Happy Thanksgiving and waafos

I do hope that everyone is enjoying
their holiday and feeling thankful
for all they have.

Learning a new language is a
process that takes some effort.
It's about learning new words,
new grammar and especially ...
new pronunciation.
We've been doing fairly well and
have made some progress. I am
learning the Moore language and
try and practice it everyday. I
have a place in the morning on
the side of the road where I get
get bread, coffee with milk
(buuri ne cafe ne bissim) and
get to use the Moore I have.
Also, there is a lady named Flo
who is a tailor that we hang out
with a bit on a daily basis.
The other day one of my fellow
colleagues pulled up while I was
talking with Flo.
So  I used some of my Moore to
say to my colleague "fo wame ne 

waafo" and all of a sudden

Flo and the guy from the nearby
boutique (little variety store) just
burst out laughing and are almost
literally falling on the ground.
I'm like ... what is this?
After they stopped laughing ...
which took about 5 minutes ...
they told me I said in Moore
that my colleague arrived with
her snake.
I thought I was saying bicycle
which in Moore is waafo ...
pronounced 'wayfo' but instead
pronounced it 'wahfo' ... which
means snake.
So now every time I go to the
boutique guy ... after he stops
laughing ... he asks me if I want
to buy a snake. And Flo says
she saw me riding my snake
into town.
It's always fun learning a new
language and it isn't ever without
a few laughs.

Sibri yungo

That is how you say Saturday 

night in the Moore language.

I have had almost six years of

Saturday nights under the African

sky but it still has specialness

to it.

With no electricity the sky is 

exposed in all it's glory. The

light to be seen besides the 

occasional torch (flashlight) 

beam, is the glow from 

ramdom cooking fires.

We sat outside and drank tea 

which is a social event that 

can take hours in itself. 

Sometimes there was

discussion and times it was 

just listening to an Africa night.

It was simple, basic and exotic

all in one. It was taking time

to smell, hear, taste and 

fall in step with the rhythm of

our Africa.

A few words in Moore may 

best sum up this night 

' yii soma ' ... it was good.

Practicing

Today ... as part of our training,

we went to the local school to

give a malaria sensibilization

(as you can see in the picture).

We are given tasks which mimic

what will be doing when we 

arrive in our villages.

Our topic was malaria with an

emphasis on how it is contracted.

What we have observed is that

despite knowing about malaria,

with what looked like 100% of

the students at one time or 

another suffering from it ...

they still don't sleep under a

mosquito net. 

This led us to believe that maybe

they just didn't understand

how it's contracted. 

We made a skit with a lot of 

animation and theatrics that

appeared to grab their attention.

We really repeated over and 

over that malaria is transmitted

by moustique (bug/fly) during

the night. Plus, if someone is 

sleeping under their net, they

won't get bit and will be safe.

We don't know if they got the

message and will start sleeping

under their nets, but we tried.

In the end it was fun and for us

trainees we became actors

and actresses with the hope

that it will help out.

It is great to be here doing

things like this even if we are

trainees or not.

Making a porridge

In the picture as you can see is

a pot of porridge or here they 

call it bouille (pronounced 'bui').

Part of our efforts will be to

address nutrition, especially as it pertains to children under five

years old.

One of the recipes is the bouille

you see in the photo.

This recipe consisted of water, 

flour, peanut butter, sugar, powdered milk, bananas and 

the pounded leaves of a

moringa tree.

The leaves of the moringa are

full of nutrition and is an easy

supplement to add to the 

porridge.

Plus any other foods like fruit

can be added. It seems to be

only limited by the imagination.

The mixture is not cooked

till it becomes thick but it is

taken off the fire when it is 

a little more viscous than

soup.

It tastes good and should help

to keep the young children 

in our new villages strong 

and healthy.

Looking out

Another Sunday and the end of

another week in our training

schedule. 

It is a day to catch up on things

like washing clothes and stuff

of that nature.

This morning I biked into the

training center about 5 km away.

I made my usual stop at this 

road side table where a guy 

sells coffee and bread. He 

speaks Moore ( the language

that I am learning ) so it is a 

chance to practice a bit. At this

point the language is limited but

between French and Moore ...

 it works.

I did some language studies 

and took the opportunity to

charge up my phone.

I took the picture upon returning

to the village. It is the view from

my back door.

Interesting thing about the 

house is that the roof is made

of dirt. They put big logs with

plastic and cover it with dirt.

They also put peanuts and corn

and so on on top to dry out. 

They just climb up on top as 

needed.

Other than that today is nothing

more than studying language,

posting to this blog and waiting

till about dusk to start hanging 

out and drink tea.

Tomorrow, beginning of another

week of training. They are going

by pretty quick.

Sites ... aka ... villages

Yesterday we received our site

placements and I will be in the

south central/eastern region

of Burkina.

Not much to say about it yet

other than it is a predominately

Mossi village of  around 2000

people located on or close to

a paved road. 

The local language I will be 

learning is called Moore. Which

is the most spoken language in

the country.

So far we've been working on 

our French only. But I believe

that next week it will be the

start of learning Moore.

Again, not much info about

the village. They gave us a 

brief description. So ... it

will take arriving there to fill

in the blanks.

Five or six more weeks till then.

Eclipse Sunday

It is a hot Sunday afternoon

in the village on this day of

the eclipse.

We have completed another

week of training and this

upcoming Wednesday we'll

be receiving our site locations.

These sites will be our homes

for the next two years.

In the picture you can see the

road I take to go to and from

the village to the training 

center.

The dry season has begun

and when any vehicle comes

by they leave a cloud of dust.

The picture was taken this

morning and due to a

superstition I don't understand

yet, most people stayed 

indoors from 11 to 3 or 1500.

But now that it is after 3 it's

time to start thinking of making

some tea.

The tea must go on ...