Dori, for those not so well versed in Burkina geography, is just about as far as you can go in the north before you hit nomansland. The town is all that stands between the Sahara and civilization. There is no plantable soil, only sand, and even in the most intense parts of rainy season few trees manage to grow.
The north is the land of the Peulhs-migrant people who choose the harshest conditions in Africa to live. And live they do, they are true masters of their environment. From the mountains of Guinea, to the deserts of Burkina, and beyond, you can find a Peulh and their herds of animals in almost every country in West Africa.
Planting Trees!
Apparently every year Burkina hosts a grand ceremony for all volunteer organizations in the country, which of course includes Peace Corps. 1000 Volunteers from all over the world descended upon Dori to help plant a type of tree, well adapted to harsh desert conditions, to slow down the effect of desertification. The objective was 65000 trees in 15 minutes. I can't say we did it in 15, but we filled up the entire planting ground for sure!
Last week, I was in Togo and Ghana with Kirstin. It was a wonderful trip taking us to three different places along the coast. The first stop was Accra, the capital of Ghana. Accra is an ok city, it has all the amenities of any other city including fast food restaraunts and sushi. It can be a very expensive city to live in, and probably ranks as one of the wealthiest cities in Africa. It still has immense poverty issues like everywhere, but it is far more developed than any other other city that I have seen.
Kirstin in front of a lighthouse in Keta
After that we went to Keta, a natural landbridge formed between a massive lagoon, the end of the White Volta, and the ocean. A spectacular beach for sure untouched by Western tourism. Many wealthy Ghanains have established beach homes there (extravagant to say the least), but very little in the way of hotels and other amenities. Every day all the fisherman load up their boats (literally hundreds) and the women and children walk the beach to receive the catches. Kirstin has the photos on her camera so I'll be sure to post them when I receive them.
We ended up finally in Lomé at the same place where I took my last vacation. We met some Togo PCVs this time around and spent two night just kicking it with a different group. Peace Corps is a very large family and in French West Africa it's a good bet that if you run into a group of Americans, they are Peace Corps Volunteers.
Food in Ghana is amazing--fresh fish with a plate of fried rice for 5 bucks!
-------------------------------------------------Next on the menu we have the lovely Burkina Faso Peace Corps Bike Tour! My route starts in Tenkodogo and ending in Kaya, a total ride of about 300km in 5 days. We are riding to raise money for Gender and Development Programs put on here by fellow Peace Corps Volunteers. Please, if you were interested in donating before let us know. The PayPal system was malfunctioning before, but everything is working now. Check out the link again for more info. Who knows, your money could go towards helping my proposed girl's basketball team get uniforms. No it's not a sure thing yet, but I do have girls asking me to coach a team-here's hoping!
Follow the link below:
Peace Corps Burkina Faso Bike Tour 2010
And last but not least, October 1st is the first day of school here in Burkina. So my extremely long summer is coming to an end and School Year #2 begins.
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