Burkina's Bike Tour, the Wedding of the Century and the Peace Corps' 50th Anniversary!

Life is quite interesting in Burkina Faso these days; events and work have kept me busy over the past several weeks, and it doesn't look to slow down until at least December.  Over the past month, I biked until I was dizzy with dehydration, attended a wedding that put Prince William's to shame, and adapted my association's logo so much that I started dreaming of ATTA graphics!  With the Peace Corps' 50th Anniversary Fair in Ouaga starting in two days, Burkina is the place to be.

In my last blog entry, I wrote about the Tour du Faso, PC Burkina's annual bike ride around the country.  As I mentioned, a couple of friends and I were planning on starting with the tour in Karfiguela, a small tourist village about 10 km west of Banfora.  However, because the big fete celebrating the end of Ramandan happened to fall on the day before the bike tour (no one knows what day Ramandan ends until there is some sort of sign in the night sky), we couldn't get a bush taxi to the starting point.  Instead, my friends and I started the bike tour early, and we biked the 45 km to the starting location.  The following day, we had a gorgeous ride from Karfiguela to Orodara, deep in southwest Burkina.  Those 65 km, with the constant, gradual inclines, made the trip a challenge.  The following day, Orodara to Bobo, was another grueling 80 km, with several very large hills adding to the strenuous course.  By the end, rolling into Bobo under the hot midday sun, I started battling a bit of dehydration, despite the power bars, my ORS (oral rehydration salts, usually for diarrhea but works for biking too), and liters of water.  Thankfully I made it into Bobo, alive and kicking, but I decided to end my tour there and not continue on Dedougou.  The bike tour was alot of fun though; I definitely want to join up for at least a week next year.  If you want to read and see pictures from the bike tour (which is finishing up on Thursday here in Ouaga at the fair), check out: http://burkinabiketour.blogspot.com/

The weekend after I returned from the bike tour, my homologue, Omar, got married in one of the biggest fetes that Toussiana has seen for awhile.  Saturday morning, bright and early, I biked over to the mayor's office for the 8 am civil ceremony (in Burkina, all marriages are done first at the mayor's office and then at the respective church/mosque).  To my surprise, 8 am passed without a member of the wedding present.  At first I was nervous that I had gotten some information wrong, but eventually at around 8:30, some guests started to arrive.  Finally, just before nine, Omar and his wife-to-be arrived in style in their decorated car.  Only in Burkina Faso would a marriage ceremony start close to an hour late! 

As official photographer, I was on-duty at the ceremony, which was chock-full with guests all wearing the matching pagne that Omar and Mai picked out for their big day (see my pictures, if the internet ever is fast enough to upload them).  After the civil ceremony, all the guests got on their motos or in their cars and headed the 2km up the road to the church, honking their horns in a ceremonial procession.  I jumped on my bike, hooked up my helmet, and suavely joined the beeping procession, pedaling as fast I could.  Yea, I am that cool.  When we arrived at the church, it was already full of more guests, admiring the paper decorations that had been added for the ceremony.  All the guests enjoyed listening to the local village chorales before the service took place, but we were all excited for the big entrance.

A couple minutes past ten, the ceremony began with the twin flower girls leading in the couple of honor.  After a long and musical service, after noon, we were finally able to cheer on the new Mr. and Mrs.  The ceremony was followed by pictures and then a big lunch of riz gras, poulet, and salade.  Everyone ate well, which was necessary considering the hours and hours of dancing that were to follow.  That night in Omar's family courtyard, most of the village came to listen and dance to the balafon band.  Even though I resisted for a while, eventually my friends dragged me out to do the "Toussian shuffle", our local dance.  To do this traditional dance, I basically spend half of my time trying to find the beat in the balafon music (I am pretty sure there is none) and the other half trying not to look absolutely ridiculous swinging my arms back and forth and attempting to shake my backside.  Ha.  All in all, the marriage was a huge success, and we all had a great time.  I can't wait for the next village wedding!

Finally, I am currently in Ouaga preparing for the big Peace Corps 50th Anniversary Fair starting this Thursday.  This year, the PC is celebrating our global 50th anniversary, though we have only been Burkina for 37 years.  To celebrate, a dedicated group of PCVs in country have spent hours and hours planning a three day extravaganza, highlighting the work of volunteers past and present as well as Burkinabe projects too.  The newest stage will be sworn-in as volunteers to kick-off the fair on Thursday and we are having an exclusive concert by the uber-famous Burkinabe artist, Floby (he even wrote a PC-themed song for us).  Another special event will be the fashion show on Friday night, where I will be making an appearance in aladdin pants and a tank top made by my association.  I am more excited for my ATTA booth, as members of my association are making the six hour trip from Toussiana to Ouaga to sell bags, dresses, pants, shirts, computer covers, and other products.  This will be our first opportunity to start selling products to help support our association, and I am hoping we have a lot of customers.  However, like all big events, there is alot of planning and prep work that are going into the fair, and these last couple days in Ouaga have been insanely busy.  For more information on the fair, check out our website at: http://pcburkina.org/fair

Other than that, I will be heading back to site in about a week, where I will be joined by my new site mate, an education volunteer.  Having two of us in village is a great opportunity to get more projects done, and I am looking forward to painting a world map together at the primary school in November.  Other events I am hoping to get rolling are planning a Service Day at the local middle/high school on Int'l Volunteer Day (Dec. 5th), starting a girls club at the primary school, and teaching computer classes at our new secretariat/cyber in town.

Check out my new pictures of the wedding and my trip to Morocco on the left side.  Also I want to give a  huge thanks to all the packages sent by my wondeful family and friends recently.   I should be updating again soon with fair and swear-in pictures. An be ke kofe!

Tour du Faso

There is less than one week until the 2011 Tour du Faso begins, and I am getting really excited to participate in the southwest leg of the ride.  The Tour du Faso is a three week-long bike ride around Burkina Faso to raise money for the GAD (Gender and Development) committee.  With the funds that are raised, volunteers in country hold summer camps, do sensibilizations and awareness campaigns, and various other activities that promote gender equality in our villages.  The ride, which starts in Karfiguela on August 30th (where I will start), ends in Ouaga on September 22nd, the same day that PC Burkina kicks off our three-day 50th Anniversary Fair! September is a busy month for the volunteers here in Burkina, and with the Tour's fundraising, it will be good for the Burkinabe too.  I am planning on riding on the Tour from Karfiguela to Dedougou, a distance of almost 400 km.  We'll see if I make it!  For more information about the Tour du Faso and to make a contribution to our cause, visit http://burkinabiketour.blogspot.com/.  Thanks for all your support!

With the fair coming up, I am currently helping ATTA professionalize their image.  We have picked a logo and are in the process of designing marketing materials.  The fair will be a great chance for us to find new partners and advertise our association.  In addition, we are hoping to highlight some of our work in the big fashion show and by selling bags at our stand.  Before all these preparations start, however, our tailors are all busy sewing day and night for next week's big fete, Ramadan. 

I got back to site last Sunday night, after a two-week vacation in country and in Morocco.  It was absolutely wonderful spending a week with my sister in Morocco and was also a nice break from Burkina (especially visiting the local harrams/spas).  I ate as much pizza and tangines as I could but now I am reenergized and ready to get some work done here in Toussiana.  Between the bike tour, the fair, and my counterpart's upcoming marriage, I will be staying quite busy!  

Post Office Change!

Just a quick update from Burkina Faso:

The post office in my town is officially back open after a nine-month long closure, and I have changed my PO box a third, and hopefully last, time.  You can reach me at: BP 421 Toussiana, Burkina Faso.

These days, I am really busy with work at site.  Between teaching three classes a week, designing a new accounting system for my association's middle/high school before the new school year, professionalizing ATTA's image, working with a young man trying to open an internet cafe, visiting surrounding villages and doing homemade mosquito repellent demonstrations, studying Jula and French, and just the day-to-day village life, I haven't had a lot of downtime.  I am looking forward to a two-week vacation in August however!  I will spend several days in Koudougou visiting my host family and then head onto Morocco to meet my sister for a week.  It should be a nice break from Burkina Faso!

Miss and love everyone back at home!

ATTA's Annual Field Trip

As the summer months fly by, I find myself busy working with my association in Toussiana and enjoying the gorgeous overcast skies of southwestern Burkina Faso.  It's hard to believe I've been at site for almost eight months now; some days I feel like I am still a newbie.  However, I have found out I am getting a site-mate in a couple of months ( a PCV teacher), and I guess I will have to be the pro then!

Looking back on my blog, I realized I have not done a great job of explaining my wonderful association in village.  I am working primarily with ATTA, Association des Tailleurs et Tisserands Assimiles, an association that runs an apprenticeship program for around fifty young adults.  Most of these teenagers and young adults are Burkinabe who either never went to school or dropped out early due to a variety of reasons (money, motivation, logistics, etc.).  ATTA, with its two training centers and a tailoring workshop, has several trainers that teach the art of couture; in total, the program runs for three to four years (however, we have received funding to develop a faster training program for the future).  At one of the training centers, around twenty apprentices, who come from the great southwestern region, live in dormitories, and the other twenty-five or so stay with their families in the Toussiana area.  After the years of ATTA's formations, the apprentices will disperse throughout the region, and eventually, open their own tailoring workshops.  The mission of ATTA is very pertinent in a country where only subsistence agriculture is the primary means of income generation.  For the young adults who did not have the chance to finish their studies, ATTA offers the kids an alternative to the family farming work.

Throughout the past eight months or so, most of my time and work has been devoted to ATTA.  ATTA is run by a local man, who has been recognized for his work by the international fellowship program, Ashoka.  The president, Ouattara, is very motivated, and he is always coming up with new and interesting ideas.  It's been great to collaborate with him.  Specifically, I have been working with ATTA's accountant (my counterpart) to improve the association's accounting and management.  I also teach weekly English and entrepreneurship classes, which has been a challenge, to say the least.  Many of the apprentices don't speak French well, and as my Dioula isn't the strongest, much of the class time is consumed with translations.  However, I was pleasantly surprised last week by the apprentices' comprehension of "market studies;" it gives me hope for this week's marketing lesson!

Last Thursday, ATTA took its annual field trip, marking the end of the training year for the twenty apprentices who come from the greater region.  We hired a "car," though the term car isn't particularly accurate.  Imagine a cattle truck, rusty and dilapidated.  I luckily got to sit in the cab (though I was a bit concerned when the driver had to jam the dash back into place), and the forty apprentices piled in the open back.  We all took off for SN SOSUCO, the big sugar processing plant in Beregadougou.  At the plant, we had the chance to take a tour throughout the factory, though the machines were not in operation.  Right now, the sugarcane is in the fields, and SOSUCO won't start manufacturing again until fall.  Even so, the machinery was quite impressive, especially to the Burkinabe kids:

ATTA apprentices at SN SOSUCO

For an actually interesting, informative description of the factory, you should read my fellow PCVs' blog, http://mccoull.blogspot.com/2011/03/roll-up-for-magical-factory-tour.html.  I am hoping to get back for another tour when the plant is in operation, but even sans activity, we were still able to sample the sugar cubes!

Listening to the guide explaining the vats used to heat and extract sugar

 After the tour, we took a group picture under the overcast sky, and then we set up for the Toussiana-Takelidougou Cascades.  As we set off down the road, I watched the speedometer with trepidation.  The car seemed incapable of going faster than 10km an hour, and I was petrified that some speeding BMW would smash into us from behind.  I am 99.99% sure I could have biked faster.  Alas, we made to the Cascades in one piece, though more than once, I thought the truck would trip on its trip up the rocky mountain!

All the ATTA apprentices and me (can you find me?)

The Cascades (waterfalls, in French) are situated between my village and Takelidougou, off the Bobo-Banfora road.  During dry season, the falls dry up and all you can see from the road are the rocky cliffs.  However, in the midst of rainy season, the falls gently tumble down the rocks, and it's visible from the road.  From the top, the view is gorgeous!  SN SOSUCO's sugarcane fields are all around, and the Falaises de Bobo make their descent into the Banfora region.  Sometimes I think I live in the middle of a leafy Eden!

Gorgeous, eh?  I live about 5km up the road to the left...

At the Cascades, we ate well, riz gras with fish and soft drinks.  I also had received a request to make chocolate chip cookies, to which I gladly obliged.  I had spent five hours on Wednesday baking cookies in my slow but effective Dutch oven atop my gas stove, and everyone was grateful for the American addition.  After eating, we took many pictures in the water (Burkinabe take the strangest pictures sometimes!) and spent some time hiking up and down the rocks.  Unfortunately, a storm was heading towards us, quite common in rainy season, and we needed to make our way down the cliff before the rain.  Once again, my spot in the cab proved fortuitous, as the rain beat us home and pelted the apprentices in the back.  All in all, we made it back to village in one piece, happy with the ATTA outing (I have added several other pictures to a folder in my online Picasa album; check it out)!

After the trip, I have realized how much I enjoy working with and getting to know the members of my association.  Not only is everyone incredibly motivated and hardworking, but with their help, I have been welcomed into my community.  My setup here in Burkina couldn't be better, and I am looking forward to starting many projects with ATTA in the following year (website coming soon)!

Nuit Cloture, Fairing du Sport & Mavis Beacon Visits Burkina

Life has been quite pleasant recently, and I find myself très occupée (very busy) most days.  Between hosting other PCV's, learning Diula, starting a garden and adapting the accounting cahiers (notebooks), visiting the high school, making mango jam, and eating tô with my hands, the days fly by.  Life in village could not be better, and Anny Yabile, Toussiana'a resident American tubabumuso is quite well known around the quartier (neighborhood)!

One of the most awkwardly awesome experiences I had recently brought me back to the days of high school, when the most important social event was a Saturday night school dance, a local football game or something equally pedestrian.  However, in Burkinabe style, the nuit clôture was a bit different from the average high school weekend in small-town Iowa.  La nuit clôture (literally translated as closing night) is an annual event held at the lycée (high school) to celebrate the end of the school year.  When I was invited by my two 3me neighbors, I understood the night to be a cultural night, but in reality, it was basically an outdoor talent show outside the school.  Acts ranged from theatre, chock-full of inside jokes and French I did not understand, to lip syncing, Akon-inspired dance routines.  It was hilarious and really LONG.  We walked to the school around 8 pm or so, and we stayed until 1 am!  Even with electricity (other PCVs without power go to bed at 8pm), I am quite lame in village and turn in at 10 pm, so around that time, I was ready to call it a night.  However, the path to the lycee goes through the dark bush for about twenty minutes, so I was at the mercy of my socially-charged high school friends.  Throughout the night, the acts did improve, and there was more than one display of dancing prowess, break-dance style.  As I sleepily walked my way back to my maison after the show, I decided that despite my satisfaction with the nuit clôture, I may stick to outings with my own age group after that :)

When not attending rowdy high school gatherings, I have found time to faire du sport ("do the sport") around village, and my nightly runs are quite easily becoming my favorite time of day.  The running itself does not really excite me, but the ritual of greeting all my neighbors and stretching with the gang of small children who follow me is quite exhilarating.  In fact, my favorite neighbor kids join me on my mat on my patio for my post-run stretching, and we do crunches while my dog runs around like crazy, trying to grab my hair.  In addition, it really is the cutest thing watching my little Burkinabe kids attempt to mimic my downward dog!  As a culmination to a fitness-packed week in village, bright and early on Saturday morning, I decided to attempt the hilly 55km bike ride to Bobo, carrying my two full weekend bags as well as my computer strapped to the back (of my bike, that is).  I was determined to make it all the way to the city, especially as all the villagers were convinced it was impossible to bike the distance.  Happily, I made it to Bobo after three hours or so, hot and tired, but also with a major feeling of accomplishment.  Félicitations à moi!


Finally, my new village project has been daily typing classes with several of my association's apprentices.  I lied when I mentioned Mavis Beacon; I actually use a freeware typing software program I found online, and we use that together.  Watching Jacobe type "ddff, ddff, ddf" does tend to get a bit long, but my students are making pretty quick progress.  Soon, we will start learning Microsoft Office and the internet.  Petit a petit!


If it hasn't been apparent by the pictures I take in village (I promise to take better pictures soon), I spend alot of time with my neighborhood kids.  My parents have sent me a lot of toys for them, so every day at least five little ones make their way over to my house (sometimes before six in the morning; I am never very happy, and I sleepily scream Jula commands at them: I be bo!) and demand puzzles, coloring books, or Matchbox kids.  However, not only do the American toys provide endless entertainment, but the U.S. Post boxes the toys come in are also quite popular.   For example:

San with his USA shirt and my care package box

San and Lionel, happy with their new toy!

Yes, my two favorite two-year-olds are in my box

Also, housing update:  I have officially changed my Pepto-pink kitchen into a bright magenta-red.  I am pretty happy about the results:

Anyways, that's all the news from Burkina Faso.  We are all looking forward to July 4th festivites; maybe we can hunt down some hotdogs????!!!???

Changing Seasons and Plans for the Future

I looked at my calendar today and was shocked to see that May is already over!  Where has the time gone?  Have I actually been in Burkina Faso for over eight months?  What do I have to show for my time here?  But more importantly, is hot season almost over?

Yes, with the start of June, hot season is on its way out, though I imagine I will have to live through some more brutally warm days in the future.  Yes, I have been here in Burkina for over half a year, and fortunately, I do have some things to show for my service (language ability, village integration, small community projects, etc.)  But along with the change of seasons following my in-service training, the most important question I have been asking is:  What do I want to accomplish in the nineteen months that I have left?

Thankfully, after our mid-May in-service training, when all my stagemates reconvened for a two-week long technical session, I feel very equipped with resources and ideas to hit the ground running at site.  At our training in Bobo and Ouaga (see Scott’s blog for pictures, etc…he’s a much more proficient blogger than I am…you’re welcome, Scott, for the increased blog hits!), we learned the specifics on how to design and manage a community project, run a girls camp, apply for grants and funding, and work with our local health clinics.  With this information and the input from the community members I interact with on a daily basis, I am developed a general plan of action for the next couple of years.

My primary project continues to be the collaboration with ATTA, the Association de Tailleurs and Tisserands Assimiles (Association of Tailors).  ATTA trains young adults that have dropped out of the formal education system for various reasons (lack of money, familial support, etc.) and trains them to be tailors, through an apprenticeship program.  ATTA was founded to provide opportunities, other than agriculture, for these young adults to have a source of income.  The apprentices spend about four or five years in Toussiana, learning the art of cutting, tracing, sewing, and embroidery.  After the formation is complete, ATTA helps place the young tailors throughout the southwest, setting them up to be small business owners.  Throughout the last five months, I have spent most of my time working and sharing with these young kids, aged 16-25.  In a couple of weeks, I am going to start teaching English and business classes to the apprentices.  In addition, I work closely with ATTA’s accountant (my counterpoint, Omar) and the president of the association, improving their accounting system and business records, searching for partners and funding, and searching for projects that can help generate income for the association.  Soon, we should have a website up and running too, so I will send the link on when it’s up!

In addition to my primary project, I am hoping to work with our CSPS (health clinic) and local schools, as well as local small business owners and groups of women.  I have started visiting the health clinic once a week, hoping to get acclimated with the processes that go on there.  Thus far, my contribution has been zero, but with time, I should be able to feel more comfortable and get some sensibilizations (awareness campaigns) started.  Slowly but surely… I also have been making several presentations about American culture to English students at the high school.  I am also going to have weekly English help “office hours” this summer at the school.  Ideally, any students who want to informally work on their English skills can come and converse with me in this time, and I am going to prepare games and other activities too.  These sessions should keep me busy.

Other than that, Burkina has been quite wild the past few months.  In late April, the country broke down into civil unrest, and for one week, all of us PCVs were consolidated in different points throughout the country.  All the southwest volunteers were consolidated together, and we had a great time relaxing at a hotel, eating ice cream, playing daily pickup sports games, and dancing a lot.  We even pulled together a really nice Easter dinner.  Between consolidation and in-service training, I painted my house, which was QUITE the chore (especially after a mouse incident).  Omar and I, with a little help from my next door neighbors, spent 20 hours painting my living room and bedroom a lovely sunshine yellow, and unfortunately, my kitchen was pepto-pink (I was hoping for a bright red…fail).  I shall be repainting my kitchen VERY soon.

My favorite thing about site right now is the feeling of summer coming.  Even though Burkina is always hot, there is definitely a different summerish vibe in the air these days.  Kids are almost done with school, beautiful rainy afternoons turn into warm evenings, little fields and garden plots have sprung up everywhere, and the paradisiacal countryside is ALL green.  After coming back from Ouaga for training and seeing the SW landscape, I realized how beautiful my neck of the woods really is.  In this case, the grass is not greener on the other side, that’s for sure!

Sorry for the delay in blog updates; with training, consolidation, and very spastic internet access recently, I have been a bit slow J  Be sure to check out my new pictures on the left…in a couple of weeks, I should be updating again!  Kofe!

April Showers Bring...MANGOS, MANGOS, MANGOS!

It’s official.  Hot season is here in Burkina Faso to stay, and day by day, more of me just melts away.  In two years, I will probably just be one big pool of sweat, lying on the side of road, somewhere on the route of my daily commute to work.  Every day, when I arrive at the atelier and greet all the tailors and apprentices, I can only gasp out “Il fait chaud”  (it’s hot) as I stagger off to sit and drink as much water as I possibly can.  In fact, I comment on the heat after my bike rides so much that I am beginning to think that my colleagues think that “Il fait chaud” is the extent of my French-speaking ability (which honestly isn’t particularly far from the truth)!  I am really starting to take “small-talk about the weather” to a new level!  However, besides the blanket of upper 90’s to 100’s degree heat that has settled over Burkina, I really cannot complain about anything here.  I love being at site and meeting people, and I am also starting to get an idea of some projects I want to do throughout my sojourn in the Southwest.

 

In the past weeks, after my time in Banfora for language training, I have been practicing my Jula as much as possible.  Even though many people here speak French too, Jula is a more natural language for the locals.  The more I can use Jula, the more intégrée I will feel, though I do study my French grammar a lot too.  In addition to language learning, I have also had several very productive meetings with local leaders and business owners, and hopefully these gatherings will lead to future collaboration on projects.  Slowly but surely, I am starting to get to know more people in town and explain why I am in village.  Eventually, within these varied relationships, I can work with the Burkinabe to improve their businesses and also give trainings and sensibilizations on nutrition, hygiene, disease prevention, management, gardening, and composting.  In addition, soon I will start tutoring local high school students in English, before their final exams in June.  But as for now, I am enjoying the free time that comes with the process of integration: visiting neighbors, discussing cultural differences with friends, and having apprentices over for dinner.  I do find time to read, watch movies, and play with my growing puppy too, so most days, I am quite busy! However, I have had to adapt my schedule a bit with the advent of April, because now I have to find enough time to…

 

EAT MANGOS!  Mango season has arrived here in the Southwest, and the roadsides are full of women selling them.  Also, I have to be careful when passing other bikers these days, because often they are dragging 15 foot poles, used to reach mangos high in trees behind their bikes.  I do get a bit stressed out though, as day by day, my pile of mangos in my kitchen grows larger, and I must find ways to eat as many as I can before they go bad.  As of now, I am averaging about eight a day, but unfortunately, my pile is still growing!  Take yesterday for example:  I set out for work yesterday morning and was stopped on the side of the road by a young woman I know, who was, of course, gathering mangos.  She gave me four.  Then, at work, I received two others from one the apprentices, which I attempted to eat.  By the end, I was covered in slimy and delicious mango goo.  It is physically impossible to eat mangos in a ladylike, polite, not completely messy way!  Then, last night, I received five mangos from a neighbor kid and then another neighbor brought over a sack of about fifteen for me too!  Even though I tried to give some away and eat as many as I could, I still had about 12 this morning.  Then my homologue came over with a gift; guess what?  Ha, mangos, of course.  Mango season is quite the never-ending battle, I have learned, but it is pretty satisfying…the mangos are DELICIOUS!

 

That’s the news in my life in Burkina these days.  Other than that, if anyone has been following the news, you might have noticed that there’s been some issues here in country.  No worries… I am safe, but I am just hoping that everything cools down here soon!