COS Conference...24 months in the making!

I realize that I'm WAY behind in blogging. But things have been so crazy and overwhelming and everything all combined in one that I haven't had the chance to sit down and write a blog...or enough time to upload pictures for that matter.

Anyway, at the end of March was the last of my training group's conferences...our COS (Close Of Service) Conference. Which essentially signified the beginning of the end of our Peace Corps tour here in Burkina Faso. And, bittersweetly, the last time our whole training group would get together in Burkina Faso.

The COS Conference was led by Ellie, an RPCV from Turkey, and it was so well organized. Most of it was focusing on the future -- getting back into the job market, how to concisely explain your Peace Corps experience, résumé and cover letter prep, grad school options, etc. All of it was extremely helpful and put me in the right transitional mindset.

After our three day conference, we had our COS Party which was equally amazing! Good food, good music, good company. Got a guest appearance from Floby (kind of like the Justin Timberlake of Burkina Faso...okay, maybe that's a horrible comparison but just to give you all an idea) and just danced the night away!

Floby, himself! Making an appearance at our COS Party before flying to Morocco that same night for some concert.

Our Southwest family! The people I see pretty much every weekend in Gaoua. Will miss you all!

The four from Special K a.k.a. Komsilga. We roughed it through training together in 2009 and still managed to not kill each other, haha! But seriously, lots of love in the picture.

On a sentimental and pensive note, it's amazing to think that I met these 31 strangers in early June 2009, not knowing anyone and none of us really knowing what we'd get ourselves in to. Two years and three months later, I would have never thought these group of people would be my biggest support network here in Burkina Faso. We've really grown to be a family of sorts, and while we may all have our little cliques amongst our group, when it comes down to it, we're always there for each other. Call us the 'Kumbaya stage' (training group), if you will. Because we are!

Favorite kids, foutou and first rain of the season (I think...).

Things here in Burkina Faso have been both crazy and calm at the same time...long story short, an incident that happened in Koudougou (the third largest city in BF) involving a police officer and student in high school have created mass demonstrations in Ouaga, Bobo and other parts of the country. Because of that, school (from the pre-school level all the way up to the university level) has been canceled to prevent students (particularly high school and university students) from mobilizing and creating mass demonstrations throughout the country. School has been canceled since pretty much the beginning of March (maybe even a little earlier -- my sense of time has now been completely thrown off since school hasn't been in session).

Fortunately, it doesn't affect the villages (where most PCVs are placed) so all seems well. And since the beginning of March (or whenever this started), things have seemed to calm down a bit. In the meantime, I've been working on my CEP Jeopardy Review Guide (the CEP is the exam primary school students need to pass in order to continue to the middle school level)...more on that later!!

Anyway, here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Grace, Yesi and I. They're so freakin' cute!

Grace and Yesi again! SO cute! (I realize I use the word 'cute' too much...)

Foutou...by far one of my most favorite dishes in Burkina Faso. It's kind of like a thick, thick version of mashed potatoes made out of yams that are boiled and pounded. The sauce that my neighbors make (with tomatoes, eggplant, onions, spices, fish/meat) is absolutely delicious. This night, my neighbors made it because they know I absolutely LOVE it. Mmmm...

Brenda and I standing outside after what seemed like the first rain of the season. Of course, it's not BUT it was great to think that for a little bit.

In a couple of weeks, I have a few big things going on: come March 28-30, it'll be my COS (close-of-service) Conference in Ouaga where my training group will meet for the last time in country before all of us part ways. We still have a bit to go until our actual COS date (in August) but this COS Conference is more for a way for everyone in my training group to discuss our experiences together and how we can move forward and bring them back to the US. Exciting! Immediately after, I'll be participating in a workshop at the American Language Center -- it'll be a crash course on how to Teach English as a Foreign Language which I'm also really excited about. Afterward is the MAP (Men As Partners) Conference with one of my good friends at site, Nazaire (who coincidentally is the President of the parent's association at my primary school + a very involved community member at my site). It'll be hosted by the GAD (Gender and Development Committee) for Peace Corps (Jon's committee) and we'll be discussing ways that we can implicate women and girls in community activities, and educate men and boys on the importance to involve women and girls as well. Lots to look forward to!

Loropeni...a third time!

This was my THIRD time visiting the Loropeni Ruins, the only UNESCO World Heritage in Burkina Faso and lucky for me, only 20km from my house!

Jon had never been; neither had his counterpart Papa so they invited me to come along with a few of their other friends.

The past two times I just kind of wandered in there and went in with the information I've read in guidebooks. But I'm glad we got a guide this time around to really explain the mystery behind these ruins. They also had all these signs that made it better organized...overall, a really great time!





A little blurb again about the Loropeni Ruins again from Wikipedia:

The Loropéni ruins were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2009. The ruins are the country's first World Heritage inscription. Surrounded by mystery, the 11,130m2 property is made up of an array of stone walls. Loropéni is the best preserved example of a type of fortified settlement in a wide part of West Africa, linked to the tradition of gold mining, which seems to have persisted through at least seven centuries. Loropéni, given its size and scope reflects a type of structure quite different from the walled towns of what is now Nigeria, or the cities of the upper reaches of the river Niger which flourished as part of the Empires of Ghana, Mali and Songhai. It thus can be seen as an exceptional testimony to the settlement response generated by the gold trade.

L'amour-propre. Self-esteem.

When you literally translate the words l'amour-propre, it's 'love for yourself.' But the best translation is self-esteem.

For the past few weeks in my CM1 Girls' Club, my Life Skills lesson has focused on self-esteem and my final activity was where each girl writes her name on the top of each page, tapes it to her back and each person writes something positive about her.

To help them out, in past meetings, I told stories that I created that asked the girls to describe the girl with with certain, positive adjectives (ex: courageous, strong, intelligent, etc.) and it culminated with making a list of these on the board.

Good thing I brought my camera -- my girls are absolutely hilarious!

By the way, I finally went to the hair salon in Ouaga and she ended up annihilating my faux-hawk. It's back to my haircut circa high school days...Ali randomly took this picture. I feel like because of this hot season, I've been losing weight because all I do is drink water and sweat. Hah!

February heat.

I don't know if I mentioned this already, but the hot season is officially here! Gone are the days of shutting all my windows before going to bed, warming up my bucket bath water every night and sleeping with a blanket/long-sleeved shirt...

I'm so happy Jon and I decided to do our Weekend Girls' Camp in January because we would've been hot messses had we done it at the end of February!

Below are just a few pictures of my life here since the Girls' Camp...

In the morning and throughout the first half of the day, the sun shines on my porch which makes it perfect for drying things. One day, my neighbors Clémence and Pélagé + Grace came by and were drying chives. CHIVES. It instantly reminded me of baked potatoes with sour cream, butter and bacon bits. Mmmmmm...my mouth salivates just thinking of it!

It is also potato and lettuce season here in Burkina Faso. I love it! Gotta enjoy it while it lasts.

Hercules never ceases to entertain me. Look at the way he sleeps sometimes! I could probably create a photo album of all the strange ways Hercules sleeps, haha.

HAHA! He keeps me sane when the sun tries to fry my brain.

Remember the school garden I helped Jean, my counterpart, with a few months ago? Look at how much it's grown. In this picture are cucumbers.

PSDN (Peer Support and Diversity Network) heading out to a nice dinner...sadly, this February's meeting was our second to last one. =/

Weekend Girls' Camp at my site!

Ahh yes, Weekend Girls' Camp #2 chez moi! We continued using the same four themes: Life Skills, English, Health and Sports.

Preparing for the camp was a little less insane at my house -- organizing the middle school visit; organizing the ridiculously huge task of feeding 22 people (may not seem like much but damn, do these kids eat a lot!); preparing the school; talking with guest speakers and school officials; dealing with my corrupt school director (long story short, the moment he found out I got a grant for this Girls' Camp, he straight up asked me for money because he deserved it and that because I was using the school. WTF?! You're obviously new and don't know that I work for the school too, douchebag. Ugh. Excuse the angry sentiment...); etc. So it was a lot of running around and calling people to prepare...

On Saturday morning, Jon and his 10 girls arrived at my site. What's crazy is that many of my girls are children of fonctionnaires (civil servants) that have salaried jobs. So they've had more of an opportunity to travel around Burkina Faso and have a little more means. Not so much the case for Jon's girls, which is why it was such a treat for them especially to come to my site!

We headed straight for the Collège (middle school) which is fortunately within walking distance. They JUST built it andit looks brand spankin' new! I had their Director, a very nice man named Mr. Meda, give them a little tour and encourage them to continue their studies to the secondary level and beyond. When we went back to the school, we continued the Life Skills activity on creating goals and objectives in life, which actually turned out really well!

Regarding Health activities, we focused on proper handwashing and Moringa/its nutritional value. Maybe it seemed a little like class but our hope is that they learned something that they'll carry with them. We also invited my friend, Koro, who works at the CSPS (village medical center) as a sage-femme (midwife?) to give a session using an image flipbook that I had on HIV/AIDS...clearly a very sensitive subject but something that definitely needed to be addressed. Never too early, especially here in Burkina Faso/Africa!

We did a little English this time around and the Sports focus this time was soccer which EVERY child in Burkina Faso -- heck, all of Africa -- enjoys! These girls are good!

All in all, an excellent final weekend followed by handing out Certificates of Participation and a grand group photo.

All right, enjoy the pictures, round 2:

Jon, Mr. Meda (middle school director) and the girls after their little field trip to the middle school. When Mr. Meda talked to the girls about the importance of working hard to get to the secondary level and seeing how different the environment was (and how new the school was!) got them really motivated. I started seeing lightbulbs flickering!

My 10 girls and I at one of the entrance signs to my site.

Talking to the girls about proper handwashing and why it's important to use water that's either running or tossed on your hands AND soap. The two girls to the right (Adissa and Aicha) are so ridiculously intelligent, it's inspiring.

We did this experiment with three girls and fabricated stories to make it interesting. The first girl went to play soccer out in the field and ended up touching the ground a lot. The second girl simply was in class all day. The third girl just washed her hands after using the bathroom. The idea was to have each of the girls was their hands with soap and water in the small white basin and show that washing your hands with running water is extremely important, but most especially with soap and by rubbing your hands to get rid of all the germs.

Jon conducting a cool English game where the girls race to draw a specific object and then they learn the translation in English.

My good friend Koro from the CSPS, using the image flipbook to discuss HIV/AIDS -- who it concerns, modes of transmission and ways of prevention. A very successful presentation; hopefully she can come again for a final Girls' Camp I'd like to host before leaving this year!

First group picture at my site.

Ali leading the girls in soccer. Damn, they're good and many of them have never played before in their lives!

A special dinner treat out at a restaurant in town.

Moringa and nutrition presentation.

After the presentation, we went outside and the girls made their own Moringa nursery that they could take home and grow by themselves.

After packing the empty water sachet with dirt, we watered it a little to get the soil moist.

Then we put in a couple of seeds to ensure that if one doesn't grow, the other will.

A really good picture of Alimata (one of the girls in my Girls' Club). Good job, Jon!

Explaining that when they get home, they need to poke two holes in the bottom to let the roots breathe and have excess water leave. That way, it'll be easier to transplant it to the ground.

Clémence and Franck helping bring the food over. Mmmm!

Madame Hien and Ali preparing the salad -- a real treat since it's lettuce season right now and not too far from my house, either. Holla!

Jon with the massive amounts of food. Rice with eggplant and fish sauce (sounds weird but it really, really good!) and salad with onions and spices. A true feast!

Jon and I with our 20 girls and their Certificates of Participation. A final picture!

Jon and I after the Camp...exhausted but well worth it. =)

African sunsets and baby Grace-Victoire.

Here in Burkina Faso, there are many things that just make me happy. After a busy week/weekend planning and executing the Weekend Girls' Camp, it was nice to just be back at site and just take everything in again.

As of late, I've noticed the sunsets have been unusually nice lately. And because they set right behind my house, I've always been inclined to walk outside and stare, even if the window for a good sunset can be as little as a few minutes (once I was walking outside and saw a really great sunset, went inside to look for my camera and it took a couple of minutes, finally found it, went outside and saw the sun already set!).

Part of it might be because I believe I officially am at the last 6 months of my service. So I think I'm just trying to take everything in because while I am excited to return home, I know that -- at least hearing about other Volunteers who have returned back home -- you'll definitely miss aspects of your service, Burkina Faso, the people, etc.

I thought I should also share these pictures of my neighbor's baby, Grace-Victoire. She can finally walk now and talks gibberish ALL THE TIME, especially when she's sees me! It's hilarious because we have raised porches and whenever she's on her porch, I'm on mine and she sees me, she'll start to babble away in gibberish. Perhaps she wants to learn English? haha

This photo probably best describes her personality. Always laughing! Look how cute that is. =)