A dead man and flood waters

Just another week:

As I prepare to head out to Togo, I was planning on taking things pretty easy during my last week in village before vacationing. Little did I know that Burkina Faso had other things planned for me. From site visits, rain for days, a dead body, to swimming across a road. Starting from the beginning:

About a week and a half ago, our newest stage class of trainees swore in and became volunteers. In true Burkina fashion, we went out for drinks afterwards and had a great time. The 44 new volunteers will be working with the environment, education, and small business associations. We were all excited to welcome them into our family.

The next day, I was informed that our new country director, The Big Boss, was interested in coming out to my site to see how life is. Although slightly nerve wrecking at first, I had a great time playing host for a couple of hours and showing them, her husband accompanied her, around my village. I think we had a good time but it’s more so comforting to have office staff come out to our sites to see what the situation is.

About two days after the visit, it started raining off and on for about 4 days. Andddd then it just started pouring solidly for 3 days. Rain in the U.S is usually no problem(although I hear the rain has been pretty cruel over the past two weeks in the states), but when your roof is made of tin, every drop sounds like a snare drum next to your head. Further, every gust of wind lifts your roof up a bit allowing water to leak in. Needless to say that between cleaning up the water, the permanent drum roll in my head, and worrying about my house falling over; I have not gotten much sleep. I think the worst day was this past Tuesday. As I laid in bed, I could literally hear the waterfalls(6k away) and rivers(500m) in the distance. There was THAT much water. (Have I mentioned that Burkina is usually dessert?)



The Wednesday after, I went outside and found that most of the main roads were flooded. Even more so, a flash flood had ripped a grown man off of his moto bike and then carried his body 2k down the river and deposited it on a bank. When his body was found that morning, they alerted the head nurse, my major, and had him come out to inspect the body. He of course asked me if I wanted to accompany him. I of course said yes. ***ITS GETS KIND OF GRAPHIC FROM HERE FOLKS***



We headed out to the scene and were amazed by what we found. The river, which had been a stream the day before had flooded enough to have carried the body 200m from the actual river bed. The ground was still pretty muddy and flooded when we arrived but more noticeable was the way that the water had knocked over all the trees, crops, and road signs that had stood in its way. The only thing left to be found in this once green field was the dead body of a village man. Trekking out to the body we lost our shoes to the mud on a number of occasions and had to battle the swarm of flies surrounding the body. I took notes for my counterpart as he inspected the body for identification and paper-work purposes. The torso was bloated with water and badly bruised. Blood and water bubbled out of the mouth when the major touched the body. The body had sustained severe trauma wounds on its head and arms and had clearly been in the water for a number of hours. The skin was spongy and there were already flies crawling in and out of various bodily orifices. As the blood leaked out of the body into the surrounding mud and water, I could not help but to think of this man’s family and friends. Although he did not have a wife or kids, this was an extremely unlucky way to leave the world. In the words of another volunteer who learned of the incident: “Seriously, Life ain’t as precious here man. Carpe diem and all that.”



The next day, yesterday, I left for Ouaga and will continue on to Lome, Togo. I left my house at 5:30am and biked the 10km to catch a truck that takes us to the bus. Biking down flooded roads was no walk in the park and I at times had to get off and carry my bike and bags through. The truck showed up at about 7:30 and was supposed to take us to the next city over so that we could catch the bus. (The word truck does not reference a pick-up truck but instead makes reference to 16 wheeler with an open back where luggage and people alike are stored) The truck only made it half way to the next city before we came to the river. Now usually, there is no river on this road but with the rain the way it had been, a river had popped up. The truck stopped, we descended, and were then told to cross the river because the buses were waiting on the other side. There were no canoes, paddle boats, paddles, floaters, or anything; but we were expected to make it across the river and its relatively strong current. Did I mention that the water was up to my chest? So yes, I swam/walked/doggie paddled my way across the river with my backpack, army duffel, and bike. Yes I had to make more than one trip and yes we all got on the bus on the other side. So yes, I was a bit damp for half of the 9 hour bus trip and am still in possession of too many wet items, but my laptop and hard drive survived. Dieu Merci.

The bus waiting for us on the other side was not the usual and was of an… “older model”. With a top speed of 50kph/ 31mph this 60 seater lacked a gas tank and proper door. To make up for the lack of gas tank, the clever drivers had several 75L containers in the front seats of the bus. They filled these containers with gasoline and then hand pumped the gas directly into the engine. I wish that there was some kind of benefit to this method but I am personally at a loss. Not safe, not efficient, and they lost passenger space. They made up for the lack off door by tying a piece of sheet metal to the side of the door. We somehow managed to arrive in Ouaga in one piece at about 6:00pm. The End.



I am now sitting in Ouaga reflecting on the past week and realize that I really do need a vacation. What an interesting series of events.

Life in the Faso!

Happy Birthday to Me!

(A post dedicated to what one year in Burkina Faso does to ya)



Another year has come and past… and unlike past years… a lot has changed in 365 days. In the past year I have aged , what feels like the equivalent of, 5 years mentally, emotionally, and physically. I am definitely not the same person that I was one year ago.



Hanging out with other volunteers from my stage class, we took the time to talk about how much we have all changed since we first arrived in Burkina Faso 10 months ago. Unfortunately, our superficiality shown through and we began with physical characteristics. Starting with he guys; most of us have lost a of weight, mostly muscle. A protein deficient diet has destroyed what we once had and has turned us into skeletons of what we once were. Long, hot, and dry days &nights have caused our faces to resemble the dry, cracked, and dusty land that we live off of. With women volunteers, a lot of them gain unwanted weight and unwanted places. A diet heavy in carbs is proving to not be overly flattering for the majority of volunteers (their words, not my own). The protein deficiency causes hair to fall out and reduces the speed that our bodies heal from simple cuts and bruises. Most of our legs and feet are covered in bug bites and scars. Personally, both my feet and arms are heavily scarred from a bike accident. I fear that Burkina has left permanent physical marks on most of us….. 10 months in.


Although I feel that Burkina has physically weakened us, it has definitely made us stronger mentally. My stage in particular has had to say goodbye to roughly 28% of the people that we started off with and never got the chance to say good bye in most cases. (Burkina Faso, ce n’est pas facile de) But further than losing friends/brothers, Burkina has made is tough in other ways. Waiting hours for a taxi or bus has pushed us to new levels of patience. Getting rid of Faux Types (Scam artist) has pushed us to new levels of assertiveness…and in some cases aggressiveness. And finally, eating and “digesting” the food has pulled us down to lower than previously thought possible standards. (Just yesterday I ate an omelet sandwich made from guinea fowl eggs, covered in flies. Just last night, I spent a sizable amount of my time “digesting” that sandwich into my hole in the ground).


Yes, life is tough, but we always have to maintain a positive attitude and try to laugh about as much as possible (including ourselves).



Emotionally, I can only speak for myself, but I have definitely become a stronger…I also think better, person in general. Dealing with a long distance relationship, losing that relationship, maintaining ties to home, and also creating new ties here has been a part of a non-stop series of trials. I definitely feel that I have grown a lot in self-knowledge as well as understanding of others. Further, I feel that I have become more self-reliant and less dependent on others as sources of happiness.




In the days/weeks elading up to this day, I have had a hard time remembering how old I was turning. 22? 23? 24? 25? I even found myself double checking with my passport. Times likes these make me realize how lucky and BLESSED I have been. Although my experiences are that of a 30y/o I think I am younger. Travelling to close to 15 countries, working on capitol hill, playing soccer in Europe, and now living & working in a developing country; I have been blessed.


Its tough to take any credit for any of these things because they have only been possible through blessings from GOD and sacrifices made by my family and friends. THANK YOU! Although I may feel like a 30 y/o at times, I am far younger and hopefully have quite a number of years & experiences ahead of me.







Happy Birthday To ME!!







PS.



A status update :



Two friends came to visit so we spent the past two days exploring the waterfalls and cliffs of my site. Its been AMAZING!! I’m happy that I got the chance to share a part of my site with them. Another good friends comes in tomorrow, and I hope to be repeating that experience with them.



Health: Not toooo good. Ive been pretty sick for the past 3 weeks off and on. I suspect dengue fever or malaria… but no proof… yet.



I had dead foot that spread up my calf for a while…



And now I just found out I have a fungus growing on my face… so yess…. White marks all over my face.



BUT ON THE BRIGHT SIDE!!! I love the work and love everything that we are doing here. A friend and brother from home is coming out here to visit, so that should be awesome too. SHOUT OUT TO TERRY. LFS brother