Late!!

OK, so while I was working on my blog last night I decided that I needed a bit of help staying awake. I didn't want to walk to the other side of the compound to get a coke, but I did remember that I had bought a Kola nut down-town the other day (they are very useful for striking up friendships since they are the traditional thing to share). The kola-nut is a mild stimulant since it contains caffeine, but it turns out that the kick is a little stronger than that of a coke. I finally went to bed around 3:00 but still couldn't sleep for a while.

I had set the alarm on my cell phone for 6:00, but when I woke up the sun was shining in the room and the birds were really loud. My first thought was that the alarm hasn't gone off yet, so it must still be early. Fortunately, my mind didn't buy the explanation and continued to raise nag my body to look. I looked at my cell phone and it read 5:45. No problem. But then I heard traffic and people talking out on the street. Hmmm... I got up and checked the computer clock: 7:49!!! Yikes.

I was still foggy, but then remembered that I had had a problem with my phone-chip and had taken the battery out to reset it. Totally forgot to reset the time. Oooops. By the time I showered and dressed, I had missed breakfast. Then I remembered that I was supposed to go make some last minute photocopies for my class. Fortunately, Gideon is a good friend and volunteered to run do that for me while I get something to eat. (In the mornings, there is always people walking by with breakfast on their heads. You simply call one over and say, I'd like 25 cents worth of rice and beans, or porridge, or whatever they happen to have in that big pot on their head - Today I got balls of couscous and bean-flour mixed with with sugar - odd but good for a hungry, barely awake Steve).

I did manage to get my stuff together and my head on straight enough to arrive at class just in time. Of course, today just happened to be the day that we were taking a class-photo! It took me a few minutes to work out why everyone was wearing their nicest shirts (I was wearing my Burkina soccer jersey which is nice, but not quite to the same level). My lesson went well, but somehow, when I looked at the clock I thought to myself... "Wow! I have 30 minutes left for this last exercise! - it sure didn't take long to get through all of that information!" I gave instructions, and had everyone get into groups. I couldn't work out why everyone was looking at me funny, until one participant spoke up "Don't we get to go for coffee break today?". Somehow, I was half and hour out and the contents of the lesson had actually taken longer than planned, not shorter!

Ooops again. I recovered nicely, though by saying. "Turn over your sheets and look at the list of common problems when planning lessons... which one of these have I done in the lesson that I just gave you? After a few seconds, the answer came back... "It's number 4 on the list! You tried to teach to much content for the allotted time."

"Yep. Good Job. You guys have learned the lesson. This last exercise is for homework." Whew. Afterwards, one of the staff came and told me that I did a great job of feigning surprise when they asked about coffee break. "Ha ha ha. If you only knew..."

Since, I was nice enough to let everyone have a coffee break (sarcasm to be noted) we all ran out into the courtyard and had somebody take pictures of us with a dozen digital cameras. I don't know whether any of the shots worked or not yet. As you can see, the one from my camera isn't that great. The sun was pretty bright, so maybe looking up wasn't the best idea. Hmmm.

Oh... another thing that I love about Ouagadougou... Waffles. Yeah, that's right, this is a culture that loves their waffles. Not the way we like them (hot with multiple sticky toppings), but at room temperature with icing sugar sprinkled on them. I thought it was just the cook on-centre who made them, but it turns out that you can get them at all kinds of little hole-in-the-wall shops. People here think they are a really chic snack!

Olympic Games Cancelled!

No, not in Beijing. Our sporting events here have been temporarily suspended.

But I'll get to that. First, let me tell you about my bike-ride this morning. Finally, I got to go for a ride with Paul. As soon as we got to open highway he started pushing me, to see how fast I would go. I was keeping pace, but then we came across another member of Paul's cycling team and he kicked the pace up about 3 notches. I spent a lot of time trying to keep my wheel inches behind Paul's so that I could keep up! It was pretty hard core, and I wasn't sure that my bike would keep up, but it did a good job.

I'm glad that psychologically, I knew that I wasn't going far (had to make it back in time to teach class). On the way back, we met another young cyclist, so I'm starting to get to know the community a little bit. Kind of makes me want to stay here and race and do the Tour de Faso instead of launching a cyclo-touring trip.

My lessons today concluded the section on Results Based Management. It was a really fruitful teaching time because the participants were so eager to understand these ideas. RBM is the system that most international donors and multilateral literacy agencies are using and the participants know that the future of their projects rest on the ability to communicate effectively with others. Anyways, they were really happy to have some of the complicated stuff explained in a way that makes sense to them and applies directly to their situations. We did a number of skits and activities together that allowed them to feel comfortable with the language and ideas of the system. It is a relief, however, to have it over with because it was sucking me dry in terms of time and energy.

Tomorrow, I will teach a lesson on planning lessons! Should be fun. They will have to design a lesson to teach the volunteer teachers in their projects how to improve their teaching. It will serve as a bit of a recap of what they have learned in the past few weeks as well as a practical application. I can't wait to see what they come up with.

I was pumped about having a large ultimate frisbee session for our "Olympic Games" this afternoon, but we decided, as a group to give it a miss. Instead, we called for an afternoon of solidarity mourning. Noel, one of the most senior members of our group got news today that his Mother has passed away in Congo on Sunday and the burial is tomorrow. He was raised completely by his mother because his father passed away when he was quite young.


Noel is the head of one of the biggest literacy programmes on the continent of Africa. He has thousands of teachers under him and tens of thousands of students every year! And he does this in an extemely remote (2 weeks by boat to Kinshasa) part of the jungle in the Democratic Republic of Congo! Needless to say he is one of the most respected people around (it is a real honour to be able to teach with him and we try and make use of his experience as much as possible). So, we called today a day at half-mast to honour the woman who brought Noel into the world and brought him up.

I was really impressed with the solidarity of the students who decided it would be good to pay a group visit to express their regrets. They appointed spokespersons, practiced some songs to sing and then we all went together. The message was given that, although he can't be with his family, we are his family in Christ and are here to share the burden. After a couple of songs, one of the men prayed for Noel. Then, one by one, each one came forward to shake hands and say a few encouraging words. Those who were close to Noel, put their forehead against his forehead for a moment. This brief touch is the symbol for deep friendship or kinship. It was a deeply emotional time and I pray that it was healing for Noel.

"Brother, your burden of grief is too heavy to bear alone. We are here to share it with you".
















(Noel is the participant on the far left-hand side in this role-played panel of experts.)

By Thunder!

Last night I went to bed early (10pm) so that I could feel good getting up for a bike-ride with Paul this morning.  I was really looking forward to it since I had to cancel Thursday morning's ride because I had to too much work to be done (and I had spent most of my afternoon putting new tires from Canada onto the wheels).  Anyways, the going to bed early didn't end up doing me much good, 'cause I woke up with a start at about 2:30am. 

 

The thunder was so loud that my ears were ringing.  I don't know where the lightning hit, but it was close enough to shake our entire cement-block building.  For a minute, I thought the roof was falling in, but my second thought was... MY COMPUTER!  It was still plugged into the wall and it was very likely fried.  I looked over and the light was still on, so jumped out of bed to unplug it incase there were anymore shocks coming.   It took a while to calm my heart-beats back to a normal BPM, and I finally got back to sleep.

 

I figured that with all the rain, our ride would probably be called off so I stayed in bed.  However, it stopped around 6:30 and Paul came by at 7:00.  I went out to greet him and on the way grabbed my bike.  Disaster!!  The front tire was flat.  I'm sure it wasn't flat yesterday.  I was sad to see Paul ride off on his own, and I discouragedly (I love the English language) sat down to patch my tube.  Eventually, I went off on my own and had a great ride, up a highway that I have never been on before. 

 

I went about 40km out, to the President's village (Zinaire) and then hurried back for lunch.  It felt really good just to be on open road.  I installed a special water-bottle holder that holds a 1.5litre bottle, so that was very handy, but it won't be sufficient.  I am thinking of maybe buying a thermos to keep 2 or 3 litres in, and attaching it to my rack, so that I can go a whole day without needing to get water, just in case I end up stuck in the desert in Niger somewhere.

 

This afternoon I helped Francois send some money to his brother in Cameroon.  Earlier this week, he had got word that his 4 year old son is deathly ill.  We have been praying with him, and trying to find ways to get some money to his wife.  We were finally able to use Western Union (who took a tidy 20%!) to his brother who will take the money to the village for his wife to be able to buy medicine from the dispensary there.

 

The other thing we have been praying for is that there have been a number of viruses circulating here lately with lots of casualties.  Computer casualties.  The IT dept has been working overtime, so I decided it is not enough just to pray for health for the teachers and participants, but for our computers too.  Sounds silly, but they are essential to our work.  Between the viruses and the thunder, we need protection!

 

 

 

 

Triangles

A while back, I said (facetiously) that I would soon do an exposé on Isosolece triangles. It was never meant to happen, but due to overwhelming demand (that means you Jennette), here are some triangles that I have found around here...




Enjoy!

Ouagadougou social life...

Yesterday evening, after dinner, I went for my evening walk with Gideon, showered, had a quick pass over what the participants were working on in their groups, and then got on bike and went out on an excursion. I was invited to a "reunion de jeunesse" at the church. This is kind of like a youth-group except that "youth" in Africa generally means between 17 and 30 year-olds without kids.

There was about 15 or so young men and women there, and we had a good time singing and dancing. I absolutely love the clapping rhythms - it is incredible to me what amazing sounds can come from so many people clapping, each to a different rhythm. It is cacophonous and beautiful at the same time. The group was made up of mostly university students and included students from Togo, Cameroon, Chad and Cote d'Ivoire. I felt quite at home and enjoyed the dancing to no end.

I got back late and made some last minute revisions to my lesson for today before hitting the pillow about midnight, but got up by 6:00 to meet Paul, a friend of a friend. He is a cyclist -he was in the race on Sunday and his team did very well, apparently. He took me for a ride out of town and it was thoroughly enjoyable. We didn't go far (about 60km round-trip), but we pushed it pretty hard. He is much better than I am but was very patient with me. Wow, can I ever tell that I am getting old and that I haven't done much fast cycling recently. I was really wishing that I had my new ultra-light bike (currently in my basement in Calgary) instead the old-clunker tenspeed. I must have done alright, though, because he agreed to go for another ride on Thursday, and in fact, to make it a regular training ride!

To do the ride, I had to skip breakfast and got back only about 12 minutes before class started. A quick shower, and then slipped into class with 2 minutes to spare. Whew. It was me, teaching the first lesson, so I guess it was a good thing that I didn't get a flat tire!

This afternoon we had a special dance session. It is was a kick-off to the mandatory exercise event that I am organizing. The participants focus so much on the studies (it is pretty full on with stuff to do morning, afternoon and evening) that they forget to do anything besides walk from their rooms to the classroom. It was a successful event with everyone turning out to dance.


Not just any dance, however. "La Danse Alpha" (The Literacy Dance), as it was coined, has become a serious tradition in our course. It started one day last year, when all the participants were falling asleep in a class I was teaching. It was hot, everyone was tired, and we needed to move a little so I made everyone stand up and I led them in a little exercise based on the old camp song "Silly Willy". This is the song where you start by moving the finger and gradually add body parts until as many body parts as can be moved at the same time are all keeping time. I got them moving their fingers and then explained that "a literacy worker sometimes had to do more than one thing at once" and so we added arm-movement, then 2 arms, then I told them that "life could be very complicated with all the varying tasks" and we added legs, and that "the work would make them dizzy some times, so had better practice turning in circles", and so and so on. This was all spur of the moment, but it gave such fits of laughter that they ask for it continually ever-since.

Anyways, to start off our "Olympics", we had this special dance-session of the Danse-Alpha. I brought in speakers and cranked up some old Bony-M tunes. It was hilarious. I got them doing disco moves and all kinds of crazy stuff. A total riot. A very different kind of dancing than the previous evening, but a ton of fun, nonetheless.

This evening, Gideon and I were invited out for a party. A young British woman that works here, (she has been helping out with some logistics for our course) is going to marry a man from Chad and they will be leaving for England in 3 weeks. She and her fiancé were having a good-bye party and we got invited. Brilliant. It was a fun evening with a ton of young people (mostly international student-friends of the fiancé's) and some GREAT food. There were several Cameroonians present so Gideon and I had a grand-old time remembering "home" with them.


Lay your problems on the floor
clap your hands and sing once more:
Everybody, let's go to the "King"

We can dance there
dance and eat an ice-cream.

Bony M - Happy Song

who'd have thought?

Bicycle races are coming your way
So forget all your duties oh yeah
Fat bottomed girls they'll be riding today
So look out for those beauties oh yeah
On your marks get set go
Bicycle race bicycle race bicycle race

Queen - Bicycle race.

This morning it looked like it was going to rain again, but I had two things that I really wanted to do: a) Ride my bike (yes, I finally got it back during a break in the rain at 4:30pm).
b) Go to church.

I didn't want to wear spandex and running shoes in Church (dress-code is pretty strict here), but I also didn't want to get mud on my good pants, and it really did look like it was going to rain again. The simplest solution is to put the good set of clothes in my back-pack and head off, which I did, leaving a bit early because I wasn't entirely sure of the way.

As I approached the main-road (about half-way there), I looked up and saw a group of cyclists (read racers, not the every-day joe on a bike) go by. My heart jumped. Any other day and I would have took off and tried to make some cyclist-friends, but I was on my way to church, not out for fun. As I got closer to the road, another group went by. One of the riders waved at me. They've got nice bikes (well a lot better than my old ten-speed anyways), and helmets and riding jerseys and everything.

"Arrrghhhh... I would love to go... Aw, to heck with it. I've got to meet them."

I saw that no traffic was coming so I jammed on the pedals hard and sped across the highway, turning left to chase them down. About half-way across the road, I noticed a policeman, directing traffic and realized that he had been holding traffic back. Now there were cars coming at me. I cut the corner hard which meant that I rode right in front of him. He started blowing his whistle at me and then yelling stop!

It was at this point that I noticed that there was an escort motorbike following the bikes in front of me. It was a race, and they were going fast! With the policeman behind me right ticked off, I decided I had better not stop and that the only thing to do was to join the race. I started really giving it, hoping to jump on the back of the peleton.

It was at this point that I realized that the people lining the sides of the road weren't just Sunday-morning pedestrians, but cycling fans who had come out to watch the race. I realized this because as I started to catch up, the crowd went wild. They were cheering and screaming and laughing (you have to realize that I was wearing running shoes and an old MEC backpack full of clothes and, regretfully, my giant French Bible that must weigh 6 pounds!)

Anyways, the laughing/screaming crowd gave me energy and I closed the gap to less than 20 metres. The escort bike had noticed me by this time and moved aside so that I could move into position. However, by now we were going uphill and into a wind. I started to fall back and began to wonder if I would be able to make the back end of the peleton after all. Just then, the front of the pack made a break for it and the rest followed, leaving me gasping for wind and trying not to let my backpack weigh me down, mentally. Turns out that they were sprinting for the turn-around. 180 degree u-turn and back-down the other side of the hiway. Yikes. This was the first time I had really ridden the bike in a year and I wasn't very confident of a high-speed turnaround. With all those spectators, I decided to take it easy and push hard on the other side.

I did push hard, but there was little hope of catching the group. I kept them in my sights, but by completion of the lap, I was soaked in sweat and conceded defeat. Instead of doing the next turnaround, I just kept going to (unbeknownst to me) the finish-line! The announcer was out on the street, yelling at me into the microphone and the crowds were going crazy. I smiled and gave a victory-wave to the crowd as I crossed the line! The last 2 km to church made for a good cool-down, although I was still sweating profusely by the time I got there. Sure glad I brought a change of clothes.

When I walked into church, I was surprised to see that the service hadn't started yet. I guess the whole race incident must not have lasted more than 10 minutes, though it seemed like a lot longer than that. I sat down and started to work out what in the world had just happened. It is kind of surreal and bizarre, but then again, this is why I love Africa.

I guess I don't have to participate in the Tour de France, now (Go Sanchez!! by the way, and I see that Cadel Evans is holding steady). I have already experienced 1000's of screaming spectators cheering for me as I chase down the peleton! Today is a day I will never forget.

Thanks God!

smile... it can't rain forever...

Well, it's still raining so I thought I'd better write about some things that make me happy...

Top 10 Things that I Love about Ouagadougou!

10. Yoghurt. I don't know of anywhere else in Africa that loves yoghurt so much. Some places have home-made yoghurt in a bag. Other places sell tiny, imported tubs from France, but this is the only place that mass produces it's own yoghurt (flavoured, sweetened or natural) that you can buy in any store that has a fridge. Awesome.

9. Honesty. Thomas Sankara, the revolutionary who gave this country it's current name "Burkina Faso" which literally means "land of men with integrity". And it holds true today. I feel safer here than anywhere I have been on this continent. Of course, I still need to be a shrewd bargainer in order to get a good price, but I have no sense of the anyone being out to get me. One thing I have noticed is how genuinely happy people are to help, whether it be with advice or directions, they off er it freely and are happy to see you on y our way with just a thank you. Corruption here is minimal compared to anywhere else in the region and people are not afraid of the police.

8. Mangoes from Heaven! The sweetest, juiciest, tastiest, hugest mangoes all come from this country and they are in season NOW.

7. Have I mentioned how many bicycles are here?

6. W omen. Another thing that Sankara tried to instill in his countrymen was a profound respect for women. In a famous speech, he said

"You are our mothers, life companions, our comrades in struggle and because of this fact you should by right affirm yourselves as equal partners in the joyful victory feasts of the revolution. We must restore to humanity your true image by making the reign of freedom prevail over differentiations imposed by nature and by eliminating all kinds of hypocrisy that sustain the shameless exploitation of women."

And it wasn't just words. He campaigned to end female circumcision, changed the law so that women to request divorce, encouraged contraception, condemned polygamy, created a ministry of women with a woman in charge of it in addition to the appointment of women to positions throughout the government, and made female rights a central priority of the government! It shows today. Women here walk straighter, ride their own bikes, own and run business, look you in the eye and speak without fear.

5. Photos. People aren't angered by the taking of photos. If they don't want a photo taken of them, they smile and wave their finger, signaling no. That's it. No yelling. No demanding money in exchange, etc.

4. Salt. There is a great deal of variety in the kinds of food available on the streets of Ouagadougou, (all of which I love) and it struck me the other day that with almost all of them, you add your own salt- the one serving you will put a little pile on the side of your plate and you mix it in to your own taste. I have no idea why, but it sure is different!

3. Beauty in the dust. I like the architecture here. The people appreciate beauty, and though they have no mountains and no ocean, they make beauty appear.

2. There is a tremendous sense of cooperation here. The people know that they don't have much and that if they are going to get ahead, they need to work together. The literacy programmes are proof of what can be done with very little when people are motivated. Burkina has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world due to a lack of primary schools and the amount of poverty (less than $2 a day). However, the rate of adults who enroll in literacy classes is very high. As a class, they develop trust amongst themselves and often work together to develop an income generating project.


1. Smiles. These people have brilliant, sincere smiles making a flat dusty land with few natural resources one of the happiest places on earth. When I think of Ouagadougou, I think of the smiles. And it is contagious.

ps- Most of today's photos came from the net (flickr.com)

blah...

Listening to:  The Northern Pikes

 

Well, it has been raining non-stop for the last 5 hours and is showing now signs of stopping.  I made a runner to make it to the dining hall, but other than that, my Friday night plans are pretty much kiboshed.  Oh well, I'm tired anyways.  Class has been pretty full on for the past few days.  I have been up front a lot and it is draining since the classroom is so hot.  For some reason, there is very little air movement in there, and it just heats up (body-heat as well as solar oppression).  So, it's probably best that I just go to bed anyways. 

 

Its not all bad, though.  A great thing happened today, though.  Ice Cream!!  Well, sort of.  More like an icy sorbet, really, but it made me smile.  When people ask me what I miss from home, I usually reply, nothing.  I honestly, don't think about Canada too much.  I'm too busy enjoying life here.  I don't even know if I can say that I miss ice-cream, but I sure do love it and when I get a chance, it sure great!

 

Well, I don't have much of anything to say (as evidenced by my writing about dessert).  Here's an idea... What do you want to know about?  If you are reading this blog, what are your questions?  What do I not explain fully?  What are you curious about? 

 

Well, the internet is out due to rain, so I guess I'll send this off in the morning. 

 

OK - it is now 11:45 the next day and it is STILL RAINING!!!!  Ok - not entirely true.  It did stop this morning for about 2 and a half hours, but the internet didn't come back.  I'm glad that they at least have a generator here so that we're not without electricity too.  Not long ago, I took my bike out to get a spoke changed, but left it with the mechanic, telling him I'd be back in an hour.  Now it is raining so hard that I can't even hear the music on my computer!  I might wait a while before attempting to get my bike back.

 

A good day to read a book and enjoy the cool air!

 

quote for the day:                       Oh, the water...  Oh, the water
                                                     Oh, the water...  Hope it don't rain all day

 

                                                                    -Van Morrison:  And it stoned me.

 

life according to a schedule...

Wow, my body isn't sure what is happening.  I'm living life according to a schedule again.

 

Meals are served impeccably on time, and I do my best to make sure that class hours are kept.  One of the most ironic things is that I, Steve, am in charge of keeping everything on schedule!!!!  Class is from 8:30 till 12:30 (including coffee break) and then 2:30 till 4:30.  I invented a "generousity box" which late- comers are asked to contribute  25 cents to if they are late, or if their cell phone beeps during class.  Of course everyone claps for the "generousity" of the late comer and the embarrassment is a very good deterrent.  If they only knew that I didn't make it to a single class on time during 4 years of undergrad education!

 

After dinner, I have time for a walk with Gideon, my Cameroonian colleague.  We start out talking-over our lesson plans but  somehow get sidetracked to African politics every time.  I really appreciate my time with him because he has some excellent insights into culture.  (He is the literacy coordinator in a part of Cameroon that is VERY different than one he grew up in, and is now experiencing other African countries (like Burkina) and the cultures of our participants at the same time that I am). 

 

When we get back from our exploration of the neighborhood , I go check on the group projects that the participants work on in their evenings.  It is always fun to listen-in while they discuss the day's lessons and how they apply to particular situations.  I would love to stay and eavesdrop longer, but I need to get back to my room and make sure that I have everything ready for next-week's lessons.  I'm so glad that we have internet access here so that I can do a little more research.  After writing down some thoughts for a Blog, it is time to head to bed already.  6am comes early when the sun peeks in my room and calls me for a run before the temps get too hot. 

 

What kind of adventure is this anyways?  Not much of one when your day is all planned out for you...

 

Ah, but that is where you are wrong.  Life here is always an adventure.  Just when you think that things are going according to schedule, the photocopier breaks down and you need to run out and scour the neighborhood for a store or office that can make 300 copies right away, which tends to be a difficult thing in the middle of a thundershower!! 

 

Then, there is the surprise staff-meeting which everyone votes to have in your room.  (That's what I get for having the best snacks around!).   Then, while walking in the evening, you discover a lady selling some form of food that you have never seen before... Hmmmm.... gotta try it.

 

Sometimes the adventure is in the little unexpected events of the day.  The best part, though, is interrogating the participants during breaks and meal-times about the road-conditions between different towns, cities and countries.  Planning my next great adventure!!

 

ps - I got my bike back today (had left it with a friend after the course finished last year) and I'm super excited.  This little-old ten speed (second hand from the Ouagadougou market) has no idea what it is in for!!

favourites...

Well, the first day has come and gone. I am now relaxing in my dorm-room, listening to Bedouin Soundclash on iTunes and enjoying the overhead fan set on high. It is 8:00 pm and the temperature has cooled down to a beautiful 27C, but the breeze is still welcome. The best part of my day was the arrival of one of the participants.

It was a real joy when Halmassad walked into the classroom at about 3:00 this afternoon. He was 7 hours late for class, but that didn't matter to anyone in the room. We were all just really happy to see him.

Halmassad is a muslim man from a nomadic group of peoples in a country near here. His journey is a 3-day trip on public transport, plus however far he has to travel by Camel to get to a centre that has public transportation!! I'm not kidding. That is where he lives - amongst nomadic camel herders!

One of my brightest students, Halmassad has an extraordinarily deep love for his own people. There is very little written in his language, but Halmassad has been working to change this. He is the author of a many books on many subjects, all aimed at helping his people. He travels constantly, meeting with different groups of families as they move their herds around the desert and teaching them the skills they need to read and write.

His people have been in the news in the past few decades mostly because of their rebel movement which struggles (often violently) with the government which makes decisions about their region with little or no input from the local people. The rebels consider themselves to be oppressed and under attack from those who run the government.

Of course Halmassad is not his real name, nor could I include photos of him or the people he works with. This is a sensitive subject and I don't want to endager him or his work. At one point, Halmassad was jailed after being accused of helping in the rebellion, but he has dedicated his life to bringing change to his people by teaching them how to communicate with the other peoples in the country. He is crusading for empowerment through the the pen instead of the gun.

And it is working. Many people (including women) are beginnning to read in their language and then making the jump to writing in the majority language of the country. His people have not known peace for a long time, and Halmassad sees literacy as the key to bringing it to them.

Apart from the fact that he can drive a camel and a 4WD, write fluently in 3 languages, navigate the internet and the waterholes, and teach a group of nomads to change their situation through the power of writing, Halmassad is still my favourite student. He is quiet and reflective. He waits for everyone else to give their point of view (sometimes on a very heated subject), and then he proceeds to explain how the differing views have their merits and why somewhere in the middle is probably a wiser approach. He is a true peace-maker, a lover of his language and his people - a real visionary and man of action.

A short time ago, we were worried that Halmassad would not be able to attend part 2 of the course. First of all because there was a lack of funding for him to come (funding cuts around the world have been severe over the past 12 months), and then more recently due to a very serious bout of illness. We were relieved to hear that the Doctor cleared him to come (on the proviso that he doesn't exert himself too much). He told me that he wouldn't miss it for the world!

Is it wrong to have a favourite? I don't know, but I do know that I am praying a lot for Almassad. You don't meet people like him every day!!

$2 a day

Well, this is it.  Tomorrow we start!!  I'm super excited.  Most of the participants have arrived.  We are just waiting on those coming from Central African Republic and DRC.  Thank you for praying. 

 

Today, the dining hall opened up and it was such fun to come to each meal and find more and more people have arrived.  It was like an ongoing reunion-party all day long, with lots of hugs, cries of joy, and so much laughter.  There is such a strong bond between this group, I remember now, why I believe that these training courses are so important.  It is the cross-polonization of minds as each participant drinks in the experiences of all the others!  Today was, for me, a little taste of what heaven will be like... Jumping up again and again to welcome old friends to join in the feasting!

 

According to several independent groups, around 85% of Burkinabés live on $2 a day or less of income!  (http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/country_profiles/eco_cou_854.pdf)

 

Incredible.  Since the dining hall hasn't been open till today, I have been eating food from the street for the past few days and gave myself the challenge of seeing if I can survive on $2/day.  My love for food didn't allow me to skip meals or even skimp on the amounts, so I ate well from Friday to Monday, but I am happy to say that I was able to average $1.75 Cdn per day (except for Sunday when I had supper twice because my Cameroonian colleague arrived late in the evening and I took him to my favourite Senegalese eating spot).

 

I was feeling kind of proud of myself until I realized that the statistic is living on $2/day, not eating $2/day.  I wasn't counting the fact that my lodging is already paid for (including water, electricity, internet) nor the fact that a Burkinabé man should be saving for a new pair of shoes, a bicycle, and books for his child's education.  It is a good thing that lots of them can grow some of their food!

 

Wow.  I have a whole new respect for these people.  I wonder how increased food prices will affect them over the coming months (the price of rice has already nearly doubled here in Ouagadougou).  When I talk with the Burkinabés about how they will survive, one thing keeps coming up.  "We share".  Those who have a little bit more are required, by cultural constraints, to help their family members who don't have as much.  Voluntary communism.  Hmmm.

 

I am continually humbled by this place, no these people.   It is the poorest country I have been to, and yet the people have the most integrity and most sincere smiles of anywhere.  Not to mention, one of the most wide-spread grassroots literacy programs anywhere!  They are an inspiration. 

 

 

World of Wheels...

When I was younger, I had a set of questions that I would use to break the ice with people. I would often just say out of the blue: Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if the circle had never been invented?




















I never really gave it much thought, it was just a silly question that helped in those awkward -silence type situations. The last couple of days here in Ouagadougou, I have found a new appreciation for the circle.

The people here absolutely depend on the wheel. It makes sense. A flat dusty country with few resources, vast open spaces and a hot sun that saps the energy. Is it any wonder that the bicycle has flourished here like no other country in Africa.

In fact bikes are so prolific here that there are very few taxis because everyone goes by bike. And I do mean everyone. Old, and young alike. They certainly don't let dresses impede them from getting around. Those who can afford it upgrade to moped or
motorbike (though I have yet to see anything more than 125cc). If long distances are needed, they simply put the bikes on top of the buses or minivans which run up and down all the main roads of the country. Arriving close to their destination, they get out, bring the bike down and then ride off to where-ever it is they are going. Brilliant.

Not surprisingly, the "Tour de Faso" is considered Africa's premier cycling event and is put on by the same organisation that does the Tour de France!


Is it any wonder that I love this place?


This afternoon I met two guys that lost use of the legs as children (from Polio), but they had bikes too! We had lunch together, and although life is by no means easy for them, they are not left to beg as in many other cultures.

In addition to bicycles, the Burkinabé people use wheels for lots of other things... like shoe-stores, restaurants, and hard-ware shops! Donkeys pull the loads that are too heavy for humans. Today, while searching for something scrumptious for lunch, I came across a blacksmith shop that used a little wheel rigged up to his bellows. His little son turned the wheel and kept the fire hot while he worked!



Thank God for the circle.





























So, the challenge for today... Can you count how many wheels are in the photos attached to today's blog?


























ps - Tune in tomorrow for a riveting exposé of the isosolece triangle!

home

Burkina Faso!

I absolutely LOVE to travel, yet somehow, there is something really enjoyable about settling in somewhere and unpacking your bags. The SIL centre here in Ouagadougou feels like “home”. It is just plan nice. Also, having good internet access and a phone make me feel like I’m connected to the world again after 2 weeks of travel.

Of course the itch to explore hasn’t gone away… As soon as I got the internet up and running, I started looking at maps, and making potential plans for my bike trip. It is hard to concentrate on preparing for the course, though, so I am trying to keep that in the back of my head.

The first participants will arrive Sunday, and all should be here by Tuesday for a Wednesday start. I have quite a bit to do the first week, so I need to buckle down. Right now, (or what I would be doing right now, if I wasn’t writing this blog) I am struggling to find a good way to discuss the role of a literacy worker in relation to politics and NGOs, particularly in being an advocate for the language and the people. Hmmm…. I might try some case-studies. It’s kind of a heavy subject for the first day, but then again, it’s not like we have a lot of really easy light stuff to start off with. It’s complex, important stuff all month long!

At the end of next week, I am going to running a special workshop on diagnosing reading problems and that is taking up the majority of my brain-power since I want it to be really helpful for them. This will be one of my biggest contributions this year.

Ps – just in case you thought I was suffering from missing Ethiopian food, you’d be sorely mistaken. Since I’ve been here, I’ve enjoyed Foutou with peanut sauce (Ivorian and Ghanaian cuisine), Tchep (Senagalese Cuisine), Attieke (from my region of the Ivory Coast), and several Burkinabé specialties including mangos that way close to 2 kilograms each! Although, it is not “fine dining” here, I love it for it’s unsophisticatedly strong tastes and the community feeling of eating “on the street”. You just choose one of the many tables that line a street and ask what they have. If you like it, you say how much you want (ie. 50 cents worth please, or 25 cents of millet and 1 dollar’s worth of chicken, etc). Then you sit down on a bench with others enjoying the same food and wish them “bon appetite”.

early...

When I got on the plane this morning, I was sad to leave Ethiopia behind. There is so much unexplored, untapped adventure just waiting to be discovered. I have decided that I will DEFINITELY be going back. However, at the same time, I was really excited about going to visit Peter and George. They are some of my favourite people in the world. They work for GILLBT, one of the best literacy-providing organisations in Africa (http://www.unesco.org/uil/literacyprogrammes/05_en.html)

Sometimes you have to hit the ground running. My plane arrived in Accra at 1:30pm, I left the airport by shortly after 2:00. I immediately caught a taxi to the Burkina Faso Embassy. Technically, you have to drop your paperwork off in the morning and then pick it up again in the afternoon, but I filled out the paperwork and begged them to let me get it done today. I left the paperwork and my passport while I ran (literally) to a bank, pulled out some money, then to a ForEx office to change the Ghana Cedis into US dollars, then back to the Embassy. Whew. I was out of breath, but by 3:30, I had the visa and I headed to the bus-station! Who says things can’t happen quickly in Africa?

I was itching to get the 12-hour journey to Tamalé underway. Since I got my Burkina visa in less than an hour (rather than waiting the 24 that I was supposed to), I skipped the Accra Guesthouse and went straight to Tamalé. Well, kind of straight.

Turns out that busses for Tamale only leave in the morning, so I bought a ticket for Kumasi (half-way) leaving at 6pm and arriving at 1am. That way I could take the Kumasi-Tamalé bus in the morning and be several hours ahead. However, around midnight I fell asleep at the back of the bus and some other passengers woke me up a couple-hundred kms past where I was supposed to get off. I was in a small town called Sunyani, (the blue square on the map), and they assured me that I could catch a bus back to Kumasi in the morning. I spent the night in the station, but decided it would be better to see if I could catch a bus direct from Sunyani to Tamalé instead of back-tracking. Sure enough, you can go back-roads to Tamalé, but the bus only goes on Mondays. I kept asking and found out that another transport company does that trip daily, so I took a taxi to a different bus-station, and got on the bus there, putting me into Tamalé before noon!


George, it turns out, is in London, taking a course, so I didn't get to see him, but it was great to see Peter again. He is doing really well, but GILLBT is seems to be struggling. Basically, they have got almost no literacy grants. The Western World is going into oil shock and not wanting to give up any money. Ghana is now considered to be in much less need than other places (in some ways valid, but it also offers a much better ROI due to the progress they have made). Anyways, due to cuts, most of the literacy staff has either been let-go or quit, which leaves a huge burden on Peter. He was very gracious in showing me around his offices, introducing me to people, and even took me home to meet his family. They are having their AGM in a week's time, and I could see that he was under some serious stress, so I decided not to stay long. I told him that I was going to leave first thing in the morning, and I think I read some relief in his eyes. Gee I love that guy. Hopefully next year we can coordinate time a little better and have some time to just relax together.

From Tamalé, you take a mini-bus for 200k, then a taxi for 70k, walk accross the border and catch a bus the remaining 300k to Ouaga. I got here about 4 pm. As I walked in the gate, I was greeted with shrieks of laughter. Cathy had just been telling Bea that she didn't know when I would show up - that it would be a surprise. And so it was! I was a day and a half ahead of my earliest projection (mostly because I got my visa and left Accra on the same day I arrived). Surprise. Late to Ethiopia, early to Burkina. Crazy.

the church...

Another day with Bini – awesome. Since we couldn’t go to Lalibella, we asked him to take us to a church on a mountain on the outskirts of town - After a friendly cup of machiato, of course.

We arrived at the Ethiopian Orthodox church with a sense of awe. It was obviously crafted with great care and love. In the expansive courtyard, several priests were going about their duties, and worshipers were coming and going, genuflecting and praying quietly to themselves. In another area, people were busy preparing something and Bini told us that there was going to be a funeral. The church was 160 years old and made mostly of stone.

Bini arranged a guide for us and told us that the original church was actually located at the peak of the mountain. It turns out that the church we were observing was actually a relocation of the original church which happened to be built over 700 years ago!!!! (The guide said 1700, but I know have since learned that it was built in the early 1200s). For perspective, Notre Dame in Paris was completed in 1345, St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome was completed in 1626 (less than 400 years ago), shortly after Canada was discovered. Christianity has been strong in Ethiopia since the 4^th century, and so in a sense, though, the guide was right. “The church” has been here for 1700 years!

After a 40 minute hike up the mountain, we were all breathing a little heavy (the climb wasn’t strenuous, but we started at well over 8000ft. The original church was worth the sweat. It is what they call a monolithic church, being excavated underground from a single piece of granite. It was completely intact and still used until 1936 when it was bombed by the Italians during the war. The roof collapsed and over 400 people died. Wow, what a tragedy. Of course the ruins were still interesting, but it was amazing to imagine what it was like before. Apparently, the monolithic churches in Lalibella are all still intact.

The whole experience was very encouraging. Thinking about how Christ has been worshiped for so many centuries in their own style and language was very humbling, and yet exciting. It is the kind of thing that I pray people will find when they visit the church in Abengourou, or Batouri or Lomié, 500 years from now. (Not the ruins, but the evidence of a rock-solid faith that is embedded in local culture and language).

On our way back into town, we met Hewit at Samaritan’s Purse where she works. I was very impressed with their work in Ethiopia and with the quality of staff that they had (Hewit included). I had a chat with the director about the possibility of me joining Samaritan’s Purse, and he was very encouraging.

Of course, since it was my last night, we went for some exceptional Ethiopian food at a Kitfo restaurant. Wow. It is hard not to think that it would be a LOT of fun to live and work in Ethiopia. Why do I find so many places in the world to be so fascinating? Oh-well, I guess it is time to say goodbye… It has been a great, relaxing vacation. I am so grateful to Tanya, Hewit and Bini for such a great time, but sad it had to come to an end.