The New ATTA Boutique

Thanks to the contributions from my family and friends, I was successfully able to raise the necessary funding to construct the new boutique for my partner association, ATTA.  Though the project is not finished, the construction phase is, so here’s an update on the boutique’s progress!

When the grant money arrived, the building planning and preparation stage began.  Buildings in Burkina are usually constructed with banco, a strong mud/clay mixture, or if funding permits, with mud/rock bricks carved out of the ground by local laborers.  We opted for the latter.  My ATTA counterpart, Omar, and I visited the local carrière, or brick quarry, to order bricks for our building.  We spoke to several brick-cutters, and in total, ordered over 1,000 bricks.  Over the next several weeks, these brick-cutters performed the arduous task of using an axe to shape and cut bricks out of the ground.  When most of the bricks were finished, we hired locals to transport the bricks and loads of sand with their donkey-pulled carts.  When all the materials had arrived at our site, including bags of cement and barrels of water, our mason arrived to start the construction process.

Local carrière

 

The mason and his apprentices mixed together the powdered cement with sand and water and then proceeded to construct the brick building, beginning with a wider strong foundation.  Sand was placed in the interior of the building, as the base for the floor.  The mason built up the walls, leaving open spaces, reinforced by wood beams, for windows and the doorway.  About halfway through, the boutique construction was delayed by a brick shortage, but after a couple of days, we were back on track.  When the walls were up, the mason then placed long wood beams as roof supports and then attached the metal roofing, 16 corrugated metal strips in all.  He also attached the metal doors and windows while the electrician wired the building for lights and sockets.  Finally, the mason and his apprentices cemented the interior of the building, to create the finished walls and floor.  In total, the construction of the building took under three weeks!

After the building was completely constructed, Omar and I spent one day painting the interior with water-based foam paint.  The job took about five or six coats, and we were paint-splattered and fatigued by the end!  Now the building site needs to be leveled out with sand and cleaned up.  Then, we will arrange our prêt-a-porter (ready-to-wear) products in the building, as well as sewing materials, a sewing machine (for minor tailoring needs), and a small dressing area.  We will paint our boutique signs, to advertise our new boutique along the main road.  Hopefully, before long, we’ll have our grand ribbon-cutting and be open for business!

 Thank you to all who helped out with the funding for the boutique!  As you can tell, the project has been very successful thus far, and we envision a thriving business before long.  The boutique could not have been realized without the support of everyone back home, and ATTA and I are infinitely grateful for the financial backing!  Stay tuned for more information on the boutique’s completion!

Projects Galore!

En fin, I’ve found a bit of time to share some of my recent Peace Corps activities.  Over the past two months, I have been very busy with a conference and camps, vacation and village activities.  Enjoy the highlights of May and June!

Le Foyer Amélioré

Mixing the banco with our feet

The majority of Burkinabe village women prepare their daily meals en plein-air within their courtyards or in their mud-brick kitchen huts, using three large stones and wood.  Cooking large cauldrons full of tô (the Burkinabe carbohydrate staple, made of millet, sorghum, or corn flour and water), rice, and sauce over a wood-burning fire can be both time-consuming and labor extensive.  Village women must head several kilometers into the bush to collect firewood weekly and then carry the bundles of sticks back on their heads.  A development initiative to aid with this scenario is the foyer amélioré or the “improved mud stove.”  Using the same base of three large stones, an improved mud stove is then built, pottery-style, around the three rocks using “banco”, a mixture of animal dropping, straw, and mud.  The idea is that because the stove is enclosed with the banco, the foyer amélioré keeps heat in, leading to decreased cooking times and less firewood used.

I was taught how to make these improved mud stoves back during my Peace Corps training in Koudougou in 2010.  Recently, I decided to share the technique with several neighbor women, including my counterpart’s wife, Maimouna.  We mixed the banco and then a week later, we constructed the stove in Mai’s new mud-brick kitchen.  Although there has been criticism of the improved mud stoves, both of practical usage (some women find it more difficult to control cooking temperatures) and effectiveness, my village counterpart has been pleased with her new stove.  As the input costs were zero (all the raw materials were found in the bush), if she ever decides she wants to revert back to her old methods, she can just destroy the banco and begin again.  In general, I was very pleased by the two day mud stove construction training, as it gave me a chance to spend time with several neighbors and learn a bit more of their cooking culture!

Mai with her completed foyer amélioré

Youth Development Committee’s “Leadership and Active Citizenship Conference 2012"

 As a member of Peace Corps Burkina’s “Youth Development Committee,” I helped chair our second annual youth conference in Banfora in late May.  Twelve PCVs partook in the conference; in addition, each volunteer invited two local Burkinabe youth to participate.  Through the four day conference, PCVs presented on project design and implementation to the Burkinabe counterparts.  Together, we discussed needs assessments, community mobilization, professionalism, leadership, human and financial resources, budgets, and public speaking.  In addition, we focused our discussions around the themes of HIV/AIDs and family planning, both important topics for Burkinabe youth.  At the end of the conference, volunteers and their counterparts presented on future community projects to implement together.  My two conference participants, both ATTA apprentices, learned a lot throughout the week, and we all enjoyed our time together.

Tree Planting at Centre Kaleniso

Planted tree seed sachets

Peace Corps Burkina Faso, as part of a global Peace Corps program and training evaluation and shift, has adopted five initiatives vital to Burkina’s development.  These High-Five activities respond to Burkina’s most pressing needs, and as volunteers, we are required to do community projects and activities in each of these five areas.  One of these initiatives is tree planting.  Burkina Faso is greatly affected by climate change and the resulting desertification (the encroachment of the Sahara on the Sahel region), especially in the north of the country.  One of my projects in this High-Five initiative has been to start a tree nursery at ATTA’s Centre Kaleniso.  Though the project is only in its beginning stages, the apprentices and I have already planted 800 seeds in a tree nursery, using recycled water sachet bags.  We have planted neem, Moringa, teck, gmelina, and acacia seeds for our project.  These trees will provide lumber and firewood (teck and gmelina), nutritional supplements (Moringa), anti-mosquito products (neem), and nursery protection (acacia).  The ATTA tree planting project is a sustainable long-term activity for the apprentices at our training center.

Mobilizing the apprentices to cut, fill, and seed sachets

Le Camp des Filles de Toussiana 2012

 

In the camp classroom

Filling our moringa sachets with dirt

Making neem cream

                Last week, I successfully held a five-day girls’ camp for twenty local CM2 (the equivalent of fifth grade) girls.  Girls’ camps are another of our High-Five activities, as these projects empower girls to make good lifestyle and health decisions.  I had been planning my own summer camp for some time now, as it offered not only an opportunity to discuss pertinent issues with these blossoming young adults, but also as a chance to have a lot of fun with a bunch of fifth grade girls!  I was lucky to have Brianna, another PCV, help me out for several days, and the girls enjoyed our presentations around the camp’s theme, “My Life, My Choice.”  We started the week with lessons on nutrition, tree planting, and study skills.  We continued on with sessions on decision-making, self-esteem, behavior and presentation, and goal-setting.  The girls also learned about HIV/AIDs, with help from our local health clinic, and malaria prevention, during which we made anti-mosquito cream from shea butter, soap, and neem leaves.  There was also a session on hygiene (dental, feminine, and general), where we discussed tooth-brushing, puberty, and the importance of using soap.  At the end of the session, girls learned how to make reusable menstrual pads from African fabric and how to make liquid soap.  Throughout the camp, the girls also had time to play soccer and snack on popcorn.  At the end of the week, each girl presented their goals for the future and received a certificate for all their hard work during camp.  In addition, the day after the camp, all the camp participants received their marks for their final C.E.P. exam, which is the cumulative primary school exam, taken after CM2, to determine if students pass into secondary school.  I was so proud to hear that all my girls received passing marks, which speaks to my girls’ dedication and motivation to succeed!  

Morning stretches before soccer

All of my girls!

Ghana

 

I also had a bit of time to sneak in a short vacation to Ghana.  It was really great being back in the first African country I had visited, back in 2008.  My perspective of the country has definitely changed; with its KFC, shopping mall, and air-conditioned movie theater, I felt like I was back in the US!  While in Accra, I also visited the Kwame Nkrumah mausoleum and museum, a touching monument to the leader of Ghanaian independence and pan-Africanism.  We also had a couple of days on the beach, eating good seafood.  It was a nice break, but I was glad when I was back in Burkina; I wouldn’t change my country of service for anything, even KFC!