One advantage ...

Of living here is demonstrated in the picture above.

As you can see a bunch of sandals on display ... it is

most certainly in need of an explanation.

When I left the USA last year in October I packed

a set of sandals (top pair). They are really nice and

comfortable but only lasted about six months. That

was with constant wearing and used to walk and

ride bicycle only. It has a double big toe strap

and one strap ripped making the sandals not so

pretty and on borrowed time. 

What to do to replace and resolve the sandal issue?

Basically do what the people do and that is buy 

the flip flop sandals you see below the top pair.

There is a striking difference in cost from the pair

I brought and the ones I've purchased here. The 

pair I brought cost 31,000 cfa (general rule is 500 cfa

to the US dollar). The ones bought here 400 cfa 

or 80 cents US. A difference of 30,600 cfa.

For that price I am finding myself becoming the 

Imelda Marcos of 80 cent flip-flops. It seems 

like it would be stylish to have the color of the

flops match the wardrobe. 

So, there are black, gray, green and blue color

straps in this collection. But there are a few 

more colors that are available.

I use them non-stop. Walking, riding bicycle, working

and at the end of the day's bucket bath. The bucket

bath actually washes them off at the same time.

Two pairs are going on 5 months use and are still

in good shape. I didn't anticipate a pair lasting 

longer than a month or two.

What is the point I'm trying to make here? One of 

the unknown mysteries is that one can live with

80 cent sandals and function just fine. 

It is one of the lessons I've learned and never get

to forget when living in this type of environment.

Maybe bragging about 80 cent flops isn't the 

'chic' thing to do but some of the nicest people

I've met ... wear the 80 centers.

It's funny that development may bring down the 

cost of electronics but not the cost of sandals.

So does development also lead to more expensive?

A mysterious question ... n'est pas? 

It's the running water ...

That's the amenity. Not the running for water

as I am trying to depict in the picture above.

There are no taps or fawcetts here. It's lugging

gallons of water daily that's the rule. This

is where a bicycle is a handy 'mule'. (Poetry)

Usually once a day I take my bike to the pump

which is about a quarter mile away. The pump

has a big spoked wheel that takes between 55

to 60 turns to fill up the plastic jerry can. After,

it is strapping it to the back of the bike and off

to the house.

Some people strap two jerry cans across the back

and others have an old fuel drum on a two wheel

carrier. I am not sure of the volume but it's heavy

when full.

This is the way to stay in shape without the need

to go to a gym. People here are solid and in great

physical condition.

It is about 50/50 Muslim and Christian here and

last Monday was the last day of Ramadan. I did

a half fast during the month. I didn't eat but I

did drink some water. I did the full fast twice

when back in Senegal.

I did lose a few pounds but actually feel better

than before. Maybe a little cleansing doesn't 

hurt.

It is again the slow time so I am using it to fix

a few things around the maternity building. One

'little' project was to fix the three baby cribs. All

were missing bolts and as a result some of the 

metal got bent and distorted.

I just don't feel that a newborn's first impression

should  be that of a shaky world. It took a bit 

of hammering and bending ... plus cleaning but

now the kids are getting a solid bed to start out.

It's also malaria time and the people are coming 

to the clinic because of the increased mosquitos.

It's the rainy season and the mosquito that transmits

the malaria uses water to lay it's eggs. Something

between 50 to 200 at a time.

The strategy is sleeping under the mosquito nets.

But they basically come out between dusk and 

dawn and it's the time between when the people

are out and about that's giving the mosquito the 

opportunity.

It's a challenge to prevent malaria as a result.

So going to make another trip for water there's no

one at the well and I'll be ahead for tomorrow.

Strange events

Strange things happen everywhere and a few happened here recently.

While riding my bike out on one of the bush 

trails I meet this old gent standing by his

1 cylinder motorcycle.

He flags me down and I thought he had a

problem but he just wanted to chat a bit.

We talked for a few minutes until another

motorcyclists came by that he seemed to

know.

So off I go down the path and the nearest

village was about 10 minutes away, tops.

There is the folklore of people appearing

mysteriously at any moment.

Well, it happened with this old gent. I pedaled

down this path and no one … I mean … no one

passed me.

As I arrived in the village and stopped to buy a

bag of water … I look across and there is the

old gent sitting on the bench of a kiosk.

What happened I don't know and there must

have been an alternative route that he took …

though I didn't hear a motorcycle's engine.

Of course there is the logical excuse but I am

not interested in knowing and I am dubbing

the gent 'the African magic man'.

Knowing would just ruin the fun of the

encounter.

Another strange but bitter sweet happening

occurred a few days ago. I work at a rural

health clinic and the clinic has a building

dedicated to maternity only.

Usually every morning one of the mid-wives

fills me in on the new Burkinabe who have entered

this world the previous night.

She said that that night there was only one baby

born but it was part of a sad scenario.

The baby was born exactly at 5 a.m. and at the

exact same 5 a.m. the new mother's mother

passed away.

The new mother's mother was sick but the point

is the timing.

Was there spirit exchange at the moment?

Who truly knows?  

Not earth shattering in it's strangeness but

still has a strange tone to it.

In my opinion even stranger because of the

African mystique.  

Definitely exciting

In the picture is the elephant that chased me

down the road. 

Today I decided on riding my bicycle to the 

second nearest big town. Which is actually

the bigger town and is about 65 kms from

my village. 

It is a straight shot with just enough

hills to ensure an honest workout. It took

a total of 6 hours with stopping for coffee

and water and a break here and there along

the route. 

Time was what I had today, so I took the

chance to relax and enjoy the journey. 

Approximately 60 percent of the journey is

through a national park. It is a beautiful area

with wildlife as proven in the picture. 

But this morning there was nothing until the

10 km marker before arriving at the town.

It started with one huge male elephant going

after a vehicle in the middle of the road. I 

could see some commotion in front of me 

from about a km away. A man on a motor scooter

said the elephant was acting up and that I

should be careful. 

Didn't have to tell me twice and I waited some

then crept up and he was gone.

But a km after that I saw about 20 to 30 

elephants and there were at least 10 very young

and baby elephants. 

From my time in Namibia I learned it could be 

dangerous as the big females are very protective.

I had my cellphone camera in hand and decided

to take the chance at a great photo-op. 

They were approximately 25 meters or 75ft away

when I stopped.

The big female immediately took a defensive/

charging stance.

I didn't get a chance to focus and the pictures

taken of the group aren't worth much.

After about 20 seconds the female starts to move

in my direction at a very brisk pace.

I know that an elephant's top speed can get up

to 40 km or a little less than 25 mph. 

Man, I start peddaling with everything I had and

the 100 meters that she chased me went by 

quick.

Heart was pumping, adrenaline flowing and the

daily quota of adventure fulfilled.

It was great but I won't get that close again with

a bicycle only. Tomorrow I will head back and

will definitely not push my luck. 

One tree ...

I returned to the village on Friday the 13th. Here

that's not a known superstition so it was a day

as usual. If anything bad happened to anyone 

that day there was no excuse of a bad luck day.

Like the lady who either side swiped someone

or someone sideswiped her that morning. I was

just beginning the journey back to the village

when I hear a crash and see this lady tumbling

along. Her's and another motor scooter collided.

It looked like at least a broken arm and first

thought was Friday the 13th and am I next. But

rode my bicycle 50 miles back to the village

without incident.

The picture is that of what would be a great 

bonsai tree design. It is actually one tree that

was split and actually grew horizontal with the

side branches growing vertical. Probably hard 

to see in the picture. It was taken about a quarter

mile away. Also with a smart phone camera. But

it is something to see.

Work wasn't big this week for the cause of being

up in the capital Ouagadougou for three days. But

did manage to pass out about 300 of the moringa

tree seeds. Like I mentioned in the prior blog entry

that I am using the brute force method. Pass out

hundreds of seeds and the mathematical 

probability should bring some success. If each

person had one tree the nutrition aspect would

be improved.

Going to another school this upcoming Friday.

This will make 4 that I'm working with. It's the

end of the school year practically but making 

connections for next year will save time.

It is coming to the slow time where people are

in the fields and school's out. Time to start

to become imaginative. That's how life in 

the Peace Corps can be. Especially out in the villages. 

 All we can do is roll with it.

A few days in the capital

I am up here in the capital (Ouagadougou) to do a little clerical work
and just chill a bit from the village life. It is nice having electricity and
other amenities but then there is the hustle and bustle of big city life to
deal with too.

A few of the updates from the village is that we had a third girl come
in for family planning. Again, she is of school age so the activity we
did to give out information on preventing teenage pregnancy is
working. To expect all to come is unreal but whomever comes
is better than before.

The rains are beginning to come more frequently so the villagers are out
in the fields a lot more. But it is time for planting and the plan is to give
out as many Moringa tree seeds as possible. It is difficult trying to have
trees come to maturity. The goats and cows just do a job on the smaller
trees and in essence, kill them. The moringa is a tree that they really
love, so protecting them until they are about 6ft tall is a must. I passed
out a few seeds to each student in the schools that I've been working with.
And also to other individuals that say they are interested. My thought is
to use the brute force method by putting out as many seeds as possible
to as many people as possible with hopes that a few will make it.
They are distributed to many households so someone has got to be
able to protect a tree, I think.

We are also trying to spruce up the health clinic a bit I received a few
bougainvillea cuttings (three exact) and we placed them in an area
that'll give maximum effect if they make it. Truthfully, not sure if they
will. We need to water them daily for a few months until some roots
develop. I am in the capital now and asked my neighbor to water
for the next few days. Will she is the question. But pictures will be
coming ... hopefully to show the before and after and not the void
where the cuttings used to be.

Working at the maternity is an interesting experience. The resources of
course don't match that of the States but the people here do a good job
despite that. They are capable workers and in the six months I've been
here only one baby has died. The baby was born, cried for about 5 hours
then died. It is a commendable job the people do with what they have.
Also, the women are pretty strong. You see them riding their bicycles
at what looks like more than 8 and a half months pregnant. I am amazed.

Well, it's time to go out and look for a new restaurant here in Ougadougou.
Going to live it up for the next few days.

Wende mii baala

In the local language (Moore) Wende mii baala

translates to .. God only knows.

That's referring to the picture above. We planted

one of the moringa trees for my next door 

neighbor. The ground is really hard and more

like clay and the moringa likes more of a 

sandy soil. People at the clinic said they've 

tried the moringa on the grounds before but 

with no success. Of course I asked a few 

questions and found out that they didn't 

protect the trees and the goats ate them.

So, as you can see there is chicken wire and

the little green at the bottom is the tree. I will

keep my eye on it but I am not too sure that

it's going to pan out. The mantra for a good

outcome regarding this tree is again ... Wende

mii bala.

Another school girl came to the health clinic

for family planning. That makes two so far 

from the group that we had the sex education

or really more like preventing teenage pregnancy

sessions. At least for the next three months 

there will be two girls who won't become 

pregnant. We talked a bit about condom use

and who knows ... maybe they are using them

too. 

As a volunteer it is encouraging to see positive

results of activities every so often. It keeps 

one wanting to continue to try and not to 

lose hope. The true results will come in time

with less school girls becoming pregnant. By this

time next year would be a good point as to

if the sessions really paid off.

In the category of first time see was a guy 

driving his motor scooter (like a Vespa /

Honda / Yamaha) with a cow tied to what 

looked like a wooden door. He somehow 

had the door attached to the passenger part

of the seat and the cow laying tied down

on top. It was a .... did I actually see a cow 

on the back of a motor scooter realization

moment. Took a double take and even on 

the second take the cow was still there.

We really miss these things in the developed

world ... don't we? Leads to the thought of 

what is real freedom. Putting a cow on the

back of your scooter without worrying seems

like should be on the list of what freedom is.

Well ... with school winding down so do the 

opportunities for activities so I am wondering

how the next months will be. I'll keep hunting

for the chances but I guess it's best stated

as to ... will there be anything to do ... again ...

Wende mii bala.