My first week in Burkina Faso
Posted by Rebecca Tremblay on February 1st, 2010
I arrived safe and sound in Burkina Faso on the evening of Tuesday January 19th 2010. I arrived to an airport “in construction,” with a dirt floor and no electricity. We had to wait in a long, congested and hot customs line-up. When I got to my officer, there was not enough light for her to look at my passport and VISA, so she had to move under an opening in the roof where the setting sunlight could shine through. Miss organized did not have her “important contacts” list in her carry-on, so I couldn’t give the officer the required information of whom I was arriving to, and had to go get my luggage to find it. I fetched it and returned to pick-up my passport.
When I exited the airport, a tall man holding a sign with my name was waiting for me. Simon has been working for WUSC for 7 years; he drove me to my hotel, in downtown Ouagadougou… What a capital!!! It was obvious right away that Burkina Faso is a poorer country than Kenya! My hotel was nothing like the places we’d stayed in Kenya. However, Burkina Faso is known to be safer than Kenya. We were told there was no problem if we walked alone at night. I did so in Ouaga one night, returning from a pizzeria very near the hotel.
I stayed in a hotel room all by myself for 2 nights. The first night, I met another volunteer, Pathé, who works in Léo, where I will be living and volunteering. He was very helpful, and lent me his “magic jack” telephone, connected to the internet on his computer, which allows free telephone calls to Canada. Pathé is going to Canada for a 2-week visit in February and offered to buy me one. Perfect! So I’ll be able to call home very soon!
In Ouaga we met with the two women who work at the WUSC/EUMC (World University Service of Canada) Head Office: Fatimata and Clémentine. They were very welcoming and friendly! They both had many laughs in response to my questions and stories during the days we spent together. Clémentine told Anne-Marie, the Burundian girl who arrived at the same time as me and will live with me and work at the same office, that “Tremblay va te faire rire!” (Tremblay is going to make you laugh!)
After a couple of days of orientation and shopping for basics in the capital, such as a cellphone and a mosquito net, Simon and Clémentine accompanied us to Léo, where we have been posted. In Léo, we dropped our things off at a local hotel. Needless to say, the hospitality standards are quite different from Canada. The rooms did not smell the cleanest and we were not provided with top sheets on the bed; just the bottom half. We were supposed to have hot water, which was “out of order.” When we entered my room to check it out, a shadow slipped behind the headboard of the bed. Anne-Marie pointed it out, and I tried to peek behind the headboard to see what it was, but I slightly freaked at the idea of whatever it was jumping out at me, and showed it in my body language, which just set off the loud laughter of both Anne-Marie and Clémentine. They think I’m a hoot!!!
Later, after dinner at a local restaurant where we had the choice of 5 things on the menu: chicken soup, beef soup, green beans, couscous or rice, I returned to the hotel and wanted to take a shower. The two men working at the hotel, who are receptionists, cleaners and cashiers all at the same time, said they would heat me some water and bring it to me. I asked how long it would take and they said ten minutes. Fourty minutes later, I received my half-bucket of hot water to shower with… but no bowl! I asked where the bowl was, because that is what I used to use in Mexico to pour water over my head. He said they didn’t do that here; they just use their hands to cup the water. Thus I showered with hand-cupped puddles of warm water. And it worked decently well! (When I told this story the next day, Anne-Marie and Clémentine found it very funny!)
In total, we’ve visited two vacant houses to look for a place to live and we definitely know which one we will take: we have been lucky enough to arrive at the precise moment in which a brand new house has just finished being built, and it is wonderful! The other houses we saw have dirty ceiling fans, cement floors, old furniture, not very clean-looking or comfortable mattresses, extremely small kitchens, and a few cockroaches roaming freely. On the other hand, the new house has finished floors (tiles), a large living room, new furniture, including beds and sheets, curtains, three bedrooms with each its own bathroom including a shower and toilet (the shower head, toilet and sink are all concentrated together in a small 1 meter by 1 meter space), a cement wall surrounding the whole house for protection, an emergency exit door, a front patio, and they are working on building the second floor which will have two bedrooms. I hope to move upstairs in a month once it’s done!
Abdoulaye, one of the WUSC volunteers who is doing a 12-month placement in Léo, has already paid two months’ advance for the place and bargained for an excellent deal with the landlord. I will therefore be living with Abdoulaye and Anne-Marie. It’s so nice to know that we will have a nice place to come home to after work.
We also met with the “Réseau des jeunes”, the Youth Group that forms the theatre company that I will be working with. They have already been working and succeeding on many projects and presentations, but need new ideas and ways of encouraging girls to participate. The group is composed mainly of males. They love the idea of incorporating puppets and music into their theatre, so I will see how we can organize this, and maybe make our own puppets, or get some donated from Canada!
It’s very hot here, and apparently, this is the season of mild weather. It’s 30C at noon! Yet in April, it can get up to 40-45C!!! It’s going to be crazy, but for now it’s bearable and actually quite nice in the mornings and evenings. Sometimes hard to sleep at night… But beats the Canadian winter!
I look forward to beginning my work here and hope that I can share my experience, knowledge and energy with the young people I will be working alongside!
January 24, 2010
We moved into our new house last night at 11pm! Everything happens in a “play it by ear” fashion, and we were told at 10pm that the house was “ready enough” for us.
This morning we ate some mangoes and bread with honey that we had purchased at the market on Friday. The market is open everyday, consisting of people selling food, fabric, bicycles, second hand clothing, used sandals and sneakers, and more.
In Léo, the water cuts out during random hours of the day. Therefore, I cannot flush the toilet or take a shower. This usually happens between 1pm and 9pm, give or take. I will need to buy a bucket soon, to store some extra water during these hours.
In the afternoon, Abdoulaye gave us a ride on his small motorcycle to the restaurant “La maison de la femme” where I ordered potato and beef stew, as well as a salad, which resulted in a plate of sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and boiled eggs smeared in mayonnaise dressing. Our waitress carried her son, wrapped in a sarong on her back, as she helped us.
On the walk home, the stars were incredible. We walked on a dirt road in the dark to our house, passing by houses, few people and some random pigs and donkeys. Most people move by bicycle and motorcycle here. Anne-Marie and I went “bicycle shopping” on Saturday, but the used bikes seemed pricey at $70 a piece. It would be useful to get around, but Léo is quite small, so we may just decide to walk everywhere.
In any case, the lack of infrastructure and electricity allows us to enjoy the beauty of the night sky… I always feel more relaxed in such an environment, there’s no hurry to get anywhere, because in fact, there’s no where to go…
