Life at site – La vie a Sabsè

Dear all-

Another exciting experiment in attaching large video files! This one is a tour of my house at site in the village of Sabsè. There have been some improvements to the house since the video, including the removal of a termite infestation, the addition of a second clothesline . . . in my bedroom mind you, the hanging of a mosquito net, the delivery of a thicker mattress by the mayor of Sabsè, and the successful addition of a thatch roof onto the hangar (local word for patio, in a way) outside my house. Today I might be able to pick up a couple chairs I ordered, which is exciting, and a carpenter is currently building a big kitchen food prep table + a bookshelf / clothes shelf thinger I designed. Here’s hoping they’re actually useful in the ways I envisioned…

Also, I am now raising a chicken (gift from a village chief), and built her a small house. One of my neighbor’s chickens uses the house instead of my chicken. C’est la vie.

Also included is a picture, again from the swearing-in ceremony. It’s just a quality pic of me standing in front of the Burkina flag. Sweet!

As ever, THANK YOU!!! to any and all who sent me emails and updates as to the gooings-on in your lives. I really can’t tell you how much I look forward to reading the messages, so do please please keep them coming. Were I able to achieve internet more than once every couple weeks, via a slow connection and crappy strangely arranged keyboard, I would respond to each an everyone one. As it is, I generally get to send out like 5 or 7 individual responses, plus compose one omnibus thinger, which you see before you on the screen. So have faith that your words are eagerly read and infinitely appreciated.

It’s almost lunchtime, and I am meeting with another volunteer so he can show me around the regional capital, Kongoussi. Let me attempt to give a short update of life at site in the village of Sabcè.

I keep my fruits and veggies in little bowl like things that ware otherwise used to sift flour.

My food ‘cupboards’ at this point consist of two very large plastic bowls, one inverted on another to form a closed dome, and a sturdy box repo-d from a care package.

I live very close to the village infirmary, pharmacy, and maternity. The maternity is frequently overcrowded.

Some women here use Norplant. It costs about 2.20 USD to have a Norplant removed. More on sexual health and behavior later.

A lot (LOT) of malaria, even now several months after the rainy season is over. A lot of pulmonary / bronchial infections from the dust. Endemic diarrheal / gastrointestinal problems stemming from water sanitation and hygeine. My work is cut out for me.

I have met with three village chiefs, some school headmasters, nuns, an imam, birth attendants, doctors, pharmacists, the mayor’s older brother, village health liasons, the local health committee, and scads of children hovering around the water pump. The kids like when we sing whilst I’m doing laundry near the pump. I figure, if the chitlens are going to stand around gawking at the ‘nassare’ (blanket term for westerner… really endearing thing to be called by every other person, but pretty much par for the course) while he ‘peke futu’ (washes clothes), I may as well make them do something. So i say ‘Il faut chanter’ (:french:you gotta sing), ‘niili’ (:Moré: music). After a bit of embarassed laughing, one of them opens up with a chant or song of some sort. If i even make the barest hint of dancing along, they completely lose it and fall over laughing. All like 25 of them.  This, dear friends and family, is one facet of ‘integration’.

Speaking of integration, it’s starting to take about 25 minutes to take a 10 minute walk. This is a good sign, as it means I’m consistently stopped by people on my way to the metal-workers place, and asked about my family, my kids, my wife (oh God, everyone and their mother is out to get me a wife….), my day, my health… such is the way we greet around these parts. I get about 15 small lessons in Moré a day (the local language), which is great but most people don’t understand the concept of S-P-E-A-K-I-N-G S-L-O-W-L-Y. I need to find a tutor to really get thnigs going. I don’t think French is gonna be good enough to really do good work here. Oh, and there’s also a good chunk of Peuhl people here (another ethnicity), who have their own language called ‘Fulfulde’. It is quite different from the Moré language (that of the Mossi people). All this to say, I have a lot of language work ahead of me. The upshot is, I get some really great reactions when I meet a new person and can run through like 8 greetings in the local language when they expect only some French.

I want to get a car battery and put some lights in my house for night time. Would be really really nice. But rkinda expensive… like 100 USD or so. We shall see.

My daily routine consists of figuring out my daily routine. Ok, that’s an exaggeration, but in some respects just means i have no ‘official ‘ regimented scheduled job as of yet. Ergo I greet people, I read a lot of health info, plant seed ideas for activities in  the future, help out at the infirmary where I can (eg baby weighings), learn about the most commonly prescribed meds, think of important questions I need to ask local and district health boards, and of course eat freshly killed chicken. And drink tea. And search out places to recharge my headlamp.

I bike 15km to my regional capital, where they actually sell fruit besides just watermelon. Also carrots! and Laughing Cow cheese, which is HUGELY popular among volunteers – it keeps forever!!! ANd tastes of cheese!!

i really like headlamps, and solar lights of any kinds. Just saying….

My birthday is March 7th…   Again, just saying.

Ok, I am praying that the video is uploaded. If it is not, well, I am so sorry. I need to get get lunch, and this clackitty keyboard is bringing back some old pipetting RSS memories. Wow….. oh lab work, how at times I strangely miss thee. Well, mostly the padded seats and the air conditioning and, oh yes, the ability to comprehend my collegues. Or at lest those ones not visiting from Japan, or those ones not speaking in their home language of Russian or Hungarian. Oh, forget it, I’m doomed to internationalism and language multiplicity. Any rate, Shout out to my HNRC folks!

Oh and my cousin Danny asked about the single malt here – the Scotch is freaking terrible. THe village chief gave me some and I had to very surreptitiously dump it out while we were talking. All his kids saw and cracked, but the chief didn’t notice. I win.

Very happy, healthy, and peaceful new year. Take your time, and make sure those who are imorpant to you know it.

Best

Aaron