The past two weeks in Africa have been a much anticipated and appreciated break from village life. One of my best friends Sri came to visit me and see the life I live, something that very few Americans can understand. Coming to a little known French speaking West African country on your own wallet, taking your two weeks of annual vacation to come to worlds second poorest country to understand the lives of people on a forgotten continent is something so great to which I can only begin to express my gratitude and admiration. Many of my friends had talked about coming to visit me during my Peace Corps service, but knowing the sacrifices required to actually get here made me realize that it would be an unlikely event. Sri kept talking the talk and until about 2 weeks before he arrived, I still second guessed its reality. When he got his VISA approved, sent me his itinerary and asked what to pack, this is when I took it a little more seriously. 
Sri survived the flight over the Sahara and arrived on time at the Ouagadougou International Airport, which is little more than a runway, a couple of rooms under constant construction where your bags are simply placed on the broken baggage belt. When coming into Ouaga on the final decent one asks yourself, “This is the capital? Where are all the lights, tall buildings etc?” where only a few major streets are lit. The first step off the jet and climbing down the stairs you take in your first breath of the unforgettable African air. It’s a hot sticky blend of diesel fumes, smoke, and sewer. It’s a memory you won’t easily forget.
When I first saw Sri I instantly thought, “Wow he looks clean.” The fresh from America look is hard to duplicate here in Burkina and becomes easily recognizable. I was waiting for him with a few friends at a nearby street side bar where we sat down to relax and have a beer. It’s a little overwhelming the first time you get here and it takes a bit of adjustment to get your bearings. The next couple of days were spent roaming around the capital seeing some of the sites. Then we headed west to Bobo-Dioulasso, the second largest city and a jumping point into the bush towards my village. We hitched a ride with a good friend of mine, Danielle who was also making the trip to Bobo. We spent the next couple of days around Bobo and a day at my old school where I taught 2006-2007 and went into the nearby national forest reserve to see the hippos. New Years was in a pricey club in Bobo where we got our fill of old American Pop and thumping Burkinabe hits. Next we took off on pair of mountain bikes en route to my current site where I work as a health volunteer. Its about a 40 km ride in the bush, its not an easy ride for someon
e not used to biking. I was proud of Sri as we made it ¾’s of the way before he plainly stated, “Yeah about that biking thing… I am good now.” He had had enough. We got a late start and it was getting dark, my phone was dead, and we had about 10 km to go in the hills surrounding my village with no light. This road is also rarely traveled at night. Sometimes I am less than stellar at planning. So we started walking our bikes the last leg of the trip hoping to find a passing truck that would accept to pick us up. I refrained from telling Sri about the poisonous snakes, scorpions and other dangerous wildlife in the area. As luck would have it an empty truck passed us and gave us a lift after paying a price that we had little leverage to negotiate.
Under the cover of darkness we rolled into my village as families were preparing the evening meal and cleaning up after working in the fields. As soon as I turned on my house light, one of two in the village, it was obvious that I had come back with my much anticipated visitor. Many of the villagers came to my courtyard to wish Sri welcome, and a pleasant stay in Bouende. We washed up and headed to my family courtyard to meet everyone there. I live next to a big family that has kind of taken me in as their own. This is common in the culture here. I eat with them and help them in the fields when I have time, the head of the family is also the President of our village health committee (COGES) and we often work together. In the complete darkness of the village with nothing but flashlights and kerosene lamps guiding us we greeted the entire family. My host father TRAO
RE Go-Brahima (Ton-ton for short) has 3 wives and around 20 children of his own, and has taken under his wing a few orphans of friends and family. As we went from mud hut to mud hut, we popped into to mothers grinding peanut butter, cooking To and washing children next to small fires and lamps. Either way it was a lot of hand shaking and salutations in Jula. It was Sri’s first look at how the majority of Burkinabe live. We sat down with my host dad at his tiny shop that sells the basic village necessities (rice, salt, sugar, soap, cigarettes, matches, spices, razors, powdered milk, etc.) As Sri’s arrival was unannounced the family hadn’t prepared any special meal, and actually hadn’t prepared anything at all that night. Which happens about once a week. The family just doesn’t eat some nights. We embarrassingly happen to land on one of these nights. They quick whipped up some porridge with millet flour, sugar and powdered milk for us. We ate some but gave most to the children and others who had come to now surround Sri as he ate. The new white guy in village was probably the biggest event of the month, and no one wanted to miss him eating his first village meal in public. He was constantly being greeted while trying to stomach what he could of the porridge, as I translated with a full mouth between Jula, French and English.The first night in a new place is always tough, and your first night trying to sleep in an Burkinabe village couldn’t be greater challenge. The plethora and inconsistency of night sounds can make sleep impossible. Basically it sounds like Jurassic Park outside your front door. It is almost as if the animals have planned an eerie night symphony where each section tries to out perform the next. It’s a mixture of farm animals and drums, with intermittent dogs howling with donkeys apparently at war all night in a house infested with crickets. I have grown used to this sadly and sleep just fine. Sri on the other hand had a tough time, which is completely understandable as back home we can sleep in completely controlled environment.
The next morning was spent greeting many of my good friends in village, meeting some of our clinic staff where I work and going to a nearby village for their market day. After a long and busy day we had a dinner of To (the staple food in Burkina Faso) with my family. We also made a pasta dinner as a back up if things didn’t go down smoothly. That night I found Sri some ear plugs.
The next day we amazingly caught a ride on top of truck full of melons heading back to Bobo. Sitting like kings on top of our thrown of produce we rode in style through the dusty heat of mid day back into civilization. That afternoon we hitched a ride again back to Ouagadougou where we planned to apply for VISA’s to go to Ghana. This took another couple of days waiting around in the capital due to the fact that Ghana was in the process of electing a new president where they close all international boarders. Elections in Africa can turn from peaceful displays of democracy to violent demonstrations if things don’t go smoothly. We waited out the election results taking the advice of Peace Corps and as the boarders opened and we got the green light and completed the paperwork. While waiting we stopped by the Peace Corps office and US Embassy, which when compared to most of the local scenery can be a tourist attraction in itself. Sri got to meet our administration and understand a little about how Peace Corps works here in Burkina.
With our VISA’s approved we boarded a bus south to a little place I like to call “paradise“. Ghana for most volunteers in Burkina Faso is a wonderland of good food & beer, lush greenery, and beautiful beaches. Sri had wanted to compare an old English colony like Ghana with one of prior French rule. The way infrastructure was developed to exploit resources of the colonies in the past, greatly effects the countries of West Africa today. All aspects of colonial rule, the transition to independence and the recent drive to democracy, not to mention environmental resources are all factors that account for differences between Ghana and Burkina Faso. The differences are stark and reasons why are a class on development itself. Ghana just inaugurated its newest president in what many international observers state was free and fair, which is uncommon in Africa. Here is quote from press statement given by the US Department of State.
“We congratulate Professor John Atta Mills on his January 3 victory in the Ghanaian presidential race. We commend the Ghanaian people on their resolve and deep commitment to the democratic process demonstrated in their participation in their nation’s presidential and parliamentary elections. These elections, pronounced free, fair and credible by a wide range of international and domestic observers, have proven Ghana has truly taken its place among the community of democracies.”
Seeing that democracy can work in West Africa has given hope to places like Burkina Faso where the current president is serving his 20th year. He has changed the constitution to allow for extending his term. The president of Gabon has been in power for over 30 years. Beyond government, Ghana feels more developed as soon as you cross the boarder. People you chat with there, understand the world better and have more life goals in terms of education and personal improvement. I could talk about the differences for hours.
We headed straight to Accra the capital of Ghana then west along the coast. We toured museums, slave castles, and rainforests in whirlwind of taxi’s, Tro-tro, and buses. In our travels we met a couple of girls, one of which was working for an NGO in Accra. Our last night before we left back to Burkina we hung out with them and a few of their friends at one of the swankiest clubs I have been in for a long time. It was in the ritzy area of Accra and packed full of Ex-pats and rich Ghanaians. The wealth measured from a glimpse in the parking lot and that of the clientele spoke for itself. It is a mind blowing experience to see the chasm of difference in lifestyle from one extreme to the other, from a tiny Burkinabe village where people often sleep on empty stomachs, to probably the nicest club in one of the largest capitals in West Africa.
All in all it was a great two weeks to share with a great friend. I will be adding an article from Sri shortly on his thoughts of his time spent in West Africa. His fresh, clear and non-jaded point of view will surely be interesting addition to my blog.I have added two new albums of Sri’s time in West Africa on my picasa page linked to the left.
