I last posted right before Thanksgiving ... and now it's the day after Christmas! Is it just me, or has time been flying?
And yet every week has been different. Thanksgiving was mostly just a regular working day during my second week of teaching. I had wanted to celebrate with some other volunteers that weekend, but got caught up wiring a network and some network software between all of the computers, which is something that now lets me shut down, freeze, or control any/all of the computers in the lab. The first time I got it to work in class, the students were duly impressed. Too bad they could easily disable it if they learn well: all they need to do is unplug the network cable.
But, I didn't get to demonstrate my work that next week... because classes were suddenly cancelled! Call it an "election break". As a precaution, the Ministry of Education closed all the schools for the five days in advance of the municipal elections on December 2nd. And we thought that the US elections were intense...
The break gave me some time to catch up on badly-needed lesson planning that I'm continuing on now. I had gone straight from setting up the lab to teaching, so it has hardly been an organized class. But as you might guess, that also was interrupted by a two week stay in Ouaga for In-Service-Training (IST).
IST was in general, pretty good. It was fascinating to catch up all of the other volunteers in my group, and hear stories from all across Burkina Faso. Life in village of a couple thousand in the bush is vastly different from life in a college town that's the third largest city in the country. And that is still very different from life in Ouaga, where planes fly overhead every other hour, a couple of streets look like they could have been lifted in from Europe, and real mozzarella cheese is available. In Ouaga, we enjoyed four formal class sessions every day, with snacks and a lunch in between, and the evenings were free for us to exhaust ourselves and our paychecks on cab rides to downtown restaurants, groceries, and clubs. Or in my case, poker games, Settlers of Catan, reading thriller novels late into the evening, and one wine and cheese party-- the wine being from locally made vintage: bissap (hibiscus flower juice), baobob fruit, shea nuts, oranges, etc.
I spent one night back at site midway through our training, to visit the Nuits Atypiques de Koudougou-- a yearly festival celebrating new and "atypical" food, music, and crafts. I think I've mentioned an informal group that I work with in a previous post-- we bottle tomato sauce, and had hoped to show off our work at a booth there. This plan got cancelled at the last minute for reasons too complicated to describe here, but we managed to turn a disappointment into a way to look for some new opportunities. There are a lot of people here who make packaged foods locally, but trying to go up against imported competition is hard to do alone. We'd like to form some sort of coalition.
Coming back after finishing IST, I arrived in a town that had just partied hard and was cleaning up in the aftermath. The 11 of December, Burkina Faso's national holiday, was celebrated in Koudougou this year, with the President and many other officials in attendance. I wish I could say more about it-- but I wasn' t there to see it. There's always next year.
But coming back, I also recieved a warm welcome from my neighbors and co-workers here. I'm really thankful for that. There are some cultures where foreigners are given a lot of distance, but fortunately Burkina Faso is not one of them. While it's been tough not being with family on Christmas, my friends here have helped me feel comfortable and more than full at their parties.
Next up-- a free week, to puzzle out the different moving pieces of life before making any New Year's resolutions. Thinking about it, 2012 has been a pretty wild year-- I could call it the year of no routine. I'd like to keep the adventure going into 2013, but enjoy some more organization. I'll be ringing in the year in Saponé, with my host family from training.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
IT Class in Burkina Faso: An Managed Chaos?
Time for another mid-week update! Staying up unusally late again on a Tuesday night, but happy that I don't have to deal with the application process anymore, and can instead get ready to work with my excellent students.
After a rocky start last week-- between rushing to finish getting everything physically ready, figuring out lesson plans, and figuring out how to manage a class of 30 kids in front of computers (many for the very first time), I think I'm on the right track. But boy, every class is a different animal. I suggested a post about lesson planning last week-- but any ounce of lesson planning ought to be amended by a few pounds of flexibility. Here are some things that are prone to happen:
Brownouts
Sometimes, the electricity just gives. The number of computers that we have running at once can be a strain on our own circuit, but often times, the brownouts are citywide. This was a real challenge today. It's nice to have a 50 : 50 desktop-laptop ratio in the room. If the cut is just for a few minutes, the kids can pair up and share the laptops running on battery power. Or crowd around someone who is doing something interesting...
Note: the above picture is from last week, when only 8 computers were fully set up for student use.
Clic gauche!
Most of my students have never used a computer before. So, it's fascinating to watch them play around with one for the first time. They can discover new ways of doing things that many of us experienced users might otherwise overlook. That said, they can often get stuck. A common confusion is mixing up right and left clicking.
"Monsieur, monsieur!"
I get this a lot when someone gets stuck. The question is when to respond. Sometimes, it's a really easy problem that their groupmates might help them with. But between 30 used computers and new users, it can get more complicated. My troubleshooting skills have already improved a ton.
Hmmm, after mentioning "groupmates", I should explain a little how the class is organized. We have 6 tables by design. In a class of 30, there are about 20-25 who are true beginners, and the rest have gone to an internet café at some point. I mentioned doing a bit of a test the first week-- this allowed me to split up the kids who already know a little bit, and have at least one at every table. The idea is that they'll be able to help out their classmates with the basics, which is all that we are focusing on for the moment. So far, that seems to be going really well. Burkinabé students really look out for each other-- it might have something to do with the fact that three to four of them share a bench made for two all through elementary and middle school (this balloons a normal class size to 60 or more!)
You might have noticed the perhaps-excessive photo doctoring above. I haven't figured out how to take decent photos in the dark with my point-and-shoot. So I have to compensate somehow... I'll be doing more of this tomorrow night, with my tomato sauce canning group-- we'll be making our label, after bottling 4 liters yesterday. Enough for a Thanksgiving feast!
Enjoy, and until next time!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
From 0 to 100...
About two weeks ago, I wasn't terribly sure what I should be doing. I was bored. Then, we started installing the new computers... and that's where I left you at.
Well, after another week about not being sure about logistics, drumming up a buzz about IT class, and pulling a near-all-nighter to get everything in order before the first class, that's now nearly finished!
Yes, I said "nearly" finished. Indeed, we've started class without being 100% prepared, but that's just life here. We are waiting on the administration to buy us new power strips, a telecom guy to get our network in order, and another technician lend us his tool so we can cut some more ethernet cables. Patience and adaptability is the name of the game here-- I hope to really have everything in order next week, in a relative sense. If not, I have a backup lesson in mind.
But what's most import, and exciting, is that class has really started, and I have a really motivated group of kids. How does a novice IT teacher handle that?
Well, last week I asked some questions:
1. Le cours d'informatique est facultatif. En place de note, on reçoit une attestation. Quelles sont vos motivations pour poursuivre ça?
IT class is optional. Instead of a grade, you will recieve a certificate. What are your motivations for pursuing it?
2. Quelles sont vos attentes? Qu'est-ce que vous voulez apprendre?
What are your expectations? What would you like to learn?
3. Imaginez que vous avez l'opportunité de rechercher des informations sur n'importe quel sujet. Quel sera votre premier sujet de recherche?
Imagine that you have the opportunity to research anything. What would be your first topic of choice?
A couple of days later, I wound up with this lovely stack of papers. I recieved exactly 201 responses (applications, really) for 120 spots. I read every one of them, and had to make tough decisions for every class. In fact, I'm still in that process for fourth and final class, which meets on Friday. I have 34 excellent papers, but only 30 spots. A lot of tough decisions are made with the third question, which I think is the most interesting one. I've gotten responses ranging from "Michael Jackson videos" to "finding practical science experiments, and then sharing them with women in my village to see if they can make new products for the market". By far, the most common response is some variation on "the history of Africa/Burkina Faso", including "Why do Europeans think that we don't have a history?" Considering how little African history I learned in school, they have a point. I've read their history books here, and while there's much more, compared to the American bias in our own textbooks, it's not a whole lot. I can understand their curiosity. In a future post, when they have Googling under their belts, I'll have to share their research.
That said, I have already had two classes this week. The first one was a bit rough. As mentioned earlier, I was up until 5 AM the night before getting disk drives, keyboards, a printer, and various software in working order, in addition to picking the students for that day's class. There was confusion among the students about when the class would start, so not everyone showed up. And while the room was in order, the lesson plan, and my French were a mess. But, it's all something to learn from. My second class today went much more smoothly. My next post is likely to be about lesson planning, and I think then, I'll be able to share more details.
But until then... I have to get back to work, which involves cutting 4 more students from my final class. :(
I have a new appreciation for admissions offices everywhere.
Well, after another week about not being sure about logistics, drumming up a buzz about IT class, and pulling a near-all-nighter to get everything in order before the first class, that's now nearly finished!
Yes, I said "nearly" finished. Indeed, we've started class without being 100% prepared, but that's just life here. We are waiting on the administration to buy us new power strips, a telecom guy to get our network in order, and another technician lend us his tool so we can cut some more ethernet cables. Patience and adaptability is the name of the game here-- I hope to really have everything in order next week, in a relative sense. If not, I have a backup lesson in mind.
But what's most import, and exciting, is that class has really started, and I have a really motivated group of kids. How does a novice IT teacher handle that?
Well, last week I asked some questions:
1. Le cours d'informatique est facultatif. En place de note, on reçoit une attestation. Quelles sont vos motivations pour poursuivre ça?
IT class is optional. Instead of a grade, you will recieve a certificate. What are your motivations for pursuing it?
2. Quelles sont vos attentes? Qu'est-ce que vous voulez apprendre?
What are your expectations? What would you like to learn?
3. Imaginez que vous avez l'opportunité de rechercher des informations sur n'importe quel sujet. Quel sera votre premier sujet de recherche?
Imagine that you have the opportunity to research anything. What would be your first topic of choice?
A couple of days later, I wound up with this lovely stack of papers. I recieved exactly 201 responses (applications, really) for 120 spots. I read every one of them, and had to make tough decisions for every class. In fact, I'm still in that process for fourth and final class, which meets on Friday. I have 34 excellent papers, but only 30 spots. A lot of tough decisions are made with the third question, which I think is the most interesting one. I've gotten responses ranging from "Michael Jackson videos" to "finding practical science experiments, and then sharing them with women in my village to see if they can make new products for the market". By far, the most common response is some variation on "the history of Africa/Burkina Faso", including "Why do Europeans think that we don't have a history?" Considering how little African history I learned in school, they have a point. I've read their history books here, and while there's much more, compared to the American bias in our own textbooks, it's not a whole lot. I can understand their curiosity. In a future post, when they have Googling under their belts, I'll have to share their research.
That said, I have already had two classes this week. The first one was a bit rough. As mentioned earlier, I was up until 5 AM the night before getting disk drives, keyboards, a printer, and various software in working order, in addition to picking the students for that day's class. There was confusion among the students about when the class would start, so not everyone showed up. And while the room was in order, the lesson plan, and my French were a mess. But, it's all something to learn from. My second class today went much more smoothly. My next post is likely to be about lesson planning, and I think then, I'll be able to share more details.
But until then... I have to get back to work, which involves cutting 4 more students from my final class. :(
I have a new appreciation for admissions offices everywhere.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
The Next Two Years Begin
Hello, world!
Again, it's been far too long. And every day that I haven't posted makes it incrementally harder to describe everything that's been going on. I'll have to resort to some visual aids... and elaborate more on current projects in later (and hopefully more regular) posts.
I didn't take many pictures around this time, except for the concert that was put on the first Friday of the school year, in early October. On stage: one of our English teachers, with some of the 2011 contestants of "Faso Academy", Burkina's version of American Idol.
Despite the existence of a "hungry season" here, the science of canning vegetables is largely unknown. This project may well evolve into a real business. Stay tuned!
This week, the construction finally finished, and we were able to move in the new computers. Above: an awkward picture of your author in the old lab.
Do you remember the days before LCD monitors? We do! These are the old ones, destined for the new teachers' lab. Our newest devices are considerably less bulky!
On the left: Ziba Mamadou, librarian, chemistry lab manager, and my counterpart at LPK (Lycée Provincial de Koudougou).The stack of boxes? Each one has a laptop inside.
Before moving them in, we set up the teacher's lab. Here's a snapshot.
This is where we are currently. There is still a lot of work ahead-- installing software and smoothing out any compatibility issues. Then, I can finalize lesson plans and start class.
Ziba and I took a tour around the school this past week, and I met the classes I'll be teaching, and with that, a sizeable amount of enthusiasm. I'm looking forward to really getting settled into the job over the next few weeks. It looks like I'll be teaching four classes of 30, 2 to 4 hours per week each.
OK, got to get back to work. Until next time!
- ETH
Again, it's been far too long. And every day that I haven't posted makes it incrementally harder to describe everything that's been going on. I'll have to resort to some visual aids... and elaborate more on current projects in later (and hopefully more regular) posts.
Part I: School Starts!
I didn't take many pictures around this time, except for the concert that was put on the first Friday of the school year, in early October. On stage: one of our English teachers, with some of the 2011 contestants of "Faso Academy", Burkina's version of American Idol.
Part II: "Il faut patienter."
Indeed the school year had begun, but not yet for me. As I mentioned in my last post, we recently recieved over 30 new computers courtesy of The Friends of Burkina Faso. So, we needed to make room for them! Above: the work in progress.
The construction took longer than expected, and funding was cut for some time, so I got the chance to
travel with some other volunteers for a weekend. Above and below: the "fall colors" of Burkina Faso.
The rains here stop in October not to return again until May. Thus, the
land begins to dry out, leading to a beautiful contrast of colors: green
trees, yellow grasses, red earth and blue sky.
I've also started some secondary projects with the downtime. Below: making tomato sauce with my neighbor to preserve for the dry season.
Despite the existence of a "hungry season" here, the science of canning vegetables is largely unknown. This project may well evolve into a real business. Stay tuned!
Part III: Gearing Up
This week, the construction finally finished, and we were able to move in the new computers. Above: an awkward picture of your author in the old lab.
A crew of "Première" students (equiv. to juniors in an American high school) got the place cleaned up in short order. Above, Allain Gnabanou, physics/chemistry professor and counterpart of the last volunteer, directs them.
Aaaand... a bird's-eye-view of the new students' lab!
This is where we are currently. There is still a lot of work ahead-- installing software and smoothing out any compatibility issues. Then, I can finalize lesson plans and start class.
Ziba and I took a tour around the school this past week, and I met the classes I'll be teaching, and with that, a sizeable amount of enthusiasm. I'm looking forward to really getting settled into the job over the next few weeks. It looks like I'll be teaching four classes of 30, 2 to 4 hours per week each.
OK, got to get back to work. Until next time!
- ETH
Friday, September 21, 2012
Installation: 40%. Veuillez patienter.
Oh boy, it's been awhile, hasn't it?
This post was a tough one to write. I started a couple of times, got sidetracked midway through, and came back a few days later realizing that what I wrote before wasn't an accurate reflection of how things are now.
I moved into my new house in the big city four weeks ago today. I remember being very tired for that afternoon, and for much of the following week. Training was very busy, so it was wonderful to have some free time to rest and get myself well situated.
Of course, busy-ness soon found me again here. While my class doesn't start until November, there's a lot to set up. Thanks to the Friends of Burkina Faso, we recieved 32 computers over the summer, and in the coming month, we'll be rearranging the lab to accomodate. Along with that, I'll have to change the curriculum to some degree, since a bigger class where everyone has their own computer is quite a different animal. I'm hoping to make the course very project-based, but I'll have more to say on that note once I've begun. My counterpart at the school and I had a great discussion about it over dinner last night.
A side-project has also come up, and could go in a very fun direction. I've been meeting with a few college students, and another teacher, and a policeman as a facilitator for a business group. We've bounced several ideas around, but we're looking at canning and selling tomato sauce. We'll make the final decision in our meeting today.
Being in a city, I've stumbled into more potential projects than one might find in a small town, but there's been plenty of time to relax and have fun as well. I've been doing a lot of cooking lately: PB/chocolate granola (I can find all of the ingredients here at reasonable prices!), curry fries (prev. volunteers left behind lots of spices-- thank you!), and my own fresh tomato sauces have been specialties as of late. It has been fantastic to have people over, and share food with my neighbors.
Who are your neighbors? And what is your house like?
I live in a "celibatarium", which sounds weird in English, but translates roughly to "bachelor pad" in French. It's not unlike condo living in the States, and it's very comfortable. I have seven neighbors in the same courtyard, some of whom are also teachers, but I know one owns a cybercafe, and another sells imported cars/motorcycles. They have all been very welcoming to me-- I really couldn't ask to live in a better place.
Any adventures yet?
A few. There is a mountain about 15 miles northwest of me, which I've tried to climb on a few occasions, but for one reason or another, I never quite made it there until Wednesday. Upon finally arriving, I learned that it was sacred (and thus unclimbable), but the story is more complicated (and fun) than that.
Any challenges?
A fair share. General tiredness is a big one. Similar to my first several weeks of training, I need a lot more sleep than usual to function. It's taking time to process-- being here, far everyone I know, but enjoying it anyhow.
It's also a change to have been bumped up a couple of age groups. Some of us compared training to middle/high school-- having to be at class 7-8 hours a day, and living as one of the children of a host family. Now, I'm about 28-30, or at least that's what society here suggests. Most college students are about 22-24, and it takes some time to land a good job here. My neighbors suggest that it's about time I found a wife.
Finally technical issues have been dogging me. I switched to Linux/Ubuntu haphazardly some weeks ago (as it is immune to most viruses here), and ever since, I haven't been able to use Skype or connect to the internet using my 3G wireless key. But I have been making some progress in fixing some other bugs, gaining an appreciation for all of the different scripts that run even the simplest functions on computers, and in general practicing my patience and troubleshooting skills before the start of the school year. No regrets, really. I'm getting to like Linux a lot.
I've only been back on my computer for about a week now, and I'm thinking that I'll leave Saturdays as open as I can to chat with you all! Hopefully, I can get the audio/mic issues fixed by tomorrow morning!
This post was a tough one to write. I started a couple of times, got sidetracked midway through, and came back a few days later realizing that what I wrote before wasn't an accurate reflection of how things are now.
I moved into my new house in the big city four weeks ago today. I remember being very tired for that afternoon, and for much of the following week. Training was very busy, so it was wonderful to have some free time to rest and get myself well situated.
Of course, busy-ness soon found me again here. While my class doesn't start until November, there's a lot to set up. Thanks to the Friends of Burkina Faso, we recieved 32 computers over the summer, and in the coming month, we'll be rearranging the lab to accomodate. Along with that, I'll have to change the curriculum to some degree, since a bigger class where everyone has their own computer is quite a different animal. I'm hoping to make the course very project-based, but I'll have more to say on that note once I've begun. My counterpart at the school and I had a great discussion about it over dinner last night.
A side-project has also come up, and could go in a very fun direction. I've been meeting with a few college students, and another teacher, and a policeman as a facilitator for a business group. We've bounced several ideas around, but we're looking at canning and selling tomato sauce. We'll make the final decision in our meeting today.
Being in a city, I've stumbled into more potential projects than one might find in a small town, but there's been plenty of time to relax and have fun as well. I've been doing a lot of cooking lately: PB/chocolate granola (I can find all of the ingredients here at reasonable prices!), curry fries (prev. volunteers left behind lots of spices-- thank you!), and my own fresh tomato sauces have been specialties as of late. It has been fantastic to have people over, and share food with my neighbors.
Who are your neighbors? And what is your house like?
I live in a "celibatarium", which sounds weird in English, but translates roughly to "bachelor pad" in French. It's not unlike condo living in the States, and it's very comfortable. I have seven neighbors in the same courtyard, some of whom are also teachers, but I know one owns a cybercafe, and another sells imported cars/motorcycles. They have all been very welcoming to me-- I really couldn't ask to live in a better place.
Any adventures yet?
A few. There is a mountain about 15 miles northwest of me, which I've tried to climb on a few occasions, but for one reason or another, I never quite made it there until Wednesday. Upon finally arriving, I learned that it was sacred (and thus unclimbable), but the story is more complicated (and fun) than that.
Any challenges?
A fair share. General tiredness is a big one. Similar to my first several weeks of training, I need a lot more sleep than usual to function. It's taking time to process-- being here, far everyone I know, but enjoying it anyhow.
It's also a change to have been bumped up a couple of age groups. Some of us compared training to middle/high school-- having to be at class 7-8 hours a day, and living as one of the children of a host family. Now, I'm about 28-30, or at least that's what society here suggests. Most college students are about 22-24, and it takes some time to land a good job here. My neighbors suggest that it's about time I found a wife.
Finally technical issues have been dogging me. I switched to Linux/Ubuntu haphazardly some weeks ago (as it is immune to most viruses here), and ever since, I haven't been able to use Skype or connect to the internet using my 3G wireless key. But I have been making some progress in fixing some other bugs, gaining an appreciation for all of the different scripts that run even the simplest functions on computers, and in general practicing my patience and troubleshooting skills before the start of the school year. No regrets, really. I'm getting to like Linux a lot.
I've only been back on my computer for about a week now, and I'm thinking that I'll leave Saturdays as open as I can to chat with you all! Hopefully, I can get the audio/mic issues fixed by tomorrow morning!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Hello, Goodbye!
Well, I did it! As of today, I officially became a Peace Corps Volunteer!
That means...
- I leave tommorrow for Koudougou, my home for the next two years.
- I get to start meeting my neighbors and co-workers, make new friends, and decide on what work I'll commit to for the coming semester and beyond.
- I get to cook for myself every day, and hopefully make some new furniture as a side project!
- I get a payraise! I can afford to send letters now!
Speaking of which, I really appreciate everything that you guys have been sending me. I was a bit sick last week, so getting mail really made my day. I'm looking forward to writing back once I get settled in.
But until then, a few stories since last I wrote...
Model School
That finished well, albeit not ideally. Nearly everyone finished out the class on a great note, but me being sick on the day of the exam, and the disappearance of two of the computers in the lab kept us from finishing the resumé/excel project. I'm glad we tried, and I hope that some of them will try again at a cibercafe. I hope also that they catch the computer thief. As for my health, suffice to say I'm doing better now. I'd simply lost a lot of weight, and my body wasn't taking it so well. Meals were doubled: doctor's orders. I'll have to write another post about this in the future.
Eid
I was familiar with Ramadan before coming to Burkina Faso, and I knew there was a holiday at the end, but the name always escaped me. Well, that holiday is Eid, or as people call it here "la fete" (the holiday/party).
First, what is Ramadan?
Ramadan is a month of sunup to sundown fasting observed by Muslims. My family did not eat from 5:00 AM to about 6:40 PM everyday (exceptions made for young kids, sickness, and important work days-- my brother ate on the day of his final exam). Of course, they were still happy to serve me food during the day. Had I observed Ramadan with them, I have no doubt that I would weigh 120 lbs. right now.
So as you might guess, Eid is all about eating! Ramadan is based on the lunar calendar, and it's over when the new moon has eclipsed, and you see a sliver of a crescent-- hence the crescent as a symbol of Islam. This can vary depending on where you are in the world, and here in Burkina, it wasn't certain whether Eid would be observed on Saturday or Sunday. Apparently, one could see the crescent on Friday night in Mecca, but it wasn't seen until Saturday here, so we had to wait. My youngest brother couldn't do it, so we joked that he could see the moon, but no one else could, with our old, dull eyes.
Back to eating and partying! Here's how we celebrated Eid-- there was a big gathering in the mornng for prayers that we went to, and arrived fashionably late. Muslim prayer isn't quite like Christian church. It's 30 minutes at most, but can be shortened to 5, which is what we did, so my dad could take pictures of everyone. He has one of the nicest cameras in village, so he was the unofficial photographer. Then we went back home where we had prepared 5 chickens, 2 whole sheep, and lots of snack food for all of our friends and neighbors. It was almost like Halloween: visitors would come by to greet us, sit for a half hour and eat, and then move on to the next party.
Looking back on the day, one thing that I noticed was the mutual respect between religions. Christians and Muslims alike were truly equally welcome at our party. The nightly news (yes, we have a little TV) featured friendly dialogue and well-wishes between bishops and imams. No controversy. No equivalent of "The War on Christmas" debate. Just a genuinely good time had by all. My family slept in that next morning. Normally, everyone is awake before 5 (except me!). That day, I was the only one up before 6.
Moving
(Pictures to come...)
I'm writing this post from a cibercafe in Ouagadougou. Most of my things are packed. I left Saponé on Monday, where I said goodbye to my brothers and sisters.
My parents came up today for the swearing-in ceremony at the ambassador's house, and I treated them to lunch at the American restaurant down the street.
These were tough goodbyes, and there'll be more tomorow as all of us newly-minted volunteers part ways. But we'll all reconvene in December for in-service-training. So in the end, I'm excited. I'm happy to settle down for a couple of years to work on projects that will challenge me in unexpected ways. I have big shoes to fill. (Link goes to the blog of the volunteers who I'm replacing) But it'll be fun. It sure has been so far.
That means...
- I leave tommorrow for Koudougou, my home for the next two years.
- I get to start meeting my neighbors and co-workers, make new friends, and decide on what work I'll commit to for the coming semester and beyond.
- I get to cook for myself every day, and hopefully make some new furniture as a side project!
- I get a payraise! I can afford to send letters now!
Speaking of which, I really appreciate everything that you guys have been sending me. I was a bit sick last week, so getting mail really made my day. I'm looking forward to writing back once I get settled in.
But until then, a few stories since last I wrote...
Model School
That finished well, albeit not ideally. Nearly everyone finished out the class on a great note, but me being sick on the day of the exam, and the disappearance of two of the computers in the lab kept us from finishing the resumé/excel project. I'm glad we tried, and I hope that some of them will try again at a cibercafe. I hope also that they catch the computer thief. As for my health, suffice to say I'm doing better now. I'd simply lost a lot of weight, and my body wasn't taking it so well. Meals were doubled: doctor's orders. I'll have to write another post about this in the future.
Eid
I was familiar with Ramadan before coming to Burkina Faso, and I knew there was a holiday at the end, but the name always escaped me. Well, that holiday is Eid, or as people call it here "la fete" (the holiday/party).
First, what is Ramadan?
Ramadan is a month of sunup to sundown fasting observed by Muslims. My family did not eat from 5:00 AM to about 6:40 PM everyday (exceptions made for young kids, sickness, and important work days-- my brother ate on the day of his final exam). Of course, they were still happy to serve me food during the day. Had I observed Ramadan with them, I have no doubt that I would weigh 120 lbs. right now.
So as you might guess, Eid is all about eating! Ramadan is based on the lunar calendar, and it's over when the new moon has eclipsed, and you see a sliver of a crescent-- hence the crescent as a symbol of Islam. This can vary depending on where you are in the world, and here in Burkina, it wasn't certain whether Eid would be observed on Saturday or Sunday. Apparently, one could see the crescent on Friday night in Mecca, but it wasn't seen until Saturday here, so we had to wait. My youngest brother couldn't do it, so we joked that he could see the moon, but no one else could, with our old, dull eyes.
Back to eating and partying! Here's how we celebrated Eid-- there was a big gathering in the mornng for prayers that we went to, and arrived fashionably late. Muslim prayer isn't quite like Christian church. It's 30 minutes at most, but can be shortened to 5, which is what we did, so my dad could take pictures of everyone. He has one of the nicest cameras in village, so he was the unofficial photographer. Then we went back home where we had prepared 5 chickens, 2 whole sheep, and lots of snack food for all of our friends and neighbors. It was almost like Halloween: visitors would come by to greet us, sit for a half hour and eat, and then move on to the next party.
Looking back on the day, one thing that I noticed was the mutual respect between religions. Christians and Muslims alike were truly equally welcome at our party. The nightly news (yes, we have a little TV) featured friendly dialogue and well-wishes between bishops and imams. No controversy. No equivalent of "The War on Christmas" debate. Just a genuinely good time had by all. My family slept in that next morning. Normally, everyone is awake before 5 (except me!). That day, I was the only one up before 6.
Moving
(Pictures to come...)
I'm writing this post from a cibercafe in Ouagadougou. Most of my things are packed. I left Saponé on Monday, where I said goodbye to my brothers and sisters.
My parents came up today for the swearing-in ceremony at the ambassador's house, and I treated them to lunch at the American restaurant down the street.
These were tough goodbyes, and there'll be more tomorow as all of us newly-minted volunteers part ways. But we'll all reconvene in December for in-service-training. So in the end, I'm excited. I'm happy to settle down for a couple of years to work on projects that will challenge me in unexpected ways. I have big shoes to fill. (Link goes to the blog of the volunteers who I'm replacing) But it'll be fun. It sure has been so far.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Work and Play in Burkina Faso
Finally, captions to go with these pictures!
Voila, our computer lab. In my last post, I mentioned model school. This is where it happens, and we just finished our second week of class! Hard to believe-- time is flying here. There are four of us IT teacher trainees, and we each have our own class of beginners for 6-8 hours a week, and we share an intermediate group.
My beginning group has been great. The pace of the class has been fast. Many of them hadn't ever used a computer before, and I just gave them their first exam on OpenOffice Writer (open-source MS word). I had them enter some formatted text (so they had to use bold, italics, alignment, correct spacing, accents, etc.)-- the first part of the Wikipedia article on Bill Gates, actually. For a beginning group, I was worried that it was too difficult, but they did very well. Not perfect, mind you, but the potential is definitely there. I met with each of the students individually today to go over their score.
Speaking of grades... that's an interesting subject here. Scores are out of 20, but anything above 18 is considered truly impressive-- questions here are harder, and students aren't expected to answer every question correctly. 80% (16/20) is considered quite good. A rough translation below:
18-20: "Excellent" (A+)
16-17,9: "Tres Bien" (A/A-)
14-15,9: "Bien" (B/B+)
12-13,9: "Assez Bien" (C+/B-)
10-12,9: "Passable" (C-/C)
7-9,9: "Insuffisant" (D)
6-6,9: "Tres Insuffisant" (D-)
3-5,9: "Faible" (F)
0-2,9: "Tres Faible" (F-)
In the tradition of one of my favorite teachers, I put this list on the board at the start of class today, and presented the number of people with each score. Some of my students were genuinely concerned that there was someone in each category. Fortunately, there was only one person who didn't make at least "Passable". Of course, it was sort of a letdown that no one made "Excellent". But those are hard to come by here.
What's more exciting than the test though, is what's on the docket for next week. Instead of a second exam, I'm assigning a project that the students get to choose. Some of the older students who are about to enter the job market are opting for writing a resume. The younger kids, and the ones interested in starting their own businesses are going to do some accounting. Lastly, there are two elementary school teachers in my class, so they'll each do another "Excel" activity related to grades, as well as prepare an exam using "Word" (Quotes signify our open-source environment here). It's going to be a challenge to divide my time between the three groups, but ideally, it will give everybody some independent time to learn and explore each of the softwares on their own. In the end, it's an experiment! We'll see how it goes.
What comes after teaching IT class? Training sessions! Pictured above is my old language class. It involved making a lot of jokes in French. Now, were a bit bigger, but we don't meet quite as often as before, because our mornings are taken up by model school and our afternoons are full of tech training sessions. Some of the ones we had this week: malaria, tree planting, and teaching critical thinking. In some ways, a crash course on how to teach, plus how to do the five other "High Five" projects we are expected to undertake during our service.
In one of our earlier sessions, we covered how many years of specialized education are required here in Burkina Faso to become a teacher. It is at least 3, but often more. We are going to be entrusted with the same responsibilities and more after 11 weeks of training, a good part of which is dedicated to other topics, such as going from a novice to a passable level in French, and the "High Five" subjects as mentioned. Yes, we are all coming in with a college education, but many did not study teaching specifically, and don't have teaching experience. So how do we do it? Well, there's a cynical explanation with respect to the 3+ years, but I'll save that for another day. I focus on the positive: the bar for us is set high, but it's made exciting with the opportunities we have, and with support (Profuse thanks to the medical staff here!), we succeed. That's the same mentality that I try to bring to the IT class, and I think it works with the Burkinabe students just as well.
I mentioned the "High Five". What is that? The Peace Corps, in cooperation with the Burkinabe government came up with a program a little over a year ago to help overcome some of the biggest challenges here:
- Malaria Prevention
- HIV/AIDS Prevention
- Tree Planting
- Girls Empowerment and Education
- Small Business Development
Ah, housework. I am thankful for having washing machines in the US, because doing laundry by hand here will consume your Sunday mornings. It's stressful sometimes, because we have class/training sessions six days per week, so it's hard to give up even more free time. I try to do my laundry on weekdays whenever the opportunity presents itself, because then my Sundays are free to do fun stuff!
Cleaning the room is another popular chore here. Sweeping has to be done more often, because our courtyard, like most, is dirt, and that gets tracked in despite best efforts to kick shoes off before entering. Organizing stuff isn't too hard-- I don't have many possessions to keep track of!
Since I'm starting to get more used to life here, and don't need 9-10 hours of sleep a night like I used to, I just took on a new chore: cooking for the family on Tuesdays! On the menu this past week: fried spaghetti with a tomato and goat meat sauce. It was very good-- everyone agreed with one exception-- the objection was that I didn't add salt. But salt is in everything here--I needed a break!
Here's my house (at left)! Note the panoramic photo. I've taken lots of those here, ever since I discovered that my camera had that option. I will upload the rest someday.
Did I mention I have fun here too? This picture was taken when some of us went off to climb this huge baobob tree. A group of about 10 kids followed us, and they climbed as well, in ways we didn't think were possible. One kid did acrobatics on a branch 40 feet off the ground. We were terrified.
Biking is huge here, among Burkinabe, and Peace Corps Volunteers alike. We were all given bikes in our first week here, and use them every day to get to class, and go on baobob-tree-climbing adventures. Sometimes, we bike for biking's sake, and sometimes, the bikes break. Here, I have cleverly attached another (broken) bike to the rear of my own. Note: 400 meters down the road, my chain jammed, and we had to stop this foolishness.
The brousse beckons! This is what the Burkinabe countryside looks like at the end of the dry season. The monsoons have since come, so the land is much greener. I hope to make it out for another voyage this weekend, if it the roads aren't rained out like before!
Sunday, July 22, 2012
A New Home
Hello world!
Well, it's been a couple of weeks-- time for an update again!
The visit to Koudougou went very well. I'll start off with a correction from last time: while the computer lab that I'll be working at used to have ony 9 computers, it is currently in the process of expanding to 55! The volunteer who I'm replacing has done some amazing work in her time here, including some successful grant-writing which made this possible. In the work that I'll be doing over the next two years, I will be standing on some impressive shoulders.
And while I did spend lots of time in the new lab-- and even helped set up some computers that had been moved around, I did lots of other stuff too. Let's break what follows into subheadings, as usual.
Pretty uneventful, actually. Which isn't what you'd expect in the Peace Corps. Many of my fellow stagieres live in rural villages, which involves a bus ride to a larger city (like mine) and then a "taxi brousse" ride with 15 people in an 8-person van from 1971, complete with screaming goats and chickens strapped to the roof. I just had a 90 minute ride on a full (but not overly full) bus. Air-conditioned bus on the way back (for the same price)! I did get to ride my bike in downtown Ouagadougou traffic, though, as I was following my homologue on his motorcycle. Exhilarating.
Thumbs up: Ice Cream
Our Peace Corps living allowance is generous enough to permit a fair amount of beer-drinking. Beer, while cheap by US standards here ($1.50ish for 2/3 of a liter), is still about twice the price of an average meal. I, however have never been known to be a big fan of the stuff, and I like it even less here. This is a good thing, because it allows me to afford ice cream (which is similarly priced). And the ice cream in Koudougou is fantastic. You even get a cookie and sprinkles with each scoop! OK, so it might sound unimpressive to you... but after a couple of months in Burkina Faso, ice cream was a godsend. I could get it every day, even though I shouldn't.
Thumbs in-between: Shawarma
When I was in Granada a few years ago, I had the best shawarmas. So when I saw it on a menu here, I jumped at the chance. It was OK-- unfortunately less greasy than it's European cousins. Healthier... but I did eat it just as I started feeling ill. Perhaps my memory skews my opinion of this. Will have to try it again.
Thumbs down: Hamburger
Shocker! How un-American is it, to thumbs-down the hamburger? Picture this scenario: you're sick for an evening (puking, diarrhea, fever, etc.), but make a quick recovery. You're looking for a good old-fashioned American meal that your stomach will take. Hamburger? Sold!
And then the patty turns out to be slimy, black mystery meat...
My new house! It's kind of like a condo. It's small (common room, bed and bath), in a complex shared with other young (urban) professionals, complete with tiled floors, a flush toilet and an indoor shower. "Everything but a kitchen sink" is how I'd sum it up, because it's true. Not what you'd pictured a Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina Faso living in, huh? I'm looking forward to calling it home, and welcoming volunteers who come in from more rustic places seeking amenities.
Last Thursday, I met many of the important people, as promised:
Monsieur le Proviseur: Principal of the high school (my new boss)
Monsieur le Censeur: Academic Dean of the high school
Monsieur le Surveillant: Disciplinarian (I sent late/troublesome students to him)
Madame la Directrice: Headmistress of the elementary school (I'll be co-teaching there part-tim, it seems)
Monsieur le S.G. de la Mairie: Secretary General of the Mayor
It was a full morning of somewhat awkward exchanges, but on the whole, everything went well. I got to see a lot of them again at the current volunteers' going-away party, which was really a lot of fun. The one thing that was missed: I didn't get to see the elementary school's computer lab, because the teacher of that class was doing some work at the regional office. But I'm excited to see the setup when I get ready to start work in September. After showing my host brother (who's going into "CM1" or 4th grade) some math games on the computer, I think that there's huge potential here with that age group.
The going-away party was, as I mentioned before, a really neat experience, because it was also my first real networking opportunity in Burkina. I spent some time with the other teachers, a lot of whom hang out in the computer lab after-hours, and also chatted a bit with the proviseur and censeur. I also talked for a while with some university students who lead an English club. They are super-active-- they have debates, put on plays and do all sorts of activities in English, and have helped the past volunteers out with their projects. Alas, I may not forget my own English here either!
I've been back in Sapone since Monday, where I've been gearing up for model school-- a four week short course. Details have just come out about that: I'll be teaching a beginner computer class for 2 hours a day, 4 days a week-- jumping right in. On top of that, there's an intermediate class that all of us IT teachers-in-training are going to share, so each of us get about 2 hours a week of that as well. Adding to the learning experience, we'll be teaching off (Peace Corps official) Ubuntu machines. Nice thing is that there's some decent educational software that comes with that package.
I do have to admit it's been tough at times. I fell quite ill last week-- and lost 75% of my appetite. Over my time here, I've shed the freshman 15: I'm now as light as I've been since high school. And while I'm recovering steadily, Friday morning was a big test for me: between the weight loss, appetite loss, general queasiness, and the reality of having to prepare for work ahead, I had a panic attack. I ended up going back to bed and sleeping it off. But something that I learned from this: stay in better touch with home! The guilt from not getting back to your e-mails was weighing on me significantly. Tonight I will catch up! But in the future, I hope that you'll be able to text me: +226 66 20 16 52! I get internet access every 2 weeks or so, but my phone is always with me (Peace Corps requirement)!
You may be able to tell that I am hungry as I write this. It's true. I'm looking forward to getting some "soupe de poulet" (chicken soup) tonight, which is a common high-end meal here (chicken here is one of the most expensive meats). But what is the food really like here? I feel like I may have given you all an erroneous impression with the ice cream, shawarma and burger shpiel. That's American-ish fare that we crave after a few weeks here, and that can only be found in a big city. I'll list a few dishes below that I think well represent Burkina Faso:
One of my favorite quotes: "Je mange le benga, tu mange le pizza. C'est le Corps de la Paix". Benga is made primarily with black beans and a medley of vegetables, maybe a little rice. It's a hearty dish, which I'd give a solid thumbs up.
To is (in my opinion) the other side of the coin where it comes to Burkinabe cooking. It's like farina, except with millet flour, and isn't really flavored with anything, only served with a "gumbo" sauce. Not my cup of tea, ut definitely a local favorite.
This is the most common, and cheapest dish you can find here. My host mom sells it for 100 CFA (20 cents) a plate at the Grande Marche. It's very simple: rice, with a vegetable sauce, usually canned-tomato-based. Not bad stuff. Can come with meat for an extra charge.
Skewers of pure MEAT! These are (usually) delicious. Where does the meat come from? Sheep (mouton), goat (chevre), and occasionally pig (porc). Any part of the animal... hence the (usually) in the description. 50 CFA apiece at the Grande Marche, not a bad deal. I have been known to buy 10... and eat them all on better days...
OK, I think that I have demystified food well enough for now here... until next time! I'm off to catch up on e-mails and finish off lesson plans!
- ETH
Well, it's been a couple of weeks-- time for an update again!
The visit to Koudougou went very well. I'll start off with a correction from last time: while the computer lab that I'll be working at used to have ony 9 computers, it is currently in the process of expanding to 55! The volunteer who I'm replacing has done some amazing work in her time here, including some successful grant-writing which made this possible. In the work that I'll be doing over the next two years, I will be standing on some impressive shoulders.
And while I did spend lots of time in the new lab-- and even helped set up some computers that had been moved around, I did lots of other stuff too. Let's break what follows into subheadings, as usual.
Travel
Pretty uneventful, actually. Which isn't what you'd expect in the Peace Corps. Many of my fellow stagieres live in rural villages, which involves a bus ride to a larger city (like mine) and then a "taxi brousse" ride with 15 people in an 8-person van from 1971, complete with screaming goats and chickens strapped to the roof. I just had a 90 minute ride on a full (but not overly full) bus. Air-conditioned bus on the way back (for the same price)! I did get to ride my bike in downtown Ouagadougou traffic, though, as I was following my homologue on his motorcycle. Exhilarating.
Food
Thumbs up: Ice Cream
Our Peace Corps living allowance is generous enough to permit a fair amount of beer-drinking. Beer, while cheap by US standards here ($1.50ish for 2/3 of a liter), is still about twice the price of an average meal. I, however have never been known to be a big fan of the stuff, and I like it even less here. This is a good thing, because it allows me to afford ice cream (which is similarly priced). And the ice cream in Koudougou is fantastic. You even get a cookie and sprinkles with each scoop! OK, so it might sound unimpressive to you... but after a couple of months in Burkina Faso, ice cream was a godsend. I could get it every day, even though I shouldn't.
Thumbs in-between: Shawarma
When I was in Granada a few years ago, I had the best shawarmas. So when I saw it on a menu here, I jumped at the chance. It was OK-- unfortunately less greasy than it's European cousins. Healthier... but I did eat it just as I started feeling ill. Perhaps my memory skews my opinion of this. Will have to try it again.
Thumbs down: Hamburger
Shocker! How un-American is it, to thumbs-down the hamburger? Picture this scenario: you're sick for an evening (puking, diarrhea, fever, etc.), but make a quick recovery. You're looking for a good old-fashioned American meal that your stomach will take. Hamburger? Sold!
And then the patty turns out to be slimy, black mystery meat...
The House
My new house! It's kind of like a condo. It's small (common room, bed and bath), in a complex shared with other young (urban) professionals, complete with tiled floors, a flush toilet and an indoor shower. "Everything but a kitchen sink" is how I'd sum it up, because it's true. Not what you'd pictured a Peace Corps volunteer in Burkina Faso living in, huh? I'm looking forward to calling it home, and welcoming volunteers who come in from more rustic places seeking amenities.
The People
Last Thursday, I met many of the important people, as promised:
Monsieur le Proviseur: Principal of the high school (my new boss)
Monsieur le Censeur: Academic Dean of the high school
Monsieur le Surveillant: Disciplinarian (I sent late/troublesome students to him)
Madame la Directrice: Headmistress of the elementary school (I'll be co-teaching there part-tim, it seems)
Monsieur le S.G. de la Mairie: Secretary General of the Mayor
It was a full morning of somewhat awkward exchanges, but on the whole, everything went well. I got to see a lot of them again at the current volunteers' going-away party, which was really a lot of fun. The one thing that was missed: I didn't get to see the elementary school's computer lab, because the teacher of that class was doing some work at the regional office. But I'm excited to see the setup when I get ready to start work in September. After showing my host brother (who's going into "CM1" or 4th grade) some math games on the computer, I think that there's huge potential here with that age group.
The going-away party was, as I mentioned before, a really neat experience, because it was also my first real networking opportunity in Burkina. I spent some time with the other teachers, a lot of whom hang out in the computer lab after-hours, and also chatted a bit with the proviseur and censeur. I also talked for a while with some university students who lead an English club. They are super-active-- they have debates, put on plays and do all sorts of activities in English, and have helped the past volunteers out with their projects. Alas, I may not forget my own English here either!
Model School
I've been back in Sapone since Monday, where I've been gearing up for model school-- a four week short course. Details have just come out about that: I'll be teaching a beginner computer class for 2 hours a day, 4 days a week-- jumping right in. On top of that, there's an intermediate class that all of us IT teachers-in-training are going to share, so each of us get about 2 hours a week of that as well. Adding to the learning experience, we'll be teaching off (Peace Corps official) Ubuntu machines. Nice thing is that there's some decent educational software that comes with that package.
And now for a change of subject...
I do have to admit it's been tough at times. I fell quite ill last week-- and lost 75% of my appetite. Over my time here, I've shed the freshman 15: I'm now as light as I've been since high school. And while I'm recovering steadily, Friday morning was a big test for me: between the weight loss, appetite loss, general queasiness, and the reality of having to prepare for work ahead, I had a panic attack. I ended up going back to bed and sleeping it off. But something that I learned from this: stay in better touch with home! The guilt from not getting back to your e-mails was weighing on me significantly. Tonight I will catch up! But in the future, I hope that you'll be able to text me: +226 66 20 16 52! I get internet access every 2 weeks or so, but my phone is always with me (Peace Corps requirement)!
The final word:
"Food!"
You may be able to tell that I am hungry as I write this. It's true. I'm looking forward to getting some "soupe de poulet" (chicken soup) tonight, which is a common high-end meal here (chicken here is one of the most expensive meats). But what is the food really like here? I feel like I may have given you all an erroneous impression with the ice cream, shawarma and burger shpiel. That's American-ish fare that we crave after a few weeks here, and that can only be found in a big city. I'll list a few dishes below that I think well represent Burkina Faso:
Benga
One of my favorite quotes: "Je mange le benga, tu mange le pizza. C'est le Corps de la Paix". Benga is made primarily with black beans and a medley of vegetables, maybe a little rice. It's a hearty dish, which I'd give a solid thumbs up.
To
To is (in my opinion) the other side of the coin where it comes to Burkinabe cooking. It's like farina, except with millet flour, and isn't really flavored with anything, only served with a "gumbo" sauce. Not my cup of tea, ut definitely a local favorite.
Riz sauce
This is the most common, and cheapest dish you can find here. My host mom sells it for 100 CFA (20 cents) a plate at the Grande Marche. It's very simple: rice, with a vegetable sauce, usually canned-tomato-based. Not bad stuff. Can come with meat for an extra charge.
Brochettes
Skewers of pure MEAT! These are (usually) delicious. Where does the meat come from? Sheep (mouton), goat (chevre), and occasionally pig (porc). Any part of the animal... hence the (usually) in the description. 50 CFA apiece at the Grande Marche, not a bad deal. I have been known to buy 10... and eat them all on better days...
OK, I think that I have demystified food well enough for now here... until next time! I'm off to catch up on e-mails and finish off lesson plans!
- ETH
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Bonjour from Burkina!
Puusgo (Greetings) from Burkina Faso!
It's been over a month since I last posted (for a variety of
reasons). Sorry! Have two posts to make up for it!
Post #1: The Past
The trip here went well. We passed through Manhattan on the
way from Philly to JFK International and arrived in Belgium under cloudy skies
the next morning. It stands to memory that our first flight over was pretty
relaxed, but the second was much more eventful. The flight attendants humored
our attempts at speaking French. The clouds lifted once we got to the
Mediterranean, and we had stunning views of Mallorca, the coast and mountains
of Algeria, and the northern part of the Sahara. We descended into a cloud of
dust, and got our first glimpse of Burkina Faso from 2000 feet.
My first thoughts after stepping off the plane?
It's hot here, but I'm loving it!
Then began the first busy month of stage. We met our CD
(Country Director), passed through customs, and were warmly welcomed by the
staff. We jumped into a couple of vans that looked exactly what you'd expect
offical Peace Corps vehicles in Africa to look like, and saw life in the
streets of Ouagadougou. Boy, was a lot going on there. Motos rushing past
cyclists dodging trucks (and our entourage) swerving to avoid donkey carts.
People lining the streets selling everything from mangoes to cell phone minutes to furniture. Garbage (unfortunately)
everywhere. I'm not writing in complete sentences anymore. Anyhow, we got to
see a taste of it all before heading into a compound to rest and orientate for
the next few days.
Our orientation was just as you might expect, if you have
taken into account jet lag, excitement, and the fact that most of us had not
gotten any sleep in the past week. Those three days felt like two weeks! But at
some point in time, we moved onto Sapone, which is a town that you will not
find on Google maps.
If Google refuses to tell you about Sapone, I will. It's a
small town of 6,000-ish, depending on what you count as town. It's centered
around a Grand Marche (market), and has a solid community center, which is
where we go everyday (except the occasional Sunday) for our classes. Us
stagieres live all around town with host families, with some folks living in a
more rural village. There is electricity at some houses (including mine), and
running water and sewage lines were just installed in the main part of town two
weeks ago (literally). There are animals everywhere. I could write a whole post
about that, and certainly will in good time.
Instead, I'll leave you all with a few half-stories for now,
as promised. These all happened to me in the first 48 hours in village... so
you can guess that there are more to come. I hope you can forgive me for my
untimely post, and understand why it was so darn difficult to write this:
1.
My family has two cats. I witnessed one of them
accomplish an impressive feat.
2.
I had my first experience as a teacher in a
Burkinabe classroom.
3.
How about discovering that you're allergic to
something rather inconvient?
4.
Or perhaps discovering some African wildlife
with your host brother?
5.
Nope, I'm not sure if I'm cut out for this whole
Peace Corps thing. Hey, wait a minute...
I look forward to recounting these stories in more detail!
One thing that I should also mention in this post: I've used
the word “we” a lot. I just wanted to clarify who that is included in that: all
of my fantastic stage-mates! I love how we all look out for each other and step
up when it's our turn. Let's keep doing this, team!
Post #2: Present and Future
I was going to start off with a joke about conjugations in
French, but then I realized that I'm terrible at spelling out French verb
conjugations. The name of this blog is misconjugated, for Pete's sake! Oh well.
I'm most concerned with being able to speak well first. And Les oeuvres
saute = Les oeuvres sautent,
if you're actually speaking. Silly French. I'll work on my writing in good time.
But a good chunk of my time here is spent working on
language. I placed into the “Novice-High” level at the start, and just took
another test on Saturday to reassess. I might find out tomorrow, but my guess
is “Intermediate-High”, which is the minimum level that us education stagieres
need to be at to be sworn in as volunteers. I have my fingers crossed-- but if
it doesn't happen yet, I have six more weeks. Ça
va aller. The language classes here are very effective. I'm in a class of two,
and both of us share the same philosphy with respect to language learning: tell
lots of jokes, maintain the conversation, and keep the formal workbook
excercises to a minimum (still do some). It's going really well, and we've been
(for the most part) extremely comfortable using the language with our host
families and out on the street.
So, it was a challenge we were prepared for today, when we
had our first formal info session almost entirely en Francais. But even more
importantly we got to meet our homologues (work partners for the next two
years), following our site announcement, which happened last week. Which brings
us into the future: starting in late August, I'll be living in Koudougou!
Wait, what's a Koudougou?
Koudougou is the “Chicago” of Burkina Faso-- AKA Burkina's
third largest city. The population is about 110,000, and according to our
country director, it's most famous for its juices. It's also about 90 minutes
away from Ouagadougou (the capital) by bus. Beyond that, I don't know too much
about the city, but I will find out on Wednesday, when I get to visit!
I do know more about my work situation, after meeting my
homologue and talking to the volunteer that I'm replacing. It's really
exciting! I'm teaching computer class to the equivalent of HS sophomores and
juniors, and the computer lab is almost quadrupling in size. Last year, there
were only 10 computers, but 28 more are arriving over the summer, which means
that over half of the kids will be able to take “Introduction a l'informatique”.
Even more interesting: I get to work in a really experimental situation. All of
the computers in the lab should be equipped with internet, making my school the
only public one in the country that has full internet access. Something that
will be incorporated later on: computer classes at a public elementary school.
This is also a unique situation in Burkina Faso, and I feel very much honored
to have been invited to work here.
Whereas a few weeks ago, I might have found myself doubting
my readiness for this challenge, going through Peace Corps training myself has
made me a real believer in their process. I've been taking notes-- the training
itself is an excellent way of seeing how people
really learn, and then go out to do things they never before thought
were possible. It starts with vision-- our committed group of volunteers who
have all been given fantastic opportunities-- and gets fed with constant
encouragement and a few rules. Is it perfect? Of course not. But everyone makes
mistakes, and we all still have a good time in the end. Les oeuvres saute.
A couple of weeks ago, we taught our first class. Actually,
we taught it three times. First, we had a practice session just amongst
ourselves in English. Two days later, we did the same thing, but in French. The
third time was one day after that, but we had actual students. And the process
was a huge confidence-booster. Surprisingly (or maybe not), the toughest one
for me was the first: in English. I tripped over my words. My composure was
rocky. I cringe when I see myself the video (Thanks for filming, Natalya!). The
second time, in French, I fared better. My composure was better, and while I
didn't get as far into the material, I also didn't over-explain things-- I
spoke more slowly, and clearly. I feel pretty good about the video (Thanks,
Steve!) Then, in front of the actual students, I felt very good. The French
came to me more easily, and I only had to refer to my notes once to get through
the entire lesson. Just two things more to improve: board use and comprehension
checks. I'm very enthused about continuing to work on these presentation skills
I've never before worked on in any serious way.
What was the lesson on, you might ask?
Well, we didn't have computers, so we had to stick to theory.
I planned a “History of IT” class. We first broke down what IT/Informatique
means (hint: Information and Technology), and then did a few activities
demonstrating how various inventions, like simple calculators, the printing
press, and writing itself has contributed how we share information more
efficiently today. Someday, when I have access to a fast internet connection,
I'll upload a video of one of my lessons.
That brings me to another topic: the internet. I have to
admit: I bought a pricey USB internet key (works off the low-speed 2G network
here), had brief access to it last week before renting it out to offset the
cost, and then promptly broke my computer trying to install Linux. Don't worry,
it's (hopefully) nothing permanent. I'm just waiting on a Windows 7 install
disk that's coming in a month with another IT volunteer's care package (he
broke his computer in a similar way). Why Linux? That's a subject for another
day, folks... In the meantime, I'm borrowing someone else's computer, which
I've promised to take good care of and not attempt another Linux install...
OK, enough with the computer drama. Back to the future! I
visit Koudougou this week, and when I return to Sapone next week... model
school! I'll be teaching a short course (4 weeks) for 10 students in
preparation for my class of 38 that awaits me at site. Speaking of which, I'll
be meeting with all of the important school officials on Thursday, potentially
even Monsieur le Maire (the Mayor of Koudogou). The potential for stories and
half-stories in next post is huge. Looking forward to next time!
- ETH
Monday, June 4, 2012
Post #2
Flash forward! I've officially started the Peace
Corps! I'm in Philadelphia right now, staging with the other incoming
Burkina Faso volunteers. It's hard to believe that I'm already here.
Not to mention that I already feel a few blog posts behind... I've
had so many fun and intense experiences right here in the USA.
One last shout-out! The day that I leave for Burkina Faso (tomorrow), my Mom and Uncle Tom also depart for Ireland to do an incredible bike trip. I'm so excited for them!
So how has life been since my last
post?
A mile a minute and full of packing and
goodbyes. I spent a couple of weeks working as staff at Shadowcliff
in Colorado, where I got my last taste of snow and ice until 2014. I
have many good friends there to thank for a killer experience there
that really helped me gear up for the Peace Corps.
But I think that Saturday sums up life
in my last week here in the USA. I stumbled out of bed around 9:00, still
tired from Tuesday's 20-mile run in the mountains, 22-hour train
ride, writing more e-mails than ever before, and biking around the
city sharing good times with friends and family. But there wasn't a
moment to spare. I had hardly started packing, and had also planned a
going-away party at the lake. I have my family to thank for pulling
it all off. Miraculously, we worked together making a small feast, I got all of my shopping finished and things assembled some five
hours later.
Of course, it wouldn't have been a real party
without all of the fantastic family and friends who showed up! It was
a real treat to see you guys on my last day in Chicago. Thank you for
your words of love and encouragement! And your assistance in our attempts to
fend off the feral ducks and newlyweds...
But the evening of fun led to a night of agonizing debate. What to take with? Here are two questions that I tussled with for a good part of the night, as I searched for a certain important document that went missing (found at 4 AM!).
#1: Paints, or No Paints?
Every once in a blue moon, I paint. I
did 2.5 paintings last year. But the optimist in me thinks that I'll
have lots of time and creative energy to paint in Burkina Faso
dilemma. Do I overrule the optimist?
Setting the tone for the night, I
settled on a compromise. No acrylics. No fancy tube water colors.
Just ink, a watercolor palette (like the one you might have used as a
kid, but a cut fancier). I also have plenty of sketchbooks, pencils
and pens, with some to spare. Pen and pencil is my bread and butter,
even if coloring sketches in on the computer involves some
creativity while in Africa, it's still what I'm most likely to do.
But perhaps most importantly, I'm excited to see what Burkina Faso
offers to the aspiring amateur artist. I'm all for experimenting with
new mediums. We'll see what comes up!
#2: How many books?
Some people have e-readers, and think
that anything involving paper is a barbaric relic of the past. I tend
to think this is true of boring stuff: academic papers, old tax
returns and bills. But writing that is important enough to be a part
of my 74 pounds of luggage (your final total here) has to have
some heft to it. What was perhaps
most important was my photo album and a set of family memoirs. People
in Burkina Faso are very close to their families, and whenever I
introduce myself to host families, I will be bringing more than
myself along. These pictures and stories will help me tell where I
come from, and in a small part, transport my family that a far corner
of the world. I think it will be difficult, to relate to people who
have not traveled far from home as a person from thousands of miles
away, but this will be well worth the extra weight.
I also
started a care package to myself, which includes two things so far:
Switch: How to Change when Change is Hard.,
and selected letters that I've received over the years. Switch
is one of the most inspirational and practical books that I've read,
and explains concisely why people change, and what facilitates that.
It is filled with real-life examples, many related to development,
health and organizational change, all stories that I think will be
relatable in some way to what I'm about to experience. As for the
letters... I'm hoping that they'll arrive just as I'm hitting a low
point in the culture-shock roller coaster. The care, and words of
kindness that I have received from you all (especially my sister
Margaret, and Grandma Marge) of the years is also inspiring, and I
hope I can write two letters for every one I get in the mail. I will
miss you. But connection is the blood that keeps us moving. If
there's one lesson that the past year has taught me, it's that.
Related
to that, I have an address! It is:
Ethan
Heppner, PCT
s/c
Corps de la Paix
01
B.P. 6031
Ouagadougou
01, Burkina Faso
My
e-mail, in case you don't have it, is: heppnere@gmail.com
My
Skype: zero.eth
Please feel welcome to add me!
This
leads me to another point: the purpose of this blog. I intend to
write half-stories. This means that I will intentionally obscure
details, leave out critical pieces of information, and fudge facts
(OK, I'm kidding here-- no untruths). Why?
It's
too easy to have a false connection with people. You read their
blogs, you have all of their stories, and you pass them on. You know
an awkward amount about other people's lives. You write a “how are
you doing?” e-mail, or give them a call, but you know perfectly
well how they're doing. I hope to save you this confusion. So, you'll
have an incomplete story, perhaps a couple of cliffhangers. You'll
have to talk to me personally to get the rest (or talk to someone who
did). E-mail me. Set up a Skype date. I'll be surprisingly accessible. I ought to have internet
access at least once per week during staging, likely more often
afterwards, since I'll be teaching IT in a country where internet
access is rapidly expanding. And whether you are a close relative or
friend, or an “FPCV” checking out the story of some current
Burkina Faso volunteer, I do intend to get back to you, as my
internet access and level of energy permit.
One last shout-out! The day that I leave for Burkina Faso (tomorrow), my Mom and Uncle Tom also depart for Ireland to do an incredible bike trip. I'm so excited for them!
OK,
that's enough for now. No dramatic exit, but this will be my last post in the United
States. I'll catch you on the flipside, where yes, the oeuvres will
continue to saute.
A la
prochaine: (ETA 1-2 weeks): Post on Stage, Arrival and Training!
ETH
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Les oeuvres commencent!
Welcome!
If you're checking this out, you might already know that I'll be going to Burkina Faso with the Peace Corps in June. And since I finally thought up of a decent title, a theme, if you will, for the next two-odd years, I've started this blog to commemorate the experience.
First, you might ask: what's a Burkina Faso? Burkina Faso is a small country in Central-West Africa, landlocked and completely surrounded by other countries you might have vaguely heard of: Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali and Niger. It's famous for the annual Pan-African Film Festival, the bi-annual International Arts and Crafts Fair, and former President Thomas Sankara, who gave the country its modern name. Burkina: "Men of Integrity" (in Móoré) Faso: "Father's House" (in Dioula)
What might you ask next? Depends on who you are.
If you are/were an econ major:
"What's the economy like there?"
Here are few interesting numbers:
550 - Burkina's income per capita. This makes it one of the poorer countries of the world-- GDP rankings put it close to Nepal, Bangladesh and neighboring Mali.
85 - The percentage of Burkinabé who work in agriculture. Popular crops include sorghum, corn, black-eyed peas, soybeans and groundnut. Cotton and gold are the biggest exports.
5 - Percentage of Burkina's exports that go to China. As strange as it seems coming from the US, China is actually the biggest importer of Burkinabé goods.
If you want to make small talk:
"What's the weather like there?"
Hot and fairly dry. The average day in the hot season (March-May) will top out over 100º F. Nightly lows in theory will average in the 80s, but current volunteer blogs suggest otherwise...
During the "cool" season (December-February), temps usually get into the 90s during the day and drop into the 60s at night. Apparently, this will come to feel downright frigid.
Rain is seasonal-- most of it falls between June and September. The north is more arid, the south more humid.
I'll find out for myself soon enough, but I'd like to think this quote from the incoming volunteer Facebook page sums up the weather in a nutshell:
there has been a request from current pcvs that you bring super soakers or other water guns. hot season is here...
Challenge accepted.
If you are concerned about health:
This issue, the Peace Corps takes most seriously. In fact, the medical screening process is the most rigorous part of the application. I have to be thankful for my good health thusfar: I only had to take care of a cavity and get vaccinated against yellow fever (actually a requirement for anyone entering Burkina). I believe there is another round of vaccinations at staging (pre-service orientation), but I'll find out more about that soon.
I do know that taking an antimalarial will be part of my weekly regimen, with the possibility of teaching malaria prevention techniques to my host community: malaria prevention is one of the "High Five" goals of Peace Corps Burkina Faso. Here's an eye-opening post from a current volunteer about the epidemic, in observance of World Malaria Day (April 25th).
If you are struck by the title of this blog:
Les oeuvres saute is a grammatically incorrect way of saying "The works (of art) jump" in French. How is this relevant?
The official language of Burkina Faso is French*. I studied that language for a semester in college! Which is to say that my knowledge of it is un peu mauvais...
But in hopes saving myself from some embarrassment come arrival in-country this June, I've been going back to study. This has involved some textbook work, watching videos, writing some "journal entries" in French, but most importantly, it's involved going to French language meetup groups and of course, making embarrassing mistakes in conversation. Example:
We are discussing different ways of cooking in French, and someone mentions how the English word "sauté" comes from the French word, which has the exact same spelling and meaning. But "sauté" is very closely related to the word "saute", which means "jump". We puzzle over this for a minute and decide it makes sense. After all, French chefs flip their sautes with flair, as if the food is jumping out of the pan.
I take out my notebook, and draw a picture of a couple of eggs jumping out from a frying pan with a corresponding caption. Voila. Les oeuvres saute.
Except eggs = "oeufs". Wrong word. I find this out later, when a Burkinabé family comes to the table and I move over to join them. As I show them my notebook, everyone breaks out laughing. Embarrassing... but fun. I learn a few new words that I'm unlikely to forget anytime soon. And hopefully, just hopefully, I've learned to pay more attention to verb conjugations.
But the most important take-away from this experience is that for the next two years and three months, I'll likely get into countless similar situations, mixing up language, inadvertently doing the culturally inappropriate and generally dealing with the awkwardness of being an outsider. Making terrible puns. Failing and learning from it.
One question that may also come up:
So what exactly are you going to do there?
Fair question. The title of my position is Formal Education Volunteer, or more specifically, "IT teacher". While the details are still unclear, I'm likely to teach a high school computer class for about 10 hours per week, and then use the rest of my time to work with kids (and other teachers) outside of class. But here's a more immediate timetable:
I leave for Burkina this June (33 days and counting...), train for three months in Saponé with the other volunteers and then (hopefully) be sworn in and placed where I'll serve for the next two years. I actually don't know where this will be yet-- the Peace Corps will decide after a few weeks of training. When I arrive on-site in late August/early September, I will spend the next 2-3 months conducting an Etude de Milieu-- a feasibility study that will define the scope of my work for the last 21 months, after I go through one more month of in-service training.
This puts me at ~Jan. 2013, when the "real" Peace Corps experience begins. And while I can't be sure exactly what I'll be doing at that point from here (on top of teaching 10 hours/week), a few interesting options include:
- Sponsoring student clubs/spelling bees/science fairs. Possibly a school garden where students get to sell the produce? This is one of our guide's recommendations.
- Getting students involved with local businesses, and possibly even tech startups!
- Planting and managing 625 trees per year with the environment volunteers, to help fight desertification and erosion.
- Collaborating with the health and environment volunteers on Malaria, HIV/AIDS and hygiene workshops.
One thing to note: I don't have all too much experience with any of this. Most everything I'm set to do will be completely new to me. But somehow, I have been invited with a good-sized group of other Americans to facilitate "sustainable economic development" in a country I'd heard of once before this past November. Pretty cool, huh? But what does this "sustainable economic development" really mean? I've never been into formal definitions, but maybe I'll find out soon.
To conclude? I'm intimidated and excited at the same time. It's not unlike the feeling you get when you know you're about to do something great, but will have to work hard in order to do it right (as it should be!). It's similar to the feeling of a les oeuvres saute moment, where the pleasure is learning and then pain is making a fool of yourself. I can guarantee that I'll have a lot of those, and I'll share them here as my connection to the internet and will to write permits.
À la prochaine!
ETH
* Just because French is the "official language" doesn't mean that everyone speaks it. So, I'll be learning one or two local languages (likely Móoré or Dioula) as well!
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