The humidity, insects/mosquitos/bats & thunder are out...Girls' Club to the rescue!

Okay, clearly I've hit a dry spot with blog entry titles. Oyy! But I think the blog entry title perfectly sums up my life right about now.

No doubt, the month of April has been pivotal for me. I feel like I've adjusted to a comfortable degree and that I'm finally doing some work. Meaningful work. Working with the kids is exhausting but so much fun at the same time! Hooray...a sense of purpose again! Haha.

Aicha and Farida drawing at my house. They're so good -- I hang their drawings on my walls. Great decor, yo!

Jon and his sign language tutor, Siaka, at our usual hangout in Gaoua.

Demetrius returns!

Funny, funny kid.

Me helping my neighbors remove the shells of the neere. I don't quite know how to explain it. It's a fairly sweet snack and has the consistency of Cream of Wheat without water (Gwen's interpretation).

Holy crap, Rachid can JUMP! Look how far that is.

With CP1, the Alphabet and Literacy Project continues. With CP2, I've continued the Math and Numeracy Project which started off kinda rocky but now seems to be working well with the students. I just finished a Reading Club/Competition with CE1 and hope to replicate that with CE2. With CM2, they have the CEP Exam (Primary School exit exam) coming up and if they want to continue to middle school, they need to pass this! So I've been doing Jeopardy-like review exercises which have been so much fun!

Me conducting the CM2 Jeopardy Review. Divided the class in Rouge (red), Jaune (yellow) and Verte (green) teams...the team with the most points wins! Thanks to Jon for taking pictures!

Using Clay's World Map, I've been able to practice geography with the CM2 students. Really happy I replaced a Volunteer because you can build on what they've already done...in my case, a world map.

My CM1 Girls' Life Skills/English/Soccer Club is perhaps the highlight of my week. Seriously, we've only had a few meetings thus far but I can already see some changes in the girls. Most of them aren't as shy/timid anymore and attendance has been very consistent (all of them show up and it's not even a school day!). They're slowly (but surely) getting used to my French and are starting to understand the Life Skills activities a little more.

The girls doing soccer conditioning exercises before heading out to the field!

Cool action shot with Ali. So glad he can help me out with soccer!

Last club meeting, I discussed the different types of amour (love) -- with friends, family and your significant other. But I also mentioned another type of love: amour-propre (literally translated as love of self, but really, it's self-esteem). I created sample stories and asked the girls to identify any key adjectives that describe the girls in these sample stories. Example: "Fatimata loves math and history, and does very well in school. She always raises her hand when the teacher asks a question. When her class has tests, she always gets some of the highest grades and studies very hard to do so. She is usually one of the highest ranked students in her class." I would ask the girls, "How would you describe Fatimata?" and they would usually give some good responses, which surprised me. "Intelligent, hardworking, obedient to the teacher" and the list continues.

In the end, I compiled all of these adjectives on the board and wrote above all of them "Je suis..." (I am...). I went through the list aloud and asked the girls if they believed they were, say, intelligent, and asked them to raise their hand if they believed they were. Few girls did because of timidity, so I asked some of the bolder girls to say it: "Je suis intelligente!" (I am intelligent!) aloud in front of the class. After a few adjectives, most of the girls got the courage to say this, saying things such as "Je suis intelligente/belle/puissante/gentille!" (I am intelligent/beautiful/powerful/nice!) and yelling them out loud! Such an empowering feeling to hear these girls say these things amongst each other. It may seem like such a simple activity but having these girls come out of their shells and realize their true potential had me smiling for ear-to-ear all week!

A little bit of English and a little bit of Life Skills activities.

Being in the classroom many times each week has helped me realize one of my true life passions: teaching. It may not be the most glamorous job, and definitely not the highest paying. But if you want a country/society to develop, educating the youth is absolutely key. It led me to think about my future plans after Peace Corps...but I think I'll save that for a much later blog entry. =)

Well, the school year's almost coming to a close (or so it feels like). Rainy season is upon us and before I know it, the new group of trainees will be here. April -- you went by so quickly! I can't believe May is already here!

I realize that while I have my life here in Burkina Faso, life continues on in the US. Today (May 8) marks a number of special occasions. My Ate Maye (cousin on Dad's side) and Kuya Lester are getting married today in SF! So congrats! And some of my dear friends are graduating soon. From undergrad at LMU, my Ading Felicia, Robert/Daligs, Ben, Trisha, Carina, etc. etc. I'm so incredibly proud of you and am there in spirit. One of my other good friends is graduating tomorrow (May 9), Allyson, getting her Master of Arts in Education from LMU, too...Holla! Aaaand next weekend, one of my best friends, Melanie, will be graduating from Dominican as a Registered Nurse (RN). Seriously, I am blessed with the most amazing and inspiring family and friends!

Randomness…

We’re in the Ouahigouya again and I figure I’d comment on some random things I’ve been wanting to blog about but haven’t been able to yet…

Ading (Felicia!), here are some quick answers to some questions you wrote a while back:

1) I live in a hut that’s part of my family’s compound. Depending on your family’s ethnic group, that usually determines what type of housing situation you’re in. For example, my host family is Peulh, so they normally consist of multiple huts clustered in one compound.
2) TMI but I pee/poop and bathe in two separate areas (which are right next to each other). My latrine is essentially a huge hole in the ground and the place where I bathe is simply an enclosed area for me to bring in my bucket full of water.
3) HAHAHA! No, you don’t (and probably wouldn’t) want to send me bottled water. PC provides us with water purifiers and we can also purchase bottled water/water sachets around here. Thanks, though!
4) Internet access is infrequent for me since I live in village. I only get to use it when I get to Ouahigouya (the city) and will become more infrequent as training progresses since we’re getting busier and busier. Hopefully at my site, I’ll have frequent (and fast!) Internet access!
5) Unlike most other trainees, I don’t have many kids in my family…in fact, I don’t have any at all (maybe for a couple that may wander through). The other trainees in my village and I play soccer and Frisbee with some of the other kids every once in a while at the school after our training sessions.

About a week ago, all 32 of us were invited to a wedding between a current Peace Corps volunteer and a Burkinabè woman. It was so interesting to be a part of it and definitely a cross-cultural experience you can’t get elsewhere! I didn’t take many pictures except for a few with some fellow trainees.

Devin and I at the wedding reception. Love this girl! West and East Coast represent!

Marita and I at the wedding. Love this girl too! She's in my same host/training village.

I’ve been here for about a month, so naturally, I’m beginning to feel a pull toward certain people in our training group. It’s the inexplicable feeling you get when you know that you’re probably going to be visiting these friends more than others because you feel more of a connection with them. And taking trips with them to various place (like Ghana!!). All in all, however, I love our group dynamic and how we’re from everywhere in the US! We talk about food ALL the time during training – Chinese, Mexican, Thai, American, Italian, etc. etc. – you name it, we’ve probably already drooled over it. We’ve heard Ouaga has some ethnic restaurants so I’m dying to eat at some of them soon! Speaking of training, I’m super excited about many of the things we can implement in our communities – radio programs (since many people here get their info from the radio), French and English clubs, book clubs, HIV/AIDS sensibilizations…the list is pretty much endless!

As I’ve mentioned before, the weather here is straight up CRAZY because it’s rainy season. It’ll be ridiculously hot and somewhat humid for a few days and all of a sudden, you feel the winds picking up, the clouds are dark and ominous-looking, and then you hear the thunder from a distance. When you start to see everyone run back to their houses/huts, it’s a good sign that you do the same, too.

Rachel, fellow trainee, and the impending rain storm.

Being caught up in one of these rain/wind storms is no joke and I remember it being full of dust and dirt everywhere…visibility is almost at zero and all of that dirt gets in your teeth. Yuck! Then the rain starts to pour and I mean POUR. There have been 2 instances where I’ve been outside in the pre-rain ‘fun’…fortunately, I was within my compound’s reach and was able to rush back home and head into my hut! The good thing is that after it rains and the clouds have cleared, it feels so good and me sweating every second doesn’t happen anymore! Another positive (not related to weather) is that I’m acclimating fairly well when it comes to biking. I know I first mentioned that I hated it but I’m really starting to enjoy it and am glad I’m getting the exercise I need…now to tone up those thighs and calves (and abs...okay, maybe I'm asking for too much...). And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think I'd prefer biking over walking.

Integration is generally going well. I only know the very basic greetings in the local language of my village (Mooré) so it’s funny when I’m walking around village or around town and I greet people in Moore. They usually laugh and smile so hard…it’s really cool, actually! Coleman’s host dad is convinced that I’m Peulh/Fulani (one of the other ethnic groups here in Burkina Faso) which cracks me up! I’m thinking it’s because I’m getting increasingly dark but whatever…I’m taking it as another sign of integrating well with the community. Since we’re pretty much halfway done with training, it’s starting to feel a little surreal again!

While I am enjoying it here, making new friends, and definitely growing exponentially everyday, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss anyone at home! Some nights, I’ll be dreaming about home or being around friends or family, wake up with a smile, and realize I’m actually in my hut by myself. That said, I think about you all often so you all must be biting your tongues all the time (got that one from Maria). Please write me letters/send packages if you can (and often)! My address is:

Michael Berino, PCT

S/c Corps de la Paix

01 B.P. 6031

Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso

Haaaay!