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!