a PC Bureau tour.  It was very impressive to see the resources that are available to us once we swear-in as official volunteers.  Later in the afternoon, we also traveled to the local depots/gares with our LCFs to pre-purchase tickets for our demyst trip, as we were not setting off on our adventure until Friday morning.  That evening, in Ouaga, all of the SED (small-enterprise development) trainees, including myself,  were invited to have dinner at the Assistant PC Director –SED (APCD) Dan's house.  We were thrilled to find out that he had made burritos and chips for dinner; we even had chocolate brownies for dessert!  We have only been in country for about a month, but all of us already miss the variety of American cuisine. 

                

The following morning, my group of four stagieres and our two LCFs piled into a taxi with our bikes and bags crammed into the trunk, and we set off for the gare to catch our noon bus.  After my time spent in Ghana riding tro-tros, I was prepared for less-than-ideal transport conditions.  However, our bus was not too bad by West African standards, though I was a little annoyed by the woman eating rice and beans next to me during our trip to Po.  Thankfully, our voyage from Ouaga to Po, the site of our demyst weekend, was only about 2.5 hours, and we were there without many delays (for Africa). 

                

Kathy, a middle-aged, wonderful, Texan who was our assigned volunteer, met us at the Po gare, and immediately I saw how well integrated she was into the community.  Kathy is a new volunteer and has only been at site for three months; she was with the big June stage.  Nevertheless, as we hopped on our bikes and headed to her house, Kathy greeted many people and pointed out landmarks along the way.  When we arrived at Kathy's compound, which she shares with a family, our group was very impressed by her site.  She has a pretty nice kitchen, especially as she brought a lot of utensils with her from the States.  She also had electricity, as well as fans, and in her (outdoor) latrine, Kathy had a porcelain toilet and shower!  Quite luxurious for Burkina Faso PCVs.

                

During our weekend in Po, we generally had a great time.  Kathy took us to the association with whom she works.  The association promotes sustainable agricultural and gardening techniques for many villages, and we learned the benefits of certain types to common trees and plants here in Burkina Faso.  In addition, during the weekend, we learned how to make liquid soap and bissap, a delicious drink here made with hibiscus leaves.  It was great for us to see what life is like in a small Burkinabe town for a PCV; it is very different than Stage here in Koudougou.

The best part of the weekend by far was the activities we did with the local kids for Halloween.  The Burkinabe kids do not celebrate/know Halloween, so we wanted to give them a bit of a taste of American Halloween.  On Saturday night (Oct. 30), we invited over some of the neighborhood kids (who quickly multiplied into a group of about 30-40) and helped them decorate masks made of brown paper.  They LOVED the masks; the Zorro-style was a big hit!  The following night (Halloween), the kids returned with their masks, and we decided to demonstrate how Halloween worked.  So we set up a mattress as a door, Grace and I quickly threw on costumes (I was a "ghost" and she had a mask and cape), and we demonstrated how kids say "Trick or Treat" and receive candy.  The Burkinabe kids caught on immediately, and pretty soon, every little one was saying "Trick or Treat" in English and receiving candy  After we had our Halloween activity, an impromptu dance-off sprung up, and all the kids broke it down.  Check out my PIcasa site (link on this blog)….I have tried to upload pictures!  It was wonderful Halloween, distinctly Burkinabe, and great addition to my demyst weekend.

               

Ultimately, I actually was "demystified" on demyst weekend, but it also made me appreciate my posh living right now.  I am really excited to get to my site (we find out our sites on Monday), but I definitely want to enjoy the last month of stage too!  The best part of demyst for me was that I felt pretty confident getting around with my improving French.  I definitely speak broken, convaluated French/Franglais, but I can get my point across.  Day by day, my French improves…I think in two years, I will sound just like a Burkinabe J