Who's Driving This Flying Umbrella?

So, last month was not my best, though it was certainly a character building experience. I hope I didn't worry anyone with my last post. Granted, I was discouraged--as anyone would be if their puppy was whacked with the blade of a knife--but, dogs are not as valued here as they are in the states. When there is food on the ground (meat, in the middle of being cut for dinner, no less. A very valued commodity) and if we were as poverty stricken as the villagers are here, perhaps we would treat animals the same way if they came near us mid-meat preparation...Right?

But, just like Buddha's scar, things are getting better. Much better than expected actually. I'll try to go in order.

Funerals: I know I was saying things were getting better, and now I decide to talk about funerals. But funerals are a much more positive event here than in many Western cultures. When its hot as hell, the wells are drying up and no one has any money, people spend what little they have on massive, 2 to 3 day funeral fetes celebrating the past death of a family member. Enough liters of dolo (locally brewed beer out of millet, tastes kind of like cider if you've lived in Burkina Faso long enough) and kilos rice and sause for everyone to enjoy. There's music and dancing. Several animals are slaughtered and eaten (as gruesome as it looks, I don't mind it nearly as much when I know literally EVERY part of the animal will be used). In a time of the year where people are burning in the relentless heat, anticipating the rains that will signal the begging of intensive work in the fields, it is a perfect time to enjoy oneself.

Agricultural Formation: I had organized a three-day agricultural formation on the maximization of small farm land plots and on the production of cereal grains. I found someone in village who I thought would be a great help to me in organizing the project. He was absolutely fantastic--motivated, hardworking and very knowledgeable. He really good charge of the planning of the formation, which I was refreshing from the typical inept mentality that transcends village life. And the community has been incredibly receptive. The formation was postponed to the 16th to the 17th of this month so I'm really keeping my fingers crossed. Will make sure to take plenty of pictures too.

RAIN: rainy season is upon us lucky Southern folk of Burkina. I have never been in such awe at the sight of a rain storm. Its beautiful here. All day is spent sweating out everything you could possibly have in your body. Then, the sun begins to set and the winds pick up, kicking up waves of sand and trash that line the ground as a wall of thick dark clouds inch nearer. Then, the sky will just open up, unleashing massive amounts of water. Rain drops will pound against the tin roofs, too loud to hear anything else. And the temperature will just drop radically (by radically I guess I mean from 110 to 80...).

Satellite Villages: I visited a satellite village (a village in the same health district, and thus "members" of the CSPS in my village) and was in complete shock at their state of livelihood. No money. No market for food. Completely isolated with nearly passable roads (if you even want to call them roads, they were more like paths). Ridden with malaria and malnutrition. And, on top of all that, they had no water wells or pumps. A woman showed me a cooking bowl full of the water she and all the villagers use: it looked like she scooped it out of a muddy river or puddle of water. And that's exactly what she did. This is a village that needs serious help, and while I was there just to shadow the nurse to give vaccinations (only four that day...), there was nothing I could do at the moment but slip on my overpriced gortex rain jacket and be on my way. Even since being here, I've never felt such a painful guilt such as that moment.

Busy month ahead: While I have learned by now that nothing seems to go as planned, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of this month because I have a lot going on. I will be holding an interest meeting for a girls camp I would like to run over the school break, I will be presenting on Moringa to the school and we will be planting Moringa seeds in time for rainy season. And I will be making soap to sell with a woman's group I am a part of. So, while it's not always easy, I'm hoping for the best.