A little break

I am up in the capital (Ouagadougou) for a few days to fill out
a report and just take a break from the village. Every once in a while
living with the amenities like electricity and the ability to charge
electronics such as phones at will, is a nice luxury.

Tomorrow it is out at 5:30 a.m., load the bicycle and start pedaling
towards the village. Ouagadougou is a bustling capital on any
given day but at the break of dawn ... it is just a pleasure to traverse.
By the time I arrive at the main road that leads out to the village,
the traffic is up to speed and I am heading in the right direction ...
away.

On the village front it has been continuing to hammer away at the
sex-ed teenage pregnancy project. We are about finished with
the college and lycee (middle and high school) kids and have a
group of about 15 girls to finish off the whole lot. These 15 kids
are a little older and in lower grades. Their other class mates are
a little young to participate in the sensibilization but these are
definitely of the 'age'. In fact the only girl known to be pregnant
is within that group and she didn't receive the sensibilization.

With the project close to completion it is time to look for new
opportunities and I've stopped by several schools and have some
feelers out on possible activities. The possibilities are spelling
bees, soccer matches featuring girls teams and a track and
field/Olympic type event between two local schools. These
are normal activities for schools in the States but for here, it is not.
So, I have put out the ideas and it seems like each one has been
acceptable in principle but now it's making it a reality. So, that
is the challenge and hopefully upcoming attractions to future
blog posts.

With being in the bush comes some challenges and one big one
is being able to follow the Super Bowl this upcoming Sunday.
With being from New England and with the Patriots playing ...
it is imperative that the internet capable phone is charged,
the unite (air time) is sufficient and the internet works. The
best way I've found to keep up with it is through an ESPN
app for an Android phone. Oh yeah, also we are five hours
ahead and setting the alarm clock is imperative.

Time to head out and enjoy a cold soda or drink and suck up
the amenities of big city living before 5:30 tomorrow morning.
Then it will be hot cool drinks and cold hot showers ... a total
flip of living styles.

To the center of town

It is the beginning of a new year, close to the 

middle of the dry season and the start of the 

Harmattan winds.

It may not be apparent in the picture (which is 

outside my back door and the path to the 

center of the village) but there is a mini

dust storm going on. Every morning until

about 9 o'clock the air is heavy with dust 

being pushed along by the wind. Needless 

to say there is a layer of dust covering everything

inside and outside.

As mentioned in prior blog entries we have been

focusing on sex ed with emphasis towards preventing

teenage pregnancy. We've been on hold due to the

holiday season but we got back to it this morning.

We had 63 girls from the 5ieme (probably equal

to 8th or 9th grade) come to the clinic for the 

the hour an a half info session. 

So far ... knock on the old wood ... none of the girls

that have participated have become pregnant. 

The boys have been buying condoms all of a 

sudden so it's encouraging to see. 

So far we've talked to 328 boys and girls since last

April. We have another 150 or so to go to complete

the school.

We have a new sports teacher at the school and

the old sports teacher is at a school in the next

village. I am hoping we can get some activities

between the schools going. It's not usually the 

norm but that's the challenge/fun ... to be in there

trying to make it happen. 

Another week gone by ...