It's been a while since I last posted in Ouaga and school here in Navielgane is finally in full swing. Lately I've been spending a couple of hours each morning observing different classes at the primary school near my house. One thing I know is that I'm glad I went to school where I did. In the younger classes kids sit up to five in a desk (which are wooden benches attached to narrow tables) and hitting isn't exactly uncommon. The first graders come in not knowing any French so the teachers spend the day speaking at them in a language they're not used to, hoping they'll understand, while trying to teach them to read and write. The day I sat in on 1st grade, they were going around the room pointing out things that were white and saying "c'est blanc." I was terrified the entire time that one of them was going to come over and point to me (its not out of the ordinary having kids scream "la blanche" at me as I walk/bike around my village), but thankfully not of them caught on. Even though I'm not going to be teaching, it has been good to see how the classes run here and to know what conditions the kids are learning in. One thing that is cool is that they each have their own little chalkboard to practice writing on - I know I would have thought that was pretty sweet when I was a kid.
I finally made a visit to my local CSPS (clinic) with my homologue. It's in another village about 5K away. Another volunteer was supposed to live their from the health sector but unfortunately she had to go home. Luckily a new group of volunteers arrived last week- all from health and small enterprise development - so once their training is over I should have a new neighbor. So anyway, I visited the CSPS just to get an idea of what it was like/let them know i was here, etc. A popular activity among many volunteers is to participate in baby weighing days, so I asked about that. It worked, out that the next day was a baby weighting day so I went back on Thursday to see how it all worked. It was pretty hysterical to watch because they put the babies in this harness and hang them from a hook in the center of the room. Their eyes would get all wide as they swung around until a good measurement could be taken and a lot of the time there was screaming and kicking involved. They encourage mothers to come in once a month to have their babies weighted, measured, vaccinated etc. Each person has a little booklet in which they keep track of all the measurements to chart if the baby is malnourished or not. The woman in charge of the maternity clinic also spoke to the women for several minutes on the preparation of something called boullie (which is something like oatmeal) to start incorporating into the babies diets. The whole process took up most of the morning. Afterwards, they had me sit in on a couple of consultations which was mostly just awkward and a little confusing since everything was in Dagara. All in all it was an interesting and eye opening experience. Although I'd like to help out thee when I can and am needed, my visit made me a) glad I'm not a health volunteer (I don't think my queasy stomach could handle being there every day) and b) reaffirmed the fact that I don't want children.
I continue to have lots of free time (which I don't think I'll ever be lacking) and managed to fill some of it with a little home improvement. I finally finished painting and although I did a far less than perfect job and it kinda looks like an easter egg exploded in my house, its done and is better than looking at dirty, brown walls with cement patchwork everywhere. I also hung some curtains that I made from traditional Dagara tie dye pagnes that I think are pretty spiffy.
In other news I am currently sporting a rather 90s Coolio-esque hair style. My neighbor decided she wanted to fix me up with a new 'do' and that meant that I sat for several hours on Monday while she attacked my head with a comb and some rubber bands. I thought I was going to end up with some corn rows but oh no, I have a gangster's paradise look going on with braids sticking out in every direction. She was pretty proud and someone suggested we take a photo together...I can't believe I'm allowing the evidence to exist.
Another new thing that has been occupying some of my spare time is a game here called "Ludo" (although they pronounce it "Lido"). I'm pretty sure its from Nigeria and basically it's the African version of "Sorry" - dice, little colored pieces you move around the board etc. A bunch of guys sit around playing it and drinking tea near the kiosk where I sometimes buy my bread. My neighbor saw me playing with them one day and then took it upon herself to buy it on a trip to Diebougou (the same trip where she bought rubber bands for my hair do) so we could play it at her house. She's a little competitive and alot better than me so playing with her can be a little intimidating (silly I know, it's just a bored game) but I'm getting better.
On my way home from a trip to the CSPS, my homologue and I stopped at another primary school to chat with the director/ After introducing me to all of the classes (in one he asked if I had a message for the kids, to which I responded "stay in school" because it was the only thing I could think of in French) we were standing outside talking and he asked "So, in reality, what are you actually doing here?" This wasn't the first time I've gotten this question and people in my village have been asking when I'm going to start working. Technically, we're not supposed to 'stat' anything until our in-service training in January. This preliminary period is supposed to be for assessing the needs of our communities. For me this has been a source of frustration for me as much as I'm sure it is for the people here who thought I was going to come in and make drastic changes. Unfortunately the parent association (APE) of my school still hasn't gotten together and I'm told that the mother version (AME) doesn't really function here. One of the volunteers who worked at our training said we would lean alot about ourselves during these initial months. One thing I I've definitely learned is that I like having actual goals to accomplish which is almost contradictory to many facets of Peace Corps life. For now all I can really do is wait - for the cultivators to come in from the fields, meetings to happen, January to come around. But for now I'll just go back to "integrating," getting my hair braided, drinking tea, and catching up on all the reading I haven't made time for in the last several years.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Yaani
I'm officially a month into my service and decided to reward myself with a trip to the capital this weekend. Well that, and it was Austin's birthday. Ouaga seems like a whole other world after being in the South West for so long. Pulling into town I realized how lucky I am to have a site that's nice and green and hilly...nothing against the dusty air of Ouaga..
There is still not much for me to report in terms of work since school hasn't started. Well officially it started on Friday but I'm told the kids and even all the teachers won't really get back for a week or two. Once classes start I will be able to observe classes and start meeting with parents and hopefully get started on a few projects.
I've had a few interesting days in my village since I last posted. One morning on the way to my latrine I was stopped by some guy who wanted water, I gave him a cup of water and then he (a teenage boy) started asking me if I had clothes that I could give him, to which I said I have clothes for myself but not for a boy. Then about 10 minutes later a guy came into my courtyard with a live chicken and asked me if wanted to buy it from him. To that I said, maybe next time. Before I had even sat down to have breakfast a whole crew of kids came to my door to say hi, I taught them handshakes and then they started asking for candy. Not the most relaxing morning I'll have to say, but it was one of those times where I think "only in Africa."
Two weeks ago I had a little excitement...any by that I mean I found two giant scorpions in my house within two days of each other. Luckily they're not poisonous here (so I'm told) but that doesn't make them any less scary in my opinion. Needless to say I was glad to leave my house for a day after that. I'm not sure if I posted about it but a few volunteers organized a bike tour to raise money for different projects in the Gender and Development committee here. They called it "Sur nos velos pour le Faso" and have a blog of the whole trip somewhere on the internet. They stopped through Diebougoug (13 k from me) on on of their last days of the tour, so I headed up to see them. We ended up with about 14 people in a tiny Burkina house for the night. I was glad to not be joining them for 90K of cycling the next morning.
Other than that, not much else has been going on. I had Dagara lessons last week and spent some time with my neighbors. I finished up the Steig Larssen trilogy that Allie and Christina sent me and have moved on to the random books I brought with me. Luckily here in the transit house (a house in Ouaga for all the volunteers to stay when they come) there are tons and tons of books that anyone can take back to their sites to read. I picked up a few that I'm excited to start up when I get back to my village.
A couple people have asked what my house looks like so here are a few pictures. I haven't gotten around to painting all the rooms yet (and the color was a litttttle brighter than I expected), and I still don't have much furniture, but here it is:
There is still not much for me to report in terms of work since school hasn't started. Well officially it started on Friday but I'm told the kids and even all the teachers won't really get back for a week or two. Once classes start I will be able to observe classes and start meeting with parents and hopefully get started on a few projects.
I've had a few interesting days in my village since I last posted. One morning on the way to my latrine I was stopped by some guy who wanted water, I gave him a cup of water and then he (a teenage boy) started asking me if I had clothes that I could give him, to which I said I have clothes for myself but not for a boy. Then about 10 minutes later a guy came into my courtyard with a live chicken and asked me if wanted to buy it from him. To that I said, maybe next time. Before I had even sat down to have breakfast a whole crew of kids came to my door to say hi, I taught them handshakes and then they started asking for candy. Not the most relaxing morning I'll have to say, but it was one of those times where I think "only in Africa."
Two weeks ago I had a little excitement...any by that I mean I found two giant scorpions in my house within two days of each other. Luckily they're not poisonous here (so I'm told) but that doesn't make them any less scary in my opinion. Needless to say I was glad to leave my house for a day after that. I'm not sure if I posted about it but a few volunteers organized a bike tour to raise money for different projects in the Gender and Development committee here. They called it "Sur nos velos pour le Faso" and have a blog of the whole trip somewhere on the internet. They stopped through Diebougoug (13 k from me) on on of their last days of the tour, so I headed up to see them. We ended up with about 14 people in a tiny Burkina house for the night. I was glad to not be joining them for 90K of cycling the next morning.
Other than that, not much else has been going on. I had Dagara lessons last week and spent some time with my neighbors. I finished up the Steig Larssen trilogy that Allie and Christina sent me and have moved on to the random books I brought with me. Luckily here in the transit house (a house in Ouaga for all the volunteers to stay when they come) there are tons and tons of books that anyone can take back to their sites to read. I picked up a few that I'm excited to start up when I get back to my village.
A couple people have asked what my house looks like so here are a few pictures. I haven't gotten around to painting all the rooms yet (and the color was a litttttle brighter than I expected), and I still don't have much furniture, but here it is:
Saturday, September 18, 2010
23 with 23 Months to Go
It's been a while since I last posted and both a lot and a little has happened. I moved to my village in the southwest of the country and have been quickly getting into the swing of things there. Two days after swear in I took a 5 hour bus ride to my provincial capital where a Peace Corps driver met me to take me the remaining 13K or so. My homologue, Jonas, met me at my house and there were several neighbor kids who were quite eager to help bring in all my bags. My house is a concrete house with two bedrooms, a 'salon'/living room, and an indoor shower (room with a pipe leading to the outside). The driver helped me set up my stove, changed my lock, and was off to drop off the next volunteer. I was glad I didn't end up one of the horror stories where the volunteer runs crying after the Peace Corps car as it pulled away. (There was a small issue where my latrine didn't have walls for the first night, but that was quickly remedied the following morning.) I was excited to be there and Jonas was eager to show me around and introduce me to some of my neighbors.
I'm living about 200 yards away from the primary school and my closest neighbors are teachers. My first day I met some of them and then, since it was a market day, went to the market to buy some veggies and continue meeting people. We stopped at a little kiosk in my village and had some coffee before Jonas left me to get settled in in my house. That night his daughter brough by some to for dinner (mmm) and was back the next morning to show me around. I quickly got into a routine of drinking tea with some of my neighbors and for the most part just listening to their conversations. My french is getting a little better - as in I'm able to get by and do the things that I need in my village - but it's still not quite advanced enough to have too many complex conversations.
My first couple weeks have been full of meeting lots of new people. One of the most interesting encounters would have to be meeting my closest Chef du Terre who didn't speak a word of French. Jonas interpreted the Dagara (my local language) for me and told me that he wanted to give me a chicken to welcome me and would give it to me at a later time. I've also started Dagara lessons with my tutor who works at an organization called ASUDEC. I have lessons three times a week and soon I think we're going to start "practical" lessons where we go out and I try to talk to people in my village. I've been able to start greeting people in Dagara, and am often met with laughter at my pronunciation, but I can tell people appreciate the effort.
My 23rd birthday was last weekend and was able to come up to my provincial capital for some good food and cold drinks. I'm only 13K away and it was an easy ten minute bus ride. The volunteer that lives there, Gwen, hooked me up with some delicious funfetti cake and a few other volunteers came in to celebrate with me. I'm lucky to be so close to my provincial capital where I can get pretty much anything I need that I can't get in village.
My village, I'm told, has about 6000 people, but I think that might be a little bit of an exaggeration. There are two primary schools and basically the equivalent to a middle school in the surrounding villages. As far as other 'establishments' go, there are a few small boutiques that sell soap, pasta, and other random neccessities, a kiosk where I buy my bread, and thats about it. There is a tailor in town which also happens to be where I'm able to charge my cell phone battery (via car battery) since there's no electricity in my village. The big social events are definitely centered around wherever the marche happens to be that day and people can sit and drink dolo. Our village has a marche every 5 days but it moves to the other nearby villages on off days. I'm able to buy veggies and a few other things there, but it has been nice to come into Diebougou to get a few more obscure things. I also have a new post office box there. The address is:
B.P. 21 Diebougou
Region de Bougouriba
Burkina Faso, West Africa
I got my first package to that address this week so I know it works! That's definitely the best place to send things since I'm not sure how often I will get to the capital to get the mail that is sent there. I sent out letters this week and last weekend so some of you should be getting them pretty soon.
I'm sure there are plenty of funny/obscure stories that I'm leaving out, next time I post I'll try and look through my journal to see what I'm forgetting. Hope all is well at home, and happy belated birthday Dad!
I'm living about 200 yards away from the primary school and my closest neighbors are teachers. My first day I met some of them and then, since it was a market day, went to the market to buy some veggies and continue meeting people. We stopped at a little kiosk in my village and had some coffee before Jonas left me to get settled in in my house. That night his daughter brough by some to for dinner (mmm) and was back the next morning to show me around. I quickly got into a routine of drinking tea with some of my neighbors and for the most part just listening to their conversations. My french is getting a little better - as in I'm able to get by and do the things that I need in my village - but it's still not quite advanced enough to have too many complex conversations.
My first couple weeks have been full of meeting lots of new people. One of the most interesting encounters would have to be meeting my closest Chef du Terre who didn't speak a word of French. Jonas interpreted the Dagara (my local language) for me and told me that he wanted to give me a chicken to welcome me and would give it to me at a later time. I've also started Dagara lessons with my tutor who works at an organization called ASUDEC. I have lessons three times a week and soon I think we're going to start "practical" lessons where we go out and I try to talk to people in my village. I've been able to start greeting people in Dagara, and am often met with laughter at my pronunciation, but I can tell people appreciate the effort.
My 23rd birthday was last weekend and was able to come up to my provincial capital for some good food and cold drinks. I'm only 13K away and it was an easy ten minute bus ride. The volunteer that lives there, Gwen, hooked me up with some delicious funfetti cake and a few other volunteers came in to celebrate with me. I'm lucky to be so close to my provincial capital where I can get pretty much anything I need that I can't get in village.
My village, I'm told, has about 6000 people, but I think that might be a little bit of an exaggeration. There are two primary schools and basically the equivalent to a middle school in the surrounding villages. As far as other 'establishments' go, there are a few small boutiques that sell soap, pasta, and other random neccessities, a kiosk where I buy my bread, and thats about it. There is a tailor in town which also happens to be where I'm able to charge my cell phone battery (via car battery) since there's no electricity in my village. The big social events are definitely centered around wherever the marche happens to be that day and people can sit and drink dolo. Our village has a marche every 5 days but it moves to the other nearby villages on off days. I'm able to buy veggies and a few other things there, but it has been nice to come into Diebougou to get a few more obscure things. I also have a new post office box there. The address is:
B.P. 21 Diebougou
Region de Bougouriba
Burkina Faso, West Africa
I got my first package to that address this week so I know it works! That's definitely the best place to send things since I'm not sure how often I will get to the capital to get the mail that is sent there. I sent out letters this week and last weekend so some of you should be getting them pretty soon.
I'm sure there are plenty of funny/obscure stories that I'm leaving out, next time I post I'll try and look through my journal to see what I'm forgetting. Hope all is well at home, and happy belated birthday Dad!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)