EmC in the PC

Pobé Summer Reading Camp, Hanging Out with Twaregs....and Farewells!

2011-09-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

In September I spent a wonderful week in Pobé-Mengao! The village library ran its first ever summer reading camp for CM1 (4th grade) students. I saw this not only as the perfect opportunity to participate and help run the camp but to say proper goodbyes to my Pobé-Mengao friends. Since June 2010, the region was closed off due to terrorist kidnapping threats, but I was thrilled when Peace Corps, after much begging and pleading, allowed me to go back.

Reviewing the alphabet with a group of students

The week-long camp consisted of 25 4^th graders (13 girls, 12 boys) randomly chosen from a class of 86. The camp’s goal was to help improve the students’ reading levels in a fun and welcoming environment. Sessions included reading activities, peer tutoring, storytelling, arts and crafts, song and dance, instruction, and discussions on health, HIV/AIDS, malaria and life skills. Overall, I was very happy with the camp. There were a couple decent readers but the rest were at an incredibly low-level. Five of the students could not read, write or recite the alphabet. We were shocked when one day we asked the students to write their names down on paper, and fifteen misspelled their own names. The camp was led by Dounko the FAVL animator, Hamidou the librarian, myself, an assistant and one of the primary school teachers. The teacher was awesome and really worked closely with the students. Each of his lessons reflected errors he witnessed the students making throughout the day. We conducted evaluations—individual reading tests before and after the camp—and during the last tests we could see much improvement in the students. It was hard not to get emotional when Daouda, with a huge smile on his face, proudly recited the entire alphabet without error for the first time. As happy as I was, it was frustrating. I only spent a total of about an hour or two with him individually, so that he understood the alphabet. It’s upsetting to think that at 12 years old, he’s been held back at has had such a disadvantage in school simply because no one took the one or two hours necessary to help him.

There's always time for dancing!

Throughout the week we had frequent visitors: older students, parents, functionaries, the Mayor and the Prefect. All came to witness the camp and offer words of encouragement. It was obvious that the community was really happy with the camp and is determined for it to become an annual event.

Arts and crafts: making masks; Dounko reading a story

While in Pobé, I ran into a student and good friend of mine named Ibrahim. Ibrahim is Twareg and back in 2009 he invited myself, my mother and several study-abroad students to visit his family. To our pleasure, this year he invited Dounko, Hamidou, Francois (FAVL driver) and myself to visit and learn about his family.

Home of Ibrahim and his family

Ibrahim lives with his two parents and his ten brothers and sisters in an isolated area about 8 kilometers outside of Pobé. They are herders and own about 25 camels. Despite the fact that one camel can be sold at about 300,000 to 400,000 CFA, they live incredibly simply, in tents. They are nomadic and do not have many material possessions. Upon our arrival we were warmly welcomed and sat on small but comfortable goat-skin cushions inside their tent. They made us tea while we asked questions about their way of life. The family only speaks Tamasheq, so Ibrahim served as our French translator. Later they saddled up one of their camels, and Dounko and I were brave enough to go for a ride. We milked a camel and drank its deliciously warm and rich milk, in addition to receiving a huge bottle-full for us to take home. By the time we left we were nothing but smiles.

Dounko atop of a camel Drinking camel milk...mmmm!

Today is bittersweet, as I bid farewell to Burkina Faso. My Peace Corps service is up, and I will be flying home tonight. After 3 years and 4 months, I am ready to come back home, settle down, and have a real salary! But it is still very hard to leave. Burkina has become like home for me. These past few weeks have been full of joy, visiting friends and sharing wonderful memories together. I say farewell, but I know that I plan to return to Burkina in 2 years. So, instead of goodbye, I will say: Wena kon Bilfu!

I would like to especially thank all those in Americaland who have supported me in so many different ways during my time in Burkina. From letters and carepackages to those who so generously helped support the establishment of the Pobe Mengao Village Library....THANK YOU! Believe me when I say, it never would have happened without you!

August = Good Times!

2011-08-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

This past month of August has been a busy one, though definitely a fun one! I went to Quebec for two weeks to visit family. My time was well spent eating delicious homemade meals, visiting college friends, picnicking at a lake, occasional runs with the mom and getting lots in the streets of Montreal. I was also able to attend the wedding of one of my very good friends Christine. We played college basketball together so in addition to her, I saw several old teammates, which of course meant we had a good time!

Back in Ouaga, I’ve been busy with FAVL work and preparations for my Peace Corps Close of Service, which is September 26th! Right now I’m a mix of emotions: sad, happy, anxious, excited, nervous….emotions which I’m sure will only increase as September comes along! I’ve already begun job searching which so far isn’t proving too successful. Hopefully in the coming weeks it’ll be more promising! Luckily, I have basketball to help me de-stress!

For the past three months, I’ve been playing with a women’s basketball team here in Burkina. The team was put together last minute and no one really expected much from our team. Well, we made it all the way to the National Championship game! On the night of Aug.20th we played on live TV at the Palais des Sports in Ouaga 2000. The arena is like no other; even the Minister of Sports said (twice) that it felt like we were in another country. (Though the politics, the hour-long speeches by ministers and sponsor officials and the delay of game due to rain pouring onto the floor, quickly reminded me that we were indeed in Burkina Faso). Our team lost. Okay, we got our butts kicked by XX points. (Sorry but being embarrassed on national TV was enough for me…no need to put the final score up for all to see!). I was really pissed after the game but our wonderful coach quickly had us all laughing and enjoying the moment. Overall, the experience was great and definitely not something I was expecting when I decided to join Peace Corps! While it may have been my last time playing in Burkina, it has convinced me to find a women’s league to play in once I get back home.

A little R&R (or so we hoped) in Togo

2011-07-07T01:05:00.000-07:00

Coco Beach, Togo

I recently returned from a 5-day trip down in Togo. It was a much-needed break where the only actions allowed were eating, drinking, swimming and reading. The words “email” and “work” were strictly prohibited. We stayed at a place called Coco Beach Chez Antoine, located in the small town of Avepozo, about 20K outside the capital of Lomé. For an incredibly cheap price, we had our own electrified bungalow right on the beach. There’s nothing quite like falling asleep and waking up to the sounds of waves crashing against the sands just a few feet away. Our days included lounging under a parasol on the beach, reading African biographies, swimming (more like getting tackled by the waves) and strolling around town. Everyday Emmanuel, one of the staff, would crack open fresh coconuts for us to sip from and chow down on.

While our camp ground was heavenly, the surrounding area was by no means touristic. We needed only to step out of Chez Antoine to be reminded that we were still in an impoverished country. While taking a lovely stroll along the sands, we’d cross paths with adults defecating on the beach in front of us. Old women cooked family meals outside of dilapidated homes. Barely 300 meters from where we stayed was an Ivoirian refugee camp.

We spent our last two days in Lomé. I think the biggest surprise for me was the lack of local businesses. The streets of Burkina are full of small boutiques and restaurants. In Lomé we’d walk 10 blocks trying to find a stand that sold coffee and bread. In Burkina I get easily annoyed with the young teens on the streets thrusting gum and phone credits in my face. In Togo I begged for someone to come sell me Kleenex tissues.

Bus rides always offer added excitement to any trip. Driving from Ouaga to Lomé takes about 20 hours but when a plane ticket costs $500 versus a $30 bus ticket…that 20 hour trip doesn’t seem so bad. Our ride to Lomé was fine but we weren’t so lucky on the return trip.
On the bus, it was almost impossible to sleep at night as the driver thought it fit to play loud African music the entire time. At around 2 a.m. Togo police pulled over our bus and started screaming at everyone in local language. It ends up that during the night a bus had hit and killed a pedestrian and didn’t stop. About 7 different buses were all lined up in front and behind us. We stood outside while the police screamed at whoever was around them and scrutinized each bus. Finally the culprit was caught (fortunately, not our bus) and we were free to go.
At the border we had to check out with the Togo police before continuing on into Burkina. West Africans are free to travel throughout other W. African countries without any sort of fee, as long as they have proper ID. But right away the police demanded 500CFA from everyone in order for them to continue on. When his name was called, Elisée made the grave mistake of politely asking the police what the 500CFA was for. We were immediately told to sit off to the side and then had to wait until the entire line of people had filed through. A large policeman with a puffed out chest then started berating Elisée, screaming in his face about knowing when to keep his mouth shut and “talking back” to police. He threatened to beat Elisée for his lack of respect. We had to listen to this BS for about 10 minutes before he finally let us go (we never did end up paying). Maybe I should have been worried or frightened but while his spit sprayed our faces, all I could think about was how pathetic this corrupt man was; belittling others so that he could feel powerful behind the safety of his policeman status. We climbed back on the bus for the trip’s remaining 7 hours, where we watched horrible French-dubbed Nigerian soap operas followed by a video of Hulk Hogan and other ridiculous looking pro-wrestlers beating up on each other on TNA. (I will never understand pro wrestling. I watched female wrestlers compete where the looser was forced to strip on stage in front of the audience. When she “refused” the announcer was quick to respond “You HAVE to strip and entertain the audience. It’s in your contract. If you refuse to strip, you WILL be fired!” Funny to think I’m in Burkina as a Girls Education and Empowerment volunteer. We could still use some GEE in the United States).

Like I said, bus rides always make for added adventure.

Love and Basketball

2011-06-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

I played basketball during most of my school-aged years: middle school through college. I knew that my bball days would go on hiatus during my PC service. Before leaving for Burkina, I imagined creating a basketball court at my future site. After arriving in Pobe, however, I quickly realized how expensive and, frankly, useless that would be. Now in Ouaga, I play once a week at the local International School, scrimmaging for a couple hours with some of the school dads and working expats. Never did I imagine playing in Burkina’s national championship tournament on the senior women’s team…but that’s exactly what I’m doing!

Long story short, my neighbor/landlord Mariam asked me if I’d play with her on a team coached by her husband. I had no idea what to expect or what I was getting myself into but I figured, what the hell, why not. We’ve played 3 games now and are just several weeks into the tournament (lasts till August) but it has already proven to be quite the experience. A quick recap:

Game 1: We play our first game without having had a single practice or knowing who’s on the team. We lose by 30. Asides from maybe 3 baskets, Mariam scored all our points. Despite my excitement in playing again, I couldn’t hide my 3 year hiatus. I scored zero points, had 3 fouls, and actually knocked a girl unconscious with my elbow (oops!).

Game 2: A vast improvement after several practices and actually knowing the names of our teammates, we win by 25. Mariam continues to shine on the court and the rest of the girls follow through and score some nice baskets. I myself also played well, enough that I had coaches and players from the opposing teams telling me to switch to their team.

Only in this country is it appropriate to cheer for a player by screaming "NASSARA!," which basically means, GO WHITE GIRL!

(sigh, I've given up trying to explain to Burkinabes that I'm biracial)

Since then we’ve been improving, winning our third game and playing more and more as a team. While the talent doesn’t really compare to female players in the States, I have to say I’ve been impressed with some of the players in this tournament. A few could have easily played for a Division I or II college team back in the U.S. In a poor, underdeveloped, somewhat masochistic, soccer-loving country, I can’t imagine where or how these girls trained to become so good.

To give you an idea of what I’m talking about: the tournament takes place in the second best court in Ouagadougou; an open-aired, cracked and bumpy concrete court. On one basket the rim is bent. On the opposite end, a large crack bisects the entire backboard which is so crooked that when you’re shooting free throws, you have to stand at the corner of the key in order to shoot straight. Apparently there is a beautiful indoor court available in the rich part of the city but no team can afford the rent to practice or play so it remains empty and unused.

The best player on the court by far is my 36-year old, mother-of-two, neighbor Mariam. Needless to say, I was not surprised to learn that back in her playing days she was named the national player of the year several years in a row. I’m definitely loving being able to play again. Everyone is telling me to “just have fun out there” which, I know is true; I should be enjoying my time on the court. But my competitive side is starting to come back….the trash talking is returning, the elbows are coming out…dammit…I want to win!

The beautiful couple Meighan and Olivier

In village I went to a lot of weddings but on June 11^th I attended my first wedding in Ouaga. It was a particularly special one for me, as my good friend and fellow volunteer Meighan married her Burkinabe fiancée Olivier. The day began with a civil ceremony at the local Mayor’s office, followed by a church service and ending with a reception at the home of Oli’s family. It was absolutely beautiful and I caught myself trying to stifle tears on a couple occasions. Somewhat similar to the idea of having bridesmaids’ dresses, here in Burkina the wedding guests can buy the wedding “pagne” chosen by the bride and have outfits made to wear at the wedding. As most of you know, I’ve become addicted to having my local seamstress make me dresses (a tailor-made dress for less than $8 bucks?…What’s not to love!) I knew I would probably never wear the dress again…so I went all out, opting for a one-shoulder dress decorated with white frills. Complete with the new hairdo…I was feeling like a diva!

Elisee and I rockin the pagnes

Asides from having my host sister braid my hair once during my first three months of training back in 2008, I had yet to get my hair done in this country. There are a lot of reasons for this, the main one probably being the fact that it’ freakin 100 degrees 365 days of the year, I sweat 24/7 and I could give a rat’s butt what my hair looks like. But I decided to use Meighan and Oli’s wedding as reason to try a style called “flastuce” that I frequently see and like on Burkinabe women. Sitting in the styling chair, I was nervous. So many factors made this experience horrific:

-The first words out of the stylist’s mouth are that she has never worked on a “white person” before and has no experience with my kind of hair.

- I have hair that comes down well below my shoulders but because she had never worked with my kind of hair, she tells me she can’t do the hair style without using hair extensions.

- Hair extensions wouldn’t have been that big a deal except for the fact that the only color she had was black. In fact, looking at my choices, the lightest color of hair she had was called “midnight black.” Not so great when you have light brown/dirty blond hair.

- I quickly discovered the color of the hair extensions wouldn’t matter, however, because she began to use about 1 lb of dark brown hair gel often used on black, African-American hair to ensure that the twists remained glued to my head. For the next two days, anytime I touched my hair, thick, dark brown globs of gel came off onto my fingers, staining everything from my clothes to my bed sheets. Fortunately/Unfortunately, she used so much of the dark-colored gel that you couldn’t even tell I had black extensions in my hair.

Add 3 black hair nets and about 30 bobby pins to the above, you can only expect the worst right? But ironically the end product looked really nice… even the hair stylist was surprised! I was worried about how long my hair would last with the heat + playing in the basketball games. But I only spent $7 and ends up, with the amount of gel she used….not even a nuclear bomb couldn’t destroy my hair do!

masked men and birthday weekend

2011-05-28T06:08:00.000-07:00

Since I’ve been in Burkina, I’ve loved writing about the hilarious/depressing/incredible/unexpected experiences that I’ve come across while living in this country. I just recently returned from a trip to different villages down south to help conduct a research study. I can genuinely say that what I experienced there was the most strange and downright ridiculous thing yet.

Upon arriving to the village of Bereba, which was our base during the study, we were warned that it was the “temps des masques.” Oh, I thought, a nice ceremony with dancing men and women donning beautiful handcrafted African masks? Ends up…not quite. I was explained that it’s a time when men from the village wear beautiful, handcrafted African masks, yes, but then they proceed to chase or sneak up on villagers, throwing stones and heavy branches at them and whipping whoever gets in their way.

At first I thought he was joking but then he pointed to a path about 200 meters from us. A man wearing a huge painted masked ran/danced along the path, throwing large rocks at nearby children who scampered away in fear. He pointed in the opposite direction where another masked man blocked the road, pelting innocent motorists. “Um….should we head back and stay at the regional town for the night?” I asked. No, I was told, if we stayed at the house, we’d have no problems. Ha ha..yeah right.
1st warning: When we arrived, Tenoko, the young woman in charge of caring for the house was there, grabbing hold of her left arm. She’s been whipped by a masked man on her walk over to the house. Well, I’m an outsider, so I assumed I’d be exempt from this weird and violent tradition. Nope. Children, the elderly and unfortunately for me even ignorant foreigners who don’t know any better aren’t spared. I proceeded to hear stories of children who couldn’t go to school because the men would block their path and beat them, an old man who was chased down, pushed to the ground and fractured his arm in the fall. Pity on whoever leaves any property outside their house as bikes, chairs or appliances will be destroyed. Apparently several years ago a Peace Corps volunteer living in a neighboring village was cut so bad he needed stitches. Uh, yeah, that last part definitely sparked my attention. That would be my second warning.

Example of a mask they would wear.
What...u wanted a real picture of a masked man? I'm not that crazy!

Apparently the masked men are not allowed to enter any walled compound. That first night it was stifling hot (I’m too damn used to fans now and that electricity thing that I love so much). I debated whether or not to sleep outside but Elisee and our driver said no one would bother us, as the house was a good ways away from the center of village. Despite having two strong men sleeping near me, I was still nervous and literally slept with one eye open. At 10:30 I jumped awake after seeing three masked men staring at us from over the wall. We all jumped up but the masked men just sort of sauntered away. Now jittery, I had trouble falling back asleep. At 2:30 a.m. it was Elisee’s turn to jump up, and again we saw the three masked men staring at us from over the wall. “Why didn’t they throw anything at us?” I asked Elisee. “They are just warning us”, was his answer. Warning number 3. Well, that was enough warnings for me. I gathered up my things and slept the rest of the night inside, suffocating in the heat, drenched in a pool of my own sweat, but I’d take that over getting rocks and branches thrown at me any day!
This custom lasted two days…such a strange (and ridiculous) tradition. They say it’s an annual tradition to call for rain but in all honesty, it really just seems like an excuse for people to hide behind a mask and beat/hit whoever they don’t like or are jealous of.

Oh Burkina, you never get boring!

Despite the whole mask situation we were able to do our research project. In short, we distributed solar-powered lanterns to 4th and 5th grade students in 9 different villages and plan to track their reading habits. During this particular trip down we explained the project to the students, randomly picked 80 participants per school, conducted a series of tests (written, oral, questionnaires) to evaluate their reading levels and habits, and then distributed out the lamps. More evaluations will be conducted over the coming months.

The study itself was really interesting. I participated in a similar study evaluating reading levels in Ghana and was pleasantly surprised by how much better the young readers were here in rural Burkina than in Ghana. But even though most could read, it was still sad to see how little the kids understood. For example, they could read a short paragraph just fine but ask them any questions about what they just read and they looked up at you with clueless expressions.

I’m also curious to see how the lamps are used. One would hope the students would use the lamps to read and study at night, but that’s just not realistic. Most likely the lamps will be used by entire families to help finish nightly chores.

On May 27^th I celebrated by 26^th birthday. It was a lot of fun! We went to this kind of high class African restaurant. I left the restaurant groaning, grabbing my bulging belly, complaining of how much I ate. That’s when you know I loved the food.

Happy Birthday to me :)

Paris

2011-03-29T04:11:00.000-07:00

I wanted to hate France.

I was excited to travel and see family, but after witnessing the horrible and demeaning visa process for Elisée, I officially stated my hatred for all things France and vowed to never return.

But then I arrived in Paris.

I mean, how can anyone hate Paris? The beauty, the culture, the history, it was all so incredible! And despite the stereotypes of Parisians being stiff arrogant pricks, I was pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of the locals.

La famille

Contemplating art inside the Louvre

In the 10 days I was there we visited everything a tourist could see, from the Eiffel tower to the catacombs. We visited museums, strolled along the Seine, picnicked in Bois du Boulogne. We took the metro quite a bit but I’m pretty sure we walked on every street corner of Paris.

With FAVL unable to escape our minds, we visited France’s national library and were lucky enough to visit Paris during the huge ‘Salon du Livre’ exposition where I was able to buy numerous books for Pobé’s library.

Overall the trip was a much needed and wonderful vacation. My only disappointment was the food, though I of course I gorged myself on plenty of pastries, wine and cheeses.

The moms and I in front of Notre Dame

Centre Pompidou

view of death inside Paris' catacombs

Work (finally) and more

2011-03-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago was FESPACO, the biennial African film festival that takes place in Ouagadougou. During its last occurrence two years ago I stayed in village and didn’t attend any FESPACO events, so I made sure to participate this year. I saw several well-made and interesting films, though I really loved some of the short 20 minute films. My favorite was “Lezare (for today)” by the Ethopian Zelalem Woldemariam.

My mother complains that I don’t write enough on my blog about the work I do with FAVL. Like I mentioned in a previous posting, work mostly includes fundraising, publicity for FAVL, developing relationships with local governments and organizations, etc. I really enjoy the work but I don’t know; maybe it’s just me but I feel like even if I were the next Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky I still couldn’t make reading about grant writing very appealing to readers. I do, however, write quite a bit about our work activities on FAVL's blog if anyone asides my mom is curious. Have said that, this past weekend we did organize two fundraisers that were time consuming in terms of preparations but a lot of fun:

Race for Reading

Race for Reading runners in Parc Bangr Weogo; handing out the prize to 6km winner Ronald

I run a couple times a week at a nearby park with Elisee and one morning he mentioned that we should organize a race to help raise funds for the FAVL libraries. This idea turned into Race for Reading, a 3K and 6K walk/run which we held on Saturday morning, March 12^th. Overall it went well, though we seemed to have quite a bit against us. Recently students have been organizing massive demonstrations in towns and cities all over Burkina over the controversial death of a student after being beaten by police. While the circumstances surrounding his death may or may not be true, it has become a catalyst for several massive demonstrations against the government.

Despite the protests, we had enough participants to have a decent race. It was an amicable, family friendly race with all participants expressing their happiness with the race's organization and vows to participate in future events.

Jungle Party

On the evening of March 12th, FAVL was once again the recipient of the raffle during Jungle Party, an event organized by a local expat. It’s a night of music, dancing and drinks that like Race for Reading, took place in the Parc Bangr Weogo. FAVL went around selling raffle tickets throughout the night and at the end, received all the money from tickets sold. It’s a good event and honestly, a relatively easy way for FAVL to receive money (the entire event is organized by the expat, FAVL just needs to get certificates contributed by different stores and businesses for the raffle). I guess I enjoyed the Jungle Party but I don’t know, it’s just not really my type of scene. It’s awkward, reminding me of some 8^th grade dance, with boys on one side and girls on the other, the dance floor empty in the middle. Except it’s even MORE awkward because everyone there is like 35 years old. Only around 1 a.m., once the drinks have gotten into people’s systems, does the dance floor start to fill up (Hopefully this last part doesn't resemble an 8th grade dance but with kids these days...you never know!).

On the 18^th I’m heading to France for 10 days. There I’ll meet up with my mom, aunt and cousin (who I haven’t seen in 3 years!). I must admit, I very much dislike France right now, especially anything/anyone involved with the French embassy in Burkina, who I find treats people (especially those who happen to be Black) like diseased animals. Despite my feelings, I am incredibly excited to be able to see my family and I know we will have an amazing time together. I haven’t been to Europe since 5^th grade and I’ve never been to Paris. I’m a little worried about the weather. FIFTY degrees? I was freezing by butt off during Burkina’s “cold” season when it was 75 degrees!

SANOU Dounko, FAVL’s activities coordinator, was recently in Pobe-Mengao for two weeks to train a new FAVL librarian. On his return I met up with him and got a wonderful update on the library complete with lots of pictures. Check out the Pobe-Mengao library blog to read more.

A Day in the Life

2011-02-15T04:19:00.000-08:00

On my blog, I spent two years trying to describe and share my life in village. There is no denying that this year, living and working in Ouaga is completely different than my experience in Pobé. Yet I’ve realized that since I’ve been in Ouaga, I haven’t really written about a typical day here. What is it that Emilie is doing exactly in Ouaga? How does she spend her days? Where does she go? Who does she hang out with? Well my friends, you don’t have to torment yourselves with these burning questions any longer.

Welcome to “A Day in the Life : Emilie Crofton, special edition Ouagadougou”

I wake up in the morning in my comfy bed, wrapped up in my sheet like a sandwich roll because I’m ACTUALLY cold from the fan blowing on me all night (I love you electricity). I go to the boutique which is so perfectly located directly in front of the house. They know me so well that now their standard greeting to me is not "Ney y beogo" but "Fo data gela wana?" How many eggs do you want? Because I always buy an absurd amount of eggs.

After breakfast I bike to work. Despite the short 7 minute commute I pray to the traffic gods that I won’t get hit by speeding drivers who clearly don’t respect any sort of traffic laws.
At the office, the chair in front of the FAVL computer has become my throne, where I pass endless hours typing (I know I know, welcome to the real world Emilie). Work includes anything from grant writing, fundraising, organizing events, improving contacts with local officials in Burkina, etc…

After work I usually head to the gym for an hour of aerobics. When I think of the fact that I used to be an athlete who’d train up to 3 hrs a day, this class is a joke. Yet I always leave tired and sweaty and continue to struggle lifting the damn wooden rod with what I swear are invisible weights. My college bball coach would be ashamed.

After the gym I stop to buy veggies from the women merchants set up along the road. Even after months of being in Ouaga, I can never get over that I can buy eggplant, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, green onions, potatoes, avocados, zucchini etc… and rarely ever spend more than $3. I may vary my veggie ladies but I always buy my fruit at the same stand, where Aminata always has fair prices often gives me a "cadeau."

On my way home I'll sometimes stop to visit Madina, who’s become a very good friend here in Burkina. She’s incredibly friendly, generous and a great businesswoman. During the day she runs a stand in the nearby market selling colorful “pagnes” and in the evening she sells “achieke”, a delicious dish made from cassava, originating from the Ivory Coast.

Madina and her beautiful pagnes by day...

Madina by night

Because I can never resit buying some of Madina's wonderful pagnes, every now and then I stop by to visit Pauline, a tailor I go to to have clothes made and who has become another good friend. Then its back home to whip up some dinner, get washed up and its off to bed, ready to begin another day.

Visit to FAVL libraries

2011-01-19T03:31:00.000-08:00

Last week I went down to village to visit the FAVL libraries. The visit was for a couple different reasons: 1) I acted as a sort of liaison/tour guide to a visiting professor from USF and 2) to assist Rodrigue, a student in Ouaga doing research for his thesis, in conducting an inspection/survey of the FAVL libraries. Even though it was for work, it was great to be able to get out of Ouaga for a while.

It amazes me how much village calms me. I guess it’s the quietness, the simplicity of village life. I returned from village calm and stress free. It didn’t last long, returning to an abundance of emails and work, but it was wonderful while it lasted!

They say pictures are worth a thousand words, so I feel like I can better express my time in village through pictures (taken by Charley and the professor) rather than my rambling words.

Conducting a survey of Bereba's library with Rodrigue

A happy reader

The library of Koumbia

Outside Bereba's library

It's cotton cultivating season down south

Woman making bricks with baby helping

I'll pass on taking this taxi brousse!

Hanging out in the village of Boni

Don't get any ideas (yet) mom!

Playing with paper planes in Dimikuy

Happy New Year's!

2011-01-06T01:38:00.000-08:00

This year my Christmas and New Year’s were definitely more ‘holiday-like’. Like previous holidays back home, I spent too much, drank too much and ate too much! To be honest I’ve been completely spoiled these past few weeks, indulging myself quite happily and guilt-free in the “good life.”

Still arrogant with the success of our first brunch, Charley and I held another party at our house, inviting our neighbors and friends. Now that my culinary skills are at their finest (or so I thought) I cooked up “riz gras” (rice cooked in a tomato-like sauce), beef kabobs and teriyaki chicken with brownies for dessert. Unfortunately, the kabobs and chicken were tough and overcooked. The rice was absolutely delicious but the truth is that a Burkinabe friend came to help and ended up cooking the entire dish herself…a blessing actually. Charley and I were pleasantly surprised with some beautiful locally made gifts by our very good friend and neighbor Madina.

As a Christmas present to ourselves, Charley and I now have a fridge in the house. It’s sad how ridiculously happy we are about this. I realized though, that I haven’t had a fridge in my house since June 2008, and considering I am the Queen of Food (or rather, Queen of EATING), that is saying something! I have reminisced about what having a fridge means to me: 1) I don’t have to buy veggies/ingredients the day I plan to use them 2) Cold drinks await me just outside my door 3) I can no longer use the excuse “I guess I HAVE to eat this entire cauldron of mac and cheese since it will go bad by tomorrow”

In addition to my new eating habits, some ex-pat friends left to travel over the holidays. I was asked to feed their cat while they were gone. Having this tiny crazy cat attack my feet and claw up my legs was totally worth it: not only is their house beautiful but I was able to swim and lounge by their wonderful pool!
So as you can see, my holidays were nice: everything from going out to nice restaurants, lounging by a pool, dancing the night away and watching an incredible (even for US standards) New Year’s fireworks display in downtown Ouagadougou.

However, I also realized that this has been the third holiday season that I have spent away from home, away from family and friends. On the phone my mom told me “I’ve been spending the past three holiday seasons with other people’s children…next year I want to spend it with you!” I concur wholeheartedly. And today, posted on the internet where anyone/everyone can see, I promise that next year I will be at home (or Quebec) surrounded by friends and family for the 2011 holidays.

Happy New Year everyone!

'Tis the Season

2010-12-13T09:06:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that during the past two Christmases I spent in Burkina, my holiday spirit was definitely lacking.

Call me Scrooge, but it’s hard to get in that Christmas spirit when your sweating profusely in 95 degree weather, sand flying up your nose, not a tree in sight, camels passing by your house….not to mention living in a predominately Muslim community!

But this December has already proved different, that holiday cheer slowly creeping up on me. Last week while biking, Charley and I passed this tiny dilapidated stand selling tacky Christmas knick knacks, gaudy lights, the most fake looking plastic Christmas trees and faux sparkly garlands.

First we gawked in disgust. Then we bought everything we could.

Riding home, we were so excited to decorate our little faux Christmas tree and put up our colorful lights. It took all of two minutes.

So now that our home was decorated, we wanted to have a get-together. At first we decided on a BBQ but quickly realized that neither Charley nor I could BBQ, let alone COOK, so we opted for a simpler option: A Holiday Brunch! Even the worst of cooks can whip up scrambled eggs! Never mind that neither of us ever hosted a brunch or had any idea of what we were doing. The holiday spirit would guide us into hosting a wonderful Sunday Brunch.We invited a few Ouaga friends, FAVL people, and PC volunteers in Ouaga. I have to admit the brunch went great.

We cooked up cheesy scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes and merguez sausages. Guests brought fruit salad, cookies and a special guest just arriving from the States brought bagels and lox! Thanks to several care packages we made our brunch classy with green olives, crackers and pate. Charley playing Mariah Carey’s Christmas album all day only added to the class.

So, I’ve learned a couple of things in the past two weeks:

1) If you want to raise your cooking self esteem, invite a bunch of food deprived PC volunteers who haven’t eaten a good meal in months

2) I’ve learned to embrace the holiday season no matter where I am. The Christmas spirit is here, even if it comes in a one-foot tall plastic tree.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Senegal

2010-12-07T06:54:00.000-08:00

Dakar

Back from Senegal and all I can say is, WOW! Everything about the trip was amazing.

The conference itself was very well organized and informative. It is mandatory for all Peace Corps Senegal volunteers and is an opportunity for them to get together and learn about what other PCVs are doing. It is a huge event and Peace Corps Senegal invites other volunteers from across West Africa to give presentations. In addition to Burkina Faso there were volunteers from Mali, Togo, Gambia, and Cape Verde.

The infamous statue

I gave presentations on enriched bouillie (to fight malnutrition in village) and promoting literacy (focus on FAVL). I met a volunteer from Mali who was presenting on adult literacy so we worked together to combine our presentations. Overall it went really well and we got a lot of positive feedback.

When I wasn’t presenting I was attending other presentations such as Best Practices for Working with Youth and Conducting NGO Workshops; all very interesting and informative.

It was really cool to meet other volunteers from West Africa and hear how different their experiences were from my own, especially those from Cape Verde! Sarah, a second year pcv in Cape Verde, says she and five other volunteers live on an island and almost never see other pcvs. If for whatever reason they need medical help or need to leave the island they have to fly! She also described one of the volunteers living inside the crater of an ACTIVE volcano! Apparently the soil there is incredibly rich and the villagers there have a vineyard and make their own wine!

Praying 5 times a day is not so bad when you have an ocean view!

Although I was only in Senegal for 5 days I was still able to do a bit of touring around. I went to Dakar's downtown and meandered through the streets and along the beaches. Dakar is so much different than Ouagadougou, so much more developed! The streets were all smoothly paved, the main road was beautiful because it went all along the coastline, kind of reminded me of a mini Highway 1 in California. High-rises were everywhere, vendors with beautiful and colorful art work lined the streets. The food, especially compared to Burkina, was delicious. Fresh fish, delicious rice dishes, vegetables galore...I was in heaven!

We stopped at the Monument de la Renaissance Africaine, an infamous and controversial statue. They say an estimated $25 million was spent on it...money that could have gone toward health and education. Also, the statue is of a Muslim man, woman and baby. The woman is wearing a skirt so short it nearly rides up her crotch and her nipple is visible through her shirt.

In a poor and Muslim country where appropriate attire means covered tops and skirts below the knee....one can easily see why the Senegalese people find the statue so inappropriate.

I also went to Ile de Gore, an island just off of Dakar. It is small but incredibly beautiful. A number of people still live on the island and survive by selling beautiful and diverse artwork to tourists. There are no roads and no cars on the island; to get there one must take a ferry. Walking around the island I could not help but feel completely at ease and at peace. Eating lunch and sipping drinks at a little cafe right on the beach, I couldn’t help but think "Damn, life is good!"

I could go to these type of conferences any day!

Isle de Gore

Work

2010-11-25T00:56:00.000-08:00

Like every other human being on this planet, there are days when I love and days when I hate my job. Tough days are when I wish I could be with people in village but instead spend hours in front of a computer screen, never stepping out of the office. Sometimes I wonder what I stayed in Burkina for; I could be doing the exact same thing, only in Americaland, and being PAID.

Luckily for me, the days when I think this are few. Overall, I'm thrilled with what I have been doing. My To Do list is never ending, but I like being busy: Grant writing, social networking, research studies, learning Adobe Illustrator and Photo Shop, event planning, organizing workshops, day-to-day management etc. All invaluable things that will help me no matter what career I choose in the future.

But with this particular job experience, there are certain perks that I know I am just damn lucky to have:

* In October my boss asked Charley and I if we could go help out two volunteer research assistants finish up some evaluations. We could help out and also visit the FAVL libraries. Where were these two volunteers and the FAVL libraries? Ghana!

Yup, the boss makes us go, all expenses paid, to Ghana. The horror!

working hard in Ghana

*Part of Charley and my work here is to get FAVL more exposure in Burkina: make more social connections/networking, branching out to other ngos, local government and expat communities. This led to FAVL being chosen as benefactors to a fundraising event called the Jungle Party. Basically its a party thrown in a park/forest in Ouaga with music and dancing, with all the money sold from raffle tickets going toward FAVL. It started at 9pm and lasted until 6 in the morning.

So, let's get this straight: Going to a party complete with music, dancing and alcohol; scmoozing with partygooers; staying out until 3 a.m. ...
and this is all technically "work."
Well allright!

*Most recently Ive been asked by Peace Corps to attend a PC Volunteer Conference : Best Practices from the Field. I will be making two presentations on promoting literacy and food security. This conference happens to be in SENEGAL! So on December 1st I get to fly down to Senegal for 5 days, all expenses paid. Pretty exciting!

So next time I'm brewing in my anger and resentment while staring at a boring computer screen....Ill just tell myself one word: SENEGAL!

An Official Ouagalaise

2010-11-08T07:02:00.000-08:00

Since I am now Ouagalaise, as they say here, I've been living like a total city girl. I eat out several times a week, go to events like Waga Hip Hop and SIAO, regularly head out for drinks with friends, buy fabric material and have clothes made by my tailor, I even signed up at a local gym!

In other words.....Im broke!!

But how can I not be? This is Ouaga, the capital city! There are just too many fun things to see and do....whats a girl to do?

At SIAO, Burkina's biennual arts and crafts fair

What's strange is that in the past couple months Ive done and spent money on things that I dont even necessarily like! Since September I have gone bowling FOUR times...which is probably more times than Ive gone in my entire life.

Charley and I (in one of my tailor-made dresses)

I grab celebrity magazines as if they're rare priceless jewlels, looking through them to find different styles of dresses or skirts that my new tailor friend can make me. In the States, I would rather have eaten a plate of maggots then step foot in anything related to a shopping mall.

I've never been a beer drinker but apparently I am now. Every time I go out with friends I grab a beer...or two. And recenty Ive gotten into this habit of (warning to beer lovers: the following will make you cringe) mixing my beer with tonic or sprite to turn it into this cheap champagne-like concoction.

Sigh...so while these past couple months of enjoying what Ouaga has to offer have been fun, I vow

to put an end to my frivolous and expensive ways. Emilie Crofton is now hereby

on a budget.

New rules: I can only spend 1,500 CFA ($3) a day on food and I can only drink beer (or my champagne brew) once a week...okay twice a week.

Contemplating my last beer (or two) for the week

Why dont I just stop spending money on new outfits and other unnecessary items, you may ask?

Baby steps people....baby steps

We will see how long I last

Life in Ouaga

2010-10-03T04:52:00.000-07:00

One month has passed since I’ve been working and living in Ouagadougou. It hasn’t been long, yet one phrase always seems to come to mind :
« Toto, I don’t think we’re in village anymore! »

In Pobé-Mengao, the way of life is so different. Its difficult for me to compare village to the U.S. because they are like living in two different worlds. In the capital city of Ouaga, it’s easier to compare. It’s strange because to me, Ouaga is in this weird time zone where they want to have all the technology and luxuries of developed nations, yet aspects of the city make me think of the United States…200 years behind:
You’ll see a state of the art cyber café complete with 25 computers, all hooked up with high speed internet, scanners and fax machines at your disposal. Right in front of the cyber, however, will be an old man sitting in front of his wooden table, struggling to make his living selling cola nuts for 20cents each. (Just the fact that I'm writing this blog post from home after buying a USB internet connection key yet still have to wash my clothes and dishes by hand...it's just wierd).
Or the one section of Ouaga where several major roads meet, so this huge, freeway-like concrete overpass was built…yet the vast majority of streets in Ouaga remain unpaved and unrepaired, with the dirt roads full of bumps and pot holes. The middle aged man in his 3-piece suit, waiting at a street light in his silver BMW, while next to him a young mom with a baby attached to her back sits on an old bike, using her feet to stop because there are no brakes. Or Ouaga’s ‘waste management’ system that includes having old women hunched over their backs all day with nothing but a handle-less broom, and the young man who goes from house to house collecting garbage…with his donkey cart. The huge three story mansions right next to the tiny mud brick houses with a family of 8 living inside. The juxtapositions go on forever.
It's not the extreme difference of the rich and poor that surprises me. It obviously exists in the U.S too. But in the States you have your rich neighborhoods and your ghettos and they are very much apart. Here, they live side by side.

While living in Ouaga is definitely a change and adjustment, I already enjoy it. Even as a volunteer I’m one of the lucky ones that can enjoy Ouaga’s luxuries. In village, spending hours under the hot sun with nothing to do were some of the worst parts of my PC experience. In Ouaga there are so many different things to do. Boredom doesn’t exist. Feel like eating out? How about French? Lebanese? Chinese food? I go running in a beautiful nearby park for the ridiculously cheap entry price of 20 cents. I can play pool at a bar where they play jazz music. I can go out dancing at a club, workout at a gym, play basketball, swim in a pool, I can even go bowling! So much to do...so little time

Where I live

Our living room/dining room

Now that Charley and I finally have some furniture, I can describe where we live. We live in a neighborhood called ‘Wemtenga’ and I’ve already come to love it. The people are friendly, the area is quiet, and so far I haven’t gotten too many ridiculous “Nasarra prices” when I purchase things. In front of our house is a small maquis where we can sit down for drinks. We’re right around the corner from a big road where we can find nearly everything we need: street food, local stores, tailors, furniture makers, hardware store, etc.

My room, Charley's is directly across the hall

Our house is luxurious compared to my previous home. Tiled floors, painted walls, furniture that includes a couch and dining room table. Charley and I bought painted masks to decorate the walls of the living room. Our bathroom is incredibly small but has a sink, mirror, toilet and shower. It may be tiny but the way I see it...in what bathroom in the States can you pee, shower and brush your teeth at the same time, without having to move? That's mutitasking at its finest!

Work has been busy and a bit chaotic but it's just a matter of me getting back into the work scene. A lot of interesting projects are comingup and if all goes well, Charley and I will be heading to Ghana next week to visit the FAVL libraries located in northern Ghana.

From village girl to city girl

2010-09-12T10:20:00.000-07:00

I’m back in Burkina and my 3rd year with Friends of African Village Libraries (FAVL) has already gotten to a busy and productive start.

I’ve been promoted from village girl and am now “livin it up” in the big ol' capital city of Ouagadougou. I live in a house (complete with electricity, running water and yes, a TOILET) that’s just a short bike ride from the FAVL office. I’m living with Charley who was located in a village up north but because of the Al Qaeda threat had to evacuate his site. Even though he’s still a 1st year volunteer, Peace Corps agreed to our living together and his working with me at FAVL.

Our house is nice but very empty. Every free time we’ve had has been spent running back and forth getting furniture made and buying much needed supplies. I’ll post pictures up and give more details on our living situation as soon as our house is furnished and set up.

For our first official week with FAVL, Charley and I went down to a village called Boni to help run one of FAVL’s summer reading camps in the village libraries. It felt so good to be back in the village setting, where things are calm, the people friendly, and 8 oclock bed time is the norm!

Overall the camp went well. No one can deny that Dounko, FAVL’s ‘animateur extraordinaire,’ is incredible with children. He’s energetic and loves to see kids having fun. (Unfortunately it’s not often in Burkina you see a grown man “lowering” himself to a child’s level, someone whose not afraid to look silly or poke fun of himself for the sake of children’s education.) With Dounko around, children always have a great time. He knows how to make learning fun.

Between the reading and art activities, games, songs and dance, the camp was an entertaining and busy week. Sadly, witnessing the children's reading levels was an eye opener to the realities of Burkina’s lousy education system.

The camp consisted of 26 boys and girls, all between 11 and 13. In the U.S. most children this age have a pretty good reading level, easily reading young adult novels.
But during this camp the vast majority had trouble reading simple children’s books. Some could slowly stumble through a sentence but when you asked them questions, you realized they had no concept or understanding of what they just read.
One experience struck me particularly hard. During an individual reading session I asked a young girl to read to me. She told me she couldn’t because her eyes hurt. After I sat down with her for a while she got more comfortable, and opened the book. It was soon clear, however, that it had nothing to do with her eyes, she simply couldn’t read. She couldn’t even write out the alphabet.
It was a reality check to the problems of schools in villages. When you have 100 ten year old students in one class it’s easy for them to be ignored and simply slip by.
When I shared my thoughts with Dounko, he said he thought the reading level of the students in Boni’s camp were higher than the other camps he'd run.
The experience was challenging but also gave Charley and I many ideas on ways to improve next year’s camps: Start at the basics; instead of focusing on reading, put more emphasis on teaching them HOW to read.

Visit Home

2010-08-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

At the beach in Santa Cruz

Culture Shock
Two words I feared most about my return. Yeah, maybe the return was just a month-long visit but still, it seemed every PCV warned of this evil villain, Culture Shock, a villain who would make me loathe Americaland and all its capitalist and materialistic ideals. I would be disgusted by people who have three cars in their driveway, pay $50 for a shirt and complain because the waiter has taken more than 2 minutes to bring their drinks.

I don’t know, maybe despite my two years in Burkina I’m still one of these capitalist and materialistic people because frankly, I absolutely loved my visit home!

The month of August was wonderful. I spent a few days in a beautiful rental home right along the Russian River where I did nothing but swim, kayak, read and eat perfectly cooked steak.

Kayaking on the Russian River; Always representing Burkina, even from Cali!

I lunched with friends and laughed over margaritas, went to a jazz festival, shopped til I dropped, dressed up in heels and skirts (to feel like a woman again!). I went to the beach, I ran a 10k race. I went to the movies, I ate junk food….ahhh to be an American again!

I went to a spa in Calistoga with my mom and lounged in mineral pools. I had a one-hour massage and let me tell you, while this angel-from-heaven of a woman was tugging and rubbing, massaging and making me groan in ways only a man is supposed to…..not once did I think of Pobe.

Does that make me a bad person? What does that mean? Why was it so easy for me to return?

Of course there were some things….little things that immediately brought me back to the realities of America:

- On the way home from the airport all I could think of was sushi dinner….of course Friday night rush-hour traffic seemed to think I’d waited 2 years…what was another 2 hours.

- My first time back in a grocery store, I just walked slowly up and down the aisles, mouth half open in shock. My mom kept asking “Well what do you want!?” and all I could stumble out was “I….don’t….know!” A bit overwhelming.

- Or the time I started doing all the dinner dishes while my mom and Patrick were outside. Twenty minutes later I’m still sweating and scrubbing everything by hand when my mom walks in, sees me and says “Milie…why don’t you just use the dishwasher?” Oh yes, the dishwasher, a machine invented to wash dishes. Incredible!

While in Calistoga we stopped at a famous winery (the one from the movie Bottle Shock). It was very nice and probably the only time in my life I’ll ever taste $130 wine. But we were surrounded by nothing but yuppies and blond bimbos. You know the kind, the women with perfectly manicured fingernails and those huge perky, plastified bosoms, talking about their recent shopping trip in Paris. It was a Monday afternoon...don't these people work??

Obviously I thought frequently of Burkina and the people of Pobe. One weekend my family helped organize a party/fundraiser where we raised more than $500 for Pobe’s library!

I loved my visit home but to be honest I’m ready and excited to get back. I know that joining the Peace Corps is a once in a lifetime experience that not a lot of people have the courage to do, and I’m doing it. Before joining I was worried about 2 yrs being too long. But being here I’ve realized that nothing has really changed. Things are basically still the same. But I’M not the same. I’ve learned and experienced so much, more than I ever imagined. Recently I’ve heard the word “regret” from so many people, wishing they had done things differently, that they had not been afraid to try new or challenging things.

It made me realize, I have no regrets. My time in Pobe was challenging. At times I hated it, I thought of coming home, wondering why the hell I CHOSE to be there, my latrine became my little private crying room. But if I could go back and change things, change my decisions…. I wouldn’t.

I guess it’s a good thing I’m going back for a 3^rd year!

My 2 years are up!

2010-07-29T07:13:00.000-07:00

swearing in as a PC volunteer 2 yrs ago

Well, my 27 months have come to an end. Tonight I’m flying home to California after 2 wonderful years as a Girls Education and Empowerment volunteer in Pobe-Mengao. I return to Burkina in September to begin my 3^rd year as a volunteer with Friends of African Village Libraries.

Overall, my experience in Pobe was amazing. I made some incredible relationships that I know will last for years and years. Through activities like girls’ clubs, girls’ camp, sensibilizations, AIDS formations, nutrition projects and the library project, I’m happy and satisfied of what my little-experienced-self was able to achieve.

Unfortunately my stay in village did not end like I would have liked. An emergency security situation forced me to evacuate Pobe without saying goodbye to my friends. But while this situation is unfortunate, I’m happy that I am extending a 3^rd year. Hopefully in several months I’ll be able to return to Pobe and say my proper goodbyes.

Pobe-Mengao's famous Mamyou fertility statue

Tonight I return home for one month and the truth is that as excited as I am, I’m also partly petrified! I haven’t been home in over two years! I’ve been living in an African village in Burkina Faso, a country many Americans have never even heard of. Now I’m heading back to the fast-paced land of technology where time is money, where being in fashion doesn’t mean wearing bright multi-colored mismatched-patterned outfits; where my taking a 2 hour nap at noon time is not going to be acceptable.

I know I’ll feel out of touch. Who are the Jonas Brothers? Why are people so obsessed with Twilight? What the hell is Twitter? Is it true we have a Black president? (just kidding).

There are two things I am most excited about: 1) Seeing family and friends (obviously) and 2) Food! Everything from sushi to Mexican to my mom’s home cookin. I’ve already planned a major Costco run. I’m slobbering all over myself now just thinking about it.

Volunteers who have visited home already gave me good tips and warnings. For example, beware of my first grocery store experience….I’ll be in shock! (And wear a jacket…passing by the freezer section is like being in Antarctica!)

Overall though, I’m really excited. I am looking forward to relaxing, spending quality time and catching up with family and friends. For me, the fun begins right from the plane ride. Air France baby! Free champagne, free wine, free cheese. Is it sad that I’m actually looking forward to the meal served on the plane?

bike race, computers and....extension?

2010-05-26T01:41:00.000-07:00

Claiming my prizes; Amy and I before the race

After 2 years of bike parts constantly breaking, changing flat tires on a weekly basis and biking 25K just to buy vegetables….it’s safe to say that I truly hate biking. Ironically, I feel like it’s biking that I will be most known for in Pobe. It started with last year’s Women’s Day bike race. (It wasn’t until I won the race that people started calling me Emilie instead of Nassarra). And this month, apparently, I have “saved the name of Pobe” with another biking feat.

I participated in a bike race in Djibo organized by a big mining company. There was a 25K men’s race from Pobe to Djibo and a 5K women’s race in Djibo. When I said I wanted to sign up for the men’s race (It’s the exact course I bike for veggies anyway so why not?) I was told no. I flipped. “That’s ridiculous! I can bike 25K! WOMEN can bike 25K! I vowed to bike in the race no matter what. I imagined flying past tired sweaty men with a sign attached to my back reading “Vous venez d’être dépassé pars une femme!!” (You’ve just been passed by a girl!) I’m a GEE volunteer. This was going to be GEE at its prime.

Then I was told the winners of both the men’s and women’s races got big prizes including new bikes and lots of cash money.

I registered for the women’s race. (Add prizes and cash money to anything and any PCV turns into a competitive, money-hungry beast….I can always empower girls another day.)

I convinced the Roses and Thomas to also compete in the race, so we all got together in Djibo the night before. The race itself went very well, I won first place! I won a sweet biking jersey, a new bike and nearly $300 worth of CFA!! All because of a FIVE k race! The mining company was literally throwing money around, creating a big hoop-la over nothing. Ever participant had to wear a t-shirt that had the face of the Minister of Mining plastered on the front. Coincidence that all this occurred just a couple months before elections? I think not. It was kind of ridiculous, but I still gladly accepted the prizes. All the money went to the library (more books!) so at least it was for a good cause.

A big secondary project that Amy and Aaron Rose did was create a computer room in their village of Titao. After getting it up and running they decided to conduct a week-long IT camp to introduce computers and how they work to students and functionaries. Three other volunteers including myself spent the week helping them, teaching everything from the parts of a computer to how to make a power point presentation.

Now, those that know me know that I am one of the most computer incompetent people, so the idea of me helping out, showing others what to do was a little scary. But the camp went well (minus constant power cuts) and I probably learned as much as the students!

Emilie Crofton, computer guru?

This month, my time in Pobe has been strange emotionally. In village I have been really bored, lazy, frustrated, anxious and even somewhat anti-social. I realized I am going through what I like to call Africanized Senioritis. I’m nearly done with my projects and work in Pobe, ready to move on to other things. Although, unlike the majority of PCVs, I won’t be moving on too far away.

I remember a phone conversation that I had with my mom several months ago.

Mom: “I just read another volunteer’s blog about how they decided to extend their Peace Corps service for another year. Emilie, I want you to come home after 2 years. PROMISE me now you will not extend!”

Me: “Mom, believe me, I am coming home after my 2 years are up. There’s no way in hell I am extending, I PROMISE!”

Well, here I am announcing that I have officially extended my Peace Corps service (sorry mom).

A couple reasons why Ive decided to extend:

-I feel like it took me a full year before I was settled, felt integrated in the community, developed the trust of the people and did meaningful/sustainable activities that were actually needed. This second year has just flown by, there’s still a lot more that I can and want to do.

- I am interested and curious about working in the NGO world. I could go back home and work some lame desk job with some NGO, or I could stay here with an NGO and work directly in the field, learning skills and experiences that will truly help me see if this is what I want to do or not.

For my extension I will not be in Pobe-Mengao. While I will still be a Peace Corps volunteer, I will be “working” with Friends of African Village Libraries (the NGO that helped me with the library in Pobe.) Having worked extensively with them, I really like and respect what they do and believe they make big impacts in village communities. I think it would be wonderful to be apart of that. I would be splitting my time between their bureau in Ouaga and their village libraries (most of them being in the south-west part of Burkina)

Here are some of the projects/activities the director sees me working on:

- Speaking to Ministry, WB officials and other NGOs to get larger scale production of appropriate children’s materials

- Leading a workshop for 100 Maires on “Establishing a community library”

-Helping create a set of six workshops for improving library services

- Networking with cellphone/software engineers and cellphone companies to pilot web-interface for FAVL librarians to do their monthly reporting

-Helping create 25 illustrated children’s books for young readers

-Working with a local printer to produce children’s books

-Working on normal FAVL activities at the different libraries such as literacy camps, reading programs, etc.

-Helping in running/facilitating the study abroad program

While Im really excited for next year, I am honestly looking forward to my upcoming home leave. (If you extend, Peace Corps flies you home for one month). I will be home the month of August and am looking forward to seeing family and friends, eating good food, and not sweating 24/7. Amina!

New This, New That

2010-04-18T06:09:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks, it's been all about the new. New things, new people, new experiences...

New Maire

I mentioned last month that the Maire of Pobe-Mengao passed away. The village elected a new Maire and to the great excitement of many, Konfe Inoussa was chosen. Inoussa is a good, hardworking and honest man who is much loved in the village and is also my good friend and neighbor. After he was elected it seemed all of Pobe was cheering and dancing, firing off rifles (blanks, thankfully) in celebration. People are saying with Inoussa as our new Maire, good things will come to Pobe.

Pobe's new Maire

Potato Fete in Titato
While I go to Titao to visit the Roses (married PCV couple) quite frequently, what was new for me was attending Titao’s annual “Fete de la Pomme de Terre.” Yes, the festival is almost as ridiculous as Gilroy’s garlic festival, only, its all about potatoes. After a morning of speeches and cultural/traditional dance and song, we shopped at the 100 plus stands of farmers selling, you guessed it, potatoes. Potatoes potatoes everywhere! We all had a lot of fun and of course, ate a lot of potatoes.

traditional dancing in Titao; selling patates

New Internet
Remember way back when, back when they were building a new cyber next to the post office in Djibo? Construction was already well underway, the guy telling me it’d be up and running in just 2 weeks? Well, more than one year later, it’s finally true! Yes, no longer do I have to travel 113K on ridiculous/horrible/unreliable/windowless/always late/always breaking down transport to use internet. Djibo’s first cyber is now open!! Which means that I will now be able to (cross my fingers) check email on a weekly basis. The bad news, is that some genius put some restrictive setting on the computers so that no one is able to use a USB key, meaning we cant save anything, work on any personal docs or upload any pictures. We can’t even open attachments in email. Which means, Ill still have to travel to Ouahigouya/Ouaga to work/send documents, open attachments and update the blog.

New method to treat scorpion bites?

So I’m eating the usual dinner of tô at my neighbor's house when one of her daughters (13yrs old) gets stung by a scorpion. Here scorpion stings are not dangerous, they just hurt like hell. The family quickly gathered around her as she sat on the mat crying out in pain. I obviously felt for the poor girl, she handled the bite a lot better than I probably would have, but I was completely struck by the “healing” methods the family used. The father sat next to the girl and had his young son go catch a frog. He then took his daughter’s foot (where she got stung) in his hands and proceeded to slap her foot back and forth with the live frog! He did this for about 5 minutes before I finally asked, what the hell are you doing??? He answered, “Ca c’est notre medicament Africain” (This is our African medicine). Strange? Yes, a little bit, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. I could only sit and stare in confusion/silence when he then proceeded to then press a small coin on the bite, since apparently rubbing money on the wound heals it? Then he rubbed what looked like a small piece of black charcoal on her foot, then made her eat it. Thank you God for westernized medicine!

New Library
The major news of course is the opening of Pobe’s library! La Bibliotheque Villageoise de Pobe Mengao is now officially open! It was a great day, wonderful to see it finally all come together. It’s been a lot of hard work, filled with hardships, frustrations and fear but it’s finally here. Hamidou is already doing a wonderful job as librarian. For more pics and information about the ceremony check out the library blog.

COS is in the air...yikes!

2010-03-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

Last month, foreigners throwing money around everywhere in Pobe had me questioning my work as a Peace Corps volunteer and my impact in village. This month, incidents in Pobe reminded me that money is not always the answer. Without getting into specific details, a school official asked one group for help at the primary school. The World Food Program would cease delivering food for the school’s free lunch program next year. The poor, helpless, hungry students would have nothing to eat, could the group give money to help? Of course they could, and they did, handing more than 1,000,000cfa to the person. Unfortunately they gave the money with no witnesses or people around, placing the money directly into the man’s hands. Instead of investing in sacs of rice/supplies for the students food he secretly opened a private bank account where the money could be hidden and spent as wanted. Luckily someone found out and notified Pobe’s authority figures. They demanded he return the money and chastised him, though that was the extent of the punishment.

Literally a couple days after, another incident happened at the school. A teacher called in a young female student (in 5e) to his home in the evening, harassed her and demanded sexual favors. She refused. He threatened to fail her. She still refused. So, he hit her. Her father found out and reported the incident to the school authorities. I witnessed the school officials “chastise” the teacher, though again no real punishment was given.

There are 2 things that realy frustrated me about this. 1) In both situations, asides from a slap on the wrist, neither was punished. I can’t help but think that if this happened in the States both men would have probably been arrested. 2) That both situations weren’t exactly shocking, even to me. Sadly these are situations that happen pretty frequently here. Both incidents just caused several days of exciting village gossip.

Women's Day exposition in the marchee. Women's group selling their handmade purses; Peuhl women selling milk

March 8 was International Women’s Day though in Pobe, the death of our mayor delayed activities until the 20^th. The day included a woman's bike race, sensibilizations on maternal health, and lots of other women related activities. My part of the day included organizing an exposition showcasing all the talents/artisinal items that women make in Pobe. All day we had women set up under the hangars of the marchee, with little signs that I had made showing what they are selling. Women came with handmade soaps, traditional pagnes, clay pots, purses, and plenty of food items to sell. It was a lot of fun and the women appreciated being able to showcase their talents in front of everyone.

This past week I was in Ouaga for our Close of Service (COS) conference. Even though its early (service doesnt end until end of August) they hold it now to help wrap up our projects, and aid us in the transition back home (resume writing, job hunting, grad schools, career planning, reverse culture shock, etc). To be honest the conference really freaked me out, making me realize how close I am to the end. I am nearly 25, still no clue about what I want to do, or even where I want to do it!

Thomas and I "destressing"

Luckily, post conference there was the COS party, which was a great stress reliever. It was nice to see a lot of volunteers that I rarely see, talk with others, simply relax and enjoy the night.

Now back in village we're in preparation for the Library's big opening day on April 6th! We've been busy fixing up any last minute items and the library committee is in charge of organizing the ceremony. Should be a lot of fun!

Big news in Pobe

2010-02-25T07:13:00.000-08:00

One early morning I’m lounging at home when I hear this rhythmic drumming noise from outside. Curious, I peek my head out to see this herd of people marching down the roads, each with some kind of tool: straw brooms, shovels, rakes and even a wheelbarrow in hand. Ends up that a youth group in village decided that Pobé-Mengao was getting to dirty. They approached the Maire who provided them with tools and supplies for a voluntary community cleanup. For three days the group went around the entire village, even in people’s courtyards, sweeping trash together to burn.The drumming sound I was hearing was a man beating a stick on an old paint drum, keeping a steady beat and entertaining the workers. It was so wonderful to see this community outreach, driven by the YOUTH, who care about keeping their village clean. (I realize burning trash isn’t the most eco-friendly thing to do but still…here you don’t have much choice and you can’t ignore their great intentions)

This month in Pobé-Mengao, nassarras were everywhere. First, a French couple here for the entire month working with the health clinic and helping malnourished children followed by a large group of 9 men and women from Poland, here to help with the primary and secondary schools. Their visits made me think a lot about my work as a volunteer. Both groups came with a lot of money, giving gifts left and right to everyone. At first I was, in all honesty, annoyed and upset. Everyone was so thrilled to be receiving these free expensive gifts (supplies for the schools and health clinic, generators, toys, games, food, etc). I was jealous even. I’ve been here nearly 2 years now, trying my best with no money to do what I can to help, and in less than 2 weeks these people come here and are able to do so much more. Questions ran through my mind. Am I really helping anyone here? Isn’t giving the people free handouts all the time only enforcing their dependency on foreign aid? How is this sustainable?
After a while though, I realized that what Im doing here, while on a much smaller scale than them, is still important. The things I’ve been trying to help the peole of pobe with are not necessarily material things or gifts, but mostly education, information and a better knowledge of things. While the results of this might not be able to be evaluated easily and wont have a finishd prokect to show for it, its still important. As another volunteer sold me “They are giving the people want they want. You are helping give them what they need”

Elisee with Pobes famous Mamyou

Elisee, FAVL’s regional coordinator came from Ouaga to visit Pobe and the library. He was impressed and says we’re off to a good start. We still plan to have the opening in April and have been working hard for this to happen, setting up the room and organizing the books, which has been long but at times entertaining. For example, we got a wonderful donation of 130 books from FAVLs library in Bereba, but I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw a biography on (you Quebec folks should like this) Diane Dufresne. But you never know. Seeing a book by Jimmy Carter I wondered how many people would ever want to read it. But literally 5 minutes later I hear Hamidou say “Im trying to find this book I really got into when I was training in Bereba. This book by that old American President guy…”

March is off to an amazing start. We received news that Friends of Burkian Faso approved our grant proposal of $2,000! With this approval we have not only reached our $10,000 goal but surpassed it. As of today we are officially a FAVL-managed library!!!!

The month of march will be busy in preparation of our opening ceremony in early April. Right now, things are getting really busy and exciting!

New Year

2010-01-12T05:02:00.000-08:00

I know it's a little late but Happy New Year! On New Years' eve John (volunteer who came to Djibo in December from Guinea) and I decided to start 2010 with a good ol' campout in the middle of the desert. (When I told my mom this, she responded "WHY? Isn't that what you've been doing for the past 1 1/2 years?")
We packed a small bag, hiked for about one hour outside of Djibo, found a spot that was relatively rock-free and pitched our tent for the night. As the sun set, I realized how absolutely beautiful the dessert can be. Who knew! We made a fire and ate the feast we had prepared earlier. I had managed to find those little sparkler sticks which we wanted to line up on the ground and light up to celebrate. Well, the ground was rock solid and theres not a lot of usable items out in the middle of the desert. But we found our solution (I wont go into details but lets just say I discovered yet another use for dried cow patties) and had our selves a mini fireworks session. Our plan was to stay up to welcome the new year but when dark falls at 6pm and you're out in the middle of nowhere, well, things dont really work out that way. We were both fast asleep by 9pm. (Always embaressing when your parents call to wish you a Happy New Year. "Sorry, did I wake you? I though you'd be out partying!" -Nope Ive been asleep for the past 3 hrs)

Also, Pobe had a secial visitor, Nikki Smith. She was a Peace Corps volunteer (teacher) in Pobe from 02-04! She stayed several days in village with her fiancee Dave. It was so great meeting them and having them in village. I was really impressed with Nikki's amazing skills in Moore. Even after 6 years she was still fluent. I had to admit I was embaressed (and jealous) when I had to ask for Nikki's help to translate and understand. It was really interesting to hear about her life experiences in Pobe: her work, friends and daily routine, and see how truly different volunteers' experiences are from one another...even when in the same village. Despite the differences it was obvious to see that we both had a genuine love for Pobe and its people.

Saphoura, who couldn't get enough of the enriched bouille

John, a Small Enterprise and Development volunteer, is working on a project at Djibo's Maison de La Femme selling enriched bouille (porrigde). He came to Pobe on a market day to test out the product and see if there would be any interest in village. I don't think he was expecting much, more curious than anything else. But Bouille Enrichie turned out to be HUGE in Pobe. First we went to a couple boutiques to see if they would be interested in stocking the product. They all said yes and bought several packakges on the spot. Then we went to the crowded market to tackle individuals. I found a spot next to a group of women vendors, laid out the packages of bouille on a small clean tarp, had my tating samples out and ready, and started yelling out : (imagine a newspaper boy yelling in a "COME AND GET IT " style)

"Wandaya wandaya!! Mam tara beere! Mam tara beere ne vitamin! A taara benga, nanguri, sucre ne yamsen! Yaa noogo. Yaa sooma wusgo" (Come and buy, come and buy! I have porridge! I have porridge with vitamins! it has beans, peanuts, sugar and salt! Its delicious!)

Now obviously the locals were all laughing and loved to see this crazy nassara making a fool of herself while attempting to yell out in local language...but hey, I drew a crowd. Not only did I draw a crowd but we were able sell every package of bouille. And once we sold out of packages we told the others to go buy them from the boutiques, which they did....until those sold out too. Not only did Pobe completely sell out but one boutiquier went all the way to Djibo that evening to buy more...only to sell out again! So it was a great day and John was thrilled. If the people continue to buy the bouillie, which is good for everyone to eat but is especially great for malnurished children, this is a very good thing and everyone benefits from it.

My second attempt of getting henna was much more successful than the first. Ramata literally spent hours painting my hands and feet, and I loved the outcome.

Congrats to Hamidou, our new librarian! Despite the grant money dissapointment, things are really coming along. Hamidou just completed an intensive 2 week training down in Bereba (village of FAVL's 1st library). As of today we've raised over $9,400 so we're extremeley close to our goal! A large number of books have been bought and we fully expect to have our opening ceremony by April. Dave, Nikki's fiancee made an amazing video which is posted on the library blog.

Dad and Keiko's visit to Burkina/Ghana

2009-12-29T13:42:00.000-08:00

My dad and Keiko's visit to Burkina overall went very well. We did a lot of traveling and visiting in the days they were here but the few minor problems we came across mostly occured during the beginning of their trip. They didn't even have to step out of the airport for that....the airline lost their suitcase (Welcome to Burkina!) After that issue was settled (they found and retrieved their bag the next day), my father's first words outside the airport had me worried about what they'd think of the rest of their trip.

Dad: "Is there a fire? Look at all that smoke in the air!"
Me: "No dad. That's....just...dust"

Luckily I have a family of troopers. This was Keiko's first time to Africa and my father's second (he was in Africa 40 years ago) so its fair to say that while both didn't know exactly what to expect, they were ready to rough it out and were up for anything. Right from the start I was impressed with their easy going attitudes and willingness to go along with whatever I planned. The first couple days we stayed in Ouaga and had my friend tour them around. For their first lunch meal in Burkina my friend took them to a restaurant that served nice local food. To my surprise both Dad and Keiko ordered 'futu', which is basically a variation of "to" served with sauce.

"Now this," my friend says "is a local dish that you eat with your hands." This is where I held my breathe and waited for the disgusted look on my dad and Keiko's faces.

As my friend dug his thick hands into the soupy sauce Dad and Keiko didn't even hesitate...they dug right in and began chomping down, sauce running down their arms. Looking around the restaurant I couldn't help but notice that not a single Burkinabe was eating with their hands, they were all using forks and spoons.

After touring around we headed up to visit Pobe-Mengao. The visit itself was great. They met my friends and coworkers and really got a sense of the place I now call home. What wasn't so fun was the ride UP to Pobe. Since the morning of our departure my dad was feeling a bit sick to his stomach. Although it can't be proven, I beleive it was the BUSH RAT he chose to eat for lunch the day before. After a long and uncomfortable ride (we were crammed into the back seat of a car with two HUGE women. Cramped space + 2 fat Burkinabe women + pot-holes in the dirt roat + 7 hours is NOT a fun combination.) Then about 7k outside of Pobe the car's gas line snaps, leaking gas all over the place. Then we get a flat tire. Then, while the car is pulled over, Dad steps out and...yes, throws up (what I STILL say is bush rat) outside the door. When we finally arrived Dad was so sick he collapsed on the bed and remained there for the rest of the day. Luckily, he had cipro with him.
I have to say, Cipro is a hell of a drug. He took it and felt much better the very next day. We were able to spend that day touring around meeting and talking to people, seeing the sights Pobe has to offer. It was a wondrful experience for all of us. I think they both were able to really see the kindness and appreciation of the people. Everyone seemed to come by to welcome them, women came to dance for them. With them came praise, thanks and gifts. I think the best part of it all is how great it is for me to have my parents know this part of my life here. I know im lucky that all three of them came and not only witnessed but became part of my life experience in Pobe.

The great mosque in Bobo; Sindou peaks near Banfora

After Pobe, it was then off to visit Bobo, which was interesting; and Banfora, which was incredible. I couldn't beleive the difference between this area and Pobe. So green and lush. So many different sights to see. With the help of a friendly guide named Gabriel we were able to see beautiful sights like the Sindou peaks, Hippo lake, the sacred Baobab and the famous waterfalls. The waterfalls were by far my favorite part and after a long hot day of traveling everywhere it was a great way to end the day.

Keiko at the 'falls; Gabriel the guide cooling off

Ghana

I complain all the time about traveling in Burkina but I have to say, I never experienced such awful traveling as I did going to and from Accra. The bus itself was relatively nice but it is soooo long. Going to Accraa it took 21 hours, gong back 25. But it was oh so worth it!

Cape Coast; Kokrobite

In Ghana we were based in Kokrobite which is about 30k from Accra. We stayed at this place called Big Milly's Backyard, which was very nice and right on the beach. It was a pretty but rather interesting place. A lot of young European hippie women trying to hook up with wannabe rastafarian men, all of whom look like they'd been smokin waaaayyy to much of that ganja! But it was still fun and again, right on the beach so I of course loved it.

We did a couple day trips into Accra and another day into Cape Coast and El Mina to visit the slave castles. Accra was ridiculously busy. I had never seen traffic so horrible in all my life (Let's just say L.A traffic has NOTHING on Accra). What was entertaining while we were stuck in gridlock traffic though were all the vendors walking by with their merchandise to sell. They were all selling the most random things: fruit, bread, clothes, rabbit ears for t.v., toilet scrubber, soccer balls, coat hangers, brooms, etc. "This is better than wallmart!," my Dad exclaimed.

Slave castle in El Mina

The slave castles were really interesting and a very somber and humbling experience. Its hard not to feel anything when you're going into the dungeons where men were branded like cattle and the women raped, the slaves all crowded for months like sardines into the dark and dank room before being shipped off to work a life of hard labor. I couldn't help touching the walls, trying to imagine what they went through though I know there's no way I can even begin to imagine that hell.

I was surprised by the level of development in Ghana compared to other W. African countries. There were tall apartment buildings, fancy stores and the roads were in pretty good condition, there were even sidewalks! Though it was obvious to see the vast poverty. Big Milly's was beautiful but completely surrounded by old dilapillated and cramped houses, children still dressed in grungy rags. I was surprised by the amount of Christians in Accra. Every storefront seemed to have some religious title, and wierd ones at that: Lord's Victory Beauty Salon, With God's Blessing Linnens, Jesus Loves Me Shopping and Christ's Chicken were just a few I remember.

The rest of our time in Ghana was nothing except total relaxation: eating great food, lounging around the beach, drinking beers and eating some more great food. Funny lil story that happened on my way to the bus station to return to Burkina. Im in the taxi alone with the same driver (Felix) that drove us around previously on our trip.

Felix: "So I see your parents left already. How did your mom like the trip? That was your mom right?
Me: "Well actually she's my stepmom"

Felix: "Ooooohhh! I THOUGHT so. I knew she couldn't be your mom. I knew it because you are so tall, and she's much shorter"

Me: "Oh yes...you're right" but what I'm thinking is "Uh...yeah. I'm taller. THAT'S the main difference people see between me and Keiko. Not the fact that she's Japanese."

Ghana was all so relaxing. But the 25 hr return bus ride quickly got me used to life in Burkina. Stepping off the bus, the incredible heat blasting into my face. The dust instantly gushing up into my nose and turning my clothes a rusty red. Taxi drivers hounding me, "Nassarra!" ringing in my ears.

Home Sweet Home

Emilie's 1st Birthday Party

2009-12-09T09:26:00.000-08:00

Winter is here!
Shivering students--huddled close together--pass by my house every morning while walking to school. The ski coats and huge puffy jackets, along with mittens, snow hats and even earmuffs have all come out. Women cover themselves with layers of pagnes while selling their fried cakes in the morning. Grown men sit around with each other complaining about the cold.
It was 88 degrees yesterday.
It sounds ridiculous and to my California-sunshine roots, it is. Though I will admit that while this “cold” weather is perfect to me during the day (sweating profusely 24/7 is not my definition of nice weather), it IS chilly at night. If Im outside in the evening Ill bring a sweatshirt. I sleep indoors and use a sheet and blanket to keep me warm at night.

Turkey in a box; waiting for transport to Djibo

Like last year I remained in the North to celebrate Thanksgiving. This year’s feast was in Djibo. Overall the weekend was fun, catching up on the Peace Corps gossip always guarantees some laughs. I even organized a guy to come with a camel so the others could go for a ride.
A man in Pobe actually raises turkeys, so I bought one, never imagining that I would ever eat turkey in Burkina. (Side note: You would think that boarding a bus carrying a live turkey in a box originally intended to hold pastice would be unusual. Of course, not in Burkina. I boarded transport, sat directly in front of a man carrying four live chickens and, if I counted right, I believe there were eight sheep riding under the bus in the cargo area.)

Not exactly like Spencer's BBQ turkey back in Cali, but it works.

We ran into a few problems during our thanksgiving feast. We celebrated on the same day as Tabaski (Muslim holiday)and at the hotel they were blasting Burkinabe music in order to attract clients from all over town. The music was so loud that we couldn’t talk to eachother; couldn't even hear the person sitting next to you. Yes, it was Tabaski and we expected loud music and partying, but not at FIVE p.m.! The guy controlling the music refused to turn it down, saying they’d loose clients. Clients? Who the hell comes out to party at the bar at FIVE p.m.?? Even worse, we were the only ones there! Finally we ended up moving to another area so the rest of the evening was ok.
So, asides from that unfortunate incident, the weekend was great.

Would you like a side of condoms with that?

December 1st was World Aids Day. Nothing was organized in Pobe to I thought Id take advantage and do a little sensibilization. Since it was a Tuesday I waited until 6pm so that all the secondary school students (my prime target) and adults could attend. Nearly all HIV/AIDS sensibilizations revolve around explaining what HIV/AIDS is and how its transmitted.
While maybe not everyone knew every detail about HIV/AIDS, I knew that most had the basic facts and knew the best way to protect themselves. What frustrates me in Pobe is that everyone will say that wearing a condom is important yet so few actually buy them (they are dirt cheap and sold at nearly every little boutique in town), let alone use one.
Comdoms are still such a taboo subject. If a young man buys them, others laugh and tease him about his going to be with a girl that night. If a young woman buys them, shes a whore; if a married man buys them, he’s being unfaithful to his wife. All these assumptions make people embarrassed and ashamed to buy condoms, even though all they’re doing is being safe and taking precautions.
So, I decided the night’s theme would be: “Protegeons-nous. Il n’y a pas de honte dans ca! »
During the evening Hamidou (who was the Moore translator) and myself talked about the importance of removing the tabou of HIV/AIDS in the community and the need to eliminate this shame and embarrassment in buying condoms. A Q&A session followed and then the winners of the AIDS-themed poster/essay contests I had organized were awarded in front of the community. We ended by showing a 30-minute movie on HIV/AIDS while I passed out free condoms to the audience.

World Aids Day (night) in village

A lot more people turned out than I expected. Lesson learned: if you want people to show up to something, show a movie! I borrowed a VCR player and videos from an NGO in Djibo and the TV, speakers and generator from a friend in village. Any meeting or gathering here will start 2 hours late, people taking their sweet time showing up. But the minute they saw us setting up a TV, people immediately started fighting for a good spot. A good number of the crowd were children 10 and under--not exactly the crowd I was hoping to reach. Yet the vast majority were students from the secondary school-my prime target- and adults so I considered the evening a success.

Cheri and "sa blanche"

Last week I went to my very first birthday party in Burkina. Birthdays are NOT celebrated here (no big surprise when you have 7 kids and no steady income). IF celebrated, it would be by a rich functionaire from Ouaga or Bobo. But just recently a new accoucheuse (midwife) was affectated to Pobe. She's a hilarious and outgoing woman who Im really looking forward to getting to know. She decided to throw her daughter a party for her 13th birthday.
We were told to arrive at 4pm. I arrived at 5pm, finally conforming to the Burkinabe system of never showing up on time...and I was still the first person to arrive. The tables were drapped with linen, deliciously prepared food was served on "silver" trays. Cokes and Fantas were served in wine glasses. This was a high-class affair.

There were quite a few difference from a typical American birthday party. All the party guests were the mother's coworkers and friends, not the birthday girls'. The entire time the birthday girl was doing all the work, serving people food, getting drinks, cleaning up after everyone. The girl cant even get a break on her birthday! I think my favorite part though, was the birthday cake. And when I say cake I mean a tall, cylinder-shaped pedestal made out of blue plastic with a big bouquet of fake flowers in the middle. 13 candles were lined around it...and that was the cake. You work with what you got.

the birthday "cake"

One of my favorite new little people in Pobe is "cheri", the youngest daughter of the new accoucheuse. She has absoluely no fear around me and since day 1 has declared me as "ma blanche" (my white lady). Any kid that doesn't scream in utter terror when they see me and burst into tears is a kid that I like. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

December is going to be wonderful. My dad and Keiko arrive TONIGHT! After visiting Pobe with them Im taking some vacation to tour around the south of Burkina (Bobo and Banfora) and then its off to Ghana for Christmas! Im a little apprehensive abotu the visit. My mom's visit went off without any major problems (she didn't even get sick!)...hoping this visit will be the same.