A little look at the inside ...

Of my pad/crib/house/room.

It's been a slow week work wise. School is out for
a couple of weeks and starts up again next Tuesday.
So a good source of activity was not available.
Basically did some baby weighings and one child was
14 months old and weighs a little under 9 lbs. The
child definitely needs some gaining of weight. There
is the making of the 'bouille' here for moderately
underweight children but this one could use more.
There is a program C.R.E.N. that works with this
but the mother has been refusing. She must have
a reason. Here you can't force her, so wonder how
it's going to work out.
The heat has arrived so the rooms in the picture
are heating up. I am thinking that if it's getting
hotter here the sun has got to be heading north
so it should be on it's way.
The rooms were actually the consultation
and examining rooms of the old health clinic.
So living in an old health clinic for two years goes
on the list of firsts.
Going to end this with a wish ... hope the Red Sox
repeat as champions in '14'.

Heading back ... it's time

Tomorrow morning bright and early it is back
to the village.
Our IST (in service training) is over and it's been
two weeks of re-connecting with the colleagues
from my group. It's been over 6 months and time
has just flied.
I am heading out at 5 in the morning and plan on
riding my bicycle back to the village. It's a little
over 50 miles total and it requires riding through
Ougadougou and then hitting the road towards
the homestead.
Really looking forward to getting back. It is always
a bit awkward to get back into the flow. I'm wanting
to see if the girls team is still practicing. Also, how
is the theater group going? Have to start thinking
of a topic for the usual wednesday visit to the one
room school house village.
On the agenda is a visit to the Fulani village which
is 2km behind the one room school village. That
will be a challenge of integration.
All these activities, actual or potential ... can't wait
to get back to.
In less than 24 hours it is back to no electricity and
pumping water ... simplicity again.

Did I just mention ...

Something about bicycles in the blog post I posted

yesterday?

Today as part of our IST (in service training) we 

visited another volunteer's village. She was 

finishing a little project and her and the village 

put together quite a spectacle/feast.

It went on for over an hour and a half with five

cultural groups performing.

In the picture is one of the groups. It is actually 

the lead singer holding a bicycle in his teeth while

singing at the same time. 

Didn't expect that I'd be seeing anything like that

when I woke up this morning.

It kind of takes the luster off yesterday's blog post.

I'm just using the bike as it was designed ... to

get around. This guy is doing some imaginative

and strange things.

I just have to say this was a first. I mean another

first. One gets a lot of those in Africa.

How we get around

In the picture is my trusty stead or more plainly put ... my bicycle.

My wheels in Burkina

All the members of my group received one in a various size and color
but also all are in the 'used' condition. Despite the fact that mine has been
used considerably, it is in great shape. The crank area where the
pedals meet the bike and where they turn was a bit loose and making
noise at times but I took advantage of being here in Ougadougou
and had the bike mechanic fix it. He did a great job and also put on
a pair of new front brake pads. Not as exciting as having the Maserati
tuned but it's kind of relative to the situation, and I'm happy
about having my main means of transportation in tip-top shape.

A few weeks ago after the language IST (in service training) I rode
from one transportation gare (where the mini-buses leave and arrive
to) through Ougadougou and then to the road that heads out to my
village and then 80km or 50 miles to the village.

I didn't have to but I had time and it is all part of the thing called
adventure. It was fine and I arrived under 5 hours and that's with
adding 3 stops for water and one for a plate of rice with peanut
sauce. And with the local language that I am learning it was a
lot of fun schmoozing with the people in the boutiques along the
way.

It was a chance to get some exercise and take in the view
of the Burkina/African countryside. It also was taking advantage of
the opportunity to slow down and enjoy a day.

Here in Burkina Faso ... bicycles are very much used and there aren't
very many obese people. It is what I've come to the conclusion is the
best exercise/diet plan of all ... lifestyle. It is a physical life and of
course if all the amenities were here, that same life would follow one of the
laws of physics where energy wants to go to a lower state and
people would begin to abandon their bikes.

We have one more week left of this IST and I am looking forward
to getting back to the village. Being here with my group mates
has been productive though. We've discussed activities we have
thought about and those that we've attempted. We also discussed
areas where we may collaborate. If just 25% of the ideas work there'll
be a few interesting blog posts.

So, while I have electricity and can use my little netbook computer
... gonna plug in a movie and kickback.

In Ougadougou

I am up in the capital for another IST (in service training).

In this one we get work related information and tools

such as photo charts that we can use to discuss malnutrition.

We have been here since Sunday and so far it's been good.

Before leaving the village I had a chance to talk to the coach

of the girl's soccer team and he said that after winning the 

game last Saturday, that they are all jazzed up to practice.

It's a good thing to hear and hopefully they won't get 

discouraged when they lose. 

Burkina Faso consists of many ethnicities and one of them is the 

Fulani. When I was in Senegal I lived in a Fulani village for

2 and a half years. I must admit that I've forgotten a lot of the 

language but when I return, me and the village health relay 

that I work with at the one room school house village, will 

go to begin a health information program there.

The Fulani created a small village about 1 km outside of the

one room school house village. It is 100% Fulani and the 

one room school house village is of the Mossi ethnicity. There

are no actual problems between them but they are definitely 

very different. 

I am looking forward to that activity and it ought to be

a challenge, for sure.

A rumor I heard just before departing was that a soccer/track

field was going to be built at the school where the girls soccer

team and the theater group is. A construction type tractor was 

supposed to come in and level it off. I really have to see that 

one but if that does happen then they'll be a place to try and 

start a sprinting program. 

It really is just thinking and coming up with ideas for activities

during the next two weeks but I'll just make a list and see 

what will fly when I get back.

So from Ougadougou ... Wende na kod nindaare ... 'until next time'.

Our International Woman's Day 2014

our village cheering section

The picture doesn't really show much but that was the cheering
section of our village going nuts. It was the reaction to Rosalie
kicking about a 40 ft bullet of a kick into the right middle corner
of the goal. She definitely had the strongest leg out there and she
proved it with that kick.

It was the only goal of a hard fought game. The other team had
the pressure on almost the whole match. In fact, the majority of
the game was played in our end. But our goalkeeper (Zalissa) is
best described as a natural and stopped everything that came her way.

It was either team's first game experience and it wasn't textbook soccer
but both played their hearts out. They have a starting point and
the coaches can begin to teach them the game.

It may have been a Woman's Day event but it was also a bit intense.
There were hard feelings on both sides. Neither team wanted to shake
each other's hand after the match. With the girls of the other village
saying that they don't want to come to our's as a home and home.

I think it is that it was all the girls first experience in team competition
outside their villages. Or at least in soccer anyway. So, it is part of
the learning and building of character that sports can have a tendency
to do. The coach is going to talk to them and hopefully it is the
proverbial ... teachable moment.

After the girls, the boys played and that was two evenly matched
teams. Man, it was a real good game and ended up 1-1.

You could see that the guys were experienced in the emotions
of playing a team game and they did shake hands.

All in all it was a great day as expected. There was a lot of good
hard effort and emotion. The girls playing did make it an historic

day for our neck of the woods and that includes a vast surrounding area.

The girls were accepted without any problems and they were the
center of attention and the focal point of the day ... they were stars.

For this to happen on International Woman's Day is icing on the cake.

Truth be told my fellow Peace Corps Volunteer and me (or is it I ...
always forget) were lucky as both school's sports teachers are just
fantastic. We just basically gave the idea and they took and ran with it.

Even though our part was small we're feeling ok about it.

We talked about finding a few other schools and planning a
tournament. Maybe we are getting ahead of ourselves like usual.

First we have to get the other village to come and play here.

This is where the real work begins ... the work with character building,
sense of fair play, team work and all the other intangibles.

The boys have learned it and now it's the girls chance.

It all started on this Woman's Day 2014.

Kind of an appropriate time to begin ... don't you think?

Anticipation ...

In less than 24 hours history will be made
... the first girls soccer match in our area
will be played.
The girls from both teams are excited and
I have a feeling it's going to be a real fun
place to be.
Our village will be playing on the road so
it means about a 6 mile journey. The
kids will have to ride their bicycles so
the plan is to meet up at around 7:30 a.m.
then head out.
The game is slated to start at 9:00 but
here ... it means more or less 9.
The other village also has a Peace Corps
volunteer and we collaborated to make
this our little 'International Woman's Day'
project.
The coach of our team will make a small
speech about how this is an historic
event for our part of the world and then
call out both teams to give them an
applause.
Also there will be a follow up boys game
and it will be good for the them to see
girls play soccer. The plan is to emphasize
equal rights and opportunities.
I will post with the results as soon as I can
and hope to have a picture to add.
It should be an energy filled day ... oh yeah
... and again ... historic.

It looks like it's ...

Going to happen. That's the first girls
soccer match scheduled for next Saturday,
International Woman's Day.
This afternoon the girls from this village
were out on the field scrimaging. They
haven't played a game yet (ever) and it
looks a little rough but they have the
enthusiam.
I went to town today and I rode by the
village that will be the competition. As I
was going through 3 girls from the other
team rode their bicycles along side for
a while and mentioned that they were
fixing on beating our team. So if it's
like this now it should be fun to see.
Last week I was out of the village for
a language in service training (IST).
It went well and I learned a bit. It helped
when I was doing the baby weighings.
This is done to check for any malnutrioned
babies. But with the new words I learned
I could say more than 'yaa soma' which is
'it's good' in the Moore language.
The theater troupe is still at it and doing
rather well. The last practice we filmed the
the routine so they could see themselves.
They still need work but they saw their
mistakes ... so it should help to iron some
things out.
Also been to the one room school village.
That's basically my Wednesday morning
scheduled place to go.
It was interrupted by the IST but we did cover
HIV with some villagers and cleaning out
cuts with the school kids.
We also did a 'bouille' preparing session this
last week (5 days). There were 5 kids a little
underweight so we show the mothers how
to make what is best described as porridge.
They just throw in foods to add to the caloric
value. But the foods are all easily available.
Four out of the five kids gained weight.
Other than that it's been going steady but
just getting hotter. When it gets hot things
just slow down but it keeps rolling.
Hopefully next Saturday I can report that
our village girls team won.
Truth is ... just by playing the first female
soccer match in a village anywhere
around here ... they've won.