Jun 19, 2008

Hello from Burkina Faso!

It has only been about 2 weeks since I have been here but I feel that so much has changed! After arriving in Burkina Faso the volunteers spent some time in Ouaga (the capital) and Ouahigouya. But now and for the next 3 months I am living with my new adopted family. While the secondary education volunteers enjoy the "luxury" of living in the city with electricity, all the GEE volunteers are located in small, rural villages.

I and 3 other GEE volunteers are living in a small, remote village about 8 to 10K from Ouahigouya. I absolutely love my family. My family is a very large Muslim family (and by large I mean 34 members living in the family compound!!). The family includes my father, his 3 wives, their children, the sons'families, gandchildren etc...Most do not speak French. However one teenage daughter Kedija speaks French very well which is great for me. Several of the others speak a little french as well.

Despite the language barrier my family is sooo nice, friendly and welcoming. I already feel like i am apart of the family. They are excited to teach me how to cook, wash clothes and dance! Every night after I return from training I take my bucket bath (which may not sound like much but in this crazy hot weather my 2 bucket baths morning and night are the highlights of my day!), eat and all the kids and family crowd around me outside my hut to talk, laugh, and teach me Fufulde, the local language that I am currently learning! One of the earliest coping methods you have to have here is how to laugh at yourself. People here love to laugh, with you and AT you, especially when you try to speak their language. I love that sense of humor is so important here.

The only hard adjustment right now I would say is the food...carbs carbs everywhere! One of the sons is responsible for my breakfast and dinner. Meals cooked for me, include one pound of spaghetti with oily sauce or 1 lb of rice with oily sauce and I'm often served an entire loaf of baguette. A reality check for me was realizing children do not all have big bellies because of lack of food here. They have enough food it is just WHAT they eat. They are very much limiited by what they can eat....very little fruits, veggies, protein and other important nutrients. Luckily during training we are a bike ride away from Ouahugoya where I can buy fruits, nuts and even some "American-like" things.

My home is a small but very nice mud hut located in the middle of the family compounnd. It is nice but extremeley hot at night, so one of my favorite times is at night. I sleep under the moon and stars (and my bug tent!). About four of the girls sleep on a mat by my side to "protect" me and keep me company. Such an amazing experience and great way to escape the heat! Like i said my family is Muslim, so every morning around 4:30 to 5 am I am awakened by the call to prayer, and their mosque or prayer area is literally 20 feet from my hut!

I may not have been here long but i absolutely love it here. i feel like i have learned so much in such a short time....taking pleasure in all the little things and realizing how much i take for granted. Whether it is learning Fufulde during my language lessons, biking into Ouahugoya to purchase a mango from a street vendor, or spending time laughing with my family, i am loving every minute of every day here.

Till next time :)
P.S. I am having problems uploading photos so next time i will try to upload them to another website and see if that works... hopefully i can get them up soon!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow! I loved to read about your life. I am so glad you ended up with this wonderful family. If everybody has a sense of humor over there, now I know I don't need to worry about you! Love, Mom

Anonymous said...

It is so good to hear that you are loving your new family, village, and mud hut. Interesting that your challenge in adjusting is to food!! That, I remember, was the least of your concern before you left here. Life is full of surprises.

We really just walked into our house from the trip to AR. Damage to Zaire = some feathers off his pretty red tail. Not too bad. I will send you an email to tell you about our trip and call you, also.

lady ocelotl said...

i am soo glad you are recording all of this in your blog, em. and i'm even happier hearing that you are enjoying your time already, just in your second week! and look at you, you're gonna be trilingual! haha. well, take in every bite of every fruit and don't forget the sound each of your family members' laugh makes... we miss you. take care.

Lisa Sibley said...

so good to hear you are alive and well... what amazing experiences... justin's mom, who is in zambia, has malaria... we are all praying for her at the moment, she's on the proper medication so we are hoping for a full recovery, but it's been a little scary. be safe!!! we miss you! the running group is trying to revive itself. hugs! lisa