Two weeks left to donate

Two weeks left to donate.  We would appreciate any amount you would be able to give!

Thank you!

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=686-172

Update about the goings-on in Burkina and West Africa

Here are a few interesting articles about what is currently going on in Burkina Faso and West Africa:

It's been a year since the uprisings last spring: http://allafrica.com/stories/201203121315.html

Last summer's very poor rainy season = bad drought this spring: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17308913

What has led to the situation in neighboring Mali: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Perfect+desert+storm+hitting+West+Africa/6305227/story.html

The most current information about the Mali situation:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gT6NxdkqvCTpTR4KvEOPC0FQgGnA?docId=CNG.f31c542340413c26a62a1c4f4d21625a.351

http://www.economist.com/node/21550324

Scarier than I thought...

Mask Festival- FESTIMA 2012

Two weekends ago I went to the Mask Festival, or FESTIMA (Festival International des Masques et des Arts de Dédougou).  FESTIMA is held every two years in Dèdougou and is probably the biggest of its kind.  It is unique in that there are many different types of masks who come from all over to participate.  The masks at FESTIMA were mostly from Burkina, but some came from Benin, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, and Mali.  Most of the spectators were local Burkinabè (which was GREAT to see), but there were some international tourists (mostly French), and of course us, the PCVs. 

I travelled to and from Dédougou (240 km roundtrip) in a rented car with Kait, an RPCV back for work and vacation, and Emily, a third year, like me.  I do have to say that traveling by rented car is the way to go in Burkina.  We did not have to deal with local transport at all and got there in record time- 4 hours versus the 6+ on local transport.  However, it was expensive and I have to say a big thank you to Kait for covering a lot of the costs (she has an American job that makes real money).  Otherwise, I would not have been able to go.

We were only at FESTIMA for two days, but it was worth it!  We spent the two days watching different mask groups perform.  Each mask group, each from a different village, consisted of griots (musicians who played a flute-like instrument and/or drums) and several masks.  Most of the masks represented animals or spirits.  Several mask groups told stories: the hunter and the prey, the magic haystack, etc.  It is believed that once a performer (always a man, never a woman) puts on his mask, he becomes the mask and is not responsible for his actions.  The masks at FESTIMA were incredible and I would recommend the experience to anyone who has the desire to come to Burkina. 

 

Emily, myself, and Kait at the festival.

Please go to http://sworthy10.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/mask-festival-festima-2012/ , the blog of a friend for some amazing pictures.  Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me at the festival, but Scott's pictures more than make up! 

Zero Sachets

The first day of March marked the first day of Campaign “Zero Sachets,” a campaign to clean Kaya up.  This campaign was initiated by the Governor’s office and on the first of March all of the city’s civil servants went around cleaning up the town.  However, the cleanup did not go very far.  I took the following pictures March 2 and unfortunately I did not see much in terms of “cleanliness.” 

As those of you who have visited me here (Mom, Rebecca), you understand what I’m talking about when I say that Burkina is dirty.  Even if you take away the dust and sand (which cannot be helped as Burkina is a Sahlian country), you will still find Burkina extremely dirty.  The main reason for this, in my opinion, is a lack of cleaning services, such as trash pickup, dumps, etc.  There are hardly any trash cans found anywhere, so people just dump their trash out their windows.  This leads to trash everywhere, in particular black plastic bags “sachets.” 

My neighbors pride themselves on being very clean.  Clean to them means having a clean courtyard.  They collect the trash from inside the courtyard and throw it outside the courtyard.  Therefore they are clean.  I, on the other hand, collect my burnable trash and burn it, so it is not littering up the inside of my courtyard nor the outside world.  The unburnable trash is a little more difficult. For the most part, I try to give away things that I do not want anymore to Burkinabe, such as boxes, containers, etc.  Other trash goes down the latrine, I am sorry to say.  Latrine trash includes old batteries and expired medication.  I know this is not the best thing for the environment, but otherwise I will see children sucking on the batteries and trying to eat the medication.  Not good.  But what else can I do?

A few weeks ago I was in the alimentation, the boutique closest to a grocery store here in Kaya, talking to the cashier.  A man approaches the cashier, pays for his items and then proceeds to take them out of the packaging and drop the packaging on the floor.  I ask him if he is going to pick that up and put it in the trashcan not two feet from him.  He says “No why don’t you do that, or are you not nice?”  I said of course I’m not going to pick it up for him, that’s his job to clean up his own mess.  He laughs and storms out to his car.  Of course this pissed me off to no end.  Here is this larger man (meaning that he has enough money to drink lots of beers to give him a beer belly) that doesn’t care enough about Kaya, Burkina, the world (I don’t know) to pick up a measly piece of trash and then proceeds to get into his luxury car (meaning he has even more money/is probably pretty well educated in terms of Burkina).  After this encounter the cashier thanked me for standing up to him. If the cashier had said anything the customer would have complained that those who work there are not polite or good to their customers.  What kind of world do we live in?

Now that I’ve gone on about this enough, I wish I knew some way to change the mentality here (that goes for many different subjects).  But it seems that I will just have to do my part and maybe if others see me picking up black sachets, they will follow suit. 

Trash next to the biggest garden in Kaya

Trash outside of an old palace in Kaya.  The sign says "Illegal to dump trash here."

Happy Valentine's Day

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers make GREAT dates. (I know I'm not "Returned" yet, but soon!!)

12 reasons to date a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer:

1. We can woo you in multiple languages. Who else is going to whisper sweet nothings to you in everything from Albanian to Hausa to Quechua to Xhosa? That’s right. Only a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.
2. We’re pretty good dancers. Yeah, we don’t like to brag, but after 27 months in Latin America or Africa we know how to move it.
3. We’ll eat anything. Seriously. No matter how bad your cooking, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers have had worse and will eat it with nary a blink. Sheep’s eyeball? Water buffalo gall bladder? Grasshoppers? Bush rat? Bring it.
4. We know all about safe sex, thanks to our very thorough Peace Corps health training. In fact, there’s a chance that we’ve stood unblushingly in front of hundreds of villagers and demonstrated good condom technique with a large wooden phallus.
5. We’ll kill spiders for you. Well, actually, we’ll nonchalantly scoop them up and put them out of sight. Same goes for mice, geckos, frogs, snakes. Critters don’t faze Returned Volunteers.
6. We have great date ideas: wandering a street market, checking out a foreign film, taking in a world music concert, volunteering…. Romantic getaway? Our passport is updated and our suitcase is packed. With us, life is always an adventure.
7. We like you for “you”… not your paycheck. Especially if we are freshly back from service, a local joint with “character” will win out over a pretentious eatery. Living in a group house? No problem. Does it have running hot water? What luxury!
8. You won’t get lost when you’re with a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Navigating local markets on four continents, we’ve honed an uncanny sense of direction. Or else we’ll ask for directions. We’re not afraid to talk to “strangers.”
9. Waiting for a late train or bus? Don’t worry, we’ve been there, done that. We can share lots of funny stories about “the bus ride from hell” that will make the time go quickly and put it all into perspective.
10. Our low-maintenance fashion style. Returned Peace Corps Volunteer guys are secure in their manhood and don’t mind rocking a sarong. Women often prefer flip flops to high heels. We don’t spend hours in front of a mirror getting ready to go out.
11. Marry us, and you won’t just get one family — you’ll get two! When we refer to our “brother” or “mom,” you’ll want to be certain we’re talking about our American one or our Peace Corps one. You might even get two wedding ceremonies, one in the U.S. and one back in our Peace Corps country.
12. And last but not least, we aren’t afraid to get dirty.

It's veggie season! I bought all of this for the equivalent of $3 US

Me with Said and baby Diallo (born two weeks ago to Madame Diallo, one of my closest friends from Tougouri. I went to visit them in Ouaga, where she is for three months on maternity leave. Random side-note: Burkina gives women awesome maternity leave compared to the U.S!)

So tiny (and white)! Black African babies come out white, or much lighter skinned, and turn darker the longer they are out in the sun.

Crazy dust storm

World AIDS Day mural that Trent, my Kaya site mate, and I did. We have yet to do an HIV/AIDS training where everyone will put a hand-print up to show their participation.

Diana (fellow PCV and neighbor) and I on Valentine's Day. We have been working very closely together on Camp GLOW 2012. Don't forget to donate! We still need to raise $4,000 for Camp GLOW Kaya. Remember to click on the Kaya link! Thank you!!!!

New Year 2012

Hello friends and family,

First of all, happy new year! I hope 2012 has been treating all of you well. My new year has been going well so far. As all of you probably know, I was in America for the month of December. It was great seeing all of my friends and family. Thank you all for the wonderful visit! We will have to do it again soon.

I arrived back in Burkina two days before the New Year and celebrated with several PCVs who came up to Kaya for the event. We made Mexican at my house and then headed to a dance club (if you can call if that) to dance until midnight. Overall, I’d say it was a success.

The following week I started work again at Save the Children. Before I left for vacation in America, I stopped working full time at the Save office or on the mobile team. I am now at two CSPSs (health clinics) in Kaya working with the malnourished children at those health clinics. And I am enjoying it so much more! When I was on the mobile team, I was supervising health clinic staff instead of actually working with the children myself. So since November I have been getting hands-on experience, which I find much more interesting (and good for fulfilling grad school pre-reqs). And on the days where not many women come to the clinics, I get to help out with vaccinations and pre-natal consultations. Woot woot!

In addition to working at the CSPSs I am working on Camp G²LOW here in Kaya. We have partnered with the local Ministry of Youth office and are working closely together during the planning process. So far, things are moving along smoothly. And as always, we are looking for donations, so please go here to learn more about Camp G²LOW and to place a donation.

Trent (my Kaya sitemate) and I recently got funds from PC to do a World AIDS Day project. We know we are a little late- World AIDS Day was December 1, but better late than never! We are planning to do a mural at Trent’s school he teaches at and are currently looking for another place in town for a second mural.

Last weekend I went up to Tougouri for my first visit since I left last summer. I planned on going for just Saturday, but ended up spending the night because there were just too many people to visit! Everyone was so happy to see me. Some were a little confused, because they thought I had gone back to America last summer, but here I was, riding around on my bike like I had never left. I also had the pleasure of sitting in on the Youth Club at the high school I taught at during my time in Tougouri. The Youth Club was started by Zangre, a counterpart who helped out with Camp G²LOW last year, and students who were camp participants last year. It was great to see something that I had helped start actually being continued after I left!

So that’s about all for the moment. Hope everything is going well with everyone stateside and I hope to hear from you all soon!

Now here are a few pictures of my new house in Kaya. I’m still decorating, or stopped decorating I guess, so if you have any great ideas, please let me know! There are a lot of blank walls…

Camp G2LOW 2012

Raise your hand if you have ever been to summer camp. I bet that the majority of my blog readers have at some point in their life attended some sort of summer camp. The camp experience is a unique one that can change a child’s life.

I have been on both sides of the camp experience as a counselor and camper and there is something truly magical about the camp experience. Being away from home (maybe for the first time), meeting new people, learning new things, and having fun all aid in a child’s development.

Unfortunately many children in Africa never get to experience a camp. Camps are costly and many students spend their summers tending their fields that provide food for their families.

Camp G²LOW (Girls and Guys Leading Our World) is an already well-established national camp happening annually in 22 Peace Corps countries around the world. Burkina Faso became the 23^rd country to host Camp G²LOW in August 2011, starting the first edition of Camp G²LOW at the regional level in the cities of Kaya and Boromo. Our goal is to add two more regions each year until it reaches the national level with a two week long camp: one week of boys and one week of girls. Next year, in 2012, we hope to expand Camp G²LOW to include not only Kaya and Boromo, but also Léo and Fada as well. That way the camp will touch four different regions of the country.

I will be working the Kaya Camp this summer.

The camp trains 6^eme and 5^eme (6^th and 7^th grade) boys and girls and focuses on three main themes: healthy living practices, leadership development, and the promotion of gender equality. Some of our sessions during 2011 included:

§ Men as partners/developing equality

§ Leadership

§ Hygiene and sanitation

§ Effects of alcohol and cigarette consumption

§ Healthy relationships

§ Effective communication skills

§ Self-esteem

§ Reproductive and sexual education

§ HIV/AIDS

§ Family planning

§ Making the right decisions

§ Planning for the future

§ What is violence?

§ Career panel with Burkinabe businessmen and women

In 2011, the Peace Corps Burkina Faso team of volunteers and staff put forth a lot of effort to reassure the community participation and sustainability of the camp. Villages were requested to choose 4 girls and 4 boys to attend the camp based on their school performance and character. They also helped to choose a host country national (HCN) to work with each Peace Corps volunteer (PCV) and to help be a counselor during the camp after completion of a comprehensive training. Communities also helped pay for student transport, housing, and materials.

In order for Camp G²LOW to take place again in 2012, in addition to the 25% community contribution by the villages involved, Burkina Faso PCVs as well as Burkina Faso HCNs must raise $44,000. This is where your generosity can help! With your help and donations, we will be able to achieve our goal. Any donations, big or small, are greatly appreciated. We are hoping to raise $24,000 through the help of our family and friends through the Peace Corps Partnership Program. If you are interested in making a 100% tax-deductible donation and would like more information on how to donate, please go to http://pcburkina.org/camp-glow.

Two weeks in four different cities. 60 middle school aged students a week. Giving students a week to just be kids. Giving students a week to learn more about their bodies and how to make good decisions. Developing tomorrow’s leaders.

Camps change lives. Please donate to Camp G²LOW. Give a Burkinabe child the gift of a summer they will never forget!

Thanks!