Ni Tagali bana ka ban

So this is the end. After my two years in Burkina I'm packing my bags again, this time for Mali. I don't feel like I've really gained the distance yet from my time here to have any epiphanies revealed- and I get the sense that if I try to give some some kind of summary I risk dissolving into platitudes. Anyways, I think I'll start with a few quick stories about what I've been doing here in the last few months.

First, after nearly a year of planning, budgeting and logistics we've actually succeeded in creating a library in the big L. To speak frankly, I'm truly pleased with how it turned out. Unfortunately, I lost quite a few pictures from the early stages of the implementation, but take my word that the whole project turned out to be quite monumental. When 2 months ago we cracked open the doors on the building bequeathed unto us by the Burkinabe government the only inhabitants were dead bats; the only furnishings rotten onions; the only coloring on the walls that ubiquitous 2cm thick layer of orange dust that coats all things neglected in this country. After we swept the 3 times, destroyed all the wasp huts, and washed the entire building we set ourselves to the task of drawing our world map. The help of 10 students and the surveillant with primed the walls, drew are grid and painted out the important parts of the planet earth (Micronesia and Polynesia were excluded because seriously). You can judge for yourself weather it looked good or not (see below) but I was pretty happy with it.

As for the books I think we managed a pretty good mix of moder African authors, comic books and teen reading to try to cater to the student body. I got a nice set of spicy reads from some Ivorian authors that include title such as "un voyage d'amour" and "la tentation". They all have covers of scantily clad teint-clair girls (light skinned) being embraced by well chinned lovers. Nothing is beneath me if it gets the kids to read. I also got a nice collection of classics such as Dumas, Guy de Maupassant and Satre. I'm really hoping we'll see some improvements in the test scores of the students over the next few years. A lot of the resources are catering towards test review both directly and indirectly.

Furthermore, We equipped the library with a nice set of tables, chairs and desks to really create a space for private study away from the crazy pressures of home life. All told I'm pretty happy about how the project went. The community really responded well and seemed enthusiastic; they gave me a chicken and a traditional outfit as gifts for the opening ceremony.

Also a note to the donors: I will thank all of you formally- I've bought all the postcards for the personal thank you's but as it's hella expensive to send leters (and print photos for that mater) I'm running late. You can expect them to come in July when I get back to the states. But in the mean time, all of you should know I've done my best to connect you guys to the students by telling stories about you and explaining the reasons why you've donated. I should also apologize to the republican donors for our decision on what to name the library.

In other news on the 29th I ran the Ouaga-Laye marathon which was pretty memorable. We started in centre ville and turned around the airport and the grande marche before heading off on the road to Ouahigoya. Thankfully it wasn't too hot that day and the organisers managed to get people running before 6am. Last year the runners didn't start until after 8 which as you can imagine was pretty terrible for people finishing around 12. I'm not really sure why they decided to hold it at the end of the hot season- it seems like they are enough challenges to training in Burkina without adding 48c temperatures and no more food (it's been finished since the heat started) to the mix. Anyways I had a crew of peace corps friends that followed me pretty much the whole way in a 4x4 which was really nice, and girl that was first among the women last year ran it again with me this year. I was pretty poky but i refused to walk any of it- even if walking might have been faster than my jumping-in-place manner of jogging. That night I had perhaps the best meal of my peace corps service which included fried calamari, leg of lamb, garlic mashed potatoes, ice-cream and a Manhattan.

I've prepared my bags for Mali and honestly I'm ready to go. I'm definitely going to miss my friends (burkinabe and american) and some aspects of life here, but honestly I feel the need to move. I know that all of my gripes about life here (corruption at the local level, lack of initiative from the burkinabes, scorpions in the shoes) probably are gonna be just as bad in Mali, but I think there's something revitalising about moving. I moving at a precarious time because both here and in Mali there is a new stage starting up and I have a chance of being overlooked during my transfer. I'm not too worried about though because honestly I don't feel like I'm going to need that much support coming from my background here.

I managed to pull off 'intermediate high' as my score for my final language test in Jula. I was pleased with that but not my score of 'advanced low' in French. I blame the fact that many of the questions were quite bizarre. I should have the foundation I need to learn Bambara quickly in Mali

It's world cup time now and I've been watching the games with my mates here. The US/England game was pretty stressful as I knew that our continued sovereignty hung in the balance.

I also got caught in a dust storm on my way back to my house the other day. I happened to have my camera on me so I took some pretty nice blair-witch footage. Hope you all appreciate it!

Anyways, that's it. I'll write another post once I install myself in Mali.

K'a sira diya

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So I guess it's time again for my seemingly semi-annual blog report.

Things are coming down to the wire as I round the midway point on my last year in burkina. I hesitate to use the word legacy, but it would seem that my overall impact on the big L will make it self known over these next couple of months. This really hinges on two things: the successful implementation of the library and the performance of the troisième class on the BEPC. I certainly have other objectives to meet before the school year is up (tree planting project with 6ème, painting a few world maps, running the Ouaga marathon) but in all honesty I feel like those objectives are secondary.

The recent progression on the library grant happened startlingly quickly. Upon returning from Benin, I got indirect notification through my Mom that the grant had gone through. After that the funds came in very quickly thanks to the generosity of many, in particullar my god parents who ended up footing nearly half of the project bill. Unfortunately, the initiative that the donners showed was somewhat curtailed by the gelatinous process of getting the funds actually transfered to me. Rarely am I brought to the understanding that my final employer really is the United States government; the bloated, comatose leviathan which expedites nothings save war. But anyways I can't really complain. I'm taking advantage of this time to organize my A-team of painters for the world map project, inform myself with the librarian pro-tips and make sure that all my vendors are still in business. God willing, there should be a functioning library in the big L by the start of the third trimester.

As for getting some good test scores out of the 3ème class we seem to be on track. I'm about a month ahead of schedule on the official program which I think is a good call as many things could come up to cut out time in the remaining months. Unfortunately, I have come to understand that to be perfectly blunt, I'm not qualified to teach this class. Most of this stems from my imperfect communication skills (usually forming phrases too technical and inaccessible for my class) but also I have to note that in the united states we are bred to be specialists and not generalists. When I know the material (IE antibody-antigene interactions, microbiology etc) I bombard my students with information far beyond what they need. When I don't know the materail that well (the digestive system), I tend to give awkward explanations that are too general. But beyond this, the most difficult aspect is the fact that I have not ever taken this course and have never gone through the Burkina Education system. All the other teachers have the benefit of being able to teach to the test- only the facts that can earn their kids points. I however attempt to summarize what information I gleaned from the various state published resources but I'm working against that handicap.
Also there are tons of examples where I am forced to make a decision between teaching what I know to be true and teaching the facts published by the state. For instance I know that the lymphe and the interstitial fluid are two entirely different substances, and I know that the heart is NOT indefatigable. I oft start off on one tac (such as teaching what's published by the state) and then forget what zany statement they profess and switch back to what I learned. Meanwhile the kids are terribly confused as I have given them to separate conflicting explanations to one of the several thousand concepts that they have to memorize.

I'm sure that there are plenty of teachers in Burkina that are less qualified than I (either through incompetence or indifference) but I want to be among the best. I guess come June we'll see how the grades stack up.

In other news I recently finished "Atlas Shrugged", Any Rand's magnum opus. Final rating 5/10: she had some good points, and the angle of the book was strikingly novel in our current climate but honestly it could have been 200 hundred pages (au lieu de 1200) and she would have gotten the same message across.

I've come to the understanding that movies are now made in three dimensions in the states. It's disappointing to discover that the future happened while I was away.

I'm writing a short story in french in the style of Guy de Maupassant. It's part of a rivalry with a fellow volunteer- we both find are selves . He's writing his story in English however because he isn't as prestigious as I. My story draws heavily form my conflicted feelings towards my catholic upbringing, along my experiences as a fish vendor in Marseilles.

It's looking more an more like doing a third year in Mali is a sure thing. I leave the details for another blog post but it seems I've nabbed a pretty good gig.

Anyways, I'm working on a hosting solution for my photos so those should be up pretty soon.

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