A Day in the Life

It’s hard to believe that I’ve already been at site for a month. I still don’t understand the passing of time here, where it seems to fly by yet at the same time I feel like I’ve lived in this culture for years. I’m slowly picking up little West African habits, like sucking my teeth when I think something is bad or saying “deh?” at the end of my sentences.

When I’m away from site I start to miss my village friends; drinking tea with Moussa and Alima, laughing with Kaba, and just asking Kaitiessi about her day. Every once in a while I feel overwhelmed with gratitude for these people who have made me feel so at home in such a short period of time.

Although my days vary, I thought I’d give you a little insight into what I actually do each day as a Peace Corps volunteer.

MORNING:

I wake up around 6am to the sounds of babies (or goats, I never know for sure) crying or corn being pounded by the women. After making myself breakfast (oatmeal with peanut butter and honey with tea), I sit on my hangar and listen to the sounds of the village waking up. The sun starts to peek out from behind the thatched roofs and the palm trees. I water my garden and sweep my hangar. George normally comes to sit on my lap and keep me company, too. If it’s not a school day, the children will hang out on my hangar and draw pictures for me in chalk.

Twice a week, Odil comes over to tutor me in Goin and Jula. Normally, we walk around the village and greet people as I point at things and then write down their corresponding words in my new languages.

NOON:

I’ll normally do one tour of some part of the village each day just to greet people, since that’s so important in this culture. Sometimes I’ll sit with a family in their courtyard and be offered dolo (millet beer) or beans as I ask them about their children and their work before going on my way. It’s great to hear everyone say “Wihaba” after me because they want to say hello.

I’ll visit my neighbor Yakouba at his kiosk to get some nescafe with sweetened condensed milk and bread before saying hello to Kaitiessi, the president of the women’s association. We can sit for hours not really saying much at all but just enjoying each other’s company.

AFTERNOON:

Once a week, I have my girls club so I’m teaching in front of a class about HIV/AIDS, self-esteem, and the importance of staying in school. During the afternoons, I drink tea with the health workers or I hang out with the women on the paved road selling beignets. I’ll fetch water on my bike with the neighborhood kids if I’m running low or go to the fields with Moussa if I’m feeling really ambitious. The cotton is almost ready for harvesting so I’m excited for that!

EVENING:

My nights are nice and cool right now. I’ll make myself dinner by candlelight and read. Afterwards, little Nadja comes over and asks me if I’m coming to drink tea with her family tonight. I walk the firefly-lit path over to Moussa’s courtyard and we drink tea under the sky full of stars. Moussa calls the moon “village electricity”. We talk about everything, what life is like in America, how the earth orbits the sun, and the status of women. Around 10pm, I can’t keep my eyes open anymore and so I tell Moussa “mi mulan… mi kan gala”, “I’m tired, I’m going to bed.”  

As you can see from a normal day, my life here is slowly developing a routine and I’m really starting to appreciate each moment. It’s such a rare experience not only to befriend people halfway around the world but also to learn to live like them. I feel like all of the little successes of integration have so much more meaning just because they’re so challenging. Small things like learning to pump my own water or understanding what someone says in Jula feel like huge accomplishments.

That’s not to say that life here isn’t difficult at all. I’m basically the representative for an entire country and an entire culture which is often misunderstood or glamourized here and I find that one of my greatest challenges is trying to accurately explain or dispel myths about what it means to be American to villagers. I’m also never sure if someone is genuinely interested in being my friend or if they just want to get something from the “toubabmuso” (white woman). Overall, the wonderful moments far outweigh the difficult moments.  

My girls club has been really successful already and I find that being with the girls almost always makes me feel like I’m doing productive and meaningful work here. The girls learn a lot and it’s really fun, normally culminating in a game of red rover. I gave all of the girls matching fabric headbands and it’s cute to see them all wearing them in unity on the day of our girls’ club meetings. Last week, they talked about their futures and what they wanted to be when they grow up. It was a great activity to have the girls draw what their lives will look like when they are thirty years old since it’s something many of the girls had never thought about until now. They drew their husbands, their children going to school, and themselves as teachers, mayors, and doctors. The provincial director for girls’ education even came from Banfora to talk with the girls about the importance of continuing their educations. To hear the girls’ dreams was really powerful. They talked about wanting to only have a few children so that they could all go to school and of becoming government employees so that they could take care of the families. I can’t stress how much educating a girl can influence generations to come and it makes me feel like I really can make a difference with young people while I am here.

With that in mind, I’ve come to Ouaga for a few days for a Camp GLOW (girls/guys leading our world) meeting to help organize a countrywide camp that will be held next summer. I am the financial secretary so I’ll be in charge of fundraising and applying for grants (totaling around $10,000 USD) at one of the four locations for the camps. It really is an amazing opportunity for these girls and boys from all over Burkina to develop leadership skills and to effect positive change in their own communities. There will be an opportunity to donate online so I’ll keep you posted!

Well, this post has turned out to be quite long, even though I feel like I can never truly express all of my emotions accurately with words when I try to talk about my experiences here! As always, thank you for all of your love and support.

Peace,

Marlow

Settling in...

Hey everyone!

It's officially been two weeks since I got to site and already things are going really well...

I've met with the women's association who was already making soap and anti-mosquito cream and we talked about selling the soap to pay for things that the women want, like to repair the old women's center and to fix the broken water pumps in the village. I think that allowing the women to have their own central place would be a step in the right direction in my village, where already I've witnessed the women be kicked out of the central meeting room by the market because the men needed to have a meeting. The water situation is also a problem, since many of the pumps are broken and the women have to walk very long distances for water. The women are really motivated and I think we can secure a grant for the initial start-up costs so that they can start selling!

I've also started a girls club with the CM2 girls (ages 10-14) from the two primary schools which will be meeting once a week to talk about HIV/AIDS, early pregnancy, the importance of continuing your education, and women's rights. Many of the girls in my village get married at a very young age and therefore never get the chance to go to high school. This age group is really important because it's the year they take the exam to continue on to high school. I think that awareness of gender roles is an area where I can really make a contribution in my community, since the difference between the workload of men and the workload of women is so drastic.

Since I observed a lot of malnutrition in my village, I've been talking with the midwife at the health center to do sensibilisations on nutrition for the mothers once a week while they're waiting to have their babies weighed. We already planted four moringa trees at the health center to be used during these presentations, since adding the leaves to porridge and sauces adds many vitamins and minerals lacking in their diets.

Other than that, I've been speaking a lot of Jula and Gouin and even got a tutor. Every night, I have tea with my neighbors who are kind of like my adopted family. I'm quickly becoming good friends with the president of the women's association as well. The chief gave me a village name, Wihaba, which means "what God has given". It's nice to have some independence and create my own schedule. I even had time to start my garden of tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumbers with a sunflower border. I got to go to the fields with my neighbor and see how they grow corn, sesame, and cotton.

I've been eating really well since my market is filled with delicious vegetables. I've been able to perfect my pesto thanks to my basil bush and even made foccacia bread. This morning I biked 20k into Banfora to check my email and plan the session for my girls group on Thursday. I'm still adjusting to life as a volunteer since training was so different, but it's slowly starting to feel like home.

I hope everyone is doing well, thank you for the letters and the support! They make my day. I have a lot of free time to respond now so keep them coming! My signal is not very good at site, but if you send me a text saying when you'd like to skype I can get into Banfora and make it happen. Miss and love all of you!

Peace,
Marlow