I'm back in Ouaga, the capital, for 4 days to help out with a food distribution that ACCEDES is heading up. Some MKs at the International School of Ouagadougou raised money for this food distribution, to help some of the poorer citizens of the city. So they asked Robert, my boss and the head of ACCEDES, to direct the distribution. I am here with Robert, his driver Aly, and another ACCEDES worker, Marcell, who is the head of the microfinance programs at ACCEDES. We're staying at the CAMA guesthouse, and right now I'm at the Albright's house (the Albrights are CAMA missionaries and have been my contacts here in Burkina).
My first week has been good.....really long, really overwhelming, but good. I have been focusing on trying to get adjusted to the language and culture. It's so different from what I'm used to in some ways - but then it's also unnervingly similar to Haitian culture in so many other ways. It's made me homesick for Haiti a lot, but it's also been comforting, too, to live in a culture that's so similar.
Yesterday I met with Robert to talk about my internship and how I plan to go about my research. Our discussion was really helpful and encouraging - it seems like we're on the same page and he had a lot of helpful advice for me. I don't know him well at all, but I already respect and admire him a lot. Here's a Burkinabe man who is actually doing the things that I've been learning about in all my community development classes! He is a real live development worker who has a heart for serving God and restoring broken relationships. He has a lot of experience and knowledge, and I'm really looking forward to learning from him.
I am hoping to start my research on Monday, the day after we get back from Ouaga. The first thing I have to do is meet with Mme. Medembele, the ACCEDES worker who has directed the IMPACT Transformation project. The IMPACT project is the program that I've been sent here to research; ACCEDES has piloted the project, and wants me to know evaluate it and see what kind of impact it's had on the participants. It is a project targeted towards local Christian women, and includes discipleship training, microfinance, health and nutrition, and gardening. I am meeting with Mme. Medembele on Monday so that she can give me a complete history of the project. I still don't know many details, so I have a lot of questions for her. She will then help me set up meetings with the women who participated, so that I can interview them. I just found out yesterday that the program is still being implemented in another town, Balfoa, which is about an hour from Bobo. So I'll get a chance to visit there with Mme. M and see the program in action!
A praise.....that I am feeling more and more at home with my host family. It's become a little easier to communicate with them - I don't think my French has gotten better, but I think I am starting to understand the Burkinabe accent a little more. Marthe, my host, has been so patient with me! And the two little girls, Jedida and Bethema, make an effort to communicate with me despite our major language barrier. I have learned two sentences in Dioula, the local tribal language: "Anee soro ma" is the morning greeting, and "Mou fe lo?" means "What is this?" I use the second sentence quite often when I'm with Jedi and Bathema - I'll point to something and ask them what the word is in Dioula. I can never remember the word afterwards, but it's still fun to ask them things. :)
Well that's all for now! I'll write more when I get a chance!
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
I sat on a crocodile....
.....no really, I did!
I flew into Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, on Wednesday night. The next morning, I caught a ride to Bobo Dioulasso with Andrew an American missionary who lives in Bobo and works with CAMA Services (one of the organizations I'm working with). He was driving to Bobo with a missions team visiting from New York, and there was room for me in the van so I got to ride with them instead of take the bus. Most of the team were college students, so it was fun to get to know them.
Anyway, during the five hour drive, we stopped at this little village that has a lake with 100 crocodiles in it. The villagers consider the crocodiles sacred and highly revere them. They also say that the crocodiles don't attack humans. Well, they were pretty docile because we were able to stand right next to one of the crocs on the bank and touch it and pick up its tail and squat on top of its back! I am a Floridian who was always taught to stay far, far away from alligators and the like. But I decided to be brave - after all, when would I ever get another chance to sit on a crocodile??? So I did it and got my picture taken! Pretty exciting stuff.
So I'm in Bobo now, the second biggest city in Burkina, and I'm slowly getting used to the culture. I'm living with a woman who works for ACCEDES (the organization I'm working for). She has an adorable little daughter who's four, and another little girl who lives with them and helps clean the house. Neither of the girls speak French, only Dioula (the traditional language), so we can't communicate much. But we have fun together anyway, and they both call me tanti, which means "aunty." My host and I speak French together, and it's been pretty difficult! People here speak really fast, and have an accent I'm not at all used to. But I'm slowly (very slowly!) becoming a little bit more comfortable, and sometimes when I'm thinking to myself, a French word will pop into my mind before the English word, so I hope that's a good sign!
Aside from the crocodile adventure, here are some other highlights of my first few days in Burkina:
Seeing some of the city from the back of my host's motorcycle
Attending two baptism parties in the homes of local families
Attending a wedding on Saturday afternoon (we were crammed into an oven-like church on a day that was 108° in the shade!)
Buying really inexpensive groceries (I went to a grocery store and bought 2 bottles of Coke, two rolls of toilet paper, and a jar of strawberry preserves for under $4 US!
Shopping in the local marketplace with my host
Watching Saturday morning Loony Toons in French with my host family
Riding in the car with my boss, Robert, and his family and hearing them sing "Jesus Seul," my favorite French hymn that I grew up singing in Haiti
Helping my host prepare traditional meals
Eating fresh, delicious bread at every meal (it's super inexpensive, is bought locally, and it's like French bread but softer and not as chewy)
Eating Sunday lunch with some local missionaries and the team from New York, and then going swimming at a local hotel pool afterwards
Well......there's more to tell but I'm out of time. Hopefully I'll be able to post again soon!
I flew into Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, on Wednesday night. The next morning, I caught a ride to Bobo Dioulasso with Andrew an American missionary who lives in Bobo and works with CAMA Services (one of the organizations I'm working with). He was driving to Bobo with a missions team visiting from New York, and there was room for me in the van so I got to ride with them instead of take the bus. Most of the team were college students, so it was fun to get to know them.
Anyway, during the five hour drive, we stopped at this little village that has a lake with 100 crocodiles in it. The villagers consider the crocodiles sacred and highly revere them. They also say that the crocodiles don't attack humans. Well, they were pretty docile because we were able to stand right next to one of the crocs on the bank and touch it and pick up its tail and squat on top of its back! I am a Floridian who was always taught to stay far, far away from alligators and the like. But I decided to be brave - after all, when would I ever get another chance to sit on a crocodile??? So I did it and got my picture taken! Pretty exciting stuff.
So I'm in Bobo now, the second biggest city in Burkina, and I'm slowly getting used to the culture. I'm living with a woman who works for ACCEDES (the organization I'm working for). She has an adorable little daughter who's four, and another little girl who lives with them and helps clean the house. Neither of the girls speak French, only Dioula (the traditional language), so we can't communicate much. But we have fun together anyway, and they both call me tanti, which means "aunty." My host and I speak French together, and it's been pretty difficult! People here speak really fast, and have an accent I'm not at all used to. But I'm slowly (very slowly!) becoming a little bit more comfortable, and sometimes when I'm thinking to myself, a French word will pop into my mind before the English word, so I hope that's a good sign!
Aside from the crocodile adventure, here are some other highlights of my first few days in Burkina:
Seeing some of the city from the back of my host's motorcycle
Attending two baptism parties in the homes of local families
Attending a wedding on Saturday afternoon (we were crammed into an oven-like church on a day that was 108° in the shade!)
Buying really inexpensive groceries (I went to a grocery store and bought 2 bottles of Coke, two rolls of toilet paper, and a jar of strawberry preserves for under $4 US!
Shopping in the local marketplace with my host
Watching Saturday morning Loony Toons in French with my host family
Riding in the car with my boss, Robert, and his family and hearing them sing "Jesus Seul," my favorite French hymn that I grew up singing in Haiti
Helping my host prepare traditional meals
Eating fresh, delicious bread at every meal (it's super inexpensive, is bought locally, and it's like French bread but softer and not as chewy)
Eating Sunday lunch with some local missionaries and the team from New York, and then going swimming at a local hotel pool afterwards
Well......there's more to tell but I'm out of time. Hopefully I'll be able to post again soon!
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