Hot Season Update!

Once again, hot season is upon us here in Burkina Faso, but thankfully, it hasn’t been too bad!  This second year around, I think my body has acclimated to the temperatures a bit, though my midday bike rides can still be pretty miserable.  Also, I have been busy with my projects, and there’s not much time to complain about the heat when there’s work to do!

Over the school spring break, I completed a second world map at a primary school in another neighborhood.  This time around, many things went smoother, and a more accurate 6 meters X 3 meters map was completed at the end of the week:

Drawing the grid

Labeling countries

Finished product!

ATTA apprentices

I have also been busy teaching French and business classes to the ATTA apprentices.  This is the apprentices’ second year with me, and at the end of the training year in July, most will be finished with the program and open their own workshops.  I have been trying to give them concrete examples of how to use basic accounting and budgeting in their future projects.  So far, so good!

An accounting game!

Centre Kaleniso apprentices

I have also been maintaining some projects at the local primary schools.  I continue with my bi-monthly art class with a class of CP2 students (approximately 1^st-2^nd graders).  Recently, I shared the greatness of Crayola watercolors with them, and they had a wonderful time!  I have also participated in an international art exchange with another class, but more on that in May.

I am still finding time to just enjoy being in village and spending time with my friends and neighbors.  Mango season is upon us, and I love finding time for mango pie, mango jam, mango salsa, basically mango anything!  I even taught all my favorite neighbor kids how to make mango jam the other day!  I also spent a HOT, relaxing Easter here in Toussiana, and I loved seeing everyone dressed up in their holiday best!

Cooking with Mai

Making mango jam on my porch

Easter complets!

Finally, it’s definitely been PC trainings time.  Several weeks ago, I attended a tree planting training in Banfora, with one of my ATTA apprentices along as a counterpart.  We learned all about how to successfully start a nursery, and we are going to use this information to create a garden and tree nursery at our apprentices’ training center.  It was a really great training to get both volunteers and community counterparts motivated to combat Burkina’s problem of desertification.  In addition, I am looking forward to hosting another regional training on modern agriculture in my village in the coming months.  Should keep me busy!

Jacobe planting a cashew tree

ATTA needs your help!

It’s been a long time since I blogged about my life here in Burkina Faso, but I have been busy with some exciting projects.  My classes with the ATTA apprentices have recommenced for the year.  Together with my Burkinabe counterpart, we are teaching them basic French grammar (most of the apprentices’ understanding of French is very low; most have not passed through primary school).  In addition, I am continuing with my entrepreneurship classes, covering topics such as budgeting, personal finance, accounting/book-keeping, and long-term planning.  My girls’ club, primary school art class, and terminale English sessions (terminale students are the equivalent of seniors in high school) have been going great too.  However, the most important project I've been working on has been with in collaboration with the president of ATTA, my host organization (read his bio here or my Ashoka article of our work together here).

Together, we have decided to build a new boutique for our association, to be located on the busy road between Bobo-Dioulasso and Banfora that bisects my village of Toussiana.  The ATTA boutique will be used to sell products created by our 63 apprentices, both those products made during their training sessions and those produced from our workshop’s fabric scraps.  Our boutique will cater not only to local and regional Burkinabe, but because of its advantageous location on the main Burkina Faso-Cote d’Ivoire thoroughfare, also be able to tap into the burgeoning tourist market. 

Some ATTA products

Apprentices in training

The new boutique is a crucial addition to ATTA.  Currently, our association depends almost entirely on outside funding (from both Burkinabe and international NGOs) to support the existing 63 apprentices and to provide resources to the 1,000+ plus former apprentices/ATTA partners working in the southwest region.  Unfortunately, this pattern of aid is not sustainable in the long-term, but with the creation of our new store, ATTA will be able to generate a consistent source of income, greatly aiding the association's long-term goals.  In addition, in conjunction with my entrepreneurship classes, the ATTA apprentices will learn about the boutique management, and our sessions will have a focus on product design, quality control, and marketing.

Our tailoring workshop

Working on embroidery

However, our plan will not be realized without your help!  Our itemized budget has put the total project cost at $1,745.89, including the land, construction materials, and labor fees.  ATTA is paying 25% of the total cost, covering both the land and some material purchases.  After ATTA’s contribution, there is still an outstanding sum of $1,385.89, and that’s where you come in!  We are asking for the support of my family and friends back in the States to help us reach our goal of constructing our boutique.  A donation in the name of ATTA through the Peace Corps Partnership Program is a tax-deductible gift; consider your gift to ATTA as a jumpstart on your 2012 charitable contributions!  Your grant to ATTA will contribute to the association’s long-term sustainability, a donation that will aid the generations of vulnerable apprentices for years to come.  

To help out with our boutique construction, please click here: ATTA Boutique PCPP

After you click on the link, you will be directed to the Peace Corps Partnership Program page devoted to the ATTA boutique (this page can also be accessed directly from peacecorps.gov too, under “Donate to Volunteer Projects").  At this page, you can find more information about the project and donate any dollar amount you chose!

In addition, for more information on our association, check out our new website (still a bit of a work in progress): www.attaburkina.org  Make sure to click on the English translation!

Some of the ATTA apprentices

Thank you for all your consideration of our project.  Not only I, but all the current and future members of the Association des Tailleurs, Tisserands et Assimilés appreciate all the support from friends and family back home.  Merci beaucoup!

World Map Project...Check!

The day after Christmas, I started a really big project with a local 5^th grade class here in my village.  We decided to paint a big world map on their school wall.  Most of the kids at the school don’t have textbooks, and definitely don’t have access to maps, so drawing a big map is a good way to teach local people about geography.  Many Burkinabe villagers can’t even find Burkina Faso on a map, much less France or America (most people think they are the same country actually)!  Overall, the project was a huge success and everyone involved had a great time!

Students working on drawing exercises

 The day after Christmas day, more than 60 students showed up at school at 7:30 in the morning, bundled up against the chilly winter wind (even I wore four layers)!  We started with drawing exercises, and the students learned how to look at a small, gridded picture and draw the same larger image.  After the exercises, we moved to the gridded wall to start the actual world map:

Moving to the wall...using school benches as scaffolding!

Students drawing their square

Though the students' drawing wasn't particularly accurate, several visiting PCVs and I spent the afternoon redrawing parts of the world map.  Tuesday morning, all the students showed up again, and we started tackling the paint job.  Easier said than done!  

 First, I mixed the paint, and the students were fairly tranquil.  However, when the paint was mixed and students were ready to paint, the students got pretty rowdy, all excited to do their share.  We painted the map in eight different colors, countries coded in a Peace Corps-affiliated World Map Project handbook.  

 With this handbook, the grid and the corresponding drawing of the world was easy to draw.  However, I made an executive decision to cut out some of the islands....whoever made the book decided to include every single place in the entire world!  During the map, there were also some little painting mishaps by over zealous painters, like when Chile grew four times its size and Russia took over most of Eastern Europe (perhaps the student was cognizant of the expansionist policy of the Soviet Union?).

Needless to say, I was relieved when another PCV, Brianna, took most of the kids over to play geography-based games!  The rest of us were able to complete the painting in relative peace.





At the end of the week, the students, PCVs, and I have officially completed the painting and rough world map on the wall.  It took several more weekends of work by me and sometimes other PCVs to officially complete the project.  

Painting done!

Map is completely finished!

The World Map Project was a huge success, and it was great talking with all the people that came by to see what we were painting.  The map spurred many discussions about world geography, and the students involved had a real sense of pride afterwards too.  I am looking forward to doing a second map in another neighborhood here in my village, though after the two, I think I'm done painting forever!

I'm Dreaming of a ...Dusty Christmas!

It's that time again, time of eggnog, Christmas carols, gift-wrapping, and tree-hunting, though here in Burkina, actually none of those things are true.  Nevertheless, I am in the mood for the holiday season, even if Nat King Cole and John and Yoko have to serenade me alone in my African dirt hut.  Alas... Christmas in Burkina is a special time, like in the States, and the schoolkids are happily on vacation until early January.  However, as half the population is Muslim, Christmas is seen in the same light as Ramadan and Tabaski.  Just another holiday to greet eat rice and chicken and greet all the neighbors and friends.  So I have been trying to share a bit of the American Christmas spirit with my Burkinabe friends:

Members of my girls' club, decorating Christmas cookies at my house

They had absolutely no concept of Christmas cookies, but they dove right in and created some masterpieces...

They used alot of frosting.

Don't worry, I haven't been too upset this holiday season; there definitely been no sulking around for me these days.  I have been too busy enjoying my free time in village and down the road, in Chad and Tana's village.  This year, I witnessed the annual sugarcane field burning...it was insane:

Chad, Tana, and I in front of the fiery inferno

Scary, eh? I wonder what the passing cars on the road thought?

I have also started the preparations for my big Christmas vacation world map project.  It's been alot of work thus far, but on Monday, with all the 4th grade students, things are going to get wild.  I can't wait till it's done!

Empty wall, on the side of the grade school...

Wall being cemented...

Just the usual, strapping things to the bikes

More help from my lovely PCV neighbors!

Finished gridded wall

That's all for now...heading back to Toussiana for Christmas!  Happy holiday season to everyone back home...I'll be thinking of you all :)

A Much-Delayed Update

First off, an apology for those waiting during the last two months for an update from Burkina.  I have been very busy (re: lazy) and have failed to send any interesting information back to the States.  Everything is going really well in this forgotten corner of West Africa these days, and I'll give you all a concise summary of my current life...enjoy!

To start off with, I left off with September's entry talking about our 50th anniversary fair.  I am not going to go into details (as it was three months ago) but overall, it was a roaring success.  If anyone is interested in seeing a bit of the festivities, head over to www.pcburkina.org/fair for great videos (also found on Youtube under "Burkina Faso Peace Corps 50th Anniversary Fair" for all those struggling Youtube users).  On the home page, scroll down, and you will see a box titled "PC Burkina Videos."  Bingo.  In fact, this PC volunteer-maintained website is the best place to find out what all 160ish volunteers in country are up to.  Other amusing, but also educational videos include "So you want to use a latrine" and "Language is your friend."  All volunteer created...quite the intimate and honest glimpse into the challenges that come with life as a volunteer in Burkina.  As a sidenote, for another realistic account of the life of a PCV, check out this article :http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maya-lau/what-the-peace-corp-taugh_b_1099202.html  (all of us volunteers can relate ALOT to her experience).

Anyways, from September on, my life has been absolutely crazy.  I have been back and forth from Ouaga countless times (not an easy trip).  I spent a week teaching the new trainees that arrived in country in October, spent a wild and wonderful week with my parents touring Burkina, caught up with my own training group at our Mid-service Conference (YES, I have been here for OVER A YEAR), and am currently planning a Leadership Conference with my PC committee (Youth Development) in Ouaga this weekend.  Thankfully, after this weekend is over, I am going to get back to Toussiana, stay in Toussiana, and get some legitimate site work done.

Things on the plate at site currently:

• The World Map Project that I keep mentioning has yet to happen, but we are getting close to starting.  I am trying to finalize funding and then Toussiamba's primary school A will have a big bright new geography resource to use.  Plus, a world map is a great way for me to foster cultural exchange with the students.
• My business classes with the apprentices are going to starting up again in early January.  Half of ATTA's apprentices went home for the vacation and just got back to Toussiana in mid-November.  We just had a great entrepreneurship training last week with a Burkinabe Ministry of Youth and Employment director, and afterwards, all the apprentices were really motivated and excited to think about their future businesses.  It was amazing to see their enthusiasm for business basics, and I am feeling pretty pumped up for our upcoming sessions too.  
• Building on my business sessions with the apprentices, I am hoping to start giving entrepreneurship trainings for other young adults in the Toussiana area.  The specifics haven't been decided yet, but I am currently compiling a business manual to use with this demographic. 
• I am also continuing with my 2nd grade weekly art sessions (we had a great Halloween, mask-creating session two weeks ago with guest helpers, Mom and Dad) and my 6th grade girls club.  Both activities have been pretty successful and fulfilling, whether it's watching (and encouraging) the little kids vivid and imaginative coloring projects (while their teacher chatises them for the unrealistic color choices) or facilitating sessions on the stereotypes of girls in Burkina with my fifteen blossoming young women.  Lesson planning can be a pain sometime, but I love the satisfaction after another great experience with the youth.
• Other ideas in the back of my head include: tree planting at the large community garden, collaborating with a compost association in the area, forming a health topic club (based on the "Pay It Forward" concept, using the power of exponentials), organizing game and movie nights with ATTA's apprentices, continuing individual computer and internet tutoring but trying to expand to a larger scale, and giving more English cultural lectures at the high schools in town.

Between all my projects and our committee's upcoming events, studying for the GRE, reading as much as I can in my spare time (I have literally read fifty books in 2011), brushing up on my statistics, planning a potential Ghana-Togo-Benin vacation, and spending time with my PCV and Burkinabe friends, I think the next couple months will fly by.  Not to mention, holiday season is coming up, and with that has come vivid (probably due to my malaria meds) dreams of snow and Christmas.  Leaving the frigid South Bend two yearrs ago, I never thought I would miss those cold days...

That's about all my news thus far.  Definitely catch up with my parents and hear how their trip to Burkina went (see Facebook for pictures).  Maybe if you're lucky, they will model their new traditional Burkinabe clothes????!!!!????  I hope all is well back at home for everyone and know that during this holiday season, thoughts of family and friends are always in my mind.  Enjoy holiday season and those snuggly nights next to fireplace.  You can think of me biking away in the dusty desert :)  A bientot!

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!