Okay, so I posted some photos on here!! But this blog is actually fairly impractical when it comes to posting pictures because you can only do 5 at a time. As great as our internet connection is at home... the loading takes its time.
I have posted more photos on facebook for those who have access to that :)
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Ghana!
River Safari!
The maman in the courtyard that Hanna and Jesper stayed in!
Little sheep! Well, goat!
Preparing shea nut to make shea butter/shea soap! It smells delicious when it is in this form but when it becomes oil and it is in food...my tummy does not approve!
At the border...ready for adventure!!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Wedding pre-Christmas!
Pictures from a wedding we went to before Christmas! A colleague of Sarah's who was marrying a Burkinabè...traditional wedding in the village.
See the people in the trees?? This was towards the evening!
The happy married couple!
AMAZING 10 year old dancers!!
Just like this photo!
Meeting the delegation from his mother's side of the family!
Her family meeting the village chiefs, for them to welcome her into their community!
And the trek begins to the village to meet the elders!
Lots of people, lots of dust, lots of HOT! But very very special!
The entertainers after lunch was served!
The head table at the wedding!
See the people in the trees?? This was towards the evening!
The happy married couple!
AMAZING 10 year old dancers!!
Just like this photo!
Meeting the delegation from his mother's side of the family!
Her family meeting the village chiefs, for them to welcome her into their community!
And the trek begins to the village to meet the elders!
Lots of people, lots of dust, lots of HOT! But very very special!
The entertainers after lunch was served!
The head table at the wedding!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
There is always room for one more..
So, for most of my friends and family I think it is pretty obvious that I love Senegal and that it will always be a special place for me! Coming to Burkina I figured I would like it here as well, but secretly believed that it could never attain the same status in my heart as Senegal. Now I am not so sure...Burkina is steadily climbing up the ladder... :)
There is no ocean and it is hot and dusty, but the people in this country are just really fantastic!
This weekend I went to ‘’La fête de la bière’’ which happens every year and which actually is illegal in the middle of town. At some point they realized that they were having an extraordinary amount of accidents when it was the weekend of the Festival of Beer and so they banned it from town. That, of course, just means that neighbourhoods a bit further away have started holding it.
Basically all the maquis in the neighbourhood (the bar/pub/joints where you can drink cheap beer and eat cheap food) gather in a big space and compete for customers with really loud music. The atmosphere was really great. However, contrary to what you might think a ‘’festival of beer’’ might be about (different kinds of beer etc) it is really just a party for people to get drunk. And when you realize that there are kids around the age of 14-15 drinking...and that everyone there probably has a moto (scooter) (and some with cars) that they will absolutely drive home... it puts a bit of a damper on the whole mood!
But, the reason that it was so nice is that I was with a friend and some of his friends and everyone was just so friendly. The waitresses, the friends, the people at the next table!! I think what got to me in particular is that the women were even friendly. In Senegal it was really hard to connect with Senegalese women. You could find yourself at an event with friends...if there were women they might not talk to you and the waitresses might be plain rude! Here everyone was smiling/open/friendly.
It is really something Burkina has that is incredibly special!!
Number two reason why I am beginning to love this country... SIAO! Le Salon International de l’Artisanat de Ouagadougou. A huge festival of arts and crafts. Vendors come from all over West Africa. Even from further abroad (Egypt, Algeria, Rwanda, Madagascar...everywhere!) and expose their goods in 4 or 5 huge rooms. There are people everywhere...the street is closed out front...there is music/dancing... maquis set up with food and drinks. There are vendors selling funny hats, noise-makers! So fantastic!!
The things for sale are beautiful as well...it is a bit overwhelming because there is so much and there are so many people. But really a fantastic experience to get to see! It is every two years so I really lucked out in being here for it.
That is another reason why Burkina is growing on me... events like this! There are constantly things going on in the city. This year there is the SIAO, in February FESPACO a film festival, it is the 50th anniversary of independence in December, there is a hiphop festival, a festival art, festival of African story telling... it goes on!
Not that Senegal did not have a lot of things going on as well! But I’m starting to realize that there does not have to be a competition for a place in my heart for these two countries...there is plenty of room for both...and no doubt more down the road!!:)
There is no ocean and it is hot and dusty, but the people in this country are just really fantastic!
This weekend I went to ‘’La fête de la bière’’ which happens every year and which actually is illegal in the middle of town. At some point they realized that they were having an extraordinary amount of accidents when it was the weekend of the Festival of Beer and so they banned it from town. That, of course, just means that neighbourhoods a bit further away have started holding it.
Basically all the maquis in the neighbourhood (the bar/pub/joints where you can drink cheap beer and eat cheap food) gather in a big space and compete for customers with really loud music. The atmosphere was really great. However, contrary to what you might think a ‘’festival of beer’’ might be about (different kinds of beer etc) it is really just a party for people to get drunk. And when you realize that there are kids around the age of 14-15 drinking...and that everyone there probably has a moto (scooter) (and some with cars) that they will absolutely drive home... it puts a bit of a damper on the whole mood!
But, the reason that it was so nice is that I was with a friend and some of his friends and everyone was just so friendly. The waitresses, the friends, the people at the next table!! I think what got to me in particular is that the women were even friendly. In Senegal it was really hard to connect with Senegalese women. You could find yourself at an event with friends...if there were women they might not talk to you and the waitresses might be plain rude! Here everyone was smiling/open/friendly.
It is really something Burkina has that is incredibly special!!
Number two reason why I am beginning to love this country... SIAO! Le Salon International de l’Artisanat de Ouagadougou. A huge festival of arts and crafts. Vendors come from all over West Africa. Even from further abroad (Egypt, Algeria, Rwanda, Madagascar...everywhere!) and expose their goods in 4 or 5 huge rooms. There are people everywhere...the street is closed out front...there is music/dancing... maquis set up with food and drinks. There are vendors selling funny hats, noise-makers! So fantastic!!
The things for sale are beautiful as well...it is a bit overwhelming because there is so much and there are so many people. But really a fantastic experience to get to see! It is every two years so I really lucked out in being here for it.
That is another reason why Burkina is growing on me... events like this! There are constantly things going on in the city. This year there is the SIAO, in February FESPACO a film festival, it is the 50th anniversary of independence in December, there is a hiphop festival, a festival art, festival of African story telling... it goes on!
Not that Senegal did not have a lot of things going on as well! But I’m starting to realize that there does not have to be a competition for a place in my heart for these two countries...there is plenty of room for both...and no doubt more down the road!!:)
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
What I do!
I guess I haven’t been so great at explaining what it is that I am doing here exactly! So here goes....
When I signed my contract I was told that I would be working mostly with Ulla (my supervisor who is the second in command after the ambassador) on the Aid Effectiveness Agenda. Essentially what ‘aid effectiveness’ entails is a series of conferences/agreements between partner countries (those that give money ie Denmark, Canada, the US, France, Sweden, Switzerland etc.), the national governments of developing countries, civil societies, multilateral organizations etc. that are supposed to find a way to make the billions of dollars that are spent every year more effective and get everyone working together more. In the past most development work (money that is being sent abroad) has been done on a very individual basis between governments and the push now is for everyone to coordinate better so that more results can be seen.
Burkina Faso is currently writing their ‘poverty reduction strategy plan’ which is essentially a national plan that covers all sectors (education, health, gender, agriculture, private sector, etc) and lays out what Burkina would like to do and how they would like to do it. All donors/partner countries are then supposed to take that plan and work with it to create programs that are in line with what the Burkinabè government would like to do.
The problem of course is that coordination between all these different actors is incredibly difficult. Everyone has their own way of working and their own rules/regulations. The government often does not have the time or the capacity to coordinate the hundreds of different actors that want to come and set up programs.
So, I am working on trying to figure out how we (Denmark) can help push this whole effort to work together more. How can we help the government take control and have the capacity to manage all the donors? How can we get the donors to work together more and cooperate?
It is really interesting but very theoretical and a very slow process. We are talking about it now and things are happening, but coordinating/harmonizing is something that will take years to figure out (possibly years and years and years).
Given how theoretical it is (lot of research of best practices from other countries, writing talking points of how we can lobby for more interest from other donors and the government etc.), I also get to work with the education team.
That is more practical work. The education sector is writing a new program that will run from 2011-2014. This means we are trying to figure out how the money will be spent, justifying it, explaining the situation etc. It is almost near the end of the process and I’ve gotten to work on some of the writing/documentation that will be included. There was a mission of consultants here a few weeks ago to evaluate the suggested program and make recommendations so we are working on incorporating all of that.
Then of course there are all the little tasks such as publishing news items on the website, re-organizing the file saving system, doing edits on things, going to meetings.
I am also following two projects that we have on climate change adaptation techniques and hopefully will get to go on a mission with one of those to see some different adaptation techniques that the organizations are supporting. Basically Burkina is already a pretty dry/hot country (especially in the north) and over the years the weather has been getting more extreme, water is becoming a problem, deforestation etc. So I basically just get to be a contact point with these organizations and I’m really looking forward to getting out and seeing some countryside :)
Well, that is about all there is to say about that!
When I signed my contract I was told that I would be working mostly with Ulla (my supervisor who is the second in command after the ambassador) on the Aid Effectiveness Agenda. Essentially what ‘aid effectiveness’ entails is a series of conferences/agreements between partner countries (those that give money ie Denmark, Canada, the US, France, Sweden, Switzerland etc.), the national governments of developing countries, civil societies, multilateral organizations etc. that are supposed to find a way to make the billions of dollars that are spent every year more effective and get everyone working together more. In the past most development work (money that is being sent abroad) has been done on a very individual basis between governments and the push now is for everyone to coordinate better so that more results can be seen.
Burkina Faso is currently writing their ‘poverty reduction strategy plan’ which is essentially a national plan that covers all sectors (education, health, gender, agriculture, private sector, etc) and lays out what Burkina would like to do and how they would like to do it. All donors/partner countries are then supposed to take that plan and work with it to create programs that are in line with what the Burkinabè government would like to do.
The problem of course is that coordination between all these different actors is incredibly difficult. Everyone has their own way of working and their own rules/regulations. The government often does not have the time or the capacity to coordinate the hundreds of different actors that want to come and set up programs.
So, I am working on trying to figure out how we (Denmark) can help push this whole effort to work together more. How can we help the government take control and have the capacity to manage all the donors? How can we get the donors to work together more and cooperate?
It is really interesting but very theoretical and a very slow process. We are talking about it now and things are happening, but coordinating/harmonizing is something that will take years to figure out (possibly years and years and years).
Given how theoretical it is (lot of research of best practices from other countries, writing talking points of how we can lobby for more interest from other donors and the government etc.), I also get to work with the education team.
That is more practical work. The education sector is writing a new program that will run from 2011-2014. This means we are trying to figure out how the money will be spent, justifying it, explaining the situation etc. It is almost near the end of the process and I’ve gotten to work on some of the writing/documentation that will be included. There was a mission of consultants here a few weeks ago to evaluate the suggested program and make recommendations so we are working on incorporating all of that.
Then of course there are all the little tasks such as publishing news items on the website, re-organizing the file saving system, doing edits on things, going to meetings.
I am also following two projects that we have on climate change adaptation techniques and hopefully will get to go on a mission with one of those to see some different adaptation techniques that the organizations are supporting. Basically Burkina is already a pretty dry/hot country (especially in the north) and over the years the weather has been getting more extreme, water is becoming a problem, deforestation etc. So I basically just get to be a contact point with these organizations and I’m really looking forward to getting out and seeing some countryside :)
Well, that is about all there is to say about that!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Malaria!
Another experience to add to the list…malaria! Granted if you ask my parents they will say that I have been through that wonderful experience as a child… but now I get to have very vivid memories of my own!
I had been having some irritating headaches for the last two weeks that kind of came and went (depending on how often I popped an advil :)!) and it all led up to a few days of unpleasantness. Last Friday after work I came home feeling not so great and went right to bed…feverish. Saturday I was fine until we went out in the evening and then the headache was back with a vengeance and I just felt thoroughly exhausted. After a trip to the medical centre on Sunday the doctor told me that without a doubt I had malaria and my blood was FULL of parasites!
He gave me a bunch of drugs to take to kill the malaria, get rid of the body-aches and fever and deal with the nausea. Malaria is not a fun experience!! I think I lucked out because I wasn’t throwing up or violently ill but I definitely felt awful and entirely drained of energy. The big excursion was getting out of my bed to go lay on the couch in the living room!
Wednesday we went back to the clinic for a follow-up test and woohoo! All the parasites were gone! It was a little funny because I was there to have a malaria test, my roommate Sarah wasn’t feeling well so she came as well, and Sergine (my other roommate’s sister who is visiting) was also sick! I think the doctor thought there was some kind of epidemic in our house!!
The unfortunate part is that Sarah was really really sick and ended up staying overnight at the clinic! The verdict on her sickness? Dengue Fever! Incredibly rare here in Burkina Faso. It is transmitted by mosquitoes, like malaria, but mosquitoes that bite during the day. It is less dangerous because it can’t affect your brain (malaria can be fatal if not treated!), but it lasts twice as long and, after seeing Sarah go through what she did…Dengue is NOT something I would like to have.
Essentially there is nothing you can do to treat it so you just have to wait it out with incredibly high fever for 3-4 days…body-aches…headaches…nausea…vomiting…sore eyes…and when the fever goes away, it is replaced by a red rash all over your body that may or may not be itchy! And the fatigue stays throughout the whole ordeal. If you are extra unlucky the fever comes back after the rash for another 3-4 days!
Anyway, at this point she is doing much better with the rash going away and no new fever starting! The doctor at the clinic said they see 2 or 3 cases of Dengue a year…maybe. So Sarah was just really unlucky!
But all is almost entirely well in the house now and we can all get back to our regular routines!
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend (to those who celebrate it!)
I had been having some irritating headaches for the last two weeks that kind of came and went (depending on how often I popped an advil :)!) and it all led up to a few days of unpleasantness. Last Friday after work I came home feeling not so great and went right to bed…feverish. Saturday I was fine until we went out in the evening and then the headache was back with a vengeance and I just felt thoroughly exhausted. After a trip to the medical centre on Sunday the doctor told me that without a doubt I had malaria and my blood was FULL of parasites!
He gave me a bunch of drugs to take to kill the malaria, get rid of the body-aches and fever and deal with the nausea. Malaria is not a fun experience!! I think I lucked out because I wasn’t throwing up or violently ill but I definitely felt awful and entirely drained of energy. The big excursion was getting out of my bed to go lay on the couch in the living room!
Wednesday we went back to the clinic for a follow-up test and woohoo! All the parasites were gone! It was a little funny because I was there to have a malaria test, my roommate Sarah wasn’t feeling well so she came as well, and Sergine (my other roommate’s sister who is visiting) was also sick! I think the doctor thought there was some kind of epidemic in our house!!
The unfortunate part is that Sarah was really really sick and ended up staying overnight at the clinic! The verdict on her sickness? Dengue Fever! Incredibly rare here in Burkina Faso. It is transmitted by mosquitoes, like malaria, but mosquitoes that bite during the day. It is less dangerous because it can’t affect your brain (malaria can be fatal if not treated!), but it lasts twice as long and, after seeing Sarah go through what she did…Dengue is NOT something I would like to have.
Essentially there is nothing you can do to treat it so you just have to wait it out with incredibly high fever for 3-4 days…body-aches…headaches…nausea…vomiting…sore eyes…and when the fever goes away, it is replaced by a red rash all over your body that may or may not be itchy! And the fatigue stays throughout the whole ordeal. If you are extra unlucky the fever comes back after the rash for another 3-4 days!
Anyway, at this point she is doing much better with the rash going away and no new fever starting! The doctor at the clinic said they see 2 or 3 cases of Dengue a year…maybe. So Sarah was just really unlucky!
But all is almost entirely well in the house now and we can all get back to our regular routines!
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend (to those who celebrate it!)
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Les contes africaines!
What a great blogger I am! You get two posts in one week :)
I am just motivated to post about this fantastic event I went to last night! About two weeks ago I met a Canadian girl who used to live in my neighbourhood and she told me about this cool little theater nearby that does ‘African storytelling’ on the last Wednesday of the month for free, for the community. She gave me the contact information for one of the ‘conteurs’ that she met there (storytellers).
I met Jean-Claude a couple of times and he told me that although he doesn’t perform so much at that theater anymore, he would this time before he heads back to Togo (where he is from) for some work he has to do there.
I had no idea what to expect, having only been to the theater once during the day and just seeing it quickly for a few minutes. Essentially it is a big lot with a couple of buildings on it and its resident theater troop uses the space to rehearse and host some events I believe.
I went with Antoine and Angèle…two Burkinabe friends I’ve met through Sarah… Angèle left before it really began so Antoine and I were left behind for the adventure!!
Essentially it is a very community event with mostly young people (from ages 5 to maybe 18). There weren’t too many people when we got there but by the time we left the place was pretty packed. There isn’t much sitting room (a couple of benches) but all the kids were sprawled on mats on the floor and the slightly older kids standing around. It was fantastic!! There were about 8 different storytellers who took turns on the stage.
It began with two young boys actually, who I guess have been training with one of the storytellers. They were super cute and nobody really listened. The one boy was so nervous!! The one thing about society here which can be hard to get used to is how direct (blunt) people are. So people were making fun of him out loud and everyone was laughing…but he was laughing along too. It is all just for fun. So while I was thinking how horribly mean it was and probably on some pedagogical level really terrible (pretty sure mocking students is not such an acceptable tactic in teachers college back home!)… I had to remember that it is not really my place to judge and, in reality, that kid was fine! And he pushed through and told his story despite it all.
So the adult storytellers ranged from really good to really really good and mostly spoke in French, so I got to understand most of it. They use their body language, interacting with the audience, singing, instruments, voices to tell their story and usually there is a moral of some sorts. Like most fables/stories you sometimes have to stretch a little to understand the moral. After a long story about a guy who goes on a trip to a village and gets in a fight with a tortoise…the moral is… he brought it on himself…or something! ?!?!?!?!? But regardless the best part is the story getting there.
There were even some pretty lewd sexual inuendos that the crowd just loved (and I was pretty shocked to hear) such as the story of when ‘mouth’ died and none of the other body parts (nose, eyes, ears, head, feet, stomach) wanted to participate in burying him because he always got them in trouble when they smelt/saw/heard something or made them carry/digest things they didn’t want to! Except “dj antoine and his two ‘friends’” who always benefitted from mouth when he picked up girls… ummm don’t ask me what the moral was in this story?!?!? Or how it was audience appropriate! Haha
But bottom-line is that it was a fantastic event with the audience laughing and interacting. I can’t wait to go back in October! Antoine even had a really great time, although I know that both him and Angèle were very skeptical when we first got there and there were 5 people and two benches set up :)
One of the storytellers with his homemade guitar of scrap cans!
He was one of the better ones! Had fantastic laughter!
Only one woman performed and she was really great! Almost better then the men just because she was challenging the men in their usual roles!
The captive audience!
This is my friend Jean-Claude!
I am just motivated to post about this fantastic event I went to last night! About two weeks ago I met a Canadian girl who used to live in my neighbourhood and she told me about this cool little theater nearby that does ‘African storytelling’ on the last Wednesday of the month for free, for the community. She gave me the contact information for one of the ‘conteurs’ that she met there (storytellers).
I met Jean-Claude a couple of times and he told me that although he doesn’t perform so much at that theater anymore, he would this time before he heads back to Togo (where he is from) for some work he has to do there.
I had no idea what to expect, having only been to the theater once during the day and just seeing it quickly for a few minutes. Essentially it is a big lot with a couple of buildings on it and its resident theater troop uses the space to rehearse and host some events I believe.
I went with Antoine and Angèle…two Burkinabe friends I’ve met through Sarah… Angèle left before it really began so Antoine and I were left behind for the adventure!!
Essentially it is a very community event with mostly young people (from ages 5 to maybe 18). There weren’t too many people when we got there but by the time we left the place was pretty packed. There isn’t much sitting room (a couple of benches) but all the kids were sprawled on mats on the floor and the slightly older kids standing around. It was fantastic!! There were about 8 different storytellers who took turns on the stage.
It began with two young boys actually, who I guess have been training with one of the storytellers. They were super cute and nobody really listened. The one boy was so nervous!! The one thing about society here which can be hard to get used to is how direct (blunt) people are. So people were making fun of him out loud and everyone was laughing…but he was laughing along too. It is all just for fun. So while I was thinking how horribly mean it was and probably on some pedagogical level really terrible (pretty sure mocking students is not such an acceptable tactic in teachers college back home!)… I had to remember that it is not really my place to judge and, in reality, that kid was fine! And he pushed through and told his story despite it all.
So the adult storytellers ranged from really good to really really good and mostly spoke in French, so I got to understand most of it. They use their body language, interacting with the audience, singing, instruments, voices to tell their story and usually there is a moral of some sorts. Like most fables/stories you sometimes have to stretch a little to understand the moral. After a long story about a guy who goes on a trip to a village and gets in a fight with a tortoise…the moral is… he brought it on himself…or something! ?!?!?!?!? But regardless the best part is the story getting there.
There were even some pretty lewd sexual inuendos that the crowd just loved (and I was pretty shocked to hear) such as the story of when ‘mouth’ died and none of the other body parts (nose, eyes, ears, head, feet, stomach) wanted to participate in burying him because he always got them in trouble when they smelt/saw/heard something or made them carry/digest things they didn’t want to! Except “dj antoine and his two ‘friends’” who always benefitted from mouth when he picked up girls… ummm don’t ask me what the moral was in this story?!?!? Or how it was audience appropriate! Haha
But bottom-line is that it was a fantastic event with the audience laughing and interacting. I can’t wait to go back in October! Antoine even had a really great time, although I know that both him and Angèle were very skeptical when we first got there and there were 5 people and two benches set up :)
One of the storytellers with his homemade guitar of scrap cans!
He was one of the better ones! Had fantastic laughter!
Only one woman performed and she was really great! Almost better then the men just because she was challenging the men in their usual roles!
The captive audience!
This is my friend Jean-Claude!
This was a little sweetheart who came to sit on my lap! She didn't talk and barely smiled...but also refused to leave my lap :) I think she was caught between awe and fear! My whiteness is pretty terrifying!
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