The One Year Mark

The one year mark for PC volunteers is a milestone with heavy significance. It shows how far we’ve come in our service, from the first day stepping off the clueless about Burkina to becoming a tenured volunteer who can handle any diverse situation. We’ve all been through a lot in the past year. The move to village, finally all alone in a foreign land, was a big one. The first “real” conversation in the local language was rewarding. When the project that has been taking months to implement finally came to fruition, it was a good feeling. And then the one year mark comes along and we realize that we are (nearly) half way done with our service. Initially, it’s a sense of relief because we have 15 long months left to use our acquired knowledge and get stuff done. But then it dawns that the remaining time is in fact too short, especially after we’ve digested the magnitude of problems in our village that need attention.

(All pictures will be after the text, since I don't have enough time to inter-crops the photos throughout the post).

All this being said, I’m content with myself and the work that is happening in Ramsa. Yes, the remaining time is short with too many things to do. This means one thing: prioritization. I initially wanted to do tons of projects (because I saw their potential worth and success) but now it’s about narrowing down to the sustainable few that will last after I leave. One thing’s for sure, if by this time the community is not motivated in a certain area, best let it go. The community’s motivation, participation and ownership is the vital ingredient to any Peace Corps for it to carry on. That being said, I’m excited for my community and I to narrow our focus and really build-upon the select few projects that interest us.

Before the turn of the New Year, we finally finished the construction of our new garden space. Fast-forward to today and you’ll see that the garden space is filled with sprouting leaves and growing trees. It’s a warm feeling knowing that our first endeavor is done and is working. I’ve been coming to the garden space as much as possible, even as my work there is slowing down. The evenings are the best. Entire families come-out to tag-team the watering of their plants or to do some weeding. The scene is quite fulfilling.

I told my counterpart and community that this project will never be finished, since we must always be looking for ways to improve what we have. This mainly speaks to the moringa trees (because of their vast economic benefits and ever-growing market), but gardening techniques and maintenance must always be improved as well. Once we finish digging and cementing the new well, the garden will officially be done and completely in the hands of the community.

My buds and I, as much as we love Burkina, decided to take a trip over new years to the Ivory Coast. We had a solid crew of 5 and we took the 34 hour train ride from the landlocked country of Burkina all the way down to the beach. I never knew how much joy the ocean would give me. After not seeing it for a year I knew the reunion would excite me, but not as much as it did. I spent an average of 5 hours each day in the water, just to let my body recharge. It was a treat traveling with my fellow PCVs because they appreciated everything just as much as I did. Unbeknownst to us, we carried our already engrained Peace Corps mentality with us to the Ivory Coast. At all times we were searching for locals to integrate with or hole-in-the-wall restaurants to find a cheaper meal. Eventually, the 10 day getaway came to end and we were back in Burkina.

A few weeks after our return, the horrible terrorist attacks in the national capital took place to much dismay. Burkina’s had a shaky couple of years, with the coup d’états and other danger in the region, but we ended 2015 on a positive note after democratically electing the first President in 27 years. The attacks in January reintroduced the doubt about Burkina and the West African region that everyone thought was on its way out. My fellow volunteers and I were saddened and shocked, and thought that there would be some action taken as to our situation in Burkina. Ultimately after much discussion, the Peace Corps HQ decided to let the Burkina mission remain intact, albeit with heightened security parameters and condition. Now, it is very difficult for volunteers to come to Ouaga unless for an emergency. It’s going to be like this for some time. Our safety situation is definitely more dangerous than before, but I am confident that the Bureau is taking all necessary measures to ensure our safety. The minute that they believe that they cannot guarantee our safety in country, we’ll be on the next flight home. Until then, all of us are safe in village going about our business and continuing with our Peace Corps work.

I’m at ease that we’re here for the (near) future because this part of my service is when my productivity is at its all-time high. Personally, I’ve reached a level with my local language, community integration and applicable knowledge to serve my community at my full potential. My counterpart and other core colleagues in village all have a solid understanding of our on-going projects and what we can achieve in the next year. With the moringa/community garden as our primary, on-going project, there are a few other areas that we are going to focus in 2016. Soy, animal feed, malaria and other small trainings by community demand. I’ll elaborate more on these other projects as they come about (we’ve started recently with our soy trainings and their popularity is sky-rocketing!). Of course, I’ll still have my own personal work that I’m doing at our middle school with my students.

February will be an activity-filled month for me and will also mark the unofficial end of “cold” season. March the temperature will be turned-up a bit before it hits full blast in April and May. Can’t wait.

Besides that, life is easy now. During my first year I found that after around 2-3 weeks in village I’d be itching to get-out and unwind with some friends far away. Now, it’s the opposite. Not that I don’t enjoy seeing my friends and eating good food, but I’m trying to plan my schedule so that I can spend as much time in village as possible.

Hope you enjoyed this post. I know it’s been a while between entries. I seem to have adopted the Burkinabe perception of time now, i.e. always late. But, you know what they always say…"Ca va aller". Everything will work out just fine.

Until next time,

MB

Getting ready to board the 34 hour train from Ouagadougou to Abidjan. Worth it.

The first of many beers on New Years eve in Abidjan. They served beers in 1 liter bottles. Needless to say, it didn't take many to get where we were going.

We were all super bummed to be away from Burkina.

New Years Eve dancing. We tried to get the Ivorians to dance with us. Instead, they opted to film the crazy white people while they danced by themselves. We've learned to play the fool after living in Africa for a year already.

Partying with locals is the best. The guy on the left was a bit of a creeper however.

Henry and me. Water, sand, palm trees for miles.

MVP of the trip: GoPro

Our hotel guide took us on a canoe ride of the lagoon. 

Surfing with our bodies.

Fresh fish in Ivory Coast. I bet even people in the US are jealous of this picture.

Last night we roasted hot dogs and marshmellows on the beach. 

Couple days after getting back to site and already back to work. The start of our compost training, taking place in our new garden. My neighbor is the government farming agent and we partnered with him to run this training. 

It took soo many weeds/hay to fill up this pit. It's a lot of hard work to fill and maintain, but the finished product's value is so valuable. Everybody is in need of a compost pit but not many people are able to, for many reason.

My farming agent finishing up the training. Pictured is the second compost pit, which we use to turn-over the pit so that the weeds on top can then decompose once on bottom.

Had the awesome opportunity to take two counterparts with me to a soy training, led by the Peace Corps. 

We learned a good deal about soy. Afterwards, we knew that we had to share this plethora of knowledge back with our community so that everybody could benefit from this nutritious product!

How I travel to my regional captial from my village and back. In the back piled on top of a bunch of cargo. My entire body is covered in dust by the time the journey finishes.

Potatoes sprouting up in our garden space.

Gardening season means vegetables. Tuna sandwich with carrots is my favorite meal in village.

Lettuce coming in little by little.

Just a week after returning from our training, we held our own village training on the importance and transformation of soy into tofu, yogurt and gateau. We only started 2 hours late with the majority of participants showing up midway through.

Mixing the soy flour. Once the women understand the procedures, the cooking part is easy for them. They could stir and mix until it is nice and pure.

After adding the congealing agent, the tofu appeared ontop. Then, we scooped it out and pressed until all the water left. In the local language, we have to call tofu "meat". So, when I was telling everyone that this concoction that we were taking-out was meat, they were very confused.

Tomato season also means that it is perfect time for tomato paste jarring. This was a great training because I was on my own (counterpart was busy) so I led the entire day in Moore. Boiling the jars before and after is important for a lasting conservation, because it kills all of the germs. 

Finished product! The ladies already sold a few jars to the government workers in our village.

Community Garden of Ramsa (with) vegetables and moringa. Year of completion 2015

Started digging of our new well which will allow us to garden year round. Moringa trees growing in the background.

I've been working with the local restaurateur in village to improve his bread. I introduced a new recipe and it's been selling like crazy. Here, his apprentices showing the uncooked bread before it goes into the oven. 

Souleymane making the loaves. He believes that I'm a bread expert, even though I got the recipe from a fellow volunteer and looked up the rest online. The power of information!