Monday, November 30, 2009

Finally...

So after almost 5 months of living out of a suitcase, I am finally moving into a house. I’m going to be a bit selfish here, but nobody else in the Peace Corps deserve a home more than me and Peace Through Chemistry. We have been through a lot, stretching ourselves and tolerating as much as we possibly could, and finally we are being rewarded. Tomorrow, December 1st, 2009, I will be at a site for what I hope will be the last house I have in the Peace Corps.

I have heard many a good thing about my town too. I have electricity and running water, with multiple bedrooms, and a nice courtyard. I am very close to my school (within walking distance) and right in the middle of town. By the way, Wikipedia put my town at 40,000. Peace Corps puts the count at unofficially 200,000. 200,000 is a hell of a lot larger than my tiny village of Tormelin.

Oh and cool but unrelated, the biggest game reserve in Burkina is fairly close to my site. It comes complete with lions, elephants, leopards, and other furry and scaly critters.

But, I’m a city boy, and I think a big city will do just fine for me. It means food whenever I want it, cold beer, and the ability to “get away.” One thing that I have really learned about rural vs. urban communities is that in urban areas, you can actually escape much easier to the comforts of your own home than you can in a rural area. Of course that means that some of your “celebrity” is minimized and you may be considered to a tourist by those who don’t know you. But like everything in life, you have your positives and negatives. This whole experience, believe or not, has made me a much more positive and patient person.

So cool things about my site visit! I went to Bobo which is the most beautiful city that I have seen so far in West Africa. Tree lined streets with a relatively mild temperature makes for a very green and wonderful town. The area as a whole is teeming with interesting geography and hippo lakes. I did not get to see any hippo lakes this time unfortunately, but that only will inspire me to go again.

Last but not least, I wanted to wish everyone a belated Happy Thanksgiving and bon fete de Tobaski. Tobaski, for those unfamiliar, is a Muslim holiday associated with the moon that essentially means the end all for every goat on the planet, similar to how Thanksgiving is the end all for every Turkey. See the metaphor? Tobaski is the Muslim Thanksgiving and this year it just happened to have landed on the day after Thanksgiving.

I also wanted to say a few things I am thankful for.

-My friends and family back home for their love and support, without it my Peace Corps experience would not be possible

-My stupid cat Harry that continues to live in spite of us all.

-Being born in the USA. You really have no idea how much opportunity you have as Americans until you have lived in Africa.

-My fellow Volunteers, Guinea and Burkina. Without any of you and the experiences that we go through together, the Peace Corps would just not be the same.

-And a special “thanks” to my 4 fellow Gvac Volunteers. We have driven each other absolutely insane, and I would not

Sunday, November 15, 2009

First Impressions of a Land Baked in Sunlight

There is not a day that goes by where I sit and wonder what my life would have been like had I not chosen to join the Peace Corps. Not a day goes by where I don’t ask myself, “Why did I come here?”

As I sent back at the end of my second training, I think what if I had taken the COS option, what if Guinea reopens, what if I reenrolled somewhere else? It’s all the past now. Reading up on other stories and hearing about the unity that training groups share makes me yearn for that again. I don’t have that anymore. G-18 is a memory, separated by a month in Bamako, two weeks in Ouagadougou, and miles of distance between our respective new sites.

I have had one of the more bizarre Peace Corps experiences. I’ve been a Volunteer for almost 2 months now, a time usually considered the most important 3 months of community integration. While most Volunteers spend their 3 months learning the language of their village, the culture, the food, and everything else that comes with our service, I took a different path. I was evacuated from Guinea, moved to Bamako for a month, and ending up in Burkina Faso for what I hope to be a permanent move. I’ve been living out of a suitcase for 4 ½ months, and will continue to do so until the end of November when I finally get the chance to settle in.

Hell, I could write my own Lonely Planet with my experiences if I really wanted to. In the process I’ve racked up 3 long term work visas to 3 different countries, a large appetite for wild foods, and a real nice tan. Well the third one is not true, good ol’ Meflo prevents that from happening. I have a tan, but it’s generally from the dirt that covers my body after a day of being outside in Africa in the dry season.

Burkina Faso is an amazing place. Guinea is an amazing place. Mali, is, um, well I’ll leave that one out. The next two weeks of my life include a visit to the Southwest corner of Bobo-Diollaso, or better put the land of hippos. Yeah, that’s right, hippos. And don’t worry mom, I won’t go swimming with the hippos, I like my life.

So here I am; sitting in a nice air conditioned computer lab at the Peace Corps Burkina Faso Office, writing to you all. If you had asked me where I would be now from when I left les Etats-Unis, I certainly would have never imagined it would be the capital of Burkina, a name which nobody can even pronounce.

First impressions and differences between Burkina and Guinea:

Burkina Faso is actually poorer than Guinea, but Wikipedia facts can be deceiving. Burkina Faso is much more developed than Guinea, roads are paved, there are street lights and buses, electricity in the capital, and cheeseburgers! Guinea has more money than Burkina yes, and the potential for Guinea to grow is certainly there. With a stable government you could see Guinea become one of the wealthiest countries in West Africa with its mineral wealth. So why does a desert country like Burkina with no natural resources or water do better than a country like Guinea, which has the largest aluminum wealth on the planet?

Corruption, corruption, corruption. It’s very difficult to tell someone why in fact these countries are so different. I mean come on, Guinea and Burkina are both so low on the development scale that for any American, both countries would be a total shock. It all comes down to perspective. At first glance they are both worlds behind the USA, but after having lived here for a 4 months those differences have now disappeared. I can now see just how important having a stable government can be in creating a country that works. In Guinea, the money goes nowhere except directly into the pockets of a few high ranking military officials. In Burkina, the little money that exists goes into building roads, power lines, and pipelines. The military here actually serves to protect the people, not exploit them.

I cannot even begin to explain the differences geographically either. Burkina Faso is hot. It gets so ridiculously hot that when the temperature drops below 80 people wear coats. And I’m not talking about locals either. I have to wear a fleece at night because I end up waking up in the middle of the night freezing. There are no mountains here; Burkina is flat as a pancake. There are no major sources of water, and only when you go to the extreme east or southwest do you begin to see wildlife and plant life. In the north you find the beginning of the Sahara. Nothing grows up there.

Yet Volunteers here are extremely happy. The staff is great, the access to amenities is top notch (Again all relative), and there is beer! Oh yes folks, there is lots of beer, and it’s cold. I can bitch and complain all I want about the heat, but there is nothing like a delicious cold beer in the hot desert. One day I hope you will get to experience the feeling a frothy cold one after a long day of work and extreme heat.

I am very happy here so far. While I continue to think about what could have been, I have been very satisfied with the welcome we have received. Volunteers are amazing, the expat community (that’s right there is a large expat community here) is friendly, but most importantly the Burkinabes are wonderful. The staff and the other Volunteers are doing everything they can to make us feel welcome here, a vibe not received in Mali. There is ultimate Frisbee pickup on Sundays, a pool near the Volunteer House, and an amazing American brunch!

I do hope that Guinea opens up as soon as possible. There is a debate amongst Volunteers about why we evacuated and if the means were necessary. While I won’t comment on my personal view, for the sake of my fellow Volunteers who wish to reinstate as soon as possible, Guinea does deserve the Peace Corps. I am Peace Corps Burkina Faso, I am not allowed to reinstate, but those who chose to wait it out deserve the chance go back. Plus I want to put that Guinea two year visa to use.

Oh I also watched Burkina Faso beat Malawi 1-0 in my second football match in Africa. Yeah, I could get used to being here.

Tenkodogo, get ready for Mamadou, your first Peace Corps Volunteer!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

A Stark Contrast

Well I am on a flight tomorrow. Air Burkina at 3 PM, direct from Bamako to Ouagadougou (man I don't know if I will ever be able to spell that right. To copy my buddy Peace Through Chemistry, I have posted 3 maps showing the three different places that I will have claimed as a home. I'm not counting Bamako because I plan on writing this place off as soon as we get out of here.

Forecharia, Guinea


View Larger Map

My house is located below the massive soccer stadium all the way at the end of the road in the bottom right of the map.

Tormelin, Guinea


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Smallest town I have ever lived in by far. If you find the dirt soccer stadium, look for a round circular building. My house is located right below that building.

Tenkodogo, Burkina Faso


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No idea where my house is. Can you tell me the obvious difference between the first two photos and the third photos? Give up? Notice the serious lack of green.

I'm in the desert.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Tubaniso is Empy

As the title states, Tubaniso is empty. Well empty, except for me, and a few other transfers still waiting in this fake village until we finally get to leave. While I don't want to rant on how this placed has eaten the souls of many of my fellow Volunteers, just ask my folks for details on that, I did want to spend a paragraph trying to illustrate the exact scene of despair that has become Tubaniso.

This place, as I stated before, eats away at your happiness. Aided by the rain it seems, I am so excited to get out of here. You cannot keep 90 some Americans cooped up for long until people begin to rebel. While we have not rebelled in the physical sense, emotionally everyone has checked out of the place. They give us a per diem to keep us happy, but if there is anything I have learned of this experience, it's that you cannot buy happiness. No amount of money in the world helps when you all you do in the day is wait for a bus to take you into town for 4 hours. We have been reduced to children going on field trips. I can't wait to get out of here.

Now this is not to talk ill of the support that we have received, a lot of the negativity can be blamed on the isolation. The Guinea staff and the evacuation staff did a great job. It's so easy to blame them for our problems, yet in so doing we tend to forget about how stressful life is for everyone, especially the people responsible for catering to the every whims of a lot of frustrated Peace Corps Volunteers. I won't comment on the timeliness of the situation or how it was handled in the "higher" levels, but just now that I will officially have spent one month of my service sitting in the Peace Corps Mali training center appropriately called Tubaniso, meaning town of white people.

Guinea does not deserve what has happened to it. I have kept silent enough in my blog about my personal thoughts, and now it's time to let loose. The Guinean people deserve more. My school in Tormelin deserved a great math teacher. Hell they gave me a house and food, and I sat there for 6 days without even explaining to them why I was leaving. Though I'm pretty sure they understood why. The Guinean people deserve a stable government; they deserve the chance to live their own lives without fear.

For everyone one at home, hold Guinea in your hearts. People are being killed every few days now in the capital. It is a scary situation for all.

Before I sign out, I do want to say I'm excited about Burkina Faso. I know it will be a terrific experience and that I feel I have made the right decision in continuing on. Part of me still yearns though to give my 8th grade and 9th grade classes in Tormelin the math lessons that I was excited to give. I keep thinking that if those events in Conakry never happened, how would I have spent my Halloween in Guinea?

Thanks to all my fellow Volunteers who helped pull each other through such trying times. Thanks to my folks for supporting me through everything. But most of all, thanks to the Guinean people for giving me even the short experience of having the chance to work and live within your community, nothing I could ever do for Guinea could replace what Guinea has done for me. Best of luck to everyone returning to the USA, and also to those continuing on to Senegal, the Gambia, Benin, Mali, Zambia, Botswana, Madagascar, Jamaica, and Liberia.

Vivre la Guinee