sAVING THE World....nBd

Hey, wanted to send a quick shout out to three groups of people who have most recently sent me care packages.

MY PARENTS!!! WOOP WOOP!!!I (Canned chicken breast and ham never tasted so good)

My Church (Thank you thank you thank you for all of the goodies. The hot chocolate always gets me up in the mornings. :-) )

My Brother in LFS, Rachel Manchester. (Those girl scout cookies were delicious! Yes, girl scouts may have to expand their market to west africa because the locals love thin mints)

On a work note:

I have a couple of projects up and running and am really hoping that they work out nicely. I have a small tree garden that I am hoping to grow (no pun intended) into a large village tree garden. Trees are important here because they serve a number of important roles. Yes they provide shade but trees also enrich the soil, slow desertification, provide leaves for nutritional sauces, and provide wood for future generations. (Burkina has a dangerous slash and burn culture that has destroyed much of the country’s natural land resources) A lot of the trees that I am planting have medicinal purposes as well. For example: The leaves of the neem tree can be boiled and then mixed with shea butter to produce a mosquito repellant. Another good example is the Moringa tree which is said to have over 100 medicinal purposes. One problem with the moringa tree is that the locals in my area have a lot of myths surrounding it that scare them away from planting and using the tree. I am working to debunk these myths as well as introduce some of the many uses of this tree into the mainstream population. (One such myth is that your family will fall apart if you plant the tree in your court.) I have started my work by first planting moringa in my own court and I have also started working with the forestry agent here to plant and grow more trees. Although I am looking to start my own garden, he recently showed me his garden of a little more than 10,000 trees. (He chuckled out loud to himself when I told him about my 54)

Another project I am currently working on is small enterprise development with a focus on health. I am training 4 women’s groups in my area on how to make organic mosquito repellant(from the leaves of the afore mentioned neem tree), tofu, and liquid soap. Although the women will be selling these products to make money, the mosquito repellant will hopefully reduce the number of cases of malaria; the tofu will help reduce the occurrence of malnutrition by introducing higher concentrations of protein to the diet; and then soap will generally improve the hygiene of the village. Yes, I now know how to make all of the above and will be teaching women and then children how to make them. (The tofu is DELICIOUS!)

In July, I will be taking part in two very cool trainings. The first, Coaching For Hope is a British organization that uses soccer to educate youth&adults on HIV/AIDS. I am super pumped for this training, which is taking place in the north western corner of the country(right near the mali boarder). The second training, Camp Girls and Guys Leading Our World(G2LOW) is a camp dedicated to empowering and enriching youth. Along with 19 other volunteers, we will be hosting the camp in our regional capital of Fada and will be working with 120 middle school aged children(60 guys and 60 girls). http://pcburkina.org/camp-glow

(Oh and here is a picture from the Youth development conference in the village/city of PO that went AMAZINGLY! We were happy to see so many motivated youths.)

As mentioned in an earlier post, I am also in the process of starting a internship program at my local high school. I want to bring highly motivated students to work at the medical center(CSPS) in order to gain valuable work experience. Plus, the CSPS really needs the help. This is a long way from actualization, but I am working to pull it together.

Village Life:

Village life is great! The villagers have really started to get to know me and now when I bike through the village, people shout my name and greet me. It really gives me warm fuzzies to see everyone and greet everyone, especially after coming back from a trip. When I first got here, I really felt like an outsider but now I feel like I am really integrating well into the community. The kids in my area always come to my house to play ball, dance, and wrestle. Although they can be annoying at times, I have really come to love and appreciate them. The teenagers and young adults often come by to listen to music, practice their English, and hang out. Adults come by to practice English, learn about America, and try to get Visas and/or money.

Overall, I am really quite happy with my village experience. Although there is no electricity or other luxuries, the people have really started to grow on me. I legitimately feel as if I belong in this village. The word LOVE comes to mind, but I am definitely avoiding that word for a while."Warm Fuzzies" will do for now.

Whether I am sitting on my porch reading, in the market eating and shopping, or working at the medical center; I usually feel like I belong here and the people love me. No matter where I go, people ask how Brittany is doing, how my family is doing, how I am doing, and when people are coming to visit. People here genuinely care. It’s truly heart-warming.

I feel like I belong most when I am playing soccer with the kids and when I am dancing with n’import qui (anyone). As most of you know, those are two of my favorite things, dancing and soccer, and the fact that the Burkinabe love them as well makes my life much easier. I wish that I could have the chance to show people in America my village and introduce you to everyone but for now, pictures suffice. (They love your pictures hanging on my wall just as much as some of you love seeing pictures of them)

Thanks for everyone for your support, love, and prayers