poussa barka

its my last week here in burkina faso and we are slowly wrapping things up. the last two weeks have been a bit of a whirl wind at the centre.

two weekends ago we organized a soccer tournament for practically all of the boys in the cartier. it was 3 days long, involving a lot of water runs, dirt, trophies, and reffing. it worked out super well though and the kids loved it.

this past friday we organized a fete to say thank you to all of the kids and raise awareness to the community about all the positive things the youth centre is doing. we spent the whole week preparing and in the end it worked out quite well. the kids put on a theatre show, which was in moree so unfortunately i couldnt understand, but the audience thought it was absolutely halarious. one of the kids wrote a song and played guitar. the four of us did an african dance. it was pretty funny. then we had games, snacks and lots and lots of food, then awards and cakes. i had spent the whole morning buying ingredients at the market with the cook which was quite interesting because we bought an entire carton of fish, 25kg of rice, 5 litres of oil, etc! then we had to clean and cut all of the fish amongst the flies. never thought id be okay with handling so much dead fish but it was actually fun. in fact my tolerance for alot of things has significantly increased. anyway the kids had full bellies which was great.

so i start my voyage home on saturday but its taking me 3 days. im pretty stoked. there are some things that ive really missed from home. for example, refridgerators- truly and amazing invention, running water, and food in general. however there will be things that i miss here like the people, thunderstorms, and the mangoes.

im not sure if ill get back to internet before hometme but if not, i hope to see many of you soon and i hope you have all been enjoying your summers.

to dori and back

kristin and i decided it was time to see another part of burkina faso. so friday afternoon we headed off on an adventure in hopes of mounting on a camel. so we bought some bus tickets to take us about 5 hours noth, to dori, which is the beginning of the sahel desert. the bus ride was absolutely beautiful as we discovered that burkina actually has some hills. i was so excited. a couple hours in, we had to stop because the road was completely washed over with trucks pushed off the road into the lake. finally our bus went through the 150m stretch and made it out safe and sound. then we drove through a sand storm where there were lightning bolts lighting up the whole sky and purple clouds. it was so cool.

we arrived in dori to discover that cabs dont exist but rather donkey taxis would be the main mode of transportation. we decided to go on foot to our hotel to save some money but in the end it was a terrible decision and had to walk 2 hours in the dark around the lakes filling up the dirt roads, let by some random guide. it was a little sketchy and we were really tired. who would have thought that the desert would have so much water.

the next day, after a lot of negotiating we managed to find some camels and a guide. we met some french people and gallopped off into the dunes to sleep under the stars. we made green tea, ate spaghetti, slept on tiny mats, under the huge starry sky. it wasnt quite as authentic as we would have hoped but very cool none the less. and camels really are so cute!

we got back to ouaga late sunday night after a 7hour bus ride, having to walk through some roads that were covered in water and listening to the goat moan on the roof of our bus the whole way and then behind us in the cab of our trunk.

wooo what an adventure!

a change of scenery

so regarding project slash volunteering details- things have changed a bit. before we left for ghana, kristin and i took down our mosquito nets and packed up our bags in sapone to head to the big city of ouagadougu to live with our friends kat and anthony. basically the state of project was that there was a fundamental lack of resources preventing me from me from being particularly helpful. they wanted me to do research at the agricultural centre but they could not arrange a computer for me. after seven weeks of struggles and frustrations trying to make things work out with my project we kind of decided that it just wasnt going to work and i felt pretty strongly about having feeling like i had accomplished something by the end of all this. fdc, the organization truly is an incredible organization but they have a different way of communicating and organizing and unfortunately just didnt end up having the resources to capacitate the project. it is somewhat disappointing but i have absolutely no regrets. i was able to get incredible insight into the challenges facing ngo s in developing countires. and my time there was super interesting.

however it feels great living in ouaga now. so ive joined up with kat and anthony working with boys from the streets. while theres a lot that goes on at the centre the main thing that im focussing on is literacy. the majority of them are between the ages of 12 and 19 and most of them dont know even half of the alphabet. so well just be sitting there and someone will come up to me with some left over paper and a broken pencil crayon and start writing a,b,c, then stop and ask what comes next. its pretty rewarding. while they are incredibly energetic and you can never really have a minute of solitude, they are so eager to learn, extrememly respectful, and absolutely hilarious.

so the four of us are living together in quite small quarters with a host family 5 mins from the centre. its working out super well and im really happy. i feel much more productive here but i still really value all of my experiences in the village. plus its great being able to buy cold water here!

sapone styles

after all these tales im telling i realized that maybe i havent painted a very clear picture of a typical day for katie in sapone, the village life...so here it is.

I wake up at 5:30am because thats when the sun wakes up too and when there is no electricity you begin to subscribe to light- giving source. i tie up my mosquito net which is actually more appropriate for easing my mind that spiders and other creatures wont find my sheets in the night opposed to its intention of malaria protection. i visit the outhouse, choosing the one that doesnt have a lizard peeking out. i go for a good morning jog into the bush where people are already out cultivating their fields. i fill up my shower bucket- assuming there is enough water. i discovered warm powdered milk and cornflakes that i bought back from ouaga- no fridges remember. i leave for the centre on my moto but not before greeting every single peson with a hand shake and saying ne y bereogo, zakaramba because thats how it goes. besides the fact that my moto likes to break down, the biggest danger are the donkeys and pigs that cross the road. other than that there are no cars- too expensive- so its good to go. its a little over a half hour drive which i really love. i park my bike under the karite tree and go see the kids. we might do tree inventory or pick bean leaves or whatever until 10 because they go to eat tot. which if i havent explained is this repulsive flour jello that is the only food here that i just cant handle especially which the green stringy sauce they serve it with. yup they eat that ev ery single day.

at 12 its either hard couscous with dry peas, drenched in oil- to make swallowable, loaded with salt- for some flavour or its a mound of rice with dried sardine sauce- and we usually eat with our hands ps. in burkina everyone reposes from 12-3 always. so i go nap which is ridiculously hot and sweaty. we prune trees in the afternoon where the kids teach me moré and i teach them english phrases- like im wearing flip flops. driving home, children run out to the road as i drive by, selling bunches of wild grapes that cost less than a penny.

once at home in sapone, theres about an hour before the sun goes down so i might go climb my favourite tree to read and watch the sunset or kristin and i might walk into the village to buy so bread, water, and cell phone minutes. its about a15 min walk, and along the way, we here nasara bonjour by the kids and everyone else just stares. we pass by the dolo hut which is where the elders drink fermented millet in squash like bowls called calabashes. well probably get a few marriage proposals and requests to take them back to canada and then we head back. but everyone is very friendly.

terese and lydia cook usually and we eat all together. they are amazing cooks. the women here are truly so amazing. we have social-political discussions and then the kids come to play games and sing songs. then i usually like to stare at the stars a bit because theyre pretty amazing in a place with no electricity. at 9 pm je me couche to the awful noises coming from our guards radio. and thats it!

ps. dave matthews is playing in the background right now. we made a request cuz we just couldnt handle celine dion anymore. its a little broken but more amazing than ever!

akwaba abroni

on june 28th we took a 2 hour flight to ghana. and wow what an amazing country. im really glad that we were able to see another african country because if not i feel like i would have made some generalizations to africa that would not have been so accurate. not only was it not 40 degrees, but it was beautiful and lush, and all 3 resorts we stayed in were on the ocean!

so as i said there are a lot of contrasting elements between burkina and ghana not to mention that we were there for a vacation and got a little break from some of the frustrations weve been experiencing on project. first of all they speak english there so that took some getting used to - not speaking french. secondly, we noticed was how incredibly developped it was compared to burkina and also how much cleaner. oooh and good food!

the first resort we stayed in was in axim and it took about 7 hours to get there by cab from accra. but our driver, robert, was so great as he managed to get us there even through the thickest rain ive ever seen - so much so that we could not see the dirt path we were driving on at 9 oclock at night. yup i was a little nervous but we arrived safe and sound to be surprised by luxurious accomodations and an amazing view- check out the pic above. and by luxurious i mean that i had my first running shower in 2 months and it was in fact hot. weeee. so we met some other norweigans and canadians at the resort and hung out with them for the next 2 days which was passed by on the beach and in a rainforest that is the most biologically diverse in ghana, called ankasa. we ended up staying there an extra night because it was so great.

our second resort was ok but it was located in cape coast which is such a fantastic city. we went by tro tro which is the funniest method of transportation but so cool. its basically vans where they squish 20 to 30 people in to get from place to place, theyre ridiculously cheap, and are everywhere. so halarious. we visited the elmina slave castle and which happened to be the same day that there was a huge festival going on so everyone was dancing on the streets, there was music, and dragon boat races. very cool. the next day we went to kukum national park where we climbed up to huge bridges in the rainforest canopy. amazing. sadly no monkeys but i still have faith that i will see a monkey before i leave africa. we met some quebecois and hung out with them to continue onto the market in cape coast which is so halarious. you look one way and you see beautiful material and the other way, plates of pig hooves and fish. the next day we went to the cape coast slave castle. this one was the most affecting for me. its hard to describe but it was just so interesting to be there, learning about the history, walking through the dungeons and cells where thousands of people were kept and yeah... i really cant describe but it was amazing.

then we headed to accra for a bit of the city feel. we were staying at this place called big millys back yard where it tends to be just all volunteers that stay there and theres live music and dancing and drumming. we met lots more canadians and discovered the most delicious italian restaurant.

we were supposed to fly out on july 8 back to ouaga but air burkina just happened to have cancelled our flight. we spent 6 hours in an office trying to negotiate a way to get us back to burkina. it was so ridiculous. they were telling us we had to figure out, etc. anyway we were a bunch of other important people working for the un and stuff and they managed to work things out. we ended up staying another night in accra and going to togo the next day. which means that my passport is starting to look very cool.

so that was pretty long. unfortunately i didnt have enough room on my camera to take pictures so hopefully anthony will upload some on facebook so you can check them out cuz theyre actually so beautiful. so yeah if you get a chance- you should go to ghana, bear in mind that all of my impressions are relative to my last 2 months in burkina.

ps. the title means white person - welcome in trie language.

just another goat on the back of a bike

so the other day i was driving to work and i kept passing chickens and pigeons and goats on peoples bicycles. now this isnt such a strange thing except for the sheer number of them and then i realized...ahh it must be market day! so then i got thinking about how normalized so many things have become. and seeing how at is precisely the halfway mark of our time here, i find myself having to remind myself of where i am. i guess thats the thing when you are truly living some where else and get used to the lifestyle. like as i am walking down the streets, trying to dodge the mounds of garbage and mudpuddles from the rain, i remember that i am living amongst poverty here. everywhere.

before arriving here, i read somwhere that the majority of burkinabé live on less than 2 dollars a day. that seemed absolutley incomprehenisble. but now being here, i can understand how people live. with the combination of the heat and lack of selection, you can get by with less food. a little bit of rice goes a long way. and because everything is just a lot more basic, they dont have to pay the same kinds of taxes, ie the same daily expeneses that we are used to. theres simply not the choice or resources. but then again just because people are getting by does not mean that is sufficient. one of our village friends has an eye infection and has absolutely no means of seeking medical attention. it really makes you realize how much is simply available to us in Canada.

last night we went swimming in our moroccain friends pool. it was pretty strange how the tall walls surrounding their house were able to divide that physical line between the poverty just around the corner and the lush garden within and allowing us to truly forget where we are. enjoyable none the less.

6 more weeks to go!

special gunpowder

ok so last night we had this ritualistic tea ceremony during a thunderstorm. it was amazing. our friends that we live with in ouaga showed us how to make this green tea . we made tea from about 8 to 2 in the morning.the tea is chinese and called special gunpowder and it involves putting a lot of sugar and time. once the tea is steeped and mixed long enough, we poor it into shotglasses and add peanuts. i know- who would have thought that roasted peanuts would be so good in tea. the best part is the smell. its like steamy sweetness. yum. furthermore, it was storming. it hasnt rained in over 2 weeks so we were all pretty happy about a little cool air. for at least 3 hours it was just lightning sans thunder or rain and it was illuminating the entire sky. and then it just started pouring. so we finished our tea session inside. it reminded me of being at the cabin because there were like 10 of us all huddled in this little room listening to the drops. haha it was pretty sweet. and then i stood out in the rain for a while and got some goosebumps. it was so great to be cold for a little bit.

friday night we went back to the cultural centre for some more live music. not as good as last week but still pretty enjoyable.

i did an inventory of papaya, lemon, orange, mandarine, grapefruit, mango, and apple cinnamon trees at the centre where i work. so that was cool. other than that my project is still somewhat challenging in a frustrating way.

anyway thats it for this week. tonight were going to a bbq with our morrocain friends which should include some good food. yay.