My First Month at Site

September 17, 2011

Je suis triste. I am sad. I mentioned before that I wasn’t looking forward to leaving my host family, but now that the time is here, I just plain don’t like it. My host mom (who is only 2 years older than me) says that she won’t let me leave without a signed demand from the Peace Corps. I feel so loved and welcomed. How can I leave them now??? The family is threatening to send their two year old daughter, Grace with me because they don’t want to hear the constant “Eye-in, Eye-in” as she calls for me, and the second youngest daughter Giselle is planning on packing herself in one of my bags and coming along with me. I’ve stayed with several host families in my past travels, but never have I been placed in a family that felt so much like home (in fact, i was counting down the days to leave the other families).

I leave the training site for a week in Ouaga at 9:00am tomorrow morning. If I feel this way now, I can’t imagine how I’m going to feel in the morning, when as a family, we will carry my (heavy) bags to the training center for my departure - the opposite actions of just three months ago (although, at that time I was terrified).

To the Douamba Family, I will never be able to thank you enough. You welcomed me into not just your home, but your family. I will visit you again in the future, but a visit will never be long enough. Merci beaucoup to each and every one of you. I will carry you with me throughout all of my Burkina travels –and beyond.


September 28, 2011

Well, I’m finally at site! I arrived yesterday, so today was my first full day here. While washing my clothes, four young kids came to say hello. And by “hello” I mean that they sat silently and watched me wash my laundry. When I was done, I told them that I need to go take a shower and that I would see them later. To me, this meant, it’s time to go now. Apparently to them, it meant it was time to stand outside my door and call to me.

I spent the remainder of my morning walking through tall corn stalks to each of my neighbor’s houses to greet them and introduce myself. All the reactions were overwhelmingly positive, but it is even clearer to me now how it important it will be for me to learn Lobiri as soon as possible – as well as improve my French.

This afternoon, I was once again visited by some of my young friends (I must admit to missing the gate I had in Niger). As I sat there talking with them, I realized just how sheltered I had become while living with my host family. In many ways I forgot the conditions that many people live in here. The children were dirty, had open sores, ring worm, a foot infection, etc. Flies hovered around and followed the children. In town I’ve seen many conditions that are very rarely seen in the west. How could I have forgotten about all this? I wish I was a medical professional so that I could treat their wounds and change their filthy bandages.

Tomorrow morning I will start my day by observing – and possibly helping, in the maternity ward of the local clinic. Since it will be a market day (held every 5 days), women from throughout the area will come to town to have their babies weighed and to monitor their pregnancies. I’m looking forward to getting back to work!

Update: My new address (for the next 2 years):
Alynn Woodson
BP 54
Gaoua, Burkina Faso
West Africa

(If you’ve sent something to the other address, don’t worry, I’ll still get it).

Talk to you soon!

P.S. How have I been here for nearly two days and still not have a cat?


September 29, 2011

OK, I may or may not have just agreed to meet my counterpart at 7 am tomorrow morning to ride 10+ km to give out polio vaccinations. I’m really looking forward to it, but I REALLY hope someone shows up with a car!

Turns out getting back to work really was like old times – I was the first to arrive and I waited over an hour until anything happened. But during that time I had the opportunity to sit under a beautiful tree and meet people as they came to the clinic. I just may make that part of my regular routine.

Weighing babies in Burkina is definitely different from weighing babies in Niger. For one, we were actually inside a room and not outside with the scale hanging from a tree. But what hit me most were the fat babies! Of all the babies we saw today (25-30 maybe), only ONE was malnourished! What a phenomenal difference!


September 30, 2011

Today was a good day. Things started out a little rough due to some language miscommunications, but in the end I vaccinated 80+ children against polio – and met a lot of the community at the same time. Rather than traveling to the outlying villages, Armelle and I walked the fields of Perigban. From one house to another we wondered down small paths through corn fields that dwarfed me in size. While it was everyday life for Armelle, it was a little magical for me. Exhausting and hot, but wonderful. We covered one side of the road today, so tomorrow we’ll do it all again on the other side!

After lunch, I went by the CSPS (the clinic) to see what was going on. I was given the biggest compliment, when the head nurse (there are no doctors), told me that they had discussed it, and they don’t think I should work with the schools, that I should only work with them. If only they knew how much I’d love that (no offense to the schools). I spent the rest of the afternoon in the dispensaire helping to inventory all the supplies. It definitely helped me get a better picture of what medications/supplies are available to the community and how much everything costs.

To top everything off, I made myself delicious and healthy stir fry! Now I just need to find something sweet…

School starts on Monday, I can’t wait to see what it brings!


October 3, 2011

First scorpion found in my house – yikes!


October 12, 2011

Yet another hot, humid day here in Southwest Burkina Faso – I can’t wait for the rain! But to be honest, I would trade it all for a few hours of autumn in the Northeast! I miss the sights and smells – and of course – the tastes of fall!

OK, back to Burkina. Imagine what it would be like in the states if on the first day of school the teachers just didn’t show up. That’s what it’s like here. The kids either sit in their classroom doing nothing or else play in the courtyard – but the teachers are absent. Can you imagine the uproar of parents in the states if this were to happen? So, now we’re a week and a half into the school year – and it still happens! Of the six teachers at the school, two taught (and I must give them credit, they have been teaching consistently since the beginning of the year), one teacher decided to take a trip (without asking permission) and the rest sat at their desks under a tree drinking tea. All this while the students were completely unoccupied. It’s madness! And when I ask about it (to one of the teachers who HAS been teaching), I’m told that yes, it sucks, but that’s just the way it is. So frustrating!


October 26, 2011

It’s been a little while, so I thought I best write a little post. Things here are going pretty well – there are the daily ups and downs, but all in all things are good. My community continues to be wonderful to me. Since I last wrote I’ve found many more scorpions, bats, mice, roaches, ants, termites, spiders, etc. But more importantly, I’ve added a rambunctious, adorable kitten to my home! I hope in time he will take care of the rest of our visitors (I’m currently helping him hone is killer instincts). He is a little orange fluffball named Aminu (after my young neighbor in Niger). He’ll pounce on anything inside the house, but he’s terrified of the outside. Go figure.

I’ve started leading an English Club for my students. So far the turn-out has been great – over 60 students! Hopefully the trend will continue, but you really never know. Aside from the time I spend at the school, I’m continuing to help out at the medical clinic each week.

One thing that I find myself really missing recently is the sense of family and camaraderie from Niger. Each region was a family there; here, I hardly know anyone near me. It makes me a bit sad at times. It makes the hard times harder. I wish some of my friends were located closer to me.


October 29, 2011

Let me set the scene for you…It was a slow morning for me today, not because I didn’t have anywhere to be, but because I wasn’t feeling well and had a headache. Somewhat uncharacteristically for me here (although quite normal at home), I decided to lie down for a few minutes before leaving for the day. As I lay quietly in bed, Aminu decides to be a little terror, so I kick him out of the mosquito net. A few minutes later, I hear a noise like a plastic bag rustling around. I assume the sound is Aminu even though I can’t imagine what he’s playing with. The next minute I roll over and see Aminu staring at me, frozen with fear in his eyes…the sound continues. A bit freaked out now, I get out of bed only to find that – literally – thousands of ants have fallen through the ceiling!!!!!! I look up and see a line of several hundred more. I hate swarms! What’s worse, when I went into the kitchen to get the insecticide I saw that they were in there too!!!!! I need a cruise.


October 30, 2011

I knew I should’ve left for that cruise immediately. Believe it or not, the situation I described yesterday actually got worse. You see, I THOUGHT I had done a good job of cleaning up all of the evil ants – but I never considered one thing – that somehow, someway, they could get into my mosquito net. But alas, they can and they did. When I went to bed I was stung repeatedly. It was horrible! Cruise – now please!