movement on home & work fronts

Thursday I met with the gardener, Moussa & his brother. They came at 9am, and we chatted for an hour about what I wanted in my garden, we came up with an estimate, I paid my deposit – and within 10 minutes the weed clearing started, by noon, the topsoil & compost were delivered by donkey (!) and so the work continues – they thought they’d have most of it in today! And in fact, by the time I left the house at 9:30, a good part of the garden was planted. Its amazing how some things can be done so very quickly (one wonders if they had the team of people and the donkey cart waiting just outside the gate while we talked…) and yet trying to work in the hospital takes weeks!

The cost of my garden, which includes 2 months of labor plus topsoil & compost, and the plants - papaya, cherimoya, pomegranate trees, ground cover, bougainvillea, and a vegetable garden (tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, chili, green pepper, zucchini, basil, onion), and a compost pile for me – will be about $140.

Friday morning, we finally met with the director of pediatrics – yay! And we will propose a work plan to him tomorrow morning, with us at first rotating through the pediatrics (1/2 time), maternity & internal medicine (1/4) and peripheral centers (1/4). Plus, meetings etc with lab, pharmacy, etc. And my plan is that within that, we will start identifying new patients and hopefully start with a one day a week transitional clinic for new HIV patients (without a pediatrician) too. I am glad to finally have some movement. He warned us in strident terms that there are very many problems, at all levels from both lack of funds, and to a certain extent poor use of the funds that are available. And that children are generally excluded from HIV planning in this country. Not to mention health planning in general – despite the fact that 48% of the population is under the age of 18!

My first impressions of the hospital… well, the grounds are really nice, wide covered pathways, with several 3 story buildings, some flowers etc. on the grounds. The inside of the children’s ward had that particular African hospital smell that reminded me of the Mbarara hospital, and there were patients waiting everywhere to be seen. The patient rooms (which we looked at as we went by) have rows of 6 beds, and at least this morning seemed to only have 1 patient per bed. This will be really tough. But I’m excited to get started. More later!

By the way – in response to a comment – “ARVs” are anti-retrovirals, or HIV drugs for the non-physicians in the bunch (I try to use normal English but it doesn’t always work out! If I’m not making sense, let me know.)

Another attempt at photos from the trip… its been a bad few internet days Along the highway we passed a dozen of these “bush taxis” – impossibly overloaded, with 4 rows of seats, 4-5 people in each and often 2 in the front. And an incredible array of stuff piled on the roof. Like this bush taxi, its common to see one or more motos, some bikes, wheelbarrows, and assorted furniture piled precariously on the roof.

The second photo is another classic Burkina shot… I was trying to take a picture of the gas station with its gas in used pop bottles (on the left hand edge) but also caught this van – notice the upside down chickens (they're the feathery things at the front & in the middle)?! Apparently, hanging upside down is the preferred way to transport one’s chickens, as it stuns them and they hang quietly there for the duration of the voyage, in this case flanked by sacks of potatoes, bicycles and goodness knows what else.

images of Burkina

This is the first of the photos I wanted to include last time… today is still slow, so I'll insert just the first one.
Driving through Ouagadougou is fascinating because it gives a glimpse of everyday Burkinabé life… from the fancy looking billboards, to the ubiquitos green taxis, bikes and motos, to the water delivery wagons (bottom left hand corner), this photo is a snapshot of a normal streetcorner, like a thousand others. The red dirt is ubiquitous and penetrating.

I got more food & necessities of life today... its such a pain not having transportation here! But I'm slowly collecting the things that I need for life here. Each time I go to town, I return with an armload of stuff. The four of us are the only foreigners in town (besides the Peace Corps volunteers) who don’t have cars or motos. In fact, everyone asks us if we’re with Peace Corps, as they assume that anyone foreigner who gets around on foot / taxi must be with them.

Our "fixer", M. Cobre was meeting with Onatel (the phone company) today to see what needed to be done to "help" our phones get connected - we will give him a little money "for gas for his moto". As an aside, M. Cobre is a fascinating older man maybe in his 60s or thereabouts) - clearly not wealthy but always elegantly dressed, and totally on top of getting things done - he found 2 of our 4 houses for us, and will be working for Leah & Dustin, while his daughter will work for Suzanne. His French is really hard to understand (between the 4 of us, we often only get 2/3 of what he says), and I think he sees us as as a bit helpless. His services have been invaluable.

Anyhow, I'd better get back to work - I have a fair amount to do today for a change! Its good to be busier again, though I also want to make sure I keep some balance. Its harder to keep balance here with not as many distractions, no movies, few friends, rarely go out at night…. that makes it easier, since if to work all the time I don't feel like I’m missing out on things as much.

The bus ride home

Well, after a whirlwind few days, we’re back home again. Despite being in the big city, the only place we ate in Ouaga was the hotel restaurant & room service – the food was better this time than before, but still totally overpriced. But every night we were just too wiped out to want to go out. And also, no one wanted to leave the in-room internet access – its such as switch from our daily trek to the internet café!

After a disrupted sleep (don’t ask), I dragged myself out of bed and to the breakfast buffet… to enjoy one last pain chocolat before returning to Bobo. We checked out, which takes a surprisingly long time, and flagged the taxi. He was surprised we were going from the Sofitel to the bus station. No one goes between the Sofitel and the bus station. So, the 5 of us (minus Dustin, who is away on a business trip) crammed into a taxi for 4 and off we went, our driver trying to convince us that next time we go to Bobo we should rent his SUV, for 40,000CFA each way. The bus cost us 11,000CFA each, so 55,000 for the round trip in total. But in retrospect – the rental SUV would be worth it! Next time, we’re doing what the other NGO’s do: rent a car or fly.

We pulled up to the bus terminal, and the car was surrounded by people trying to “help” us – for a fee, of course. We scuttled around to the back of the car and grabbed our bags without letting anyone touch them… the “helpers” will sometimes try to take you bags right out of your hands if you’re not aggressive enough and then of course feel they deserved to be paid regardless of whether you wanted or needed their help. Although I am sure there are some pickpockets and petty criminals, I once felt grateful that Burkina is generally so safe, while we were in the crowd of people. We made our way into the terminal and there are no signs, no waiting areas, no one to ask for directions… but we asked a few people and stood with the other more nicely dressed people and eventually the air conditioned bus pulled in. At least, we paid an extra 1000CFA for an air conditioned bus. After we got on, it became clear that while it was certainly a bus with an airconditioner, this feature wasn’t actually working. So, bus loaded, we drove to the bus yard to sit for 45 minutes while they fixed the air conditioning. We finally left Bobo and shortly thereafter were stopped at a checkpoint, and the police started going through the luggage compartments… again, yay Burkina – in most places in West Africa, this process is one in which the police always find a few people who’s documents (or something) are not in order, and for the bus to continue, a fee must be paid. But here in Burkina, the police inspected the bus, and we were on our way.

Along the highway we passed a dozen of these “bush taxis” – impossibly overloaded, with 4 rows of seats, 4-5 people in each and often 2 in the front. And an incredible array of stuff piled on the roof. Its common to see one or more motos, some bikes, wheelbarrows, and assorted furniture piled precariously on the roof.

Despite the occasional interesting vehicle or village, the scenery is fairly monotonous and absolutely flat for most of the 5 hour drive… red dirt, trees, puddles and the occasional pond, with cows and goats here and there. We stopped in Boromo at the big bus station; the specialties of the bus station in Boromo are sesame snacks, bagnés, eggs (either hard boiled or an omelet sandwhich), bright orange drink that looked like fanta in coke bottles, baggies of water and ginger juice and onions. Piles and piles of onions. More onions than all the rest put together, its really odd. It was pouring rain, so as the vendors approached the windows and leaned in the door and shouted “madame, madame, cent francs cent francs” which is the price of several of the items. It doesn’t matter who you buy from, there’s always another girl suggesting you need to buy some from her too…

It was nice to be home, make a big bowl of soup and fall into my bed… I slept for 13 hours! And finally was able to put away my clothes with the hangers purchased the day before we left. And joy of joys, I finally unpacked, washed and used my espresso machine today. It was such a treat to have good, dark roast coffee this morning. Yum.

We’re hoping to have internet connected at home before to long – which will be good, as this daily trip to the internet café is getting old. Today is a slow day, and I have lots to upload & download so the photos I was going to include have been canceled. Next time, in shallah. Speaking of home, I’ll attach photos of my house on the next entry. (too many photos at a time makes it impossibly slow).

the end of leisure

After some very laid back weeks, suddenly I feel like I've returned (somewhat unwillingly) to my previous pace of life... the last 5 days have been really busy!

Monday night I moved, at 9pm, after hourly calls to the guy who was supposed to bring my keys, from 5pm onwords... its great to be partially unpacked, and to be settling into a home again after 3 months of living in suitcases.

Wednesday we took the bus back up to Ouaga (pictured in the photo), a 5 hour ride that even in the air conditioned bus wasn't, well, cool... I've realized that Bobo is really much nicer than Ouaga!!

Thursday & Friday we met with the Ministry of Health, and much to the frusteration of the BIPAI staff who have had many meetings with the Burkinabe ministry of health before found themselves having to re-explain everything about the project as if it were new information. However, after a shaky start, people seemed to become more enthusiastic. We put together a list of our learning and work objectives for the next few months (focusing on what we need to learn to truely integrate into the Burkinabe health care system - and ensuring that we send the message that we do respect their expertise and programs) and I spend several hours translating into French... then had to give a 15 minute presentation on it. In French. Did I mention that the last time I did any public speaking in French was in 1989!?! Talk about nerve wracking... I'm sure I sounded a bit like a dull teenager in my language choice... but despite that, they clearly appreciated the effort for me to present in French (the chair even joked that since I presented in French, then all the questions therefore should be in English!) and we had some good and, I hope, fruitful discussion about next steps.

Hopefully next week we'll be meeting with the hospital director, pediatrics director and a number of other relevant players to sort out our work for the next while. Likely to be a combination of some general peds, with identification of HIV+ kids and starting to recruit for our transitional clinic (which will be at the very least HIV & TB). We will also be working on getting to know the various NGOs and other stakeholders (did I really just use "stakeholders" in a sentance... clearly the JHSPH brainwashing worked...).

Anyhow, overall some positive movement. And we also met with the UNICEF Country Director for Burkina, who has as one of her main goals to support the rollout of pediatric ARVs, including training etc. So that should be a great partnership!

We've been really enjoying having good internet access for a few days here at the sofitel... tomorrow its back to the internet cafe again sadly. One of the tasks for next week is to see what needs to be done to "help" get our phone lines going.

Anyhow, more later. Take care! L.

Moving day (?)

Well, I think today is moving day, as long as the hot water heater is replaced, the blown fuse repaired and the broken light fixtures replaced. Guingane, who is the "fixer," went through everything with me this morning and when we left the house the plumbers were there installing the new water heater. Now I have to face the task of squashing everything back into my suitcases again. ugh. But I am really looking forward to unpacking and having a place for everything.

This photo is one I tried to post earlier when the blog wasn't working well. It is the 6 of us in our shared temporary house, at our first meal together. We've been taking turns cooking dinner most days. I am the first one to move out of the shared house. Tomorrow, I think work will begin on my room to install air conditioners for Suzanne who will be staying there.

I have found a new internet cafe, that has a faster connection - and wireless yet! - and so uploading photos may become more doable.... now i just have to take some photos! Anyhow, I'll let you know if I'm actually able to move.
L.

moving preparations

Well, my lease is signed, my deposit has been given, and the house is almost ready to go… except the electricity.  I made the application to have the electricity turned on, but if you don’t do something to “help the process along” then you will be without electricity a very long time.  So, Guingane, the helper of my landlord, has been doing what needs to be done to turn on the electricity as that is all that is standing between me and my new home.  I fear we may have to embark on the same process to get the phone hooked up.  I may be meeting with someone today to interview her for the job of helping me with laundry, cleaning, cooking – but above all laundry.  Hand washing my clothes is another non-strength of mine!  Families often have a couple people to help with those things (one cook, one cleaner, one laundry person) but as I am one person living alone, I certainly don’t need all that!  If someone would just go to the market for me, I’d be all set…

Dana & I went shopping Saturday, to get some of the necessities of life… cutlery, bowls, a water filter, buckets.  Most of it we bought in a fixed price store, but the buckets I had to bargain for in the market.  So far, bargaining is not my strength.  My friends tell me you just have to know how much you’re willing to pay… but how on earth do you know what a fair price for things are? That’s what I can never sort out.  I do know that the price is always inflated for us, “les blancs”.  We certainly attract more attention in groups than singly.

The internet café is becoming our home away from home.  The staff all know us, and are becoming sources of advice for whats going on around town.  We each spend an hour or more most days there… its become a big part of our daily routine, the trek into town with our computers to connect to the outside world.  We are all really looking forward to being able to check email from home.  That may be a month away though!

I’m learning that although I generally avoided bringing white clothes here, beige pants & skirts aren’t a good idea here.  Many days we get caught out in the rain, and with the rain comes this pervasive red mud that is really tough to wash out of beige or light coloured clothes.  So for those coming to visit, bring darker coloured or patterned clothes that won’t show red mud. 

Well, I think I’ll sign off there – not much interesting to say, as things are pretty routine right now.  But next week we’ll be going to Ouaga and hopefully after that we’ll get to start work.  Take care & keep in touch.

 

And then it rained.

So, you know how I wrote that the farmers were in distress because it wasn’t raining?  Well, the last 4 days have made up for it.  Life here just stops when it rains for most people.  On Monday afternoon, I headed out on foot for the 20 minute walk to my house… not even 5 minutes into the walk, the heavens opened up.  Horizontal rain, coming down so hard, I could hardly walk… by the time I arrived at the meeting I looked rather like a bedraggled wet rat, soaked and splattered with red mud.  It rained for an hour.  Then, yesterday morning I had every intention of leaving for the internet at 8am, to get on with my day… but the torrential downpour started at 0400 and continued through ‘til noon.  And now, as I write, the rain is coming down, and the sun is setting so the light is that beautiful twilight that is very soft, but at the same time strangely distinct.

Today, I finally gave my deposit on my house.  I am trying desperately to extract my rent from Bank of America (its my money!) and have it sent here… Joanna is helping me out, thank goodness.  Otherwise I may be homeless!  But its been another exercise in frustration and the American system….

Tuesday Dana, Allison & I decided to take advantage of our leisure time and explore a bit more of Bobo Dioulasso.  We walked for about 2 hours, and made some great discoveries like the teak furniture store, a seed shop for veggies, and the pottery neighbourhood.  But really, what was really enjoyable was just seeing more of daily life of Bobo, away from the touts downtown who harass us all the time (though already that is getting less).  Women walking with incredible loads of vegetables on their heads, girls of 7 or 8 helping their mother sell corn with a baby strapped to their back, bicycles passing by with impossible loads (like the guy who was carrying a 15 foot length of pipe).  A crowd of little kids running up to us yelling “Toubabu! Toubabu!” and wanting to shake our hands.  There are an incredible number of small merchants here, small stalls stuffed with all sorts of crazy things.  We wonder sometimes who actually buys anything when most people have so little formal employment… but there are literally hundreds of sellers of cell phone recharge cards – one every 50m or sometimes more!

Some of the things I’d hoped to get here may prove to be tough to find, but other things that we thought would be a problem are plentiful.  So I lugged my good frying pan all the way from Baltimore only to find a whole t-fal section of the grocery store here!  And yet a ceramic candle water filter has proven much more elusive. 

Thanks to all those who have been writing & leaving comments! I love getting emails & comments from people, it makes me feel much more connected.

A couple photos

The blogging program hasn't been working very well... but I am going to attempt to add a couple photos - I really am here in Africa!

Here I am in the van on the way to Bobo with all of our stuff – we had 2 vans piled high with suitcases and boxes (photo taken by David Jones).





The next photo is Dana, Suzanne and myself at the COE site – we will have the groundbreaking next week.

Today, I am going to give my deposit on my house. I am trying desperately to extract my rent from Bank of America (its my money!) and have it sent here… Joanna is helping me out, thank goodness. Otherwise I may be homeless! But its been another exercise in frustration and the American system….

Anyhow, more later. Thanks to all those who have been writing! I love getting emails & comments from people.

So, are you there to work, or what?...

A number of people have asked me about work, and when we are starting.  Inshallah, we will start after our meetings with the Ministry of Health on Sept 7-8 and the official groundbreaking for the COE building on Sept 9^th… that’s the plan, any how.  We can’t start to work until our Memorandum of Agreement is modified to include what exactly us 4 physicians are doing (and to specify in part that we’re not just here to increase the numbers of pediatricians doing general peds care, but that we’re here specifically to look after kids with HIV and TB.

 

As far as BIPAI is concerned, after Sept 9^th, the plan is for us to start working in the general pediatric clinic, identify the first HIV infected kids and get to know the hospital.  While we do that, we’ll hopefully find a space in the hospital that we can use (+/- renovations) for our “transitional clinic”.  Once the transitional clinic is up and running, we will restrict ourselves to looking after HIV patients, +/- pediatric TB patients, as this is supposed to be a Center of Excellence for Pediatric HIV, TB and malaria… how we’re supposed to work the latter into an outpatient clinic I’m not totally sure.

 

Part of our role at first will be in building relationships with the local physicians, clinic staff, NGOs etc.  One of the important premises of BIPAI is that we are not there to steal staff away from government jobs (contributing in a way to brain drain). So each country has a policy that people already working for the government are ineligible to work for us.  And the staff get paid about the same that they would be making working for a government hospital. (in the spirit of full disclosure, that rule doesn’t apply to us… we will be getting paid much more than the local physicians although at a rate much lower than we would expect to make at home).

 

Another important part of our job is to provide continuing education for local health care workers, to improve their skills in managing kids with HIV.

 

Of course, this is all pretty theoretical… it will be interesting to see how we can make this come to life.  It’s a huge responsibility to be starting this from scratch, without even a local country director or anything. Just us. Its exciting but… what a challenge it will be.  And that’s without taking into account that we’re working in one of the most resource poor settings, in a health care system that is seriously underfunded with nowhere near the numbers of health care workers that are needed.  And not even mentioning the clinical challenges of being a brand new attending!

 

So, now that the housing is more or less settled, I’ll be spending part of every day learning Djoula so I can talk with some of the patients (and go to the market!), and part of the day reading and studying to prepare.  And then continue the emailing, and other settling in things we need to do.

 

Once we start working, I will talk more about it… but for now, it’s a matter of getting to know the place, and getting settled.

 

On culture shock

First of all, a reminder of my contact info (if anyone has an urge to write a real letter or send any care packages – apparently air mail takes 3-4 weeks, surface mail 6-12 months)…

Laura Sauve

01 BP 1243

Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

 

And my phone number is +226-76-12-61-61; we are 4 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time, 7 hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time.  There are some cheap phone cards available in Canada and the US.

 

 

I just read a great book – “The Sex Lives of Cannibals: adrift in the Equatorial Pacific” (its actually a bit worrisome that I have already finished 2 of my 8 books and its only week 3!)… anyhow, this book is about an American couple who go and live in Kiribati, which is an isolated Pacific Island country.  The author progresses through the stages of acclimatizing to the Pacific and culture shock (including the difficulties of returning home) and his way of describing it is very funny – and I can relate.  Sitting here on the veranda, looking at the frangipani tree and other bushes in the yard, hearing roosters crowing and drums in the distance, I could imagine I was in the Pacific again… but then, the drumming fades and I can hear the muzein call the faithful to prayer at 1pm – definitely not the Pacific! Its funny how after the months that I spent in the French Pacific (about 11-12 months in total between the different trips), that part of the world seems so normal to me.  In time I will probably feel like that here.

 

Here in Burkina Faso I am still in the absolutely lost stage of culture shock.  I now know how to get by shared taxi – there’s always room for one more! – to the internet café, the post office and the market, as well as the tubab (foreigner) market (“Marina Market”) with expensive imported items from (where else) France.  But the social conventions, the fitting in part – not so much.  I am seen as enough of a new foreigner that all the neighborhood hawkers that hang out in front of Marina Market pounce on me whenever I walk by. Unfortunately for me, they hang out in front of a place I walk by fairly often.  At first I tried to be polite and just smile and say “no”… but somehow that seems to encourage them.  But if you ignore them completely, they chase after you and call you an ugly racist. Ugh. But I’ve noticed that they ignore the toubabs who have obviously been here for a while (I guess as a lost cause).

 

There are very many beggar children.  More than I’ve seen anywhere else before; I guess this shouldn’t be a surprise in the 3^rd poorest country in the world and I’ve mostly spent time in “middle-income” countries.  I can’t walk 10m without being accosted by another one.  Some are so thin, so dirty, so hungry. It breaks my heart.  But if you give anything to one, you get absolutely hounded for more.  And the money may not go to their own food but to a grown-up’s pocket anyhow.

 

I am hoping that once we get working, we will meet our colleagues in the hospitals and in the other NGOs.  Getting to know people and working should help us start to feel more established.  It will also help my conscience to start doing something to help the children of Burkina Faso.  The other pressing issue is that I need to start learning Djula.  That is the key to being able to talk with the women in the market, and in the taxis, etc.

 

I’ve acquired a funny friendship with one of the boys in town.  Mohammed sells postcards to tourists; on different days, he’s told me he’s saving for school fees, bike repairs and soccer shoes.  It doesn’t matter where I am downtown, Mohammed tracks me down.  Sometimes he unfortunately brings with him a crowd of bigger teenagers, which I hate.  But since the other day after his friends were harassing us and I finally swore at them and told them to take off – including Mohammed – he’s been less intrusive and has kept the bigger kids away.  He came with me to the market yesterday and “helped” me find things (though it was easier on my own) and then we went to the toubab market to get a few things, and he flagged down a taxi for me.  In fact, having a friend like that to help find things and to practice Djula with may be helpful down the road. I’ve already got quite a few of his postcards.

 

I mentioned in my last entry that my aunt was very ill; she passed away on Friday.  Please remember my dad & his family in your prayers as they pass through this difficult time.

 

On culture shock

First of all, a reminder of my contact info (if anyone has an urge to write a real letter or send any care packages – apparently air mail takes 3-4 weeks, surface mail 6-12 months)…

Laura Sauve

01 BP 1243

Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

 

And my phone number is +226-76-12-61-61; we are 4 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time, 7 hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time.  There are some cheap phone cards available in Canada and the US.

 

 

I just read a great book – “The Sex Lives of Cannibals: adrift in the Equatorial Pacific” (its actually a bit worrisome that I have already finished 2 of my 8 books and its only week 3!)… anyhow, this book is about an American couple who go and live in Kiribati, which is an isolated Pacific Island country.  The author progresses through the stages of acclimatizing to the Pacific and culture shock (including the difficulties of returning home) and his way of describing it is very funny – and I can relate.  Sitting here on the veranda, looking at the frangipani tree and other bushes in the yard, hearing roosters crowing and drums in the distance, I could imagine I was in the Pacific again… but then, the drumming fades and I can hear the muzein call the faithful to prayer at 1pm – definitely not the Pacific! Its funny how after the months that I spent in the French Pacific (about 11-12 months in total between the different trips), that part of the world seems so normal to me.  In time I will probably feel like that here.

 

Here in Burkina Faso I am still in the absolutely lost stage of culture shock.  I now know how to get by shared taxi – there’s always room for one more! – to the internet café, the post office and the market, as well as the tubab (foreigner) market (“Marina Market”) with expensive imported items from (where else) France.  But the social conventions, the fitting in part – not so much.  I am seen as enough of a new foreigner that all the neighborhood hawkers that hang out in front of Marina Market pounce on me whenever I walk by. Unfortunately for me, they hang out in front of a place I walk by fairly often.  At first I tried to be polite and just smile and say “no”… but somehow that seems to encourage them.  But if you ignore them completely, they chase after you and call you an ugly racist. Ugh. But I’ve noticed that they ignore the toubabs who have obviously been here for a while (I guess as a lost cause).

 

There are very many beggar children.  More than I’ve seen anywhere else before; I guess this shouldn’t be a surprise in the 3^rd poorest country in the world and I’ve mostly spent time in “middle-income” countries.  I can’t walk 10m without being accosted by another one.  Some are so thin, so dirty, so hungry. It breaks my heart.  But if you give anything to one, you get absolutely hounded for more.  And the money may not go to their own food but to a grown-up’s pocket anyhow.

 

I am hoping that once we get working, we will meet our colleagues in the hospitals and in the other NGOs.  Getting to know people and working should help us start to feel more established.  It will also help my conscience to start doing something to help the children of Burkina Faso.  The other pressing issue is that I need to start learning Djula.  That is the key to being able to talk with the women in the market, and in the taxis, etc.

 

I’ve acquired a funny friendship with one of the boys in town.  Mohammed sells postcards to tourists; on different days, he’s told me he’s saving for school fees, bike repairs and soccer shoes.  It doesn’t matter where I am downtown, Mohammed tracks me down.  Sometimes he unfortunately brings with him a crowd of bigger teenagers, which I hate.  But since the other day after his friends were harassing us and I finally swore at them and told them to take off – including Mohammed – he’s been less intrusive and has kept the bigger kids away.  He came with me to the market yesterday and “helped” me find things (though it was easier on my own) and then we went to the toubab market to get a few things, and he flagged down a taxi for me.  In fact, having a friend like that to help find things and to practice Djula with may be helpful down the road. I’ve already got quite a few of his postcards.

 

I mentioned in my last entry that my aunt was very ill; she passed away on Friday.  Please remember my dad & his family in your prayers as they pass through this difficult time.

 

transportation

Well, I can hardly believe 3 days have gone by since my last entry.

Most of our time has been spent continuing negotiations for the houses. Most require some repair & cleaning before we can move in. And there is always lots of negotiations about the terms of the leases here. But I think things are coming together with my own house (I’ve more or less decided to live on my own) – the one with the mango tree. I may be the first to be able to move in. My garden will need some serious work once I move in – right now, the only living plant is the mango tree. I want to try to have some tomato, lettuce, herb plants as well as decorative things like hibiscus and bougainvillea. I’ll be hiring a gardener to help that get established!

Transport is going to be a challenge, as I will be living 4km from the hospital – that’s a long walk! And I’m not sure how easy the taxi will be; though its cheap – only 200CFA (about USD$0.40) for a ride within town on a shared taxi. Today will be our first trial with that, as we had to give back our rental car this morning.

In fact, 2-wheeled vehicles are much more common here than 4-wheeled. The roads are filled with scooters, mopeds and bicycles – and the occasional donkey cart! – with relatively few cars. I think it will be much safer on bikes here than, say, Baltimore. I sort of wish I had brought my bike – but it didn’t seem sensible to pay $250USD bring a 15 year old, beat up bike that is worth 1/10th of that amount. So, once I’ve paid my rent & deposit if I have money left, that will be one of my first major purchases.

Yesterday we went to look at the future site of the COE (Center of Excellence); it currently is not so dusty as in the first photos we saw and has a pond, with cows wandering through (will attach photos a different day – when internet is not so painfully slow).

Dana, Allison & I went to the market yesterday to get some pots. With only 3 of us, we were virtually ignored – which was really nice! The market is like a series of rabbit warrens, with everything imaginable for sale. And I’m learning to bargain – a necessary skill here!

There has been almost no rain in a week; some of the surrounding farming areas are already concerned about losing their crops. In this subsistence agriculture-based economy, a drought now can mean famine next year at this time. This morning it looked like in might rain, and it was so cool I needed a sweater, which was actually kind of nice. But only a few sprinkles fell, not even enough to dampen the ground.

I just received word that my Aunt Marj in Ontario is gravely ill; its hard to when those things happen when one is so far away. I am thankful that I was able to see her for a visit at Easter when I was last in Toronto. My thoughts and prayers go out to Marj, her family including my dad & his sister.

Exploring le grand marche

I’m trying a new tactic – instead of trying to type the blog entry on the blasted French computers, I’m going write my entries at home and then bring my own computer to the internet café and cut & paste it in.

In my last entry I put my snail mail address – I am not sure how well the Burkinabe postal system works, although our Burkinabe colleague who has been helping us get settled assures us that it is pretty reliable. In some neighbouring countries, you can expect to receive less than 50% of the mail but Aziz says its much better than that.

The big adventure of Sunday afternoon was our trip to the market. Lesson #1 – never, ever go as a group of 7 foreigners to the market. We were followed & hounded nonstop. It just gets so tiresome!

There’s an interesting system here. Sometimes a person will attach himself to you (it is never, ever a woman) and follow you. If you stop to look at anything – say, containers for water, they will then either try to drag you to every stall (or shop) containing water containers or alternately, they will sometimes just turn up with an armload of water containers from various merchants. I think they must get a cut of the proceeds. The only thing is, they get pretty annoyed if you don’t buy the item you were looking for. Or sometimes, it’s the item they decided you want. The women sit quietly and never harass even the passing foreigners; they just take your business if you decide to work with them.

The market was really interesting, full of fascinating sights and smells, and I look forward to exploring more on my own now that I’ve been there once. I love the chaos of the market. And it wasn’t threatening feeling like some I’ve been in (like in Peru). The place is a veritable warren, one could get lost for days. The stalls are piled high with every imaginable good, there was everything from incense stalls to pots to CDs, and many cloth stalls, and even stalls selling caterpillars (to eat!). Some of the women had fish, laying out ‘ripening’ in the sun and they would fan them to lessen the fly infestation. The vegetable situation was pretty good, since it’s the rainy season… beautiful peppers, eggplants, tomatoes (like the Mbarara market!) but also green beans and some local vegetables like jaxate, which looks like a green tomato but is a variety of very bitter eggplant. But I definitely need to learn some Jula for using at the market, as many of the people in the market only speak that language.

Sunday night we ate in a great restaurant, called Deux Colombes (2 doves). We were the only customers, but I think it was the nicest meal we’ve had yet in Burkina Faso. I had steak, green beans & potatoes lyonnaise and it was just lovely. (Many of the restaurants are adequate; not brilliant). But still no good coffee.

Its actually less hot than I expected. Its the rainy season here, and reportedly it usually rains every day though it hasn't been. Despite the guidebooks warning about this time of year being humid and hot, it seems pretty nice. I think the climate here is nicer & cooler than in Ouaga. The streets are wide and tree lined, and the shade they afford certainly helps.

Anyhow, take care & I hope to hear from you soon!
Laura

House hunting

BLOG Draft

We have spent the last few days looking for houses around Bobo Dioulasso. With the dust in the air in the dry season, even houses that have sat empty for just a few months look long abandoned. However, I think we have homes for everyone.

I’ve been waffling on what to do. One of the couples has offered that we could share a place. But their chosen house is only 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. So it might be a little crowded with all my various visitors. Also, then we wouldn’t have offices, etc. Also, I’ve lived along for so long that in some ways I’m not a very good roommate, because I always feel like I’m imposing on the others by being in their space. (it’s a hangup I have). And yet on the other hand, do I really want to live by myself here, where it’s a hassle to go out at night?

The house I have my eye on as 4 bedrooms & 5 bathrooms, and has a bathtub. It also has a decent sized kitchen and is well maintained – better than many we looked at. The garden has a lovely mango tree, though is otherwise isn’t much to look at – it will be a project to work on. Also, it’s the furthest house from everything. That’s the main disadvantage. But, none of the houses are within walking distance of anything, so we will all need some form of transport.

I am a little worried about the social isolation here. I am sure that with time, we will make other friends (and its just me being my usual worrying self). But of the 4 PAC docs, 2 have their spouses here and 1 is bringing a Malian village with her – they may arrive as soon as next week. (She lived in that village for 2.5 years – really, its just a family that is coming, not the entire village).

On the streets of Bobo, I must say that the sellers of things are certainly persistant though I’ve learned that if you refuse to make eye contact or look at whatever they have, often they will go away. I’ve sort of befriended one persistent little guy named Mohammed; he finds me whenever I am downtown. He always tries to sell postcards or necklaces. So far, I have 2 cards and a necklace. But, he may be a good little guy to help out in finding things around town etc.

Our temporary house has a lovely sitting area, and we have some breakfast foods and tea and are going to get some food in the market today so we can start cooking at home.

Thank you to those who have emailed – I am going to try to start responding to emails, now that I can hook my own computer up to the internet café’s network – so I can work on them at home.

My address:
01 BP 1243
Bobo Dioulasso
BURKINA FASO

And my phone number is +226-76-12-61-61 – with a calling card its not too expensive to call, and I’m going to try to call people once and a while.

Take care!!
Laura

everyone has arrived safely

Well, we're all here now - even Kitty (the cat that Leah & Dustin brought) made it without delays or problems. Tomorrow we have another Ministry of Health meeting, and then Thursday head back to Bobo to finalize housing, etc.

Dana & I explored downtown Ouaga today, which was interesting. Its dusty, busy & hot. There are quite a few stalls with tourist crafts, although the market from yesterday had higher quality items. I had wanted to get some kitchen stuff, but while I saw where they were sold, it was getting dark, I was hot & wanted to go home, so we put it off for another day. Some people are really friendly though I find some of the endless sales pitches tiresome. Its funny, because while 95% of the shopkeepers just motion towards their shops and smile if you don't go in, there are these touts that will follow you around for blocks. Dana, who spent 9 months in Cameroon, said that compared to Yaounde, these guys are laid back and respectful. She's a master at bargaining though - I definitely need to learn from her, as I have no skills in that area. (I think that the shopkeepers can tell I'm halfhearted about it). I think I just need a little more time to acclimatize.

Outside of the touts, most people are really nice though... our cab driver told us all about is wife & 3 kids, etc.

I'm glad we're going to be living in Bobo, even though there are much fewer big city amenities there. Its much more laid back atmosphere will be much easier than the hustle & bustle of Ouaga.

Dust storm!

Craziest thing... I know I'm in Burkina Faso, on the edge of the Sahel now!

I was sitting here doing my bills when I noticed a 'blip' in the power (I'm running on batteries right now as +++ power surges)... the wind was whistling, and i looked outside and the air was filling with dust, clouds of it streaming by, blocking out the light - its almost dark outside though sunset is an hour off. I can hear stuff flying around on the other balconies (at least, I think that's what I hear)... tried to take a photo, but it really didn't show well, and now the air is filled with dust and I don't want to open my door.... very eerie (and bizzare that I can enter a blog as it is happening)... its also pouring rain now, with thunder and lightening... dramatic!

Bye for now - want to disconnect from the LAN too...

Ouagadougou

Saw a little of the capital, Ouagadougou today. It is very flat, with very few buildings over 1 story, even in the center of town. And much hotter and drier here than in Bobo - 35C today here. Besides venturing to the bus yards to look at a charter bus for bringing us and all our stuff to Bobo (between the 5 that are arriving, they have at least 25 pieces of checked luggage, including 3 bicycles, their carryone and a cat), we ended up seeing quite a bit of the city as we drove from the artisanat center.

The Artisans Village is a tourist place where artists can sell their stuff, and they pay a percentage to the center. I suspect the prices are overblown, but some of the stuff is nice, including paintings, woodwork, iron, etc. I found this great women's project, from Bobo Dioulasso where the women make stuff - rugs, purses, dolls, even clothing - out of recycled plastic bags. Its SO cool! So I got their information and I'm going to find them next week. I bought a 12" ceramic vase, decorated with leather and snakeskin that was really unique. And got furniture ideas for my house. But I think there will be much better deals to be had in Bobo, away from a tourist market.

Its interesting dealing with the ministry; when we arrived, they assured us that they would help with transport. And then 2 days ago, via the driver the story changed, several times, and suddenly they need us to pay for the gas, then for a rental bus, etc, in order to help us with the transport... So, we are arranging our own transport; as their story keeps changing and they keep wanting more and more money from us. I wonder what that portends for other stuff in the future...
Anyhow, its all very interesting. Its good for me to see how David copes with these things (he is our administrator who I am here helping, and who has lived and been organizing projects in Africa for 5 years). I keep thinking if we have more discussions we can work out these details, but he just moves forward on things.

Its nice to have good internet access here; hopefully it will be the same once we are set up in Bobo, with ADSL. I hope everyone is well at home.

adventures in Bobo Dioulasso

I wrote a long entry a couple days ago, but as I hit"publish", the computer ate it... painstakingly typed on a French keyboard with an extremely slow connection, I was too discouraged to try again... but now I'm back in Ouagadougou at the Sofitel, awaiting arrival of the other docs. What a difference from the fanciest hotel in Bobo!! So, after a refreshing swim and hot shower with good water pressure and a passable cafe au lait, I'm prepared to start typing again.

Its been a great few days, and I'm very happy to be here; though the task ahead seems even more daunting now that I'm in Burkina. Its obviously very poor, and the beaurocracy will be formidable.

David (my colleague, on of the "vice presidents" of BIPAI) and I have spent the last few days getting oriented to Bobo Dioulasso. We've arranged for a short term rental house for all 6 of us to stay in while we look for permanent housing (David will still stay in the hotel). Its a 5 bedroom, 4 bathroom place, laid out much like our place in Lima, with a central area with sitting room / dining room and on each side, bedrooms. But there is a lovely patio with a tiare hanging over, too.

I will welcome the day when people recognize me as someone who lives there, for right now, we're SO conspicous - everyone with something to sell comes running over to us, people try to draw us into their stores, its non stop. There are lots of young boys trying to sell things, from fruit to postcards to packets of kleenex; very few girls. The streets are lined with men hanging about, some trying to sell stuff. But you definitely get the sense that most of the girls and women are at home doing the work there.

A lovely young man named Aziz has been helping us look for places. There are lots of places, but most are in disrepair and have clearly stood empty for some time; some are downright uninhabitable. But I have my eye on a cute little 3 bedroom place that has a lovely rooftop patio. Not much garden, so I'd have to get some pots to grow some tomotoes etc. But its in relatively good repair and the former tenants have just moved out. If I take it, will put some photos up.

Last night we took Aziz & his wife & daughter to Bobo's best restaurant to thank them for all the help. A funny thing happened there... the restaurant is run by nuns (remniscent of Govinda's) and one of the nuns had a familiar face... and a disinctly polynesian outfit on. Would you believe that there is a Futunian nun from Noumea working in Bobo!!! I didn't have time to ask if she was cousins with my friends, but you never know. How crazy is that!

Anyhow, I'm going to cut it short here. I could go on indefinitely!
Take care & please keep in touch
Laura

Safe arrival in Bobo Dioulasso

So, I guess this is for real, because now I'm in an internet cafe in Bobo Dioulasso. The internet is VERY slow, so I will mostly be using my blog until i have DSL at home but please email or send comments!!!. And its a French keyboard so some of the keys are in different places - so don't be surprised if you see a "Q" where an "A" should be...

The voyage was fine, if long. One of my suitcases was "accidentally" taken by another passenger but it was returned right away thank goodness! It was heavenly to arrive to the Sofitel with its comfy bed, marble bathroom and nice hot bath - and air conditioning! And we have a driver from the ministry of health with us for thez whole week, which really makes things easier. People here are very nice although as in all resource^poor settings, as a muzungu (foreigner) we are freqently approached both by kids selling postcards etc and just asking for $$.

Its the wet seqson here and so the legendqry dust isn't as bad, and the drive here was loevly and green. Although they are repaving many km of the highway so there are a fair number of detours. And its not neqrly as hot as I'd feared. Bobo is not too big, and we're staying in a hotel in the center of town, not too far from the market thqt has a lovely pool and courtyard restqurqnt though i don't think the food is the highlight.

Tomorrow me, David (the administrator who's unfortunqte job it is to organize 52 docs going to 7 countries), our driver Pierre and our local contact, Aziz are going to look for houses; we saw a pretty nice 4 BR plqce today with a lovely courtyard but it is a bit far from town.

I am glad to be here, and looking forward to getting more settled and unpacked in my new home. We won't start seeing patients until after a meeting that is scheduled for Sept 7 & 8, so we have time to get the lay of the land. By then my french should be a little less rusty too! I did half of the translating at a meeting this morning; its tough to retrieve all that from my rusty memory banks!

anyhow, take care & email lots & I will pass on my local contact info when its available:
Love
Laura

53 hours (!)

Well, time is flying by. I leave the country at 10pm on Tuesday, August 8th. Holy cow!

This is "Team Burkina" - the 3 women I will be spending the next 1-2 years with. Leah, myself, Dana & Suzanne (and Leah & Dana's husbands) will be on this adventure together. I couldn't ask for a better group. I've really enjoyed getting to know them - and those folks going to all the other countries - while here in Houston.

I've spent a lovely weekend with Rob, went to Galveston & swam in the ocean since it will be a long time before I can do that again. We ate lots of seafood, and even some Texas BBQ.

This week was an adventure, as I scrambled to get things done... open a bank account, buy last minute supplies, get my wisdom teeth pulled...! That was defintely not part of the plan for the week.

I received a lovely going away gift from Brigid (one of my Public Health school friends) today - a knitted iPod holder and a craft kit. Brigid was teaching me to knit at the end of school, and I've been wanting to have a craft to work on over this year.

My next post will likely be from Burkina, and I'm not sure when I'll next be able to write but please keep in touch!