How to explain

  Every 6 months or so a new group of volunteers
enters the country to replace the ones who have finished
their tour.

  They go through an approximate 12 weeks of training
and during that period they receive their sites/homes for
the next two years. At about mid-point in the training they
get a chance to visit their sites and get a chance to prepare
for their upcoming arrivals.

  Also a part of their site visit is to take a day to get to know
what will be known to them as their 'shopping town'.

  At the moment I am in my shopping town that will soon serve
the same purpose for two new volunteers. I am here with another
colleague to help show them around and answer any questions
they may have.

  Being in the Peace Corps does have it's interesting little
experiences and coincidences. For example one of the new
volunteers is from my neck of the woods in the USA. We
live about 10 miles apart as the crow flies in Massachusetts.
The other volunteer lives about 10 minutes from my other
colleague from L.A.

  Nothing earth shattering ... just one of them funny little things.
  My other colleague also went home for a visit to L.A. and just
returned. While she was home she volunteered at a Peace Corps
function to recruit prospective volunteers. She worked with the
recruiter who happened to be one of my group mates from Namibia
from 2009 to 2011.

  When I was in Senegal there was a volunteer at the time who was
one year ahead of me. We were close together and hung out and
traveled a bit. She received a job in the USA that required her to
work in the western part of Massachusetts. While there she went
out to eat with one of her fellow workers who brought along his
girlfriend at the time. His girlfriend was the volunteer who replaced
me in Senegal. She arrived in the village several weeks after I was
done. To repeat, not a big deal just a coincidence.

  Last coincidence was when I finished in Romania and arrived
in a Namibian village 6 months after leaving Eastern Europe.
Lo and behold, 2 months afterwards two white guys arrived in
this village in the middle of nowhere to start a Seventh Day Adventist
Church. And they were from where? Can you guess Romania. So
I continued to speak Romanian for another three years.

  All these are again, not earth shattering instances but
are just plain fun to see. With the getting out in the world it did
bring these situations to be possible.

  With 5 months left I am doubting that another similar style
coincidence is possible ... but ... maybe?

Rainy day blogging

   It is a rainy Sunday here in the 'land of the

up right people'. I headed out of the village

early to go to the nearest town. It is my usual

weekly ritual except that Saturday is the 

prefered day. 

   There are a few things that I needed to do

but the businesses are closed. So that

means a return trip tomorrow morning. 

  At this time of the year the rain comes and goes 

just like that. One minute a clear sky, next, a 

downpour. Now, it is at the ending stages

of the downpour and I am sheltering at the

town's upscale restaurant ( as you see in the

picture above). This is the place I come to

every week. They have a big screen TV which

is usually playing the African music videos.

Except that the TV has been broken for about

2 months and was sent out to be repaired.

So when you leave the bush and 

want to experience a change of pace in 

entertainment ... it ain't there. But it is coming

this next Tuesday ... for the 6th time.

  Another problem at this time is that it's the 

Holy Month of Ramadan. Everyone working 

here is Muslim and fasting. Got to hand it to

them for persevering. Smelling the food all day

and not eating or drinking or having the TV

to distract them ... has got to be tough.

  I am just hanging here through the rain and

I am not eating or drinking. I'd feel guilty if 

I did. But after this next Thursday, Ramadan 

will be over, then back to normal.

  The rain has subsided and I think I am going

to head out. The sky isn't clear yet but at this

point in my tour I've met almost everyone 

along the 23 km route and have places to

hang out if it rains again.

  Time to hit the road.

Less than 6 months

It has count down to below the 6 month remaining mark.
I am in the capital Ouagadougou for a few days and I've
caught up with a few of my stage (group) mates. We took
time to make a lot of conversation through a long lunch
and all agreed, it seemed like yesterday we were meeting
each other in Philadelphia before our departure for Burkina Faso.

I am here to do a little talk about the sex-ex against
teenage pregnancy activity to the new group who
are in their 3 month IST (in service training). There were
a lot of questions especially from the young ladies in the
new group. Hopefully they will attempt this project in
their respective villages. I have written about this activity
a bit in prior blog posts but I do feel very passionate about
it. These young school girls are basically out there on their
own and the knowledge that we can give may help them
prevent any problems that may terminate their chances to
complete school and follow their dreams.

It is the beginning of the rainy season, school has finished
and we are in the second week of Ramadan. So to be able
to find anyone with time or enthusiasm to do anything is
a bit of a task. So, the invitation to come here and share
was right on time. In site I am really just organizing my info to
be able to pass it along after I leave. But I have been making
connections for October when things will be rolling at full tilt.
At that time I will have about 6 working weeks left and so
I've warned my respective village colleagues that we will
get to it when the time comes. Normally it takes forever to
get it to move but when that time comes I will become a pest
if it is necessary.

Oh yeah, Happy 4th of July to everyone back home and I
hope that it is a good day for all.

In the capital

I'm spending a few days in the capital (Ouagadougou).
Every three months we have to fill out a report so I decided
to head on up here and get it done.

In the village it has been pretty regular on the activity front.
We are still trying to finish off the last hundred or so kids
with our sex-education sensibilization. It's been one thing
after another and with the school year is winding down and exam
time is coming up, it doesn't look like it's going to get done.
As of now I will be here until the middle of December and
school will re-open at the end of September ... so still a
chance.

Miracles do happen at times and they have installed poles
for electrical wires. They've threatened to install them in
the past but never by the date they stated. But, lo and behold
it's coming true. Sure giving the skeptics here one less
subject to be negative about.
At the beginning it will be installed in the health clinic and
schools and the village chief's house only ... but a beginning.
I am hoping that I can have at least 4 months or so here with
electricity to recharge my laptop. I'd like to try and make a
few little videos before I leave. Without the electricity it is
almost impossible to put a video together. It would be take
some time to video and then the time consuming editing
with running back and forth to another town to charge,
it would be months to get even one done. But if it comes then
it would be a fun way to finish out here.

It is close to the end of the dry season as we had some rain
last Saturday and it will be time for the farmers to start cultivating
their fields. With the two seasons here (dry and rainy)  it is difficult
to get financial momentum if one is a farmer. There is one chance a
year to get it right so to speak. But it will be good to see things
turn green and have the people active.

Other than that it will be looking for new avenues for activities
with the school closing out but something will show up. And
with the time winding down it is also the time to start
wrapping up loose ends. But if the electricity comes then
that'll open a bunch of new opportunities but little time.

New experiences

One of the perks of being a Peace Corps Volunteer

is that you're put in places that are new and different.

Which results in new experiences.

I work at the maternity building every morning. 

No big stuff, just weighing babies to monitor if

they are mal-nutritioned and fixing things or helping

to clean up. Basically trying to be a team player.

This morning a lady was there in labor when I 

arrived. The mid-wife said she was expecting twins

and the mid-wife herself was excited about it.

About an hour and a half later ... it is time. 

The women here don't make much or any noise

when they are giving birth. It's very rare to hear

a lady scream. I'm am amazed by this. Don't

know how they do it.

It was very hot and we have no electricity, which

leads to no refrigerators or cold/cool water. 

But we do have these kids from the next village

(which has electricity) that tie Igloo coolers on 

the back of their bicycles and sell cold water.

I figured to buy the mid-wives and the mother

some to just make life a little better.

As I come back I see the mother being helped to

the mini ward where the beds are. I give her water

and head towards the birthing room to give the 

mid-wives theirs.

I see the two babies wrapped in cloth side by side.

So I ask if they are girls or boys. One mid-wife 

tells me that one is dead. The babies were covered

from the eyes down and upon looking I could see

the one's furthest away skin was gray. 

Story was the first came out head first and the 

second (as the majority does) came out feet first.

The mother didn't have the strength to push and

the second baby basically suffocated.

I am sure if there are more details but this is the 

info I got. 

We are in a rural clinic and the personnel are 

fantastic with what they have to work with and

what they are up against.

This was a new thing for me to see and it just made me

think about the cliche .... draw of the cards ...

as it pertained to the first baby out.

Also thought ... one goes home and one is going to

their grave. Draw of the cards.

This is surely one of many similar daily happenings

not only unique to here.

Even at my age there are still these new experiences.

It seems that there is more to see and ponder about. 

As this reminds me that the draw of my card was ok,

maybe there's really no need to stress about those

mundane things in our lives.

Because of Rihanata

Rihanata is a young teenaged girl in my village
who had potential. Last year at the lycee/college
(middle school) there was a theater group and girl's
soccer team.She was one of the motivated

young girls who participated in both.

One day while at the maternity building I saw
Rihanata waiting in line for a CPN or pre-natal
consultation. She had become pregnant and
my heart just sank.

The first 4 months in site is usually a lot of talking
and trying to determine what project opportunities
may exist. We at the health clinic were talking
about sex-ed education with the emphasis of
providing information that may help to prevent
teenage pregnancy. At that point it was just the
usual talk with no concrete action in sight.

But after seeing Rihanata I thought … sorry …
forget the talk and let's get to action before another
'Rihanata' arrived for a CPN.

So, starting with the mid-wife at the clinic we
discussed the need to mobilize asap and begin
a project of sex-ed sensibilizations. She agreed
and the next step was to approach the school director.
He definitely agreed that action had to be taken.
So, it was just a matter of organizing the material
that would be presented.

If one know's the trials of scheduling activities
in rural villages, they could appreciate the challenges
of just simply beginning. It was back and forth
between the school and the maternity a few times
till we were able to invite the first group of girls
to the maternity building.

During a hands on training in Ouagadougou
concerning sex-ed, one aspect I was impressed with
dividing the girls from the boys. This definitely
allowed the girls to open up without the boys
usually trying to dominate the session.

Our first session was that of about 35 girls from
the 4ieme who attended the optional session.and
As of now here in Burkina speaking about sex is
kind of a sensitive issue. For that, at the beginning
of the activity the girls were shy but after about
15 minutes they were able to begin to speak and
ask questions openly.

I was very fortunate to had been left with a
photocopied manual called ' Le Livre d'images
de la Naissance' by the volunteer whom I replaced.
In contained all the information (in French) that
we needed to share with the students.

We spoke of the ABC's of becoming pregnant such
as ovulation, spermatozoides and menstrual cycles.
We explained how it all fits in to becoming and preventing
pregnancy. We talked about STD's and had a condom
demonstration. The mid-wife explained family
planning and methods of protection.

At the end it was open to all questions regarding our
topics and also any others the girls may have had
regarding their menstrual cycles ... etc.

The boys session was held at the school with a male
teacher and I working as a team.

All sessions have been held with Burkinabe in leading
roles. I have found that even if I would have perfect
language, the locals know better how to get the point
across. My place is as kind of an emcee and condom
demonstration guy.

As always is it hasn't been without it's challenges.
Change of mid-wives, school vacations and exams
are just a few of the hurdles that were faced. In the
end it has taken 11 months to speak with 390 students
with about another 75 to go.

Success can be evaluated in many ways. Some are
obvious and others are subtle. In our case, we were
doing well with not one of the girls becoming pregnant
until 2 weeks ago. Now the count is one and it was
inevitable and reluctantly expected. Our goal of 100%
non pregnant students was probably naïve.

But there are phases of success to note. There have
been girls coming to the maternity for family planning.
Our clinic's pharmacy has been selling more condoms.
Another success was in having the Burkinabe enthused
and participating magnificently in the sessions.

Truly it is all about saving the futures of the young girls.
Here with a baby, it is virtually a 100% sure that they
will have to leave school. 

So we continue.

Another Saturday night

Yup, another Saturday night in the village with

no electricity. It means early crash times and 

shortwave radio (BBC) from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. on 

weekends. But rumor has it that in 10 days they

should be arriving to start to bring power lines in. 

Got ta see it.

School is on a 2 week break so work is slow but

we did have one girl from our sex-ed sensibilizations

fall pregnant. No more 100% that we can boast about

rate but still less than before.

It has been hot here with 100 degree temps and 

cruising around on the bicycle is a bit of a challenge

in regards to staying hydrated. With the running

t-shirts I brought from the States it makes it a little

tricky. The shirts wick off the sweat and the sun and

hot air dries it virtually immediately. Which makes

you think that you're not sweating. Had a mild

case of de-hydration last hot season but am ready

due to experience for this hot season.

We are continuing to sing the Burkina national

anthem twice a day when raising and lowering 

the flag. As far as anyone knows we are the only

health clinic doing it. It is actually fun with a whole

bunch of kids getting excited when it's drapeau (flag)

time. It makes for a nice beginning and end of the 

day. 

We have 8 stagaires (trainees) from the health schools

and tomorrow 4 will finish their two month field 

training. They participated in one of our sex-ed 

sessions and they added to it's quality. They were

also there for every singing of the national anthem.

They were troopers and should do well in their 

future endeavors.

Trash is a problem here and I've decided to begin

selling the idea of cleaning up. I've been cleaning 

the health clinic and it and the primary school 

are the cleanest areas in the village. I'm not expecting

any results or changes but we've begun to have

small conversations here and there ... a start.

With eight months or so left I am trying to do only

what I feel can be effective within the time. The 

biggest problem with the garbage is the awareness.

I believe they just don't actually see it ... so that's

the new challenge. How to bring it 'in sight'  

without being pushy or being a pain. 

Got the rest this Saturday night to think about it.