To say that my village supports Barack Obama is an understatement. The night of the election, we held a party in an open area between the village mosque and the blacksmith's house. The blacksmith has a TV and I was gifted a small solar panel, so we tried to show election coverage (without any luck due to the time difference) to the many people who had gathered. At one point, I briefly told the story of Barack Obama's family. Grandfather was a Kenyan herder (Cattle are incredibly important to the Fulani ethnic group who are mainly herders), father grew up in Kenya, went to school and studied hard, and now Barack is (at that time) a candidate to be the next President of the United States.
I had cut out pictures of Obama, Biden, McCain and Palin and pasted on a piece of paper to show who was running. Most had heard of this Obama guy, heard that he was possibly "a balejo" (a black man) but had never seen a photo. Luckily the Newsweek I had contained photos of his father, mother and other family members and really helped my story. (Look for pictures on my flickr account in the coming weeks)
We had a mock election and people voted by making a tear on their ballot next to the stick figures of 2 men or a man and a woman. Obama won 57-0. Not surprising considering 1. Obama's family comes from a herding ethnic group. 2. the only Americans they know (me and previous volunteer) support Obama 3. McCain's running mate is a woman (Someone asked me if she really would be able to be the VP)
The next morning when I pranced around the village sharing results, the reactions were priceless. Everyone was thrilled that "a balejo" would be the next president of the US, but for some it went far beyond that. Multiple people clasped their hands to their mouth, grinning somewhat bashfully, their eyes sparkling with possibility; overjoyed and not sure how to react to the news that the grandson of African herders was gong to be the next President of the US. For some, this seemed to signify that for them to, the world may have an opportunity, not to be an American president, but maybe a teacher, a nurse, or a policeman.
I have no idea of the long term effects, but for now I'm trying to jump through the open door and promote education anytime someone wants to see my now tattered Newsweek with pictures of Barack Obama.
I would love to get a hold of Obama stickers, pens, or small items to give as incentives to the kids in my school for working hard. If you have any left over campaign stuff you are trying to get rid of, let me know and we can figure out how to get it to Burkina.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Collective Survival
In Burkina I live with the Fulani, a previously nomadic (and currently semi-nomadic) ethnic group that is scattered across West and Central Africa. In my village there are "vrai Peulh" (real Fulani) and the "machube"-the descendants of those captured and enslaved by the Fulani. The machube originate from a variety of ethnic groups but have abandoned their languages and cultures and have assimilated into Fulani communities. They generally eat the same foods as Fulani.
CUISINE
Fulani mainly obtain food by cultivating (corn, millet, sorghum, beans) raising animals (cows, goats, sheep, chickens and guinea fowl-an awkward looking bird that makes an obnoxious noise like a squeaking wheel). They also gather wild fruits (grapes, tamarinds, and others) and leaves for sauce. From time to time they hunt small birds to supplement their diets-I've even seen kids hunt mice.
The main staple of most groups in Burkina is to, a stiff porridge made of millet or corn flour. Everyone sitting around the bowl and tears of hunks of to and dips it in a sauce most frequently made of okra or baobab leaves (the okra sauce is really slimy, but is unfortunately for me very popular). Beans and rice are eaten as well, but many Fulani prefer to sell the beans they harvest. In my village Fulani eat to because it is prevalent in the region, but I assume that Fulani in other countries have different diets based on foods readily available there.
Unlike in the US, everything truly has a season-good luck getting mangoes, watermelons, etc outside their season; outside Ouaga even milk and eggs are only available during the rainy season
The Fulani are herders, but rarely eat meat other than on holidays. Fulani take great pride in their animals- especially their cows, which they hate to sell. often families have hundreds of goats and sheep, which act like insurance; they are only sold when necessary, such as when the family has run out of millet, or someone is really sick (selling a goat to buy school supplies is often not seen as an expense worthy of selling a goat). I sense that culturally there is pride in being able to keep many beings alive, despite the harsh landscape, thus big herds and families are prestigious.
FOOD RELATED RESPONSIBILITIES
Daily responsibilities for the majority of people revolve around food production and preparation. These responsibilities are very segregated by gender.
Socially, men have the responsibility to provide food for the family and meet there other basic needs. women have their own fields, (but still work in their husbands fields) and in theory can sell their crops and spend their money as desired.
MEN- during the rainy season (June-Sept) men work in the fields to break up the earth, plant seeds, remove weeds, and eventually harvest in October. When necessary men are responsible for building graneries to store millet throughout the year.
WOMEN- women also work in the fields, but have the added daily responsibilities of preparing food. They collect wood, pump water, cop and dry veggies and leaves, pound and sift millet, as well as cook food and wash dishes.
watching African women pound millet is really impressive. frequently they will pound the millet rhythmically, with 2 or 3 women pounding in a sngle mortar. sometimes they sing, cluck, or throw the pestle above their heads and clap before catching it-all without missing a beat! Women are almost always working, so social time and work are often combined.
Herding is a major responsibility of youth and men. kids as young as 6 will take goats out to the buh to eat grass and spend the entire day out in the sun. By age 8 many move on to herding cattle. (Unfortunately, cultural importance placed on herding conflicts with education and the current public school system)
I've only lived in BF during cultivating months, so I' not quite sure what men do the rest of the year. Women, on the the other hand, have daily household responsibilities that vary less seasonly.
CULTURE OF FOOD
In Burkina, there is a collective responsibility for everyone's survival. If you have extra, you give food to your neighbors; if you don't have enough, you ask. It is incredibly impolite to eat without offering to share with those around you (even strangers on the bus!) Most people in Burkina don't have enough to eat, so it is expected that food will be shared so everyone can (hopefully) survive.
For most families in my village, there is only enough food to eat twice a day, so lunch is frequently skipped. Men drink lots of tea throughout the day, they say to keep away hunger.
When preparing meals, women prepare a lot, but not for a certain number of people, because you never know who will stop by for dinner.
Meals are eaten with the right hand-the left is used to clean yourself after going to the bathroom) from a communal bowl shared with your peer group (men, women, kids). Once you have eaten enough, you turn away from the bowl to indicate you are finished eating.Whatever food remains is eaten the next day, including remains that can be scraped from the bottom of the pot and dried. One of my favorite Fulani foods is bits of dried to mixed with day old milk and sugar. sounds odd, but is tasty!
CUISINE
Fulani mainly obtain food by cultivating (corn, millet, sorghum, beans) raising animals (cows, goats, sheep, chickens and guinea fowl-an awkward looking bird that makes an obnoxious noise like a squeaking wheel). They also gather wild fruits (grapes, tamarinds, and others) and leaves for sauce. From time to time they hunt small birds to supplement their diets-I've even seen kids hunt mice.
The main staple of most groups in Burkina is to, a stiff porridge made of millet or corn flour. Everyone sitting around the bowl and tears of hunks of to and dips it in a sauce most frequently made of okra or baobab leaves (the okra sauce is really slimy, but is unfortunately for me very popular). Beans and rice are eaten as well, but many Fulani prefer to sell the beans they harvest. In my village Fulani eat to because it is prevalent in the region, but I assume that Fulani in other countries have different diets based on foods readily available there.
Unlike in the US, everything truly has a season-good luck getting mangoes, watermelons, etc outside their season; outside Ouaga even milk and eggs are only available during the rainy season
The Fulani are herders, but rarely eat meat other than on holidays. Fulani take great pride in their animals- especially their cows, which they hate to sell. often families have hundreds of goats and sheep, which act like insurance; they are only sold when necessary, such as when the family has run out of millet, or someone is really sick (selling a goat to buy school supplies is often not seen as an expense worthy of selling a goat). I sense that culturally there is pride in being able to keep many beings alive, despite the harsh landscape, thus big herds and families are prestigious.
FOOD RELATED RESPONSIBILITIES
Daily responsibilities for the majority of people revolve around food production and preparation. These responsibilities are very segregated by gender.
Socially, men have the responsibility to provide food for the family and meet there other basic needs. women have their own fields, (but still work in their husbands fields) and in theory can sell their crops and spend their money as desired.
MEN- during the rainy season (June-Sept) men work in the fields to break up the earth, plant seeds, remove weeds, and eventually harvest in October. When necessary men are responsible for building graneries to store millet throughout the year.
WOMEN- women also work in the fields, but have the added daily responsibilities of preparing food. They collect wood, pump water, cop and dry veggies and leaves, pound and sift millet, as well as cook food and wash dishes.
watching African women pound millet is really impressive. frequently they will pound the millet rhythmically, with 2 or 3 women pounding in a sngle mortar. sometimes they sing, cluck, or throw the pestle above their heads and clap before catching it-all without missing a beat! Women are almost always working, so social time and work are often combined.
Herding is a major responsibility of youth and men. kids as young as 6 will take goats out to the buh to eat grass and spend the entire day out in the sun. By age 8 many move on to herding cattle. (Unfortunately, cultural importance placed on herding conflicts with education and the current public school system)
I've only lived in BF during cultivating months, so I' not quite sure what men do the rest of the year. Women, on the the other hand, have daily household responsibilities that vary less seasonly.
CULTURE OF FOOD
In Burkina, there is a collective responsibility for everyone's survival. If you have extra, you give food to your neighbors; if you don't have enough, you ask. It is incredibly impolite to eat without offering to share with those around you (even strangers on the bus!) Most people in Burkina don't have enough to eat, so it is expected that food will be shared so everyone can (hopefully) survive.
For most families in my village, there is only enough food to eat twice a day, so lunch is frequently skipped. Men drink lots of tea throughout the day, they say to keep away hunger.
When preparing meals, women prepare a lot, but not for a certain number of people, because you never know who will stop by for dinner.
Meals are eaten with the right hand-the left is used to clean yourself after going to the bathroom) from a communal bowl shared with your peer group (men, women, kids). Once you have eaten enough, you turn away from the bowl to indicate you are finished eating.Whatever food remains is eaten the next day, including remains that can be scraped from the bottom of the pot and dried. One of my favorite Fulani foods is bits of dried to mixed with day old milk and sugar. sounds odd, but is tasty!
Monday, August 25, 2008
End of Training!
Hi Everyone!
I hope you are all well in the states. Things in Burkina are going very well.
Thanks for everyone who posted an entry to the "Create my Fake Husband" Contest. You can all vote for your favorite entry on my blog kaitlynbrown.blogspot.com the poll is on the side and you can read the entries in more detail by looking at the comments posted on the "Create My Fake Husband" post. The winner will receive a great prize!
This morning I moved out of my host family's compound and tomorrow, I will go to Ouaga (the capital) for a few more days of training and "official business" before we swear in at the ambassadors' home on Friday.
Last night I made my host family an "American dinner" of pasta and homemade tomato/eggplant sauce. it was pretty delicious if I do say so myself. My host father killed a chicken for us to eat, which I took to be a huge honor (the only other time he has slaughtered an animal for our meal was when a previous host daughter came to visit)
This morning I toured the village to say my goodbyes and many people (semi) jokingly offered to give me their children to keep me company. I was tempted to take a couple of them up on the offer-some of my favorite kids were offered to me! For others, I was very glad for the "sorry I cant breastfeed your baby, he/she will starve" response. Everyone laughs and I dont end up taking a baby home.
In other exciting news, I tested at "intermediate low" on my Fulfulde language test (this is the 4th level from the bottom on the Peace Corps language scale). I was very pleased with that level after only 2 1/2 months! This is especially good news because the level of French spoken in my new village is not very high. However the downside to this is that I currently spend my days speaking franglais or franfulde and don't speak any language correctly.
I will be going to my site early next week, and I'm a little apprehensive! especially since we have travel restrictions for the first 3 months so that we can "integrate in to the community." I'm hoping next month I can get special "I don't want to turn 25 celebrating alone in the middle of the bush because my village is fasting for Ramadan and cannot party" leave permission or something like that.
I hope you are all well in the states. Things in Burkina are going very well.
Thanks for everyone who posted an entry to the "Create my Fake Husband" Contest. You can all vote for your favorite entry on my blog kaitlynbrown.blogspot.com the poll is on the side and you can read the entries in more detail by looking at the comments posted on the "Create My Fake Husband" post. The winner will receive a great prize!
This morning I moved out of my host family's compound and tomorrow, I will go to Ouaga (the capital) for a few more days of training and "official business" before we swear in at the ambassadors' home on Friday.
Last night I made my host family an "American dinner" of pasta and homemade tomato/eggplant sauce. it was pretty delicious if I do say so myself. My host father killed a chicken for us to eat, which I took to be a huge honor (the only other time he has slaughtered an animal for our meal was when a previous host daughter came to visit)
This morning I toured the village to say my goodbyes and many people (semi) jokingly offered to give me their children to keep me company. I was tempted to take a couple of them up on the offer-some of my favorite kids were offered to me! For others, I was very glad for the "sorry I cant breastfeed your baby, he/she will starve" response. Everyone laughs and I dont end up taking a baby home.
In other exciting news, I tested at "intermediate low" on my Fulfulde language test (this is the 4th level from the bottom on the Peace Corps language scale). I was very pleased with that level after only 2 1/2 months! This is especially good news because the level of French spoken in my new village is not very high. However the downside to this is that I currently spend my days speaking franglais or franfulde and don't speak any language correctly.
I will be going to my site early next week, and I'm a little apprehensive! especially since we have travel restrictions for the first 3 months so that we can "integrate in to the community." I'm hoping next month I can get special "I don't want to turn 25 celebrating alone in the middle of the bush because my village is fasting for Ramadan and cannot party" leave permission or something like that.
Monday, July 14, 2008
A day in the life of DIALLO Amsatou
Before the end of the village adoption ceremony, we were given local names. The decision to name us occurred in Moore, so it took me a minute to figure out what was going on when a crowd started to gather around me cheering DIALLO Amsatou in my face. In Burkina, people generally identify themselves by their family name first and then their first name. Family names indicate ethnicity, language, and to some extent family relationships (however, there are many many DIALLO Mamadous (my host father's name). I thoroughly enjoy the reactions I get when I introduce myself with the Burkina name. Generally people break out in huge grins and joyfully shake my hand, shocked that a white girl is introducing herself in their language. The pleasant surprises on the faces of others when I speak their language is the biggest motivator to improve my language skills faster.
anyways, here is a glimpse of my life during training J
5:00 AM
I start to wake up to the soothing sound of prayers and readings from the Koran accompanied by the piercing cries of the roosters (ps. It is a myth that roosters only cry at sun rise… at my house they cry throughout the night) and the obnoxious bleeting of the goats. I peer out of my mosquito net tent and look at the goats through my thatched porch. I pretend to ignore the animals and try to sleep a bit longer before someone wakes me up to get ready for the day
6:00AM
Someone from my host family decides I have slept too late for their liking and wakes me up. Generally it's Mariam, my 14 year old host sister. I don't really blame her, most of the family, especially the women have been up working for an hour or more. I pour a couple gallons of water into a bucket and go to the mud-walled shower to bathe. As I pour cups of water over myself, I look over the wall, down the hill and across the horizon at the trees and large hills in the horizon. It's a beautiful, inspiring view to see every morning. Many days it still seems surreal that I am living in a village in West Africa, yet at the same time, my life in the states feels so far away.
I drink Nescafe and eat semi-stale bread, get dressed and pack my stuff for my bike ride. I walk around my compound and attempt to greet everyone in Fulfulde. There is a whole series of greetings and questions and generally a "Jamm Ni, et an le? (only peace, and you?) will get me through the conversation when I'm completely lost
700AM
I strap on my helmet and bike to my friend Liz's house for our 10k bike ride to a neighboring village or into Ouahigouya for class. About once a week everyone comes to our village. We bike past hordes of kids screaming "nasara" "le blanc" (white person). The little kids are so cute and thrilled to see the odd white curiosity pass them on the street. The shouts from the older kids are not generally as nice, but when the little kids scream nasara as I pass by, I feel as if they are cheering me on as I bike in the Tour du Faso (the Burkina equivalent of the Tour de France). Towards the end of the ride to class, I truly need that encouragement.
8:00AM
We begin 8 hours of classes with up to six of those hours being intense study of Fulfulde. Other classes are health related, security related, technical training, and general courses on how to live in Burkina. The Peace Corps staff are pretty punctual, but outside PC, Burkina runs on West African International Time (aka WAIT, which is eerily similar to KAIT J…I apologize in advance, I'm sure I will be even less punctual once I return to the states than I am now.
Many days I feel like a sponge that is full of info and can't absorb any more knowledge. This is especially true on days where we have many language sessions. I love to learn, but I forgot how tiring it can be to sit in class for 8 hours a day. In general I'm very impressed with the Peace Corps staff. They are among the coolest, brightest, hardest working Burkinabes. I learn a lot from them and enjoy chatting in between or after class.
The classes in village occur in the primary school, but when they are held in Komsilga (where I live) I lobby to hold them in the mango grove. The shadiest spot (and therefore coolest) in Special K as it is affectionately known is under the mango trees. It is generally about 10-15 degrees cooler (however you have to battle biting ants…some days you will do almost anything for a cool breeze)
5:15PM
I meet up with Liz and we ride back to our village, often chatting to briefly greet the village chief (or Naba) on the way. I arrive home, greet my host family by walking to each hut and shaking hands individually and asking about the day, their health, the sheep, etc.
I try to play with the babies for a bit as they are my biggest stress reliever. The younger one, Souleymane, is 8 months old and is the only baby in Burkina who has never feared the strange white person. He is such a happy baby and giggles, grins, and lets me put him on my back. Belko is the other baby, he is about 1.5-2 years. Initially he was a little scared of me, but he has adjusted. Our favorite game is chase, I start scurrying up behind him and say "mi na wara" which means I am coming and he runs away grinning. After a while, he will become bored and resort back to his favorite past time: picking up sticks and hitting the animals. I guess he is practicing to be a herder already.
I try to squeeze in a bucket bath before it becomes dark at 7:00PM and then lounge on the mat and look at the stars and chat with Mariam my host sister until dinner is ready. I eat with the women around the bowl of to (millet porridge--think cream of wheat that has been left out too long) and slimy sauce. After I eat to for a few minutes everyone grins and gives me the meal they have prepared for me (noodles, rice, or potatoes with oil)
830PM
If I'm feeling up for it, I'll go hang out with the young men studying the Koran and someone will generally start making tea (this whole process takes about 2-3 hours for th 3 rounds of tea). Other nights Mariam's friends come over and quiz me on Fulfulde, try to learn English, or just want to talk. Oddly enough, in my compound, I interact with more women in French than men. From what I hear, Peuhls place less emphasis on education and men are definitely more privileged than women. I was very surprised that in my compound more of the girls have gone to school than the boys (who generally grew up in the fields with the animals). I have no how this compares with the rest of Burkina. When I sit with the young men, I try to speak Fulfulde and my contributions to the conversation generally go like " stars many, stars good" "I have 2 brothers. One is Adam. One is Aric." my attempts are rewarded with new vocab words. The nights I don't sit up for tea I usually go to bed by 9 (it has been dark for 2 hours at this point)
Mariam helps me set up my mosquito net tent so I can sleep outside where it is cooler and I go to sleep to the sound of Koranic readings, rowdy sheep, or scratchy Hindi songs on the radio..
anyways, here is a glimpse of my life during training J
5:00 AM
I start to wake up to the soothing sound of prayers and readings from the Koran accompanied by the piercing cries of the roosters (ps. It is a myth that roosters only cry at sun rise… at my house they cry throughout the night) and the obnoxious bleeting of the goats. I peer out of my mosquito net tent and look at the goats through my thatched porch. I pretend to ignore the animals and try to sleep a bit longer before someone wakes me up to get ready for the day
6:00AM
Someone from my host family decides I have slept too late for their liking and wakes me up. Generally it's Mariam, my 14 year old host sister. I don't really blame her, most of the family, especially the women have been up working for an hour or more. I pour a couple gallons of water into a bucket and go to the mud-walled shower to bathe. As I pour cups of water over myself, I look over the wall, down the hill and across the horizon at the trees and large hills in the horizon. It's a beautiful, inspiring view to see every morning. Many days it still seems surreal that I am living in a village in West Africa, yet at the same time, my life in the states feels so far away.
I drink Nescafe and eat semi-stale bread, get dressed and pack my stuff for my bike ride. I walk around my compound and attempt to greet everyone in Fulfulde. There is a whole series of greetings and questions and generally a "Jamm Ni, et an le? (only peace, and you?) will get me through the conversation when I'm completely lost
700AM
I strap on my helmet and bike to my friend Liz's house for our 10k bike ride to a neighboring village or into Ouahigouya for class. About once a week everyone comes to our village. We bike past hordes of kids screaming "nasara" "le blanc" (white person). The little kids are so cute and thrilled to see the odd white curiosity pass them on the street. The shouts from the older kids are not generally as nice, but when the little kids scream nasara as I pass by, I feel as if they are cheering me on as I bike in the Tour du Faso (the Burkina equivalent of the Tour de France). Towards the end of the ride to class, I truly need that encouragement.
8:00AM
We begin 8 hours of classes with up to six of those hours being intense study of Fulfulde. Other classes are health related, security related, technical training, and general courses on how to live in Burkina. The Peace Corps staff are pretty punctual, but outside PC, Burkina runs on West African International Time (aka WAIT, which is eerily similar to KAIT J…I apologize in advance, I'm sure I will be even less punctual once I return to the states than I am now.
Many days I feel like a sponge that is full of info and can't absorb any more knowledge. This is especially true on days where we have many language sessions. I love to learn, but I forgot how tiring it can be to sit in class for 8 hours a day. In general I'm very impressed with the Peace Corps staff. They are among the coolest, brightest, hardest working Burkinabes. I learn a lot from them and enjoy chatting in between or after class.
The classes in village occur in the primary school, but when they are held in Komsilga (where I live) I lobby to hold them in the mango grove. The shadiest spot (and therefore coolest) in Special K as it is affectionately known is under the mango trees. It is generally about 10-15 degrees cooler (however you have to battle biting ants…some days you will do almost anything for a cool breeze)
5:15PM
I meet up with Liz and we ride back to our village, often chatting to briefly greet the village chief (or Naba) on the way. I arrive home, greet my host family by walking to each hut and shaking hands individually and asking about the day, their health, the sheep, etc.
I try to play with the babies for a bit as they are my biggest stress reliever. The younger one, Souleymane, is 8 months old and is the only baby in Burkina who has never feared the strange white person. He is such a happy baby and giggles, grins, and lets me put him on my back. Belko is the other baby, he is about 1.5-2 years. Initially he was a little scared of me, but he has adjusted. Our favorite game is chase, I start scurrying up behind him and say "mi na wara" which means I am coming and he runs away grinning. After a while, he will become bored and resort back to his favorite past time: picking up sticks and hitting the animals. I guess he is practicing to be a herder already.
I try to squeeze in a bucket bath before it becomes dark at 7:00PM and then lounge on the mat and look at the stars and chat with Mariam my host sister until dinner is ready. I eat with the women around the bowl of to (millet porridge--think cream of wheat that has been left out too long) and slimy sauce. After I eat to for a few minutes everyone grins and gives me the meal they have prepared for me (noodles, rice, or potatoes with oil)
830PM
If I'm feeling up for it, I'll go hang out with the young men studying the Koran and someone will generally start making tea (this whole process takes about 2-3 hours for th 3 rounds of tea). Other nights Mariam's friends come over and quiz me on Fulfulde, try to learn English, or just want to talk. Oddly enough, in my compound, I interact with more women in French than men. From what I hear, Peuhls place less emphasis on education and men are definitely more privileged than women. I was very surprised that in my compound more of the girls have gone to school than the boys (who generally grew up in the fields with the animals). I have no how this compares with the rest of Burkina. When I sit with the young men, I try to speak Fulfulde and my contributions to the conversation generally go like " stars many, stars good" "I have 2 brothers. One is Adam. One is Aric." my attempts are rewarded with new vocab words. The nights I don't sit up for tea I usually go to bed by 9 (it has been dark for 2 hours at this point)
Mariam helps me set up my mosquito net tent so I can sleep outside where it is cooler and I go to sleep to the sound of Koranic readings, rowdy sheep, or scratchy Hindi songs on the radio..
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Life in Burkina
Hey Everyone! Jamm nyaali!
I hope you are all well, I have been in Burkina Faso for about 10 days now. So far life is good! (but HOT!) I've stopped trying to determine the temperature, because I probably don't really want to know. We spent the first 2 days in a small corner of Ouagadougou (the capital), the next two in Ouahigouya-a regional city in the north, and for the past few days I have been living in a village about 7-10 km outside Ouahigouya.
Before going to our villages, we met the head chief of the region. This was a necessary step to formally get his authorization to work in the villages under his influence for the next few months. We brought him traditional gifts of a live chicken, 50kg of rice, and kola nuts. As we were leaving, he gave us a sheep! We were the first group the chief has given a gift too (and I think his gift to us was better than our gift to him.)
When we arrived in our village, a group of 4 semi-nervous Americans sat in front of the village chief and 4 very large, anticipating families eager to know which foreign face they will see every morning. The Peace Corps trainers gave a brief speech indicating the Peace Corps faith in this community. When he stated that to the Peace Corps, this village was no longer a village, but was our village, the community burst into applause, their pride at being respected as avillage that was a welcoming training ground to foreigners about toserve their country was very evident.
When I travel, I am always amazed and humbled by the hospitality of others. I'm living with the Diallo family in a very small village. The family is part of the Peulh ethnic group, a previously (and current to some degree) nomadic/semi nomadic group that raises livestock. This family has welcomed me into their home and taken care of me to a degree that I didn't expect. I truly enjoy the interactions I have with my host family (many of them non-verbal or in my nascent Fulfulde-the language I am learning) and look forward to learning more Fulfulde to develop better relationships with them. It is always interesting how you evaluate personalities even when very few words are exchanged successfully.
I am beginning to learn Fulfulde, but most of Burkina Faso speaks Moore (the most dominant ethnic group is the Mossi). Fulfulde is great in my home and will be helpful throughout West Africa (Peulhs have settled throughout the region) but is almost useless in many parts of Burkina. My attempts to speak Moore to Mossis are quickly rewarded with grins and new vocabulary words by most people I encounter. My favorite Moore tutors thus far are the village chief who teachers me new words when I greet him every day and the random guy who rode his bike next to me into town for 5k teaching me Moore along the way. In general, my language skills are improving, but certain days and moments my brain shuts off and refuses to allow me to tap into the Moore, Fulfulde and French that I'm accumulating. I've of course had my JFK-esque "ich bin ein Berliner" moments. My most recent blooper wasat the local bar in the field. I was proud to try out my new Moore vocab words and promptly ordered a beer when the waiter came over. He gave me a puzzled look, but left anyways. I soon realized that rather than saying "I want a beer" I said " Hi, my name is beer"… eh, atleast got the beer anyways :)
Our training is supposed to put us in real situations that are similar to what we may encounter in the field. As a PCV, I will need to learn to separate my project ideas/what I want to do, from the community ideas and what is best for the community. I'm practicing this every night as I ignore the goats making babies very loudly a few feet from me as I attempt to sleep. What I want (sleep) conflicts with what is best for the community and my host family (more sheep). I acknowledgethat the more goats my family has, the better…however the f#$%inggoats are preventing me from sleeping (literally!) (Update: I started writing this email a week ago, since then I have learned to distinguish between the sounds of goats who are mating, those who are being rambunctious, and those that are lost and looking for their families. …also, my family has built me a thatched patio and moved the 40 goats to the other side of the compound at night…I'm definitely sleeping better now.)
That's all for now, my internet and computer time is really limited. I'll try to put some photos up soon!
Hugs from Burkina ( the land of upright people!)
I hope you are all well, I have been in Burkina Faso for about 10 days now. So far life is good! (but HOT!) I've stopped trying to determine the temperature, because I probably don't really want to know. We spent the first 2 days in a small corner of Ouagadougou (the capital), the next two in Ouahigouya-a regional city in the north, and for the past few days I have been living in a village about 7-10 km outside Ouahigouya.
Before going to our villages, we met the head chief of the region. This was a necessary step to formally get his authorization to work in the villages under his influence for the next few months. We brought him traditional gifts of a live chicken, 50kg of rice, and kola nuts. As we were leaving, he gave us a sheep! We were the first group the chief has given a gift too (and I think his gift to us was better than our gift to him.)
When we arrived in our village, a group of 4 semi-nervous Americans sat in front of the village chief and 4 very large, anticipating families eager to know which foreign face they will see every morning. The Peace Corps trainers gave a brief speech indicating the Peace Corps faith in this community. When he stated that to the Peace Corps, this village was no longer a village, but was our village, the community burst into applause, their pride at being respected as avillage that was a welcoming training ground to foreigners about toserve their country was very evident.
When I travel, I am always amazed and humbled by the hospitality of others. I'm living with the Diallo family in a very small village. The family is part of the Peulh ethnic group, a previously (and current to some degree) nomadic/semi nomadic group that raises livestock. This family has welcomed me into their home and taken care of me to a degree that I didn't expect. I truly enjoy the interactions I have with my host family (many of them non-verbal or in my nascent Fulfulde-the language I am learning) and look forward to learning more Fulfulde to develop better relationships with them. It is always interesting how you evaluate personalities even when very few words are exchanged successfully.
I am beginning to learn Fulfulde, but most of Burkina Faso speaks Moore (the most dominant ethnic group is the Mossi). Fulfulde is great in my home and will be helpful throughout West Africa (Peulhs have settled throughout the region) but is almost useless in many parts of Burkina. My attempts to speak Moore to Mossis are quickly rewarded with grins and new vocabulary words by most people I encounter. My favorite Moore tutors thus far are the village chief who teachers me new words when I greet him every day and the random guy who rode his bike next to me into town for 5k teaching me Moore along the way. In general, my language skills are improving, but certain days and moments my brain shuts off and refuses to allow me to tap into the Moore, Fulfulde and French that I'm accumulating. I've of course had my JFK-esque "ich bin ein Berliner" moments. My most recent blooper wasat the local bar in the field. I was proud to try out my new Moore vocab words and promptly ordered a beer when the waiter came over. He gave me a puzzled look, but left anyways. I soon realized that rather than saying "I want a beer" I said " Hi, my name is beer"… eh, atleast got the beer anyways :)
Our training is supposed to put us in real situations that are similar to what we may encounter in the field. As a PCV, I will need to learn to separate my project ideas/what I want to do, from the community ideas and what is best for the community. I'm practicing this every night as I ignore the goats making babies very loudly a few feet from me as I attempt to sleep. What I want (sleep) conflicts with what is best for the community and my host family (more sheep). I acknowledgethat the more goats my family has, the better…however the f#$%inggoats are preventing me from sleeping (literally!) (Update: I started writing this email a week ago, since then I have learned to distinguish between the sounds of goats who are mating, those who are being rambunctious, and those that are lost and looking for their families. …also, my family has built me a thatched patio and moved the 40 goats to the other side of the compound at night…I'm definitely sleeping better now.)
That's all for now, my internet and computer time is really limited. I'll try to put some photos up soon!
Hugs from Burkina ( the land of upright people!)
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