Hello…
The title is trite and kind of lame, but it seemed to fit; it’s been many months since I last posted to the blog. This has not been for lack of interest or lack of care, but I have been unable to get to the blog. A lot has happened since my last post- site visit, model school, finishing PST, swearing in and affectation, settling in to my site, the coup and consolidation, return to site, etude de milieu, starting school and now IST.
I am back to Ouaga for IST (In-Service Training), and I have WIFI. It’s nice to be back in Ouaga and have some of the comforts that I am accustomed to back in the states, but I have come to enjoy my village. I live in a village called Gogo, which is in the central southeast portion of the country. In Gogo, I live with a host family- Basillime, Rosaline, Judite, Sandrine, Ella, Flaviandre, Deronae and baby Dorian. They are a farming family, and have been extraordinarily accommodating of me. I consider myself to be very lucky. The village folks are kind, I have a sweet bike that I ride around, I have a great nongovernmental organization right down the street from me (Bornefonden), many amenities (grocery stores, restaurants, bike repair shops, meat vendors, CSPS, police station), I work at a bisongo with a lot of promise and I have a cat named Momo.
After about a month at site, the country experienced a coup and all the volunteers were moved to a hotel in Leo. The coup was both a frightening time for the country as a whole and for Peace Corps volunteers. For a period of a week and a half, the country was at risk to undo all the progress it has made over the past year. For the volunteers, we were faced with the prospect of possibly having to go home… this was especially upsetting for my group, as we had only been in the country for about 4 months. The hotel we stayed at was very nice; it has a pool, nice rooms with TVs, they provided meals, in-room showers and lots of nasty Burkina booze to keep the volunteers in a pacified stupor. All of this sounds like a dream for a group of people who live in pretty simple conditions, but it eventually started to feel like a recurring nightmare. Nerves were frayed after having to cope with the prospect of having to go home, living without privacy in cramped conditions, doing the same thing every day, seeing the same sights and people every day and feeling sick from drinking rubbing alcohol at night. Needless to say, it was a relief to find myself back in Gogo after two weeks at camp coup. I returned with lots of energy to start work and projects, my village seemed happy to see me and I had a new friend for Momo. Life has gone by quickly since camp coup, and bisongo work has kept me pretty well occupied and alert. My bisongo has many resources and lots of potential to function, but does not work correctly. At the moment, I am acting as the director of the school and am training one of my coworkers to function as the director of the bisongo. I see the irony in this, as I have always been very critical of administrators, but I’m happy to have had the education to be able to exist in this role. On top of this, I have implemented the usage of curriculums and attendance taking. When I return to village, my goal is to meet with my colleagues and discuss my role and expectations for the bisongo, since these things are not clear. I also plan to obtain a grant to build a wall around the school and fix the gate, as both are broken and people come to the school and run amok. While it is nice to speak of my accomplishments and plans for the future, it’s going to be a long road to hoe. I have also been working on vaccination awareness in both my village and Kondre. On top of this, I have spoken with the lycée inspector to start community English classes and a soccer club for the kids. I am very excited to be in Gogo, and I am very much enjoying my work and prospective projects.
Life in village is simple, but I am happy. As I had mentioned, I live with a host family, who have a great influence on my village life. My host sister Judite acts as my village guide, and oftentimes translates for me. My family is Christian, and I go to church with them every Sunday. On some Sundays, Judite and I will travel to my regional capital of Manga for mass at the big church. Most of the people in my village are very kind, and have gotten to know me better because of my role as a teacher in the village. The kids are awesome- they oftentimes yell at me when I ride my bike through the village, which always makes me smile. My cat is a terror, but she makes my stay much better. I am getting another cat when I return to village, who will keep Momo company. I had a friend for her in the past, named Toothless, but she passed away. Hopefully a new friend will chill out Momo, and keep her from attacking me. I have a lot of free time in village, which I enjoy- I cook, play music, do yoga, read, meditate, ride my bike, learn things, exercise, work on projects and school related stuff, fix things in village or at home, hang out with my host family, spend time with other villagers, work on language skills, play with Momo. I’m hoping to get more into playing soccer when I get back to village, thanks to mom sending me my cleats. Thanks mom!
Photos:
– This is the picture of my stage at swearing-in at the US Embassy in Ouaga, when we first became volunteers.
– That is me weeding cotton. I have just finished helping to pick the final crop.
– That’s Momo when I first got her. She is much much bigger now.
– That is the upside down end of model school picture. Model school is where we learned to teach preschool according to the Burkina system.
– A picture of me with a mohawk. I was very proud of this mohawk… but the trainers at PST made me shave it off.
– Ousseni and me. He was my host brother in Leo.
– Rascidatou and me. She is the daughter of my host sister in Leo.
– The mural that is in the wall at the training center in Leo.
– My host father in Leo. Derra
– Ousseni, trying to look big for the camera.
– Mama Moussa. My host mother in Leo.
I have currently run out of brain cells and things to talk about. If you’d like more specific information or would like to say hey, you can e-mail me at apmello462@gmail.com (or send me a WhatsApp message).
I’d like to send my thanks, thoughts, hello’s, care, prayers and love to the people back in the states who have supported me and been my friend. I miss you all, and I wish you a very merry Christmas!
Be well
– Andy