it's raining, it's pouring,

It was raining and pouring when I started this post, but rainy season is just wrapping up. It might sprinkle or lighting some in the next couple weeks and then another 7 months of dryness!
Anyways, I experienced rainy season last year but it has seemed like a novelty to me again, probably because it had been so long! And it was fun to experience the whole season in Bilanga and watch how the landscape changed as well as the people.
Starting in June, Bilanga's population decreased in half, if not more, due to everyone heading to the fields to start cultivating and growing corn, millet, beans, peanuts and other fun things to last the year. School gets out as well for rainy season so all the teachers and students who come in leave as well. Which leaves a very quiet village.
I had to leave often to help train the new volunteers but while I was around I enjoyed the beautiful scenery and down time just to hang out with folks. I also attempted cultivating some peanuts (see pictures) which was an experience.

Anyways, some pics to better explain rainy season. But once again, they are backwards.


One day my friend and I took a 13k trip out to see his fields and passed some beautiful baobob tress along the way. It was quite an adventure as we had to wade through water knee deep a couple times and go through some serious mud, but it was sure fun!

Here is my friend (mentioned above) and his sesame field.
Bestie/tutor standing next to some millet in september. Millet is probably the biggest crop grown in Burkina.
My peanuts up close. This is in early september. (planted in june)
Peanut field.
One day it rained so hard our courtyard started flooding. A little bit more and my neighbor's house would have been in trouble. Late July to early September, when it rains, it pours.

Just taking a bike ride around and enjoying how green things are looking.



This was back in July when I took this of my friend and same millet you see her next to up top. It grows fast!
My peanuts back in early august.


Hanging out at the dam.
Bilanga hosts one of the biggest dams in the regions and on rare occassions not even trucks can pass and people have to use the canoes you can see in the background.


Okay, just a little info on what's happening here.
my parents and brother will be here with me in 2 days which is quite incredible and will have a couple fun weeks hanging out with them, then back to school and programs, it should be a full year!

bikes and fetes and adventures

Hello all,

I just wanted to write about the past few days before finishing up my post on the rainy season.

Peace Corps Burkina is currently doing a Tour de Faso, bike tour around the country organized and run by volunteers in order to raise money for our Gender and Development group. It also happens to be Peace Corps' 50th anniversary. So I got to join for a few days and it was quite an adventure. check out burkinabiketour.blogspot.com

About a month ago Peace Corps gave me a letter to give to my Mayor informing that several volunteers will be passing through Bilanga on the bike tour. What does my Mayor decide, Fete! (party time)

So a week before the arrival of my friends, we sat down and planned the craziness that was about to occur. The accountant of the Mayor's office is a really good friend and basically took the whole thing on and began planning, along with my best friend/tutor, and I just sat back and waited.

The couple days leading up to it, I started realizing how much my village was putting into this party, and it really touched me to see so many working so hard, essentially for me and my friends. I went to my friend's house the night before and saw the goat they were gonna kill for us to eat. And not to mention all the chickens.

So, Friday comes and I head over to my best friend's house, after running some errands, who scolds me for showing up late to help with the cooking. She had a team of 10 people, all folks I know, preparing and cooking away. She put me to work pounding leaves and garlic and pepper and who knows what. I attempted to stir the giant pot of chicken parts but after 30 seconds of the smoke I started crying and was pushed aside and told to cut up eggplants.

Then my 2 closest PC volunteer neighbors called and said they were almost there so went to go bike around and pick them up and in the middle of all that the group of bikers called to say they were about 10k away!

Shoot, they're about 2 hours ahead of schedule and we are not ready for their arrival. Can't get a hold of my friend who's responsible for the whole thing, and start running around like a crazy person. Grab benches from the Church, tell the group to stall for a while, then finally get a hold of my friend who says that it'll be okay, we'll tell the group to go to the dam to meet them and instead of going to the center directly, they'll escort the group to my house.
The mayor calls and tells me to get the heck over to the dam to welcome the group but we're short a bike, but it all works out. The 9 bikers start walking across our crazy dam of gushing water as kids help carry their bikes and the support driver follows. My village selected a group of people to dress up in tradition garb and bike the crew to my house, pretty cool welcome if I do say.

After a little respose time, we get picked up again and head over to the community center and were welcomed by singing and dancing and lots of people. It was one of the most awkward events of my life as I tried to balance the desires/expectations of my village, (my villager friends and then the authorities as well) and all the volunteers who came to stay with me and are exhausted. They place the 12 of us facing the rest of them and I'm the only one who knows anyone and don't really know how to handle it all. But it was so great and I was so impressed by how cool and ready everyone was.

They start by serving the group drinks, and not only do they bring sodas, they bring bottled water as they know I don't drink unfiltered water in village, and even thought to bring napkins and water to wash hands and just put so much thought into the whole thing. They also knew to pull out the chicken heads and feet as we americans don't really know what to do with those parts. It was just amazing how much thought and consideration they put into all of it, I was so impressed and touched by it all.
My mayor gave a speech all about the Peace Corps program which surprised the heck out of me and all my fellow volunteers were so impressed.
We handed out a few certificates and posters as a way to say thanks which again was tricky to decide who all to give them to, but in the end, everyone seemed happy.
Many pictures were taken and while a highly stressful event for me, it was one that I will never forget, to see all the people that I have been trying to live in community with for the past year come together to help celebrate the arrival of my friends.

There was supposed to be another cultural night/event that night but it ended up raining all night long, so we just crammed in my house, ate spaghetti and drank some wine.

The next day the car was supposed to come in the morning half of the day but delays happen and didn't show up until 3 or 4. So we chilled and ate out and meet the village Chef and other folks and generally had a good time.
That night was a whole other adventure of riding around burkina in the dark, car breaking down in the middle of no where so pulling out a laptop and movie while random burkinabe came by and watched and then finding some other random village to eat but only finding bread that tasted like kerosene and baggies of fish. But that whole day we were in my province so I got to see a lot more of my area and try out speaking Gulmanchema, my local language, throughout the area. And it was all with good company and a spirit of adventure, so basically a blast.

Didn't make it to the next place till around midnight, crashed on the porch, woke up at 5 to bike 45 miles in really hot conditions to Kaya. That night I said goodbye to the crew and caught a ride with the driver to Ouaga.
It was just a few days but quite defining in many ways so I thought I would share it all with you.

Check out the pictures to better explain the adventures.

Here's at the Fete, getting ready to eat soon. Mayor is giving a speech behind.

When the volunteers just go across the dam. Getting ready to follow those who awaited them.

Entering Bilanga, 3 good friends in front, excited to make it.

The whole group crossing the dam.

My friends awaiting the group in their traditional gear, about to show the way into town and my house.


Some of the group right after the fete.

The group and my chef as we went to see him the next day to "demande la route" for leaving

We happened to be dressed in rainbow that day, so decided to take a picture, my brothers are the clouds on the sides.

Getting ready to leave to the next village, posing with the mayor and some other folks.

Broken down in brousse (bush), pulling out a laptop and watching a movie while waiting as the other driver went to go look for parts. One of the highlights of the trip as this book group of ladies and kids watched behind us and I understood little comments they made in Gulmantchema.

one year in!

Hello friends and family and everyone,

It's been a while for me contacting most of you all, my once a month internet access doesn't ever seem to be sufficient.

Anyways, I've been in Burkina now for a year which is kinda of crazy to think about. When I look back at when we all first arrived in Burkina, it doesn't seem like such a long time ago, but when I reflect on all that I've done and experienced, a year doesn't seem like it was long enough to include all that.

I don't think I could justly summarize my year here so far. It's been a roller coaster ride in many ways, ups and downs and surprises, but for the most part I am enjoying the ride. But some thoughts and updates:

School finished up this past month, so it's rainy and cultivating season until october. The school system here is very different and it's been frustrating trying to find ways to help or contribute or even get involved. I've had a lot of disappointments but a lot of beautiful moments as well. I've been working really closely with the girls in CM2 (6th grade, last year of primary school) as they have a huge test they need to pass in order to get into the CEG (jr high). A lot of the girls had taken it once before already and if they fail multiple times they can't continue with school, and a lot are getting too old (girls are 12-18yrs in this class). We did revision nights, after playing soccer, every week and I got to know the girls really well, about 40 of them. Well, if you look at the passing rates, it wasn't too great overall. But it was much better than we expected, and my girls did really good overall. Almost all the schools in the district, the boys got a way higher percentage of passing than the girls, but not Bilanga, the girls did better than the boys. I was really proud of them, but there were definitely those who did not pass and it's hard to look at them and tell them it will all be okay, when they've worked so hard, and honestly I don't know if it will be okay. But as we say here, ca va aller, it'll be okay.

My favorite project has been soap making I would say. We learn how to make liquid soap during training and a lot of volunteers introduce it to their villages as an income generating project. I've been involved with this group of jr high girls through the church which we meet every week or two, with a couple lady teachers in the village. We'd been talking about teaching them different things to make money, as often the girls don't have any and then can't take care of themselves properly (like health issues) or go to boys to find money. So we did soap making, and it was a huge success and blast. Liquid soap is a pretty rare thing in Burkina if it's not in Ouagadougou, so it was pretty hilarious to see people's reactions as we put in a few drops and the whole bucket foams up. It was a bonding experience for us all, and the soap sold, fast! We ended up doing it 4 times and now people are demanding for more, but ran out of materials for the moment. It was a blast and I'm hoping to work with the same group next year and make it a regular thing.

Currently made a bike trip into Fada, my regional capital 76k away, with another volunteer in the region, who will be leaving next month. All the volunteers who came before my group are heading out this summer or early fall, so it will be pretty different, but we're getting 75 new ones, who just arrived this past week! I'll be up in Ouahigouya (where I did training) for a couple weeks during the summer to help with training so that should be fun. Other than that I don't have a lot going on the next couple months, except maybe working on a field of peanuts. Hopefully my host brother and I are going to plant some peanuts together and see how it goes, we'll see.

I hope you all are doing well. I miss you and think of you all often. I'm impatiently waiting the arrival of my parents in October and some friends in December. which is pretty incredible. My village has recently gained electricity which has been exciting to see the development it brings (no I won't have it in my house) which has brought talk from a friend of mine of internet, so we'll see!

If you get a chance and I haven't heard from you in a while, please send me a quick e-mail of your updates, even if I don't have time to write back for a while, I'd love to hear about what's going on over there.
Thanks and take care!

peace,
Kim

more pics

here are a few more

1st - front of my house, I can't get the pics off my camera with a better picture, but this will have to do for now
2nd - my spare bedroom, my house consists of a salon and 2 rooms
3rd - my little bandit cat who likes to steal from the neighbors, but I love him anyways
4th - my "kitchen". we have gas stoves for cooking

pics

some pictures for your viewing pleasure. camera was broken for a long time so just started again.

1st picture is inside my house. you'll notice yellow bidon on the floor, that's how I go and get water, attach to my bike fill up and bring back. the white jar on top of my shelves is my filter. the sac on my wall is basically attached to me.
2nd - my shower, quite lucky I've got an insider place for bathing
3rd - my bedroom, clothes and what not. my "bed" is outside in this photo, but I sleep inside when it's not crazy hot.
4th - one of my brothers, david, cooking for me on women's day (see previous post)
5th - my hangar, when I hang out to stay out of the sun, basically live there actually, you can see my bed and bike in the back, where I sleep too.
6th - me with the crew of 100 girls from women's day, the girls that I was responsible for in the parade
7th and 8th - my girls marching in the parade!
9th - one of my students braided my hair for women's day
10th - kassiom my other brother is the one sitting down

une journee pour la femme

8 Mars, in case you didn't know (march 8) is international women's day, and a large holiday in burkina faso. wasn't really aware of the day before coming here, heard of it but didn't think much about it, but in Bilanga, you better believe we're celebrating.

first off, let me say, it ranks up there as one of the most exhausting days of my life, but also up there on best days too

wake up around 6, get ready for the bike race. they say assemble at 7, which means it starts at 8. david gets my tires freshly pumped, I run around getting my skirt tailored correctly (everyone gets the same material for the day and makes something with it) and pass by the gare to see if the women have started heading to the dam (starting point) and am met with some cheers by the women of the gare who are rooting for me in the bike race. one of them told me to get over to where they were starting so I headed over to the dam and waited with our group of 30 women who were starting the day off!
so, little history, women's day is celebrated all over burkina, but not in all the villages yet, it takes someone to start organizing it all and making it happen. It started 3 or 4 years ago in Bilanga, and it's pretty typical in burkina to start the day with a women's bike race. this year, they decided to nearly double the distance of the race!
and the distance doesn't normally seem that long, but when you're going as fast as possible and the dust is like nothing you've ever experienced and you can't breath, all you can think about is, when is this over!
I came in third, which I was really excited about, my brothers wanted first, but most of the village seemed to think third was a good thing.

I was rushed over to a crowd and chairs and heat and confusion and the most incredible thirst and pain in my throat and nose I could imagine. All the dust from the race entered my system and I kid you not, I sneezed close to 100 times that day.
I'm getting concerned as I am responsible for the 100 girls who are starting to line up to march in this parade thing and I need to get back and changed and blow my nose and I don't know what is going on as this crowd stands around the 10 of up who came in first from the race. I some how gracefully excuse myself, race home, bucket bath, change, grab tissue and am back at the school grounds.

so every year they have this parade, march thing, with different women in the village and other groups who want to participate. somehow, I get the girls organized for it this year, all the girls in CM2 and CM1 which amounts to around 100. We had 2 days of practice with the gendarme (mix between military and police who are in bilanga) which were equally exhausting but exciting. I had no idea what I was doing, but luckily the girls knew how to do it already, they just needed to practice with the music.
anyways, they did wonderfully, and I was super proud of them, and super tired of the sun.

we all rush over to the ceremony which I think would've been really interesting if I knew what was going on. the microphone wasn't working, but they were saying a lot of really great things about women's rights. there was also a lot of dancing, yes I got roped into that too, and music and presenting prizes and everything.

repose time, thank goodness. I crawl home and fortunately my brothers are there and agree to cook for me, as they all say this is the one day of the entire year where the men cook for the women. it wasn't exactly the most delicious food ever, but it worked and it was really great that they thought enough to do it. sleep a little then get ready to go again.

soccer game time! the women against the vieux (old men of the village), yes it was as hilarious as you can imagine. our team consisted of a bright and energetic group of random women in the village, mostly who've never really played soccer before, except myself. and the men were old expect for the 2 gendarmes they threw in and the mayor who was a ridiculously good goalie. after some falls and hand balls and trick moves, we made a victorious end, 2 to 1.
and then we got in a circle and danced and danced and it was beautiful.

the evening was pretty calm with some hanging out and music and such. like I said, overall completely exhausting, but amazing. so glad I got to be a part of this wonderful day in bilanga and looking forward to next year!

being neighborly

I was lying down outside my house trying to “repose” when my 4 little neighbor kids came and sat down next to me, started yelling and banging on things and basically driving my crazy, as they often do, which gave me the idea to write about my neighbors and “quartier.”

For starters, kids run rampant. In the neighborhood, the 4 before mentioned kids range form age 3 to 5, I think, and I'm not sure if I've ever seen then with an adult. You know that saying “it takes a village to raise a kid” well that's definitely how it work in Bilanga. And, it's not at all an issue of neglect, I don't think anyone can say a child is neglected here, at least not in the way we consider the word in the States. But it's just you don't have the same worries because everyone knows your kids and will make sure they don't do anything too horrible, make sure they don't get hurt too badly, and that they get some water and what not. There's also a hierarchy of age here. Kids have an unusual respect for adults, or anyone older, so they generally listen. Unfortunately that doesn't always work in my case. Language is a huge part of it, and the fact that I sometimes play with the kids, basically has given certain kids the green light to drive me crazy and never listen.
Ca va aller.

Kids included or not, neighbors are very important here. People generally live in courtyards, usually with family, but not always. There are different houses grouped together, often surrounded by a wall. The people in your courtyard are essential and so are people in surrounding courtyards. You live in such close proximity that you can't help but have your lives intermingle. Neighbors here are people that you can generally go to for anything. You want to borrow a knife, my pot, my broom, no problem. The extras always go to neighbors too. If I have too many tomatoes or onions that are going to spoil I give them to one of the people in my courtyard, and vice versa.

Essentially you share everything. Literally when I step out of my door in the morning the first thing I do is say good morning to my neighbors. Then I cross the 15 ft between my house and my neighbor's to borrow her broom and sweep off my terrace. I don't think a single day passes without someone using something of mine or me using something of another person's. And while the privacy is lacking, I love the sense of community. Also, in some ways I am not as independent, but I also don't need to have as much for just myself, instead of stressing out about getting my own rope and wood to hang up laundry, I use my neighbor's line. And while admittedly, I still struggle with sharing some aspects of my possessions, or food, of life, I'm learning and have grown a lot in that area. I remember there were a couple times my neighbor boys/brothers asked me to do some cooking and things for them and clean up and I was rather annoyed, but then later that day then cooked for me and are continuously helping me in various ways. Everyone helps everyone and it all sorts itself out. It's quite beautiful actually, you don't worry about giving or getting, it just all falls into place, everyone takes care of each other, genuinely.

My courtyard family consists of some pretty great people:

Mariam is an incredible woman who is one of the strongest, independent women I've met in Burkina and is probably also one of the kindest as well. Everyone in village loves and respects her, including me, and while we often do our own thing, if I ever need anything, or just want to chat some, I know she is there. My stove broke a while back and I wasn't sure how I was going to get another one, or pay for another, and she went to another village asked her sister for her old one, brought it back, cleaned it up and gave it to me, sans problem. Unfortunately, it didn't work too well either, so now she takes my old one and goes to find her friend who ends up fixing it for me. It was a bit of work, but since I didn't really know what to do, she took care of everything for me. And in the mean time, she either let me borrow her stove or cooked for me.

David is a student at the CEG (jr high but older) and is responsible for the upkeep of the courtyard and is also my brother (which is kinda funny as my real brother's name is david as well). From day one, he's been helping me out with various things. He's the one that kills the chickens when we get them, or brought me all those fish, or takes me out of the village to go see the extended family. He also has an incredibly caring soul. There's been a few times where I've been really stressed out about something or worried and just ended up explaining my feelings to him and he listened and gave me some great advice.

Kassiom is another brother and one of my best friends. Kassiom is around my age and works for his brother buying and trading different produce, like peanuts or sesame. Also a cultivator and my running partner. I probably fight with Kassiom more than other people, which I believe is a good sign of our friendship, because I feel comfortable enough with him to really tell him what I think. Usually it's over stupid things like what time to get up in the morning to go running (he wants to finish before the sun even starts to come out, and I want to sleep/see the road). My 2 brothers have made a huge difference in my life here, we celebrate together, argue and laugh constantly.

Luuta and Mifaliba are a young couple who live behind my house who are always fun to be around. Luuta is Burkinabe but grew up in the Ivory Coast and just moved to Bilanga a few years ago, so in some ways we can relate to each other really well. There are both around my age as well and whenever they decide to have babies they will probably be the most beautiful kids ever. Their french is more limited but it all works and we laugh a lot with my limited Gulmantche or when Luuta tries to teach me how to make To (the traditional food they eat with everything here).

There was a teacher living in the courtyard as well, with her baby and a girl, but she recently moved to be closer to the school. So, we will be gaining a new member to our random family sometime soon, which is exciting.
But living here has definitely given me a new sense of community, and has taught me a lot about sharing and giving. And while it's not always easy living so closely and intimately with others, I sure wouldn't ever choose to change my situation.

holidays in burkina

So, a little late but I thought it would be fun to write about how I spent my holidays here.

It definitely didn't quite seem like Christmas time when I looked around me and saw all the dust and felt the sun beating down, but it turned out to be a fantastic time.

While Burkina is a majority Muslim country, Bilanga has a majority Christian population and have basically been talking up Christmas for the couple months leading up.

The celebration started some the night before mostly with people hanging out even later than normal, kids singing at the church, a few going out for a drink.

Next morning, get up and everyone heads over to a church. So for big celebrations here, Christmas, marriages, March 8^th (women's day), independence day, you get matching pagnes (material) and make an outfit. For Christmas you get one through your church. Even if you don't get the pagne, you are going to get all decked out in your fanciest clothes. All the girls, from age 2 to 50, the week before get their hair done and then cover it up with a scarf until Christmas morning. Some friends were joking that you need to wait to pick a girl to marry until a few months after Christmas, because at Christmas, every girl is pretty.

Church was a blast. All the choirs were decked out and had been practicing for a while for the day. The kids choir, young adults, and 2 women choirs (it was combined service) all took their turns. The best of when the women started singing and others started dancing. People just seemed more alive and excited this particular morning. While I generally didn't understand what was going on (local language) I felt the energy all around.

Now that church is over, it is time to start cooking and eating and eating and eating. I spent most of the day with my “family” of 2 brothers (my neighbor boys), a friend of theirs, and one of my favorite girls Awa. Kassiom (one brother) brought me a chicken so I cooked the first round of food for us, and the others that were constantly stopping by.

I made a stop by a friend's house whose son got baptized, so it was an even bigger party, and enjoyed some more food and dancing and singing. Came back to find more people and more food that was brought over (you don't give gifts, you give food).

The going out and visiting or receiving friends continued for a while. Each time I left and went into village I was greeted by more people wishing me a “bonne fete” and smiles.

While eating spaghetti, macaroni and having a coke or beer might not seem like a big deal for us, for my brothers, it's something they never do, like never. Yet for Christmas my brothers and friend all put in some money went out a bought lots of pasta and sauce and all sorts of goodies. Kassiom went out and got the 5 of us drinks and then I realized how serious they all were about making the day special, making it a real celebration.

It all continued into the night and ended with me and Awa biking around trying to find dancing, didn't find any, but laughed the whole way around as I sat on the back of the bike rack and she pedaled us all over Bilanga under the moon light sky.

It wasn't quite Christmas like I expected, but it was a day full of friends and joy and I really enjoyed it.

I spent New Year's in Ouagadougou, the capital, with almost everyone from my training group. It including some good food, crazy fireworks that were exploding everywhere, and lots of dancing. Another successful holiday to say the least.

Came back to village the 2^nd and school started back up the 5^th. I've got a few programs up and running which are going fairly well, depends on the day, but so far so good.

Hope you all are well and have begun 2010 well.