World Food Crisis

It seems like everyone I talk to in Burkina is discussing how “La vie est cher” and how everything here has become more expensive. Everyday on the BBC, I hear of new disasters in the world causing further price increases in everything from gas back home in the states to rice in my tiny village. It seems like this year will one of the hardest for Africans. Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Chad, Malawi, Zimbabwe and even South Africa all have political problems that are constantly in the news. This compounded with the rising food costs should make for a tough next year chez nous. I have obviously not kept up with world news back home as much as I do here in Burkina, but I have this overwhelming sense that the world is really pretty messed up. All I hear about are disasters in Asia, famine in Africa with continual political corruption, war, and even flooding now back home in the Midwest. I wonder how the flooding will effect food production back home on the Iowa farms and resulting market prices. Basically life for the ‘bottom billion’ just got a whole lot worse, and seeing it first hand from the viewpoint of a small West African village makes it all the more powerful. It is interesting how the rising costs of food have affected different classes differently. The upper class people, who buy their own grains and oils, are more affected than those in the lower class, who farm their own crops. So from the village perspective the increase in food price is not as bad for those in the villages. Villagers in my region are so poor that they are almost completely self sufficient and live independently from the markets. Even before the increases in food prices, they couldn’t afford to pay for rice. They only eat To everyday, and even produce their own oil from shea butter. In the long run the rise in food costs will obviously affect all economic aspects, increasing petrol and other needs for the villagers. But today it is evident that the world food crisis is affecting those who don’t cultivate their own food. Strikes and demonstrations against the governments to increase pay are continuing around Africa and I feel that they will not be slowing down until the prices plateau.

Life as a Health Volunteer

Recently I have finished a two week program working with a small group of mothers with malnourished children in my village. Every morning for 2 weeks mothers bring their kids to a designated courtyard and we work together to make an enriched porridge from locally grown and available produce, discussing complete pediatric nutrition. We weigh the children before and after the two weeks and will continue to evaluate their weight gain. Along with this nutritional lesson provided, we incorporate a lesson on local health problems. Topics included basic hygiene, potable drinking water, malaria, HIV/AIDS, proper birth techniques, proper weaning and family planning or birth control. The lessons where taught by myself along with our clinic staff in the local language. It was a great experience and the majority of the children gained considerable weight. Those who didn’t were plagued with malaria, diarrhea or other infectious diseases that undermined the nutritional benefits of the two week program. I am planning on continuing this program with more groups of women in the months to come, as about 30% of the children in my village are malnourished.

Village Life

My new village is tiny. No market, no transport to or from the village, no restaurant. This makes life a little different than my last set up. I am eating more with families and definitely living on a lower level. I have definitely become a real villager. I spend on average about three or four dollars a week in village. That’s for everything. Recently the rains have started and now everyday the village is empty. All the villagers are out in the fields planting their crops; millet, corn, peanuts and cotton mostly. Cotton is their only real cash crop and therefore is associated with the most risk. Based on this years cotton prices fewer people are planting cotton this year. All the farms are plowed and planted by hand. I have not seen a tractor in my region yet. Some of the more prosperous families have cows and plows to work the land, but still most do everything my hand. I again tried my luck at farming. It didn’t last long, about an hour and a half into planting millet my hands blistered and I about passed out in the relentless sun. I ended up sitting in the shade pounding as much water as I could hold while the others kept working for hours. It is remarkable how calloused their hands are and the quantity of land they can seed in a day.
Also, as the growing season has started the village elders have started their ceremonial sacrifices to ensure a good growing season. I have had the rare opportunity to record some of these ceremonies with my camera. I will have to show you all when I get back. Some of the video clips are a bit graphic and too long to upload. Overall things in my new village are going well and I am enjoying my new work, although I do miss teaching and the classroom environment.

As the growing season gets underway, people invest all there money and time in preparing their feilds for the coming rains. Natrually this causes a lot of stress on farmers. Also as the rains come the first new growth sprouts and all the animals who have been basically starving in the dry season eat everything green in sight. This can cause massive problems between farmers and the hearders, usually from different ethnic groups. I heard on the radio last week that an arguement broke out between a group of farmers and hearders. The herders' cows had eaten a large amount of the farmers' new corn. The farmers went and killed a few of the cows in retaliation, this event escilated the situation and it became violent. Overall 15 people were killed in the dispute in southern Burkina. It must not of been a pretty site, axes, hoes and machetes. I am not sure if it made BBC, but was on our local radio from Bobo.

Below is a funeral where villagers dance and play music for days in celebration of a life well lived. The more important and older the person was when he or she died, the bigger the party. Babies and children have no funerals and are just burried, this night was the opposite. He was a pretty big deal.

Volontaire de Sante

Life as a health volunteer is going to be a completely different Peace Corps experience. My first year (June 06- May 07) as a teacher was great and I would never want to give that up, I learned a lot about teaching, discipline and public education in a developing nation, but this next year will bring forth completely new set of problems. As a teacher I was aware of the health problems in Burkina, but never really saw them. Students would mention that they had Palu (Malaria) last week and couldn't make class, or that their little brother was sick with something. It was always like that, but I never really saw the diseases. Even when someone passed away, they never could explain why. They would just say he was sick. We would talk about HIV/AIDS but never really knew who was tested etc. The past month in my new village has been the complete opposite.



The first couple of weeks back in Burkina were spent doing small training sessions learning about the "Health Sector" of the Peace Corps. Since I went through an extensive training period in 2006 to become a teacher, I didn't need to go over the language and cultural components, so this training was specific on ways Peace Corps Volunteers can work with the government village clinics (Centre de Sante et Promotion Sociale = CSPS) to inform rural populations and improve the general health of the community. The CSPS's are small clinics that combat disease and provide a maternity where mother's can give birth in a clinic setting rather than at home. They work at the community level to inform the villagers about disease, hygiene, and proper nutrition. Most of the CSPS disease treatment is simple when thought of from western standards, but the when you are living in these rudimentary rural conditions, proper understanding of the sanitation and endemic diseases is the most efficient way to save lives. The CSPS staff normally includes a couple of nurses, a trained midwife and a pharmacists that runs a small set of government controlled generic medications. The CSPS system is the front line in terms of medical service and they are placed all over the country in some of the smallest most rural areas. This is the case with my new village Bouende, its small, real small, and very remote. Not remote in terms of location from Bobo the regional capital, just remote in terms of commodities. Maybe rustic is a better choice of words. Last year I taught at a middle school, they don't have one here in Bouende, which has a population of around 1200. There are about 2500 people in total who come from the surrounding villages to our CSPS. My old village of Balla had a population of about 5000, and had cold beer and a decent restaurant. Neither are in Bouende, so it feels a bit different.



The past month in Bouende I have seen first hand the health care problems of Burkina Faso, some of which are extremely emoitional. I met this one family while conducting a general door to door informational health study that informed me that they thought one of their children was a bit small for his age. The mother brought him over and he seemed to be in pretty bad shape. After a series of questions with a friend translating from French to Sambla, I found out he was 3 years old, can't walk, about 16 lbs, has chronic diariah and sometimes bloody, has a fever, doesn't eat well, and his mother has stopped producing milk. They don't sleep under a mosquito net, like almost all Burkinabe and probably has a severe case of malaria. It is easy to see that he was severely malnourished and behind in neurological development and will probably die soon. Holding back tears I asked her why she never went to the CSPS, she simply said that she didn't have the money. It is really tough to see some of these things. On an up note, the next day I got a group of women together, all of whom had malnourished children that I had discovered the day before, we discussed proper weaning techniques and hygiene. Then I showed them how to make an enriched porridge from local sustainable resources that are cheap and will improve their childrens nutrition and hope to fatten up the little tykes, and give them some energy to keep on fighting to survive. It was a great example of the importance of a health volunteers' work. These mothers with small children are reluctant to come to the clinic for a number of reasons; money, stigma of having a small child, traditional beliefs, or maybe they don't even know it's a problem. The CSPS is great resource and they could be treated there, but often the villagers feel distant from it and don't understand its purpose and think it is too expensive. My job is to promote western treatment and improve communication from the clinic to the local community. Living at the village level and working directly with the community to recognize and understand the problems in the village, and working together to solve these problems is what I will be doing for the next year or so... and I am excited about the new challenge.

Back in Burkina

Last weekend was my grand return to Balla, my old village where I taught last year at the CEG. My Co-workers and friends from village had been anticipating my return for a long time. I told them when I was leaving that I was coming back, but none actually believed me. But I proved them all wrong after 8 and a half months... to say the least they were surprised. Smiles on their faces were easy indications of who were my real friends. I first arrived at dark and met the old teachers that I worked with and we sat late into the night discussing everything from American politics to the latest village drama. It was great to be back on the same terrace that I had spent some much time just relaxing with my friends and grading mounds of papers. The next morning as I made my return to the center of the village during our market day it was so fun to be back. The surprised smiles were worth more than enough for enduring the lengthy bureaucratic reinstatement process of the Peace Corps.

My students were so excited to receive their Pen Pal letters from America... they wrote back in a few hours and asked so many great questions about the US. They each wanted a photo of themselves with their new "Pen Pals" photo so that I could send it back to the states in proof that they got their letters. After they wrote their letters, I told them that I had a surprise for them in the office. It was then that I showed the few students what I had brought them from the US. I had all the supplies out on out office table and it was there that I taught the few students there how to use a real Microscope. It was their first experience seeing and using technology they had only read about. Those couple of hours were probably the most rewarding of my entire Peace Corps service. Some of the students were so amazed to see and use slides they had only read about and maybe seen drawings of in their textbooks... it made me feel maybe one of these students someday would become a doctor, being motivated from these small science supplies I had brought. Which is a story in itself... teaching never allows you to see your rewards and the changes you make in the students you teach until years later. That being said I have met a couple of current teachers that had Peace Corps Volunteers as teachers years ago that motivated them to help the country develop and go in to teaching.

This was short, but I will have much more in the week to come. I have been all over the country and really busy getting adjusted to my new village and the new health sector. I think the change in work will be a great new eye-opening experience for me. I think that I have learned more in the past month than I have learned in my entire first year here. Big statement but true.

La Deuxieme Fois

Most of you will probably think I am crazy but, after being home for 8 months, and enjoying all the comforts of the good old American way of life (aka my share of hot wings) I have decided to return to Burkina Faso and finish my Peace Corps service. I was discharged from the Peace Corps for shoulder problems on May 15th 2007. Since then I have been occupied with MRI’s, EMG nerve studies, 3 months of pre-operative rehab, surgery, and then 4 months of post-operative rehab. Many thanks here to Dr. Brian Wolf, and Paul Pursley PT, who got me back up to speed quickly.

The reverse culture shock was tough at times, but after a while it was scary to see how easily it is to slip back into our old comfortable western lives. I still have trouble with how much we waste here, but accept it to a certain degree as American. Even this acceptance is troubling to me. Well enough about cultural differences and American problems. My second stint in the Peace Corps is going to be a change of direction and will focus more clearly on my long term goals.

As the school year started in Burkina Faso, and I was still not able to return to Balla my old job teaching had to be replaced. The government replaced me with a new local teacher. I was disappointed to find this out, but started negotiating my return nevertheless. I was able to work out a sector change and return as a health volunteer. I worked this out for many reasons; to stay near my old school, to stay in the same cultural region with the same local language. The sector change is exciting and will be a great opportunity. I will be returning to Burkina shortly and will work in a small village clinic CSPS (Centre de Santé et de Promotion Sociale) or (Center of Health and Social Betterment). Also am going to be assisting the Baylor International Pediatrics AIDS Initiative (BIPAI, see "Cool Links" to the left) in Bobo-Dioulasso with their new Pediatric AIDS clinic. Working in this rural clinic and with these American doctors will be a new experience, and should give firsthand insight on health care development, and how the aid process form western countries can improve health care in developing nations. I will be assisting with HIV/AIDS outreach and education, along with patient follow up. Also, I am going to continue working with my old school in Balla to finish a school garden project I started before I left. I am hoping to finish building a permanent fence to allow for a yearlong garden on the school grounds near our water pump. The fence is to keep out free range animals and proximity to the pump should allow for yearlong produce cultivation to increase the nutritional value of the school lunches. I should be returning to Burkina in the next week and will start posting updates with this blog again. Cheers to all.