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Daily life in Burkina Faso
This page contains daily life snippets which were originally in the section This Week but have become "old news". I choose to keep them here since these stories really reflect our experience of living and working as a volunteer in Burkina Faso. Hopefully, some of you will find these interesting in some ways and perhaps even relate to them...
November 30, 2007
Country versus city life
I have just returned from 2 days in remote Léo (where the René family lives) to work with one of my partner organization. And I loved it - the tranquility of country life, no traffic, no noise, no dust, and a slooooow pace. And in contrast, I realize how demanding and intense life in Ouaga is for me. So this is good to know and now that I had a successful meeting with the women's group regarding sale of their soaps and how I can help them improve the varieties and quality as well as packaging, I will surely return. Last weekend, a bunch of us went out of town to a remote resort called Les Bougainvilliers. I was initially told that it was a "family place" with animals and a play area, but found none of that once there. There was a pool, so we hung out and swam for 2 days and stayed in a bungalow at 50$ per night.
We are still waiting for a response for the adoption, so we all have to be patient for now. Can't rush this one..
November 19, 2007
8 is enough!
Well, last weekend we had the René family from Léo come to visit us. And instead of having them go to a hotel, I offered to have them stay at our place. But our house is quite small with no spare bedroom, so 5 more people really filled the space! Rémi had a great time with them and it was good to see him interact and have so much fun. On Friday we wanted to go to a restaurant called La Québécoise, but it was closed since they owners have gone to Québec for their holidays! So we went for Vietnamese food and there the owner and her son were mesmerized by Remi and the fact that he is from Saigon. I got him to say "Chow chi" and "Chow Ang" (Hello 'Mam and Hello Sir) and the owners were pleased. Then Saturday evening we went for European and Lebanese food with chicken taouk, pizza and brochette on the menu.
Saturday we went to the Independance Hotel swimming pool. It is bigger than the one at the American Club and nice to have a change, but more expensive and the food is not so good. The kids all had a great time playing and jumping in the pool and Rémi is now getting bolder just being around them. He started jumping off the board just like them and finally learned to close his mouth when he goes underwater! Once he got it and overcame his fear, there was no stopping him, and that is always nice to see. Sunday was more quiet with Angèle who came to clean the house and then took Rémi away in the afternoon, and the René family who headed out on their own in the morning.
November 13, 2007
Breaking down...
I was glad to hear from other volunteers that everything they buy here breaks down, not because I relish in others' misery but to confirm that this does not only happen to me. We have all bought bicycles and within days, at most one week, each one has fallen to pieces. One volunteer is at his 4th bicycle now. At my end, I have also had my 3 fans break down regularly and went to the repair man 32 times, 14 times he was gone to pray (Muslims pray a lot) and the other times, he would fix them but it would only last one week or so. Finally I got upset and found a new repairman, and so far this has proven to be a wise choice since 2 of them have been going on strong for one month now!. My fridge has been a thorn on my side since day 1 and has not been cold since I bought it, but there was no warranty on it. So for 3 months now I have been wasting food... Finally I got a repairman to come and after 13 visits, 15 no-show for appointments, 8 thermostats and twice where he took the fridge away and returned it 2 weeks later, it is still not fixed. I am exhausted...
My lawyer has submitted the adoption dossier to the Ministry last Monday, so now we need to wait 2 to 3 weeks so them to study my case and decide if they allow us to proceed or not. If there do, we will then identify a child and truly begin the adoption process...
Ouaga has suffered a cricket invasion (sauterelles) and they are by the 100s at my door step and in my cement front yard. So when we walk through, they jump all over the place. And they have feasted on the few potted plants I have so I am fighting back by spraying Citronella on the leaves, hoping to save them.
And if you are still wondering what exactly I do here, you can check out these 2 posters I did for 2 different partner organizations: Affiche 1, Affiche 2.
November 4, 2007
A volunteer bites the dust...
All volunteers here seem to be adapting relatively well, tho Burkina is not an easy country for anyone, especially our family of 5 in Leo. The school where the kids go is more of a circus with no toilets and kids doing their business in the yard where they all play. And no food in the village, frequent electricity and water cuts and nothing to do. So the ones in Ouaga really can't complain compared to that, myself included. But on Monday, we had a huge shock when Sylvie (who is posted in Ouaga like me) announced that she was quitting, for personal reasons. This decision not only lets down CECI, the partner but everyone else here, tho in the end CECI asked for a proper 2 month notice. It has been really important for me to share the experience of parenthood so now we hope to find someone else...
This weekend we had the René family from Leo come to town and that was a blast. On Friday evening, we all went to an amazing African restaurant called Gondwana - very expensive but the decor and the food is out of this world! It's decorated with countless African works of art plus has sand on the floors. Having 5 kids running around throwing sand and jumping all over the place proved to be a huge challenge for all parents, the staff and the owner of the place. By the time we left, we were exhausted from all the kids management/supervision and vowed never to do this again!
The next day I went with the René family to the Arts and Craft village and we admired all the nice things we'll buy for ourselves and as going-away presents. Then after much pestering from Rémi who kept asking "when do we go to the pool ? ", we finally left and headed for the American Club. We swam for more than 5 hours, had lunch, then came back home for a much needed nap. I prepared a macaroni then headed out again to Antoine and Gerry's new house where we all met for dinner. It proved much easier to manage the kids in a home environment so we all had a great time. The René even made a piñata stuffed with candy for Halloween so the kids had fun hitting it with a broom stick to break it down....and then stuffed their faces with candy like little ogres!
Now we are already talking about our next trips - going north to see the sand dunes and go on a camel caravan; go to Niger to see the last wild life giraffe park of Western Africa; drive down to the coast of Ghana to the capital of Accra! So more adventures to come...
October 27, 2007
Barber Ben!
We have been to the barber a few times since we got to Burkina and all they do is use a clipper all the way giving Rémi and I the crew cut. No scissors, no longer-on-top business. Just short all the way. So I figured I could do as much and decided to cut Rémi's hair - and I did a pretty good job! So now I have this new talent to add to my résumé. And along the same lines, I am getting better and better at clipping our dog Roxy, a business I must do at least once a month because of the heat.... poor thing. But I am getting good and fast at getting the job done.
Last week I got a bit of parental reprieve when I went to Bobo along with CECI staff and volunteers as well as partners for the semi-annual review and planning (SARP). I left Rémi behind with Ludovic in whom I have total trust and all went well. At our end, we had 3 days of meetings to evaluate and plan our activities for the next 6 months. It was a good chance for the volunteers to hang out and get to know each other better, which is always good. We went out to restaurants and even went for a late night swim in the hotel pool which was fun and refreshing!
October 20, 2007
Adoption one more time?
At least this is what I hope for with all my heart! I have been preparing all the necessary documents for months now and have just submitted a request for the adoption of a girl to a lawyer. He has much experience with adoption and he knows the key people at the Ministry as well as at the orphanage. The nuns that run the orphanage also run Rémi's school and they support my adopting a girl. I really hope this works out and this would complete our little family and give Rémi a little sister. I have asked for a girl age 2-3 and have already identified one potential candidate, Elody (see picture left), an orphan who attends Rémi's daycare facility (tho he is now in kindergarten). The lawyer should submit the adoption papers to the orphanage within 2 weeks but for now, we still need to get a Residence Certificate and a Criminal Record Check for Burkina Faso. We expect to have an answer quickly, within 2 weeks after they receive the full dossier. Then, if we get the green light, we will proceed to confirm a child and do all the legal paperwork for the adoption. At least it is MUCH easier here then in Vietnam because of the language. I can do everything on my own (phone calls, visits) without the need for a translator. And I am glad to have a lawyer which I didn't have for the Vietnam adoption, plus I was in the countryside which made everything more difficult. Since I live in the capital city, everything is accessible. So stay tuned for the progress report on this wonderful life project....
October 14, 2007
Dress me up!
Well, Rémi has done well now with his first week of kindergarten. He already seems used to it and keeps singing songs he learns at school. We just received his uniform and at first he did not want to wear it so I relented, telling him that the next day he would have to wear it. Sort of like giving him time to get used to the idea, and maybe see that other kids are wearing it to help convince him. And it worked. I ordered 2 sets of 2 uniforms, but each comes with a pair of long pants and by God, it will never be warm enough for him to wear them. So I took one pair to the tailor and had it made into shorts, so now he has 3 pairs.
Manamana-maaaaa. The end of Ramadan and Thank Allah for that. It has been a particularly intense and noisy month for these folks, and having their speakers on my house has been a nightmare. So now we are back to the normal calling 7 times a day, and no mass or sermon or ongoing screaming. Ouff.
We just had a new volunteer arrive with his girlfriend and it has been nice. I think that we are becoming a good group of volunteers with generally complementary personalities. On Friday I had everyone over for dinner and made a nice mutton stew. The next day, Saturday, we all headed for the first time to the big Silmande 4 star Hotel for the large swimming pool. We swam all day and had a great time, tho the entrance fee and restaurant was quite expensive. I couldn't believe it when I saw on the menu Poulet Bicyclette (marathon chicken) - as if it would be an incentive for anyone to want to buy tough chicken meat! As for the pool, Rémi is now able to go in the deep end with his shoulder floaters, so this is a great giant step for him. It is so cute watching him get around the pool, kicking his legs and arms quite successfully.
October 7, 2007
Happy birthday Rémi!
Wow, already 4 years old today! On Friday I gave his school teacher some chocolate for the kids and asked her to launch the birthday weekend for us by signing Happy Birthday to him, which she did. And papa ran around to buy him a super gift - a real bicycle as opposed to a tricycle (with trainer wheels of course). I made a huge shepherd's pie (paté chinois), 2 homemade Bday cakes (that took over 3 hours to cook in my useless gas oven), nachos with salsa (mild for kids), punch (alcoholized for big Papas and Mamas and without for little ones), balloons, etc. Saturday morning I was all set and we had agreed to have the pool party at our director's house (Angèle) since she has a pool (instead of going to the American Club). At this famous pool event were present the Reny family with their 3 kids and Sylvie with her daughter. Lots of screams, laughter and splashes around! Since Rémi could not touch the bottom in the shallow end of the pool, he took a leap of faith armed with floaters and started to kick his feet and move around the pool all by himself. It was great just watching him gain confidence and having fun. We ate, we sang happy birthday, we swam all day and came home spent and tired. For the first time, Rémi got the Bday thing and played the part of blowing the candles on the cake (with daddy's help) and opening presents all for him.
October 5, 2007
Rémi starts kindergarten!
Wow, this is a big step in Rémi's life - he just started kindergarten on Monday. Based on the French system, kindergarten here has 3 levels and tho normally 4 year old kids are in the middle section, Rémi started in the little section. I am happy to see him leave behind the daycare which did nothing to stimulate the kids. Now, the teacher seems to have some kind of curriculum tho for the first week, most kids are crying a lot. Rémi cried the first day even tho it is in the same school as the daycare, but it was a different classroom and there were many kids running around which was a bit overwhelming. But as expected, on day 2 he was fine. He has been a bit sick this week tho, with on and off fever as well as stomach ach. He seems to have got a bit of a cold, so for now I am giving him vitamins and Tylenol, hoping that it is nothing serious (like malaria or Typhoid fever). If it does not improve, we will go to the hospital for blood tests. But so far, I am keeping my fingers crossed since it is his 4th birthday this weekend and we have a pool party to go to. The new volunteers will be there with their kids and I have prepared shepperd's pie, punch and birthday cake. A fun weekend ahead....
October 1, 2007
Making soap...
Most of you have heard about my personal project to train women with children out of wedlock in making soap. This all started when I learned that the center where Remi goes for daycare is also a home for these women. The nuns had prepared a plan/project to teach them technical skills such as cutting and sewing clothing, fabric dying and soap making. I looked the project proposal with the cost estimates and decided to single out the soap training component and reviewed all the costs. I then wrote a brief 2 page proposal in French only for the soap making training and sent it to friends and family and was able to raise more than 800$ which is enough money to get this project going. I managed to get our Canadian volunteer here to agree to give the training since soap making is her field of expertise (good timing to have her here) and linked also with one of my partner organization of women producers which makes shea butter.
On September 15, we had the training and the following 2 Saturdays, we had 2 productions sessions with 15 women. We made laundry soap bars as well as bathroom soap all with shea butter and coconut oils. This is a learning experience for everyone and we've had mixed results - funny colors, hard to cut (too dry), weird shapes, name stamp not leaving good imprint, etc. And we've also managed to have good soaps. So now I am looking into making labels, plastic packaging, etc. And all this in my free time! So I have been busy... But this little pet project has become such an inspiration and as we go step by step, I am sure that we will get great results. Obviously, we need to make "perfect soap" that is well packaged so that they sell well. And hopefully the women will return to their village, start making soap on a small scale to sell locally and generate new income for their families. And everyone needs soap, right? Plus this one is natural and a good quality product. I am keeping a news bulletin (also in French) which I send to everyone so that friends and family can be informed of the progress of the project (see link below). Cool, hein?
September 24, 2007
We are family !
They have finally arrived, the new volunteers with their kids. We had a welcome dinner last Thursday with everyone, fish and pizza on the menu at a western style restaurant. So far they seem to be adapting well to their new environment yet they echoed my initial thoughts about Zandogo Hotel - basic. We are supposed to be in cooler climate these days, and generally true enough the nights are nice. But now that the rain has stopped, the heat is back during the day with a vengeance - 42 C in the shade and it hit 52 C in the sun most days last week. Then again maybe it was hotter but my thermometer does not go beyond 52. And people here tell me that it is not hot yet! Can you imagine??? Apparently it is much hotter in April-May, but how is that possible? Anyhow, I am thrilled to have the new volunteers here with their kids and now we have new friends with whom to share our crazy adventure of doing the family thing in Burkina!
On Saturday evening I had Rémi babysat and went to the French Cultural Center to see the Burkinabé singer Sissao. She played at the very large outdoor auditorium, nice but hot and next time, I'll need to bring my mosquito cream! The concert got off to a wrong start with an off sound system so they had to stop for 10-15 minutes to fix things. By then I had not been too impressed by her voice, but she had only been warming up. She was amazing and got people on their feet and even to come onto the stage. And she belted those notes with great rhythms, drums and tunes. She also looked so beautiful with a huge afro wig with blue sparkles in it, and boy she must have found it hot to have it on her head! She had an amazing gold dress with huge sleeves and unlike western singers, she was dressed to the 9 but bare feet. Why not, hein? My only regret was that I did not take my camera-video with me. I would have loved so much to share a snippet of this memorable evening with you all. Events like this tonight are definitely a part of why I love living overseas - the culture...
So we gave our new volunteers a bit of room to settle and get their bearings on the city before getting together again on Sunday. They ventured taking a taxi and managed to get to a meeting point near my house. I met them there then we had breakfast at my place with home-made yoghourt, cereals, toast, etc. Then we all - 4 adults and 5 kids - packed ourselves into one taxi and headed for the American Club. We all had a great time swimming and playing together and there were also many other kids around. We had yummy fast food for lunch (the classic burger and fries) then took another taxi to my place in the late afternoon. When all the kids are together, the house takes on a new life with shreeks and screams as they play and fight together interchangeably. And Rémi has to learn share his home and toys with new friends now...
And today Monday, we sadly see the one volunteer with her hubby and 3 kids leave Ouaga to go and settle in Leo, 3 hours away by bus, where they will be for the next year. We'll give them time to settle down and in a few weeks Rémi and I will surely go to visit them for a weekend...
September 14, 2007
CECI takes on family airs!
I am happy to report that 3 new volunteers are coming to work for CECI, and each one is coming with young children: one has 3 kids ages 3-9, the other one daughter age 6 and the last one who will arrive in October has a 4 year old daughter. So I can't wait to meet them and share the secrets of parenting, do activities together and share our experience here in Burkina from a family perspective! And I am sure Rémi will be a hit and make new friends! More to come on this soon...
Last night I went to the French Cultural Center and saw a movie from Guinée-Bissau titled Nha Fala, a musical comedy. I loved it and was most impressed by the fact that this country was colonized by the Portuguese and it shows. The houses there are colourful and the people's expression (singing and dancing) seemed very Hispanic (open and dramatic). This contrasts with the more conservative and bureaucratic French influence that I notice here in Burkina, and yet again different from Ghana which was a British colony (I met some people from Ghana recently). It really is neat to see how within Western Africa, countries were influenced differently depending on the colon.
It is now the month of Ramadan and with the next-door mosque that has a loud-speaker which points onto my house, hell has moved in. Now it is not enough for them to call people to prayer 6 times a day, they have to give the sermon in a very firm tone for extended periods of time. Even at 5 am, I hear this angry sounding speech on the speaker and now have to put earplugs to sleep through. In some areas around Ouagadougou, I hear more a type of chanting, and this would not bother me at all. It is calm and repetitive and nice. But the mosque next to my house does not do this for a reason I do not know. They call people to the mosque and then give very firm sermons that sound more intrusive. One month of this. And the lesson here is - don't rent a house next to a mosque!
September 7, 2007
This and that
Well much to my delight, the French Cultural Center has now reopened after being closed for the month of August. I already have looked over the program for September and highlighted the activities that I would like to see: A musical comedy/movie from Guinea-Bissau, a Burkinabé singer named Sissao, a puppet show for Rémi and a circus show! Not bad hein? I will report on these events in the upcoming weeks so stay tuned!
Being a foreigner, we notice when things are different than in our own country, and clothing can be a main point of focus. We see patterns on clothing and bright colors that we are not used to and just last week, I saw a large woman with a whole outfit that looked like blue aluminium foil! Very striking for sure. But what puzzles me is that we often see dresses and shirts made with fabric that has a framed image of the president of the country, Blaise Compaore (picture left). Apparently during his campaign they would give away such fabric and people had clothing made. Would you walk around with the face of Harper or Bush on your clothing? I sure wouldn't. What's more, we also often see biblical images like the Virgin Mary or the nativity scene on clothing as well (see picture left). Although we would not see this in Canada, here it is the most natural thing in the world...
The furniture here is also different: we often see huge stuffed sofa and arm chairs that seem to come out of the 70s. This seems to be a rich man's buy tho but I don't think I would want to sit on one of these in the heat and feel wrapped in warm velvet. Sometimes, they even have a nice safari pattern to them to show its African roots.
The names here are also very old French names that our grand parents and uncles had: Alphonse, Alphonsine, Apoline, Alida, Blondine, Onorine, Rozine, Fatima, Narcisse, Theophile, Alizette, etc. It definitely feels like a time warp with names...
