friends

It's been a LONG time since I wrote in here but finally found the time and felt up to it, so here it is again:

My time is coming to a close which is bringing a lot of different emotions and thoughts. I reached my 2 year mark in Burkina on June 12 but my service will finish in August.

Part of the reason why parting will be difficult is because of the amazing friendships I've formed and inspiring people I've met. I'd like to take the time just to mention a few of them and show their faces to you all and they've been irreplaceable in my experience here.

Mariam Tabadou, neighbor, tanti, constant listener and advise giver. Not a day goes by in which I'm not thankful for Mariam. She is this wonderful woman, about 45 and originally from a neighboring village, who works for an organization promoting sanitary initiatives in Bilanga and surrounding villages, like building latrines. She has one of the most heartbreaking stories I've heard, I know very few women who could've experienced what she has and still astonish me with her encouraging and positive demeanor.
Mariam and I have a relationship that I love. I borrow her broom, she feeds me, she gives me advice and tells me how to get things done in village when I'm completely clueless, tells me when it's going to rain, sweeps for me when I'm away, puts up with my obnoxious cat, keeps me company, constantly, and lets me complain about the heat endlessly. In return, I run errands for her, send her phone credit when she's run out, unbraid her hair for her, provide her with ridiculous stories, listen to her worries about her children, share my cot on hot days, open her gas tank with my nifty pocket knife kit, and eat her leftovers.
Being neighborly is something I've learned from Mariam among many things, especially about being a strong women in Africa, and she provides me a daily source of companionship. We've even programed our sleeping hours to coordinate, both going to bed at the same hour and her radio as my wake up call in the morning. I'll never forget one night we sat on my porch, under the star-lit sky, telling each other ghost stories late into the night until I told her I was scared to sleep so she spent the next 15 minutes reassuring me that none of the demons could come in town, and then endlessly teased me about it the next day.

Nahomie, teacher, club co-ordinator, best friend. Out of all my Burkinabe friends I have, I would have to say Nahomie is my soul mate friend. We are so similar in some ways and so complimenting in others that I often feel our friendship was meant to be. She is a teacher at one of the primary schools here, 28, married with a 2 year old adorable boy. Nahomie was difficult to get to know at first. Last year she approached me and asked me to help start a girls group with here. Since then we got together occasionally for work but it took many visits to her house to show to her that I genuinely wanted her as a friend and for us to both get past our shyness.
This year, we are constantly together. She includes me in everything which is something hard to find. She comes across as completely shy and timid but in reality she is just kind and humble. Her quiet interactions with officials and the “vip” of the village always surprise me because later she'll make me dance around in her house and crack up to ridiculous stories about men. And then you put her in front of a group of students or young girls and wow, her ability to relate and connect to them, to get them involved and excited about whatever topic, amazes me.
Another aspect I love about Nahomie and our friendship, is the fact that we fight. Yes, that's right. Nahomie and I get in little bickers and arguments more than any of my other friends here. Part of that stems from our similar personality, but also to me, it shows our incredible closeness, both of us feel comfortable enough with the other to show our true selves, and to say to the other when they've done something that wasn't ok. Especially in the context of a cultural that avoids confrontation if at all possible. Nahomie has also opened up to me more than anyone else I know, and for that I feel incredibly privileged that she would choose me, an outsider, to be her confidante and that she trusts me enough to tell me her problems and dreams.

David: helper, listener, neighbor, brother. I find it slightly ironic and serendipitous that the boy who I would come to call my brother in Burkina shares the same name as my real brother back home. David is 22, a student at the high school, chief of his class, and my closest neighbor. His case/hut is at most 10 feet from my house, his uncle is the landlord but he kinda keeps charge of the property. David is one of the most honest and genuinely kind boys I've met here. Maybe I'm biased as we basically live together, but after interacting with many others, I've decided I was incredibly lucky, or blessed, to be paired up with him. His life is busy, as often is mine, so somedays our paths don't cross as much, but often at noon we both hunker under my hangar, avoiding the heat of the sun, and chat or feel comfortable just sitting around each other doing on our own thing. There have been many a times when I've felt overwhelmed by one thing or another and David shows up and sits by me and listens to whatever worry I have and always, always, gives me some encouraging words and reassures me that it will all be okay, and you know it, he's always right.
Another aspect I admire in David is his dedication to school. He is fairly old for his grade level but I found out it was due to the fact that his parents never enrolled him in school. At the age of 13 or 14 he decided himself that he really wanted to go to school so enrolled himself and since then has been working hard. He's unfortunately not the brightest of students, and because he started late, so it's a struggle. But incredibly honest, he doesn't aspire to cheating as he believes that even if he has to repeat a class multiple times, he wants to learn and master the material, for knowledge's sake. During the summer he cultivates a lot and earns enough money to pays for his school fees, materials, food for the year and is incredibly independent.
Because of David, I have a whole slew of “brothers”; his friends that come to hang out with him and they've been a constant source of laughter and companionship that I'm constantly grateful for, except when it's hot and I need some quiet moments.

Lompo (Jean): le mechant, teacher, friend, colloegue, supporter, constant source of laughter. Lompo is a teacher at the primary school where I do most of my work. About the same age as me, with wife and adorable 2 year old girl. His family comes from the east (I'm in the east) but he was raised in Ouagadougou (the capital). Last year and this year he's taught the CM2 class, (6th grade) which is the group of kids I work with the most and has allowed us to get to know each other and support each other in our work. Lompo is what we would call a bandit, kinda a trouble maker, but has a good heart. No one has encouraged me as much as he has with my work at the primary school, nor been as helpful in all my projects. Know throughout the area as “le mechant” or “the mean one” I was a little concerned and weary of him at first, but later found out it was a nickname given due to his ridiculous soccer skills (seriously best played I've seen in this country).
Despite the fact he would like to hit the kids more than I'm comfortable with, he is an incredible teacher, dynamic and makes the students love learning. It started last year with him giving me exercises to do with the girls I was working with and him encouraging me with the soccer clubs. This year he's helped me plant many trees, multiple times as many died, steward the school garden, paint a giant map or the world on the school house, accompany me in my girls soccer match, listen to my worries and ideas and offer suggestions and just provided constant encouraging words and support.
Not afraid to make fun of me and tell me exactly what he thinks, it's allowed for our friendship to grow. He's told me several times that he'd do anything to help me, and then lived up on this when I needed him. Lompo makes me feel a part of the school community and makes me, and the rest of us, laugh constantly. His childlike humor and genuine heart and turned him into a dear dear afriend, who I will greatly miss.

Adjima: mother, friend, constant inspiration and support. When I try to imagine my experience in Bilanga without Adjima and her family, I honestly can't imagine how I would've made it through. I'm with them daily and their home has become my second home. The friendship started with her husband, Dapouguidi, a tailor and teacher (of tailoring), approached me and asked me to play guitar with him. I was confused but grateful for someone to spend time with (people were scared to approach me at first) and soon after I was introduced to his wife, Adjima, who quickly became my closest friend in village. 36, mother to 3 beautiful girls, vegetable seller, local literacy teacher, and president of the school's mother association, she is one of the most hard working individuals I have ever met. I have to say I was a little scared of her at first because she is an incredibly proud and strong women, rare to find sometimes, and I couldn't figure our if she really genuinely was nice or if she was just faking it in order to gain power in the weird dynamics of village life. Then one day I saw her outside of the school moving several motorbikes into the shade, no one had told her to, nor did anyone care if she did, she just thought it was a nice thing to do. Since that day, we've been glued at the hip and I've only been consistently amazed with her kind soul that really does just want to serve people.
She takes care of me more than I would say anyone else, and because of my constant presence at their house, I've dubbed her and her husband my village mom and dad. I remember one time I really needed to travel into Fada, our regional capital, but was pretty sick. She tried to convince me to stay and relax but when I insisted on traveling, she grabbed my hand and brought me to the driver of the car and said, look, she's sick and might need you to pull over, can you make a spot for her behind you so you can hear her when she needs to get out. That's just one of many, many examples of her taking care of me. I know if I ever, ever, need anything, she will do all possible to help me.
I've had the joy of being here for the birth of her third and last beautiful child and witnessing the first several months of her life, as well as giving one of her 3 names, Hope, as she and her family gives me hope for this country. My two years here are full of memories shared with her, moments of laughter, genuine conversation, and even a few tears. Nights laying on her bed outside under the stars telling each other about our lives, walks to visit other women in the village, many a shared meals, and most recently a trip and training in Ouaga which resulted in her helping run sessions with my girls clubs. And I'll never forget how she and her family received my family when they came to visit, so excited to share their love for them, as previously been shared with me.

There are countless other names and stories I'd love to share with you all, but seeing how this has already gotten quite long, I'll end here. I guess I just wanted to introduce you all, my dear friends and family from home, to those who've been my friends and family in Burkina these past two years.



Gri, a friend, with David (host brother) and Ann Gevock who flew in, all sitting around about to enjoy xmas dinner


Neighbor and tanti Mariam with my family when they were here.

Lompo painting our wall "ocean blue" for the world map we painted on the side of the main primary school in village, he did most of the drawing.

Adjima braiding and fixing my hair for March 8, international women's day, big celebration in Burkina

Myself and Nahomie getting ready to go eat for the Women's day holiday.

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.

6 months in

Hey friends and family,

So it's been a while, thought I'd send out a liitle update along with a request. I hope you are all doing well and finding some time to relax and enjoy yourself amongst the craziness of the holiday season. While it definitely doesn't seem like Christmas and New Year's are around the corner, I am greatly looking forward to celebrating with my new community here and taking some time to just relax. I just spent the last week in Ouagadougou (the capital) for In-Service Training (IST). It was the first time my group had been together since swearing in on August 25th, so it was an exciting reunion full of stories. The first three months at site were designated for learning, adaptation and needs assessment, then we come together for a short training and after wards (really after the holidays) we are supposed to start some projects.

So it's been 6 months in Burkina and I'm starting to feel like it's home, at least home for the next couple years. My community, Bilanga, is fantastic and full of incredible people and while I still struggle sometimes, I wouldn't choose to be any where else in the world right now. The past 3+ months have been a great learning experience and I've enjoyed getting to know my community, and also myself in the process and I'm looking forward to the next 21 months here.

I do have a favor to ask all of you who are interested. I'm trying to work on a project with some of the schools here to provide some more resources for learning, but I need your help. It was inspired by a class I sat in at the CEG (jr high) where the teacher was trying to explain a glacier. Schools here do not really have books yet students are expected to understand and use information given to them about things in which they have never been exposed, and often times the teacher has never been exposed to as well. In this particular class, the students needed to learn formations in nature for a test they will take in order to pass the class. In the example of the glacier, this can be very difficult. None of the students have seen an ocean, or a mountain and many of them have never even seen ice. Now they need to imagine a mountain of ice that floats on the ocean! Not easy. So I thought that it would be cool if I could get pictures of all sorts of things that they might learn about that we can hang in classrooms or make books with or lots of other things. The pictures can be almost anything, because the same problem exists in the primary schools as they are trying to learn basic french words about regular house hold items. However, gaining these images is not easy here. I had a couple other ideas but they aren't going to work out. But then someone gave me the idea of calendars.
So my request is that your send me your old calendars.
Maybe you can even ask a few of your friends for their calendars. I figure they are fairly light weight and easy to send, and often have fantastic pictures. Now, maybe you don't have any or don't really care to send them, and that is totally fine, no worries, but if you have some old ones lying around, or know someone who does, and feel like making a trip to the post (and maybe spending a dollar or two) I would sure appreciate it. It will also be a great way to reuse/recycle for all you environmentalists out there :) This will be a longer on-going project so even if it doesn't happen right away, I would still appreciate it a few months down the road. Thanks so much!

My address has remained the same:

Kimberly Hover, PCV
S/c Corps de la Paix
01 B.P. 6031
Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso

I would also like to wish you all Happy Holidays and I genuinely hope you all enjoy the time and are well. I appreciate all teh support so many of you have given me and while it may be more difficult, please let me know if there is anything I can ever do for you.

peace,
kim

the noises of bilanga

The noises of Bilanga

Whoever thinks that because I live in a village that things are quiet and calm, is wrong. Well, it's true village life is much more peaceful than the city. But, it does not come without its own set of noises, and I'd like to tell you about some of them.

• music. quite honestly I wish I heard more of it, yet a day doesn't go by without hearing music throughout Bilanga. Whether it is from a radio that is constantly being played by my neighbor, or a cassette at the kisoque (place where you can get food), or on some nights when the moon is clear and the youth get together to play drums. and always if you catch some ivory coast music, it is guaranteed to hear “tout le monde, tout le monde”

• roosters (get ready there will be lots of animal ones). whoever said that roosters only crow when the sun comes up, didn't realize that roosters crow all the time. I probably don't go 10 minutes without hearing a rooster, it happens so often that I don't ever notice it anymore. well, except when I'm trying to sleep or relax and it's outside my window...

• donkeys. I'm pretty sure if you're 2 miles away you can still hear the cries of burkina donkeys. they use their entire body and let out this enormous yell, and normally for no apparent reason. and there are A LOT of donkeys in bilanga.

• dog fights. burkina dogs are definitely not like US dogs. they are mean and are used for protection, and they run everywhere. and one dog gets a whif of another on its property, there is at least a growl or two coming. every so often though you will catch a real dog fight, everyone jumps out of the way, sometimes people throw rocks to try to get them to stop, but usually you just step back and after a minute or two a winner is decided and life continues.

• motos. if you have any money here, you buy a moto. basically a motorcycle but more like a scooter most of the time, is the transport of choice. in bilanga cars are limited to 2 people but there are a few more with motos. but the vroom of a moto becomes a regular background noise, but it never goes unnoticed either. when you hear a moto coming, everyone turns and looks to see who is coming. the sound of a moto usually means the arrival of someone with a definite role within the community.

• greetings. if you recall my first entry where I talked about the importance of greetings, it might be even more important in Bilanga. so you will always hear people shouting at each other “fa fa ma” or “tusima” or “a cha le” and don't forget all the “o” sounds in gulmanchema. you respond with “lompo” or “n po” or “n to.” haha, lots of “o”s constantly jumping across the spaces of bilanga.

• definitely cannot forget the pigs. every morning around 5 or 6 you will hear the noise of pigs eating. for the first month I was convinced I was hearing pigs being slaughtered. I don't understand it, but when pigs feed they squeal, and they squeal like they are dying, it's actually quite terrible. for a while I was sleeping outside due to the heat, and I was greeted each morning with the high pitch squeal of pigs, not exactly the most pleasant way to wake up.

• laughter. burkinabe have a fantastic sense of humor, it's quite refreshing. so throughout the village you will always hear someone laughing.

• the moulin. the mill. everyone in bilanga eats To. To is something made from millet or corn crushed up and prepared with boiling water to make a porridge type material that you eat with different types of sauce. But in order to get make To you first need to bring you millet or corn to the moulin, a small machine that grinds up the grain into a fine powder. so often you will hear the constant turning of the moulin in various spots of the village.

• tin roofs. about half the houses here have tin roofs. they are cheap and easy to install but not the most conducive to sleep or simply not being startled. Often a bird or lizard or who knows what animal scatters across the roof of my house, and sometimes it scares me into a jump. Anything noise that touches the roof is amplified by 10 into the house. When it sprinkles, you think it is pouring. Rainy season is over now, and one more reason they don't have school during rainy season, is that you can't even hear yourself think when it rains and you are under a tin roof.

• kids. kids are everywhere and makes all sorts of noises. whether it be crying or screams or laughter or the general noise of kids playing and running about, the children make constant entertainment foron lookers, particularly myself.

well, that's a good start anyways of some of the noises of Bilanga. While overall Bilanga is a calm place, it is definitely not a quiet one.

things are continuing to go well. the more time I spend in village the more comfortable I feel and more friendships I form and the more it feels like home.

I hope you all are well, miss you and I send lots of love from west africa.

keeping busy?

Hey friends and family. I've now been at site for 2 months and still enjoying it. Things related to work are slow and frustrating, but village life and making friends is going really well. There is so much happening and so many great people there. However, I stayed a little long and am quite glad to have a couple days break and see some other volunteers a bit in the capital. Start the journey back tomorrow though. The following was written originally in my journal but has been edited for your viewing pleasure :)

September 24, 2009

It's 8am and all I've done today is bucket shower, fed my cat, ate breakfast, washed dishes, doctored my semi-infected mosquito bites, cleaned bloody fish, cooked and served said fish; pas des problems. I feel like I could stop for the day and be accomplished, but I've still got to go get water, clean a lot more dishes, clean my house, try and study 2 languages I need to learn, go talk with about 10 different people, cook again, try to do something/learn something related to Girls Education in Bilanga, all while checking in on my cat who thinks he's starving every couple hours. Pas des problems, as long as I don't have to repeat yesterday.

Yesterday started with a nice but not so relaxing bike ride as I was really too tired. After that was the usual bucket bath, eat, try to read a little. Then I decided I really needed to do laundry, I leave for 5 minutes to get soap and come back to find my cat looking like he's going to die because some little kid hurt him. And while most of the time I don't really like the cat, he's still mine and my responsibility but I really hope when he gets bigger he's not so needy. So I finished my laundry which quite frankly is hard and I do not enjoy, but it has to be done.

All this is happening while this horrible smell is coming from my house of fish that my neighbor/brother gave me the night before but I didn't know what to do with. My other neighbor comes but I ask her and she tells me I need to do it asap or it will become "gater" or spoiled. But I seriously don't know what to do, the fish is still whole and I know some need to be gutted before cooked. As the day before I went with my friend to the dam and watched her buy and clean the fish to prepare them to fry and sell.

My neighbor tells me she'll come back in a little to help. My counterpart comes and tells me to throw it out but then my neighbor comes back and it is embarrassing, hilarious and fun cooking with her. It's tricky a bit because I don't have the same things as the people in my village do for cooking and I also have no experience with this. The two times I think I've prepared fish, it came frozen in a box and I all I had to do was stick it in the oven. Most people here have never heard of an oven.

Though eating here has made me realize how wasteful we are as Americans. For example, the meat we buy comes ready and simple, but how much meat was thrown out before you get the pieces you wan? Here, if possible, you eat it. People are starving here but you wouldn't realize it at first because there is always a lot of food around. But in reality, most people just eat a little at a time of the stuff they have to buy and all other time it is To, which only temporarily feeds the appetite, it doesn't really feed the body, nor does most of the food they have here. I find myself wanting to eat a lot more than necessary because my diet always seems to be lacking something, and I have more money than others to get whatever food I really want, that's available.

Anyways, background info. So we prepare the fish but my neighbor/brother comes and tastes it and says it's gone bad already. So he has to go throw out this big pot of fish and I feel like such a failure. He assures me it's fine but I know it is not, he worked hard to catch that fish and if he had sold it he could've made enough money to eat off of for a couple days, or eat the fish himself. It was the only food I've really seen go to waste since coming to Burkina.

But Burkinabe are patient and understanding. I feel like I've made 100 mistakes here but people keep helping me out, showing me the way. My brother went fishing again the next night and this morning we prepared the fish together and it turned out really good.

After the fish extravaganza, my 2 brothers retrieved 2 watermelons, or pas sec, which were a treat except for one of my brothers sliced his finger (really really badly, should have gone to doctor) and I tried to doctor him up. I played guitar with someone for a while, actually I watched him play. Then I visited several people before calling it a night and despite the unbearable heat I managed to crash quickly and deeply, of course, after feeding my ever hungry cat.

For someone who strongly believes in a common worldwide humanity, sometimes I am really taken aback by how different it is here. More than anything its just exposure, living in village definitely limits your perspective. I so badly sometimes just want to take people here for one day to shown them the US, to show them a grocery store, sky scrappers, boats, ovens, cities without farm animals everywhere, sidewalks, restaurants, the list can continue...
Not to say no one knows about these things, Ouaga has a lot and a lot of people have traveled, but definitely not the majority.

Then, I get asked a lot of questions. Some simple, like do you have corn in the US? yes lots, but not millet. Do you have sheep? yes, but they look different. And other questions that are quite difficult to answer, like, do you have lots of hungry skinny children in the US like here? Or other things like trying to explain the educational system in the US or why being 23 without a husband and kids is quite normal, or why it is hard for me to remember everyone's names, or to not use my left hand, ever, or why I don't know how to prepare To (what everyone eats) or prepare much for that matter.

But as frustrating as that all can seem to be, it is also the beauty of this experience, and a large goal of this experience, we learn from each other, everyday, and do so in an open and understanding manner.

----


okay, hope all is well with you. talk to you again in a month, and thanks everyone for all the support you've been sending my way, much appreciated!

just a few snaps

Here's just a few photos that's I've been holding on to. My camera isn't really working too well so I haven't been able to really take pictures of my house and village, but I managed to snag a couple of my cat!

His name is Umanli which means luck in Gulmanchema (my local language). My neighbors/brothers named him because he had a lot of luck that I found him. His mom got killed and his brothers all died and he was going to but I found him so he lived, thus the luck. I've had him a month now, so you can imagine how little he was then. He's quite honestly a pain but he keeps me company. He provides for a lot of fun interaction with my community members as well. I often get asked "A buga te?" or "How is your child?" and I respond "beeni" or "good" because now I have a "kid" and we laugh a lot.



The other photos I have are from the swearing in ceremony in Ouaga when I became an official volunteer. We all got traditional complets made for the event. My host sister helped me pick out the pagne (material) and the tailor.

Me ready to go


Jessi and Tyler in their matching pagnes.

Colette, Devin and Mikey all dressed up.

here is the lovely ladies of my language group with our 2 professors, some of my favorite people in burkina in this photo.

striking a pose. seriously love these girls!

about to write another blog with more updates.