MangoFest: Where the Merriment is as Plentiful as the Mangoes

Mango season as been in full force and I have now convinced myself that I am a vrai connoisseur. Mangue ordinaire, Lupense, Kent, Gref, Mangue Papaye (as big as your head!), Mangue Retard, Mademoiselle--they're here and they're a plenty. This is the best time of year for the women who sell on the road--buses, cars and bush taxis stop specifically at Takaledougou to by the mangoes, and while they're at it maybe some cashews, pois sucre or dried mangoes. But it doesn't mean that life is any easier for the women--they still work long hours, they still have bad days where they only make 1.ooo CFA (2 US dollars) a day and they're still vulnerable to prostitution.

Some of my neighbors bringing mangoes from groves and the town next door. This trip is about 1k up and down a steep gorge. They do this 1 to 2 times a day.

Getting mangoes together to sell.

Getting Ready to sell!

So 9 PCVs and I participated in what I like to call MangoFest. Many of us dressed in Burkinabe
woman garb (including some of our male PCVs), grabbed some bowls full of mangoes and started selling for the women. The women were just as amused as they were grateful as we chased after cars yelling "Mangoro bey, Mangoro bey! Keme Keme!" (Mangoes here, 500 cfa!....its about 10 succulent mangoes for 1 US dollar. Great deal, huh?). We learned quickly of the trials and tribulations these women endure daily: discouragement, neglect, fatigue--and our livelihoods weren't dependent on mango sales like these women's livelihoods are everyday. The day started slowly--took nearly an hour to make our first sale! But by the end of the day, with a couple calabashes of liquid courage and a lot of encouragement from the women, we made nearly 10.000 CFA (20 US dollars) for the women that day.

Attempting to sell mangoes to a bush taxi passing by.

A lot of women selling the same thing can get a bit competitive. All in good fun!

We made a sale!

After we finished selling, we had build enough rapport with the women to have some informal discussions with them about HIV/AIDS. Since these are the women in village MOST vulnerable to the risk of unprotected sex, this was an important discussion. While a lot of them, the younger ones, were very shy and embarrassed, they were receptive to learning. And while many of them new very well out to transmit and how to prevent HIV/AIDS, many of them DID NOT know how to use a condom (which goes to show that knowledge does NOT necessarily transmit to action...an important lesson I have learned here).

Jenny here was a soldier when it came to chasing bush taxis.Flirtation has its advantages.

Women and girls practice how to put on a condom.

Since MangoFest I have been running around the country for various activities, namely a training in Ouahigoya covering training techniques/info for the incoming group of PCT (Peace Corps Trainees). I will be working 3 weeks of their stag, plus I'm attending my COS (Closing of Service conference) which means I'll be gone for a month straight from village starting in the 2nd week of July. Really bummed about that, but looking forward to working with the the future PCVs of Burkina.

After Ouahigoya I went to Niger with 3 other PCVs for a couple days. Niger is currently THE poorest country in the world (Burkina moved up to 6th poorest, wahoo!). Placed nearly entirely in the Sahel, Niger is barren from what we saw of it--trees couldn't even grow in much of the terrain we passed. Despite the heat (Niger is JUST inching into rainy season) and the dryness, we had a great time! Saw one of the only remaining herds of giraffes in West Africa, took a tour of the Niger river via pirogue, toured some artisan centers, and got caught in a couple sand storms! Here are a couple pictures:






So, the next several weeks will be spent in village finishing up my mural project before heading back to Ouahigoya to work stag. I recently found out that I will officially be extending with the West African Trade Hub! But unfortunately I'll have to leave village at the end of October (as opposed to the end of November/December when my COS date was originally). After I leave village, I'll be in Ouaga for 2 weeks working with the Trade Hub at SIAO, West Africa's largest artisan festival! By mid-November I head to Dakar, get settled in for two weeks and then spend the month of December back home in Americaland before starting my 3rd year in Senegal. I'm very excited to see what the future will bring, but already growing sentimental of my soon departure from Burkina. Looking forward to getting some serious time in village to spend time with friends.