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.

Part I: School Starts!

Le Théâtre Populaire de Koudougou

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.

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.

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