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!

Fêtes galore...COS party, Easter, oh my!!

I feel like I haven’t blogged in a while but it’s because I’ve been all over the place these past couple of weeks!

At the end of March, I had my VAC meeting and finally got to meet our new Country Director, Shannon. She’s done years of work in international development and everyone loves her! Since it’s Easter Break; I got the chance to do some in-country travelling; visiting other volunteers and heading to Ouaga too. We had the annual COS (Close of Service) party which is one of the few events where all volunteers can get together and have a good time. The the,e this year? Rubix Cube party. Genius! It’s a way to say farewell to the next group of volunteers that are near the end of their 2 years of service. Crazy to think that’ll be me in a year!

Colette and I at the Rubix Cube party. We miss you, Devin!

April’s been off to a good start as well. Despite the sweltering heat (they say April is the hottest month of the year), mango season has officially begun! Gwen came over to my site and spent Easter weekend with me.

First mango of the season!

Gwen cracking a coconut. Loves it!

Doing laundry!

Easter morning, I headed to my church and after mass, ended up talking with a lot of my friends in the community. At lunch, the Ouattaras invited me over and I had the best couscous dish. I can’t quite explain the sauce except that it had a lot of onions, tomatoes and such and even had some goat meat. Delicious! Add in a little bissap and ginger juice plus good company and consider it a great Easter. Gwen came later and she ended up being our ‘family photographer.’ It was great! I took so many pictures with the Ouattaras…here are a few:

My tailor, Mathieu and I. Sporting our US/Burkina Faso shirts. He made them!

Madame Ouattara and I eating her delicious couscous dish.

Rachid, Ali and I. These two are like two more crazy little brothers.

Clemence, Aicha, Farida and I.

Otherwise, the months ahead look to be really busy! April and May constitute the last trimester of the school year. Aside from the normal alphabet/literacy and math activities with the younger kids, I still have the Reading Club going and finally got a Girls’ Club up and running with the CM1 girls (equivalent is 4^th grade). More details on that as it progresses…first meeting so far has been a success with a combination of activities in class and soccer in the end. Ali even helped me out! Baby weighings have been good as well, and I feel like the number of mothers that come in fluctuate from week to week. Jon and I even discovered a small class that teaches the blind how to read Braille…and it’s literally just past the school where I work, which could make for another interesting secondary project.

My family here in Burkina Faso.

Frustrations...and also being reminded that no matter what, I'm still an American.

What a week! To start, I get back to site after a weekend in Gaoua (the Internet connection has been down for some reason and I needed to send some e-mails so I stayed longer than expected). I'm using this here blog as a venting board, so here it goes:

I turn on my laptop on Monday and...nothing. NOTHING! Nothing shows up on the screen, but I can hear the fan under the laptop slowly 'wheezing.' Ugh! So frustrating and I had a feeling this would happen. It's especially frustrating because I do work on this more than I expected (quarterly reports, things for projects/activities, etc.) and the fact that it could be broken upsets me. But Kyle's going to take a look at it so hopefully it'll be okay.

The heat is also getting ridiculous and I'm sweating like crazy. I think I might be getting heat rash on my forearms and hands which is kind of expected since I'm not used to this kind of heat. But damn is it itchy! Stomach problems during training and now this. Oyy!

A tell-tale sign that I've been living here for a little bit: my clothes and sandals are definitely showing it. I'm starting to see all these tears in my clothes, although I will say that was expected. My Rainbow sandals (most comfortable footwear ever!) are starting to tear (the strap on the left sandal) and it makes me sad because I wear these everywhere!

Work-wise, I started my Reading Club with the CE1 students (US equivalent is 2nd Grade). The teacher helped me divide up the class into 9 groups of about 6-7 students, each group with a chef (student leader) who can read well at grade level. Talked with the class as a whole beforehand and told them that after I met with all the groups, we'd do a big class competition to see which group understood the most, with a big grand prize at the end. They all seem motivated and excited!

I met with the first group on Wednesday and of course, they come late. But I was excited to work nonetheless and used the children's books I got in Ouaga. The two books I'm using are about manners/being polite in school and a book on a boy that loves soccer (the most popular sport here in Burkina Faso). I read aloud first and then each student took their turn reading a page aloud. I'd correct them on pronunciation and ask a couple comprehension questions after each page, awarding stickers to those that got the questions right.

I knew that there would be kids that couldn't read at grade level but I noticed one girl who couldn't read at all. I mean, I could hear the group leader whispering the words in her ear as she was 'reading' aloud. It was insane, but it's something I want to target now so they don't fall behind in school later. It's no easy task, and my first group meeting was exhausting but I'm here to help as much as I can.

Some of the Peulh kids on my porch after school. Look at the little boy (Hussein) with the white shoes. So cute! He was initially scared of me but I think we're all good now!

But the optimist in me is determined to not let these frustrations get to me!

This week, I was also reminded of how much of an American I am. No matter how integrated you are in a culture, you still carry traits/parts of you from your original culture. Here's a quick list of mine this week:

• I wanted to get this Reading Club up and running a while ago but it's been hard trying to get in contact with the teacher. In the Burkinabè culture, whenever you want to start a project/activity, it's customary to consult with many people, particularly authorities, even if the project could be done by yourself immediately. While I could've easily gathered all the students, discussed logistics and run everything myself, I still needed to consult with the teacher.
  
• The Ouattaras always mention 'time is money' (I guess it's a saying that they got from the American movies they watch and they always joke how Americans say it all the time). But it's true! It was getting dark one evening and I was talking with Rachid and a few friends. But I wanted to rush out and get bread for dinner before it got too dark/late because I hate biking at night. I grab my bike and as I leave, Rachid says: 'Wow, you always seem to be in a hurry.' Which I guess I didn't really realize until he said it. I wonder if his conception of 'being in a hurry' is my conception of 'doing things at normal speed,' if that makes any sense.
  
• My laptop. It reminded me of the convenience we have back in the US. Whenever something like a laptop is broken, you can just drive to Best Buy and have it fixed in a day. No problem. Here in Burkina Faso, not so much...
• One afternoon, one of my neighbors was washing his moto and he asked if back in the US, I wash my car every week. It was such a random question but it reminded me so much of how much I missed riding in my car. And with my friends! I blame all those years of college in LA, driving everywhere! Haha.
• Personal space. The concept doesn't really exist here...usually I'm pretty open with people but after living next to the school and having 20 kids peep through your windows and door all the time, it can get exhausting. Like a fish in a fishbowl. But I'm getting a wall soon! haha
  
• One of my neighbors is a teacher and she recently had a baby. And now her mother-in-law cares for the baby as my neighbor goes to work. Seeing the grandma reminds me so much of my Grandma back home and reminded me of the accesibility to family back in the U.S. And even if I was far away, all it took was a simple phone call or a drive back home for the weekend.
  
• Thinking ahead/the future. A couple of people (like Ali) have already asked me what I'd be doing after the Peace Corps and if I'd be extending for a third year. But I haven't even reached the halfway mark of my service yet! Anyway, it's got me thinking...

And that's that! I apologize if this seemed more like a bitch (excuse the language)/rant list...Heading to Ouaga again next week for a VAC meeting and I get to meet our new Country Director. Holla!