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Published: November 27th 2009
Nicolas et Nicolas
one of our co-hosts at our B&B in Ouaga.Nadine’s mother (Marie) met us in the Casablanca airport from Montreal to join us for our Burkina Faso leg. As you will read, she has a special connection with this place. We arrived at the Ouagadougou (the capital of Burkina Faso) airport at 3:00 AM after a stop in Niamey, Niger to drop off and pick up passengers. As we walked off the plane we were hit with the 27 degree dry air, which Nadine and I both noted was very much Medicine Hat like. We walked down the stairs onto the tarmac and towards the very small terminal (again very Medicine Hat like).
Sights on the Road
Those are chickens he is taking to the market in Ouaga. Immediately upon entry there was a check point to make sure everyone had visas and yellow fever immunizations. They also handed us a disembarkation card which we had to fill out for the third time that day. Once completed we progressed about twenty feet to the customs/immigration check point that looked over our passports and our cards, stamped them and allowed us passage another 20 feet to the only baggage carousel in the terminal. The snake like carousel was old and creaked along with the baggage. As it reached the exit from the building where it snakes around behind the wall the baggage got stuck and it was all piling up at the exit chute as the carousel continued to snake around. More and more baggage accumulated and started spilling off the tread. I looked for an emergency stop but there was none. An employee finally noticed what was happening and within about two minutes the carousel, finally slowed to a halt. All of the luggage that had not already been picked off the baggage snake was in a pile that spilled over onto the floor at the exit end of the carousel. All of it…except for a few that
Sights on the Road
Just one of many things you have to stop for is. As it turns out, Marie’s bags were nowhere to be seen. When queried, the staff simply pointed to the baggage claim desk to make a claim. More than Marie’s bags were missing though as she had to wait for two people in front of her to make claims to an incredibly slow clerk who took the information. While making her claim, a staff member started piling up all the unclaimed bags within eyesight of where Marie was. She recognized one of the bags as hers. When she went to claim it the staff member held up another bag which was similar, but this one was wrapped in plastic, which Marie didn’t do…but lo and behold this was the final piece of the luggage…no claim necessary!
Marie’s old friend had come to welcome us to Burkina Faso…at 3:00 AM. Jacques Charron, is from Quebec and is with the White Father missionary organization and is our unofficial host for this leg of our tour…and we are very lucky to have him as our friend and guide. A driver was also there waiting for us to take us to the B&B we had booked.
The drive to our accommodations was
eye opening. It was 4:00 AM now and dark…the street lights are only on the main streets and do not give off much light. There was still some traffic on the roads, primarily scooters and bikes. There were some of the open air bars (picture a newspaper stand on the sidewalk with a bar and several stools) still open and still with customers. There were people sleeping on benches, on the sidewalks, in front of shops, on the boulevards, on chairs…there were people sleeping everywhere (when we asked Jacques about this the next day, he informed us that those are the shopkeepers sleeping in front of their stores). There were people milling about, some venders were at their shops…it was not a familiar 4:00 AM scene to anyone.
We took several main roads to get to our turn off to the bed and breakfast…this side road would justify owning a 4X4 and definitely qualifies as off-roading! Upon arrival our hosts, Christophe and Nicolas, greeted us at 4:30 AM and we found a place to lay our weary heads. With the fans at full speed, and the clothes discarded, we laid down on the coverless beds for sleep.
Father
Sights on the Road
Traditional african home Jacques was at the B&B to have breakfast with us and help us plan our day ahead in Ouagadougou. Jacques would give us a tour of the city. He took us on a few errands where we obtained some basics, like bottled water to brush our teeth and stay hydrated, the local currency from a bank machine (it just spit back my debit card from home but worked with my visa), a cell phone store where we bought two new sim cards for the two cell phones we purchased in Tunisia, and a great lunch spot with very tall and very cold beers. After lunch, Father Jacques took me to his abode where there was wireless internet so that I could finish the Tunisia blog, and took Nadine, Marie, and the kids to a hotel to swim. Upon passing one of the neon information signs in front of a government building, it had the date and time correct, and was reporting a temperature of 39 degrees. Later that evening it reported 29 at about 9:00 PM, which, based on the previous evenings temperature at 3:00 AM, seemed consistent…so I deemed the sign to be accurate.
After picking up the
kids from swimming, Jacques took us to one of his favorite restaurants in this capital city and it was very good…again with cold beer, good wine, and food the kids would love and banana splits for dessert (with bananas fresh off the tree). After dinner Jacques took us back home to the B&B, where everyone could hit the sack for a bigger day tomorrow. Everyone that is except me! There was still work to be done to complete the Tunisia blog and we do not know where our next internet opportunity will come along, so I was toiling away until after midnight to get it posted.
The city of Ouagadougou is incredibly vibrant! There are people everywhere! Everyone has something to sell you. In Tunisia, you went to the markets/souks to feel the pressure of the proprietors…here in Burkina Faso, the pressure comes to you. Stop for gas and you are surrounded. Stop at a toll table (it is not more than that in most cases) and you get surrounded. Stop for lunch and you get surrounded. It is amazing! They are very gentle though and they have very bright smiles, and seem to be as taken by us
and we are with them. The Burkinabes (as they are called) are incredibly friendly and gentle. They are quick to smile and wave, and are eager to assist.
There are shops lining every street! Picture a beach cabana made of palm fronds and you get a picture of what one of the nicest shops would look like. Some are bars, souvenirs, shoes, food of different sorts, tire shops, clothing, and many, many cell phone shops. There are bikes and scooters everywhere! If you are familiar with the number of scooters in Rome or Paris streets…take that number and multiply by 5 to get a number resembling the two wheeled vehicles you will find here. The number of four-legged vehicles is also significant as mules/donkeys pulling carts are common place. The things people carry on the bikes/scooters is limitless. They carry other people, large bundles of wood, live chickens (sometimes the rider is surrounded by them with about 100!), and I’m sure much more.
A quick observation is how many things they do and take for granted here, that would be illegal in Canada. We very much have a big brother type society, some of it understandably so. For
instance, we went to a milling business to have some seeds ground into flour. The pulleys and belts were well worn and looking like they are going to fly off any second…no covers or safety equipment…many of the scooters have exposed gears and chains running at high speed inches from your feet and it would be easy for a pant leg to be caught. You can find something that would warrant penalties in Canada everywhere you look.
One of the first things I noticed about the people, both men and women, was how well dressed they are. The women wore very stylish, colorful and nice clothing. The men are very stylish as well. It was an eye catching contrast to see the shops, dirt roads, live animals in the streets, and then the stylish clothing on the people.
The following day we hit the highway as Jacques was driving us to his monastery just outside Bobo-Dioulasso, a mid-size city 350 km West of Ouagadougou. The seven of us made this journey in a half ton truck built for 5…so we loaded the luggage on the roof, placed two chairs in the bed of the truck, strung up a
Young vendors
These african girls surrounded us at the restaurant to sell us sesame snacks. They are very nice and cute. carpet as a cover, and Nicolas and Gabriel took up their places on the chairs to make the journey. We made our way to the highway and it took a considerable amount of time before the bikes, scooters and people walking on the road diminished. Our journey featured commentary by Jacques as to what we were seeing. Traditional African residences and villages are found throughout the route that can be located on the highway or off the highway a ways into the vegetation. A traditional African residence may feature several buildings, for the various family members, linked together by a fence and small silos to house the mil (a barley like substance that is a primary part of the African diet…they make a porridge like meal with it and grind it into flour). The bricks used to make these residences are made from the mud with straw inserted for strength and then dried in the sun. I asked why the bricks do not dissolve when the rains come and, in fact, they do a bit when it rains really hard and they use mud to repair them. For the most part and normal rain though they make the grade. The
residences will feature assorted animals running free such as chickens, goats, sheep, cows, the occasional pig, and possible dogs. They use the animals for special meals, to sell for money, and to give away as gifts.
As I sit here and watch a small lizard zigzag around the compound I reflect on the last few days. We have stayed at a monastery where they train White Fathers, a 100 year old African Missionary group. There are 28 young gentlemen in training to be White Fathers. It is a nine year process after a bachelor degree and the third year of reflection takes place here at this compound in Bobo. There is one gentleman from the US, a couple from Mexico, India, and the rest are from various points within Africa. We drove from the Bobo monastery to the St. Cecile Orphanage in Dedougou, about 2 hours north from Bobo. Again we had to house Alex and Gabriel in the back of the covered pick up with the luggage…they do not mind this at all (on the return trip I sat in the back for a couple of hours with Nicolas...it wasn’t bad, just enough exhaust to keep you happy
Sights on the Road
They really do carry stuff on their heads...all the time! and disoriented).
Being a visible minority for the first time in our lives is certainly interesting. Everyone stares, especially the children, who seem genuinely fascinated. Many have never seen a white child before, except in the movies. Most, not all, adults avert their eyes when eye contact is made. It is obvious that we are unique sights for these parts. The Burkinabés are friendly, they love to smile and to wave…so we spent a lot of our journey in the automobile doing that.
Dedougou is a small African town. Its commerce is generally done at the market in the middle of town, where you can find food, spices, clothing, housewares and hardwares, and other items…pictures cannot truly describe this market! There are no paved streets and for good reason as there are very few cars. While we are driving around it seems we are the only automobile. Of course there are scooters and bicycles, and donkeys and carts. There are also the numerous shacks lining the streets with their various specialties, such as a tire shop, corner store, boulangerie (for you Anglophones…that’s bread…not lingerie). We went to one shack to buy coke and beer, another to buy bread,
Sights on the Road
busy, busy streets and a different one to buy bottled water. Each one had friendly people and of course stares from passers-by.
The St. Cecile Orphanage is almost all girls ranging in age from 3 - 21. I say almost because there are two token boys, Carlos and Alphonso (both about 4 or 5 years old). For many of these kids age is a guessing game as they do not know. There is one Catholic nun who runs the place (Bernadette) and has been a friend of Nadine’s parents for 30 years, which is how we have come to be here. Many years ago Nadine’s parents were visiting Africa after making contact with Jacques who was a White Father in Montreal at the time. The tour was planned, with Jacques help, and the advice, that if they have any problems, was to contact this Bernadette. When Nadine’s father (Gilles) became seriously ill, Bernadette was contacted and helped obtain the diagnosis and supplies needed to care for Gilles…ever since they have been friends. Bernadette started St. Cecile nine years ago, she has 90-some kids now and she is the lone nun responsible for the orphanage. She has a wonderful driver and helper in
Gaston, who lives nearby and has three boys of his own. The bulk of the daily chores and work done at the orphanage is by the older children who cook and clean, and take care of the little ones. Everyone plays a role in washing clothes and the like. There is a school on site as well that other Catholic sisters instruct at. There are children from the village that attend the school as well as the school age children from the orphanage. Over the nine years St Cecile has been operating they have added dormitories, guest quarters, a school, an infirmary and a church is currently being built. The children come to St. Cecile from social services, as they make determinations to relocate children away from their existing circumstances and to St. Cecile.
When we arrived at the orphanage, we received the gift of two chickens from Gaston. Of course these gifts arrive alive. So Bernadette placed them with her chickens and we can have them when we want. If you ever wanted to know…I can tell you, that there is a difference between grain-fed and none grain-fed chicken! We were invited to witness or assist in the
killing, plucking and butchering of the chickens. We informed them that the kids would not appreciate the killing part, but we did witness the plucking and butchering parts. When it was done we were given all of the chicken parts to cook for our meal that evening. They do not typically have ovens in traditional African homes, so they cannot roast or bake. So they cut the chicken up in pieces and typically boil the chicken pieces.
I would imagine that the life the kids have here would be deemed pretty good by most standards in Burkina Faso. They have a bed with a mattress, get three meals a day, an education (if capable), and are socially fulfilled with their adopted siblings. What they lack is affection. The desire for closeness is obvious as they do not hesitate to take up one of our free hands when it becomes available…just for the warmth of a touch. Or the little ones loved being picked up or in your arms, one way or another. The other thing they lack is organized play. It really is like herding cats to organize the kids when you want to do something. They are so
excited they have a hard time containing themselves. They do not have visitors like us on a frequent basis so while we are here, we are their focus, and they are ours.
We interact with the children everyday. There are about 6 pre-school aged children and another 6 older girls that have gone as far as they can at school. So while most of the kids are at school we played with the young ones with playdoh, coloring, balls and other items that Marie brought for the children. We gave them each a balloon, which they were very excited to get. We blew up a beach ball, which we played with for hours before it expired. The older girls got very excited and almost overwhelmed Nadine when she offered to paint their fingernails (I don’t think they knew what it was but once they saw it they were very excited). We went to the school and sat with a few classes while they had a lesson. In one class they were 65 plus kids aged 7-8. They were learning about the parts of the eye. Another class with another 60 students of 9 - 10 year olds were learning
Sister Bernadette...our hostess
Mother Superior for the complex and sole responsibility for the orphanage about hearing and hygiene. We were very distracting influences in the classroom.
In the evening, we talked with the other children, and on several occasions, we played a video in the courtyard outside our rooms where the 90 children brought a chair and huddled together to catch the films (Aristocats, Toy Story, Fox and the Hound) on the 27” tv. It is amazing to watch and try to understand what they are seeing from their perspective…they have absolutely no reference points on which much of the comedy of these films is based, like Toy Story and its ‘characters’ which are very familiar toys to us. I cannot think of anything that would be that foreign to most of us…or perhaps I am living some of it right now!
On the days off from school we organized little activities. We have had games where we gave out plastic medals to everyone, where they jumped skipping ropes, or punched large balloons and generally had a blast. We had a dance with American dance music, some Elvis, and some Michael Jackson, Gabriel showed off his star status for the girls with some funky dance moves. After we showed them some American
dance moves and had some of them dancing, we reverted to the African music where everyone danced and they showed us some dance moves. Nadine’s niece Lea, also had her classmates in Montreal draw pictures to hand out to the orphanage kids and wanted to get some in exchange, so the children prepared pictures for us to take back.
When you throw your children into an experience like this you never know how it is going to go. Unfortunately, Alex was ill for our first couple of days here, so he was not participating. However, Gabriel was immediately very into this experience by interacting with the children from the youngest to the oldest and really seemed to be enjoying it. He received several marriage proposals from the girls and was threatened with being tied up so that he had to stay! Nicolas was also threatened like that…but more so because he is just so cute! Nicolas was immersed into the experience as he did not have a choice as the girls just loved him…with his dark straight hair and big blue eyes. He did enjoy the experience but nobody, save for Nadine and Marie, loved it as much as
St. Cecile Orphanage
A dormitory..and a little resident Gabriel…something we never would have known about him, had we not done this.
I know we will be leaving here in four days and the children will be staying here for years and in some cases decades. We may be able to bring some brightness to their world for several days but what we bring, in spirit, leaves with us. Immediately upon our arrival we took to a small girl who we guess to be 2 and a half years old. She looks younger but acts older. Her name is Prisca and she is sweet and only arrived here recently. Gabriel is very taken with Prisca and on more than a few occasions has mentioned that she is the sister they never had. We have made a decision to sponsor Prisca. $260 a year covers the expenses associated with the necessities of daily life. Nadine’s parents have organized sponsorship for several children here and donated to the facilities. They have also done some fundraising within their circle to have other children sponsored. There are many more children that can benefit by being sponsored. If anyone is interested in helping out these children through sponsoring them or donating to the
St. Cecile Orphanage
view from the guest courtyard St. Cecile facilities, please do not hesitate to contact us and we can provide additional information.
If you aspire to be a meteorologist, Burkina Faso is not the place to be! It is going to be about 35 degrees and sunny again today…for the umpteenth time in a row. A very dry heat, and when the sun is bright, it is very hot. Sometimes some type of haze in the air prevents a direct and bright sun. It is winter here and the Burkinabes find it to be chilly and often have on sweaters on in the morning and the evening, and the men always have on long pants. For us, if we were not already exposing too much white skin, we would disrobe totally to try to stay comfortable (we are in an area that this would probably be acceptable…just like the Barcelona beaches!). Socks would never see the light of day here. This is sandal country…if ever there was one. Of course as many people here wear bare feet as they do sandals. I’m not sure we will ever be able to get our feet clean again. They have two seasons here, hot and dry, and hotter
St. Cecile Orphanage
some interested residents...in the school uniform and wet. June to September is when they get all of their moisture for the year and the mercury hits 45 degrees.
We have had the good fortune to be invited to a couple of local homes to see a traditional African house. The first we went to is the house of a single school teacher named Denise, a very nice 39 year old woman, who has living with her a nephew and a niece (10 and 13 years old respectively). We pull up to the single building property and walk through mud brick fence surrounding the house. We are invited inside and immediately are in the salon or living room. It is about 10 feet deep by 20 feet wide with 5 chairs sidled against one wall where we are invited to sit. 3 chairs opposite are set-up for Denise and her two roommates. Between us a coffee table, from where Denise pulled out a tray of glasses and a selection of beverages to offer. In Burkina Faso the beverage selections everywhere are beer, coke, fanta, and bottled water (plain or sparkling) and that is it. Denise also offers us a selection of typical snacks (candied nuts, dried
bananas, shelled peanuts and unsalted cashews, and a salted snack that is difficult to describe, but good). Denise tells of her dream of establishing a residence for girls that includes a store, school, church, and more. Denise finds it difficult to raise the funds to get the project going. By the looks of things, it seems to me that she would have to reach outside of this region as we have not seen any indication of anyone with discretionary income. We bought a few gifts to give to the children and Denise…a couple of picture books and puzzles. One of the puzzles was a dinosaur puzzle. When asked, we discovered trhat the children are not familiar with dinosaurs….very interesting.
The second residence we were invited to was that of Gaston and his family. Gaston is the chauffeur for Bernadette at the orphanage (he is much more than that from what we can gather, as he runs many errands as well). He is an incredibly nice young gentleman, that has been an invaluable assistance to us as he takes us to town and helps us make our way around the market to buy our supplies. Gaston is probably younger than
30. He is married, has three boys (twins aged 2 ½ and one turning 5 on Dec 25) and lives around the corner from the orphanage. We approach his house and it consists of the mud brick fence around several building structures. We are greeted by his three children and his wife when we arrive, plus a few neighboring children. His children have never seen a white person, and we are not sure about his wife. His wife does not speak French and only speaks djoula, one of the many ethnicities in Burkina Faso and Africa. Here in Burkina, if you have not been to school, you will not speak French.
There is a large garden to our right. It is winter now and everything has been harvested, but he explains the types of plants that are grown there. Straight ahead about sixty feet on the far side of the yard is the main building. On the outside wall of the main building is a chalk board where there has been some French and math teaching going on.
The main building is the salon and sleeping area. We are invited to sit in the salon, which is much
the St. Cecile kitchen
all meals for the kids are prepared here...by the older kids. like Denise’s only more square. Gaston admits that he does not have money to be able to offer us any drinks and he knows that we cannot drink the water…yet he gives us a beautifully wrapped gift which are some wooden wall hangings of Africa. He explains these are gifts to remember our first trip to Africa. We brought gifts for them as well. We brought toy cars and a puzzle for the kids, pens for Gaston, and a necklace for his wife. His wife did not believe we would come, when Gaston told her we were going to come for a visit. She seems thrilled that we did, even if she cannot tell us herself.
Through our questioning, we discover that Gaston cannot afford to send his children to the school at the orphanage. The only option for him is the public school in the village. At the public school, the classes have 120 students and teachers are not well trained. This is why the people, who can afford it, send their children to the orphanage school as the nuns are better trained teachers and the class size is about 60.
The other buildings in his yard
include the kitchen, to the left of the main building, where meals are prepared. The cooking is done on a fire outside. Meals are mainly couscous and tô, which is made of the mil. A 5’ brick wall area, to the right of the main building, is the shower and then in the corner of the yard on the other side of the wall from the shower is where the pit toilet will be some day (they have not completed their toilet yet so they must go to the neighbors). On the opposite side of the yard from the main building is another larger building that looks complete on the outside, but is being built to be the new main house. It is currently a store room. One small building at the entrance to the yard was a small store that Gaston started and did not succeed. Around the yard run chickens, partridge like birds and there is a dog, who feels he needs to voice his opposition to strangers in his yard. In the yard there is also the elixir of life, a water well that is very deep and provides one necessity of life (apparently, to find water
The sleeping nets
These are in the guest rooms and keep out the lizards, praying mantis', spiders, crickets, frogs, etc,
you need to dig a long way down).
We very much appreciate Gaston, his genuine warmth and friendliness, and the fact that he is trying to support his family and provide them with a good life. We have decided that this is a person and his family that we would like to assist, even though they are not asking for assistance. However, if we can just provide a helping hand to lift them up just a little, we really believe that the future for these three children can be very bright. So we (proverbial ‘we’…read Marie) have paid for the first year of school for Gaston’s five year old at the orphanage school next year (about $50). We will keep in contact with Gaston and his family and look forward to assisting with the education of his children.
The experience of our stay at St. Cecile orphanage and Burkina Faso to date has been very eye-opening! There are not many people who have an experience like this, and we are very fortunate to be here to see first hand this part of Africa. It is very difficult to describe. Even though I have taken over 400 photos since
we have been in Burkina Faso, I do not believe that they accurately capture our experience.
So on we go from Ste. Cecile to other parts of Burkina Faso. First back to Jacques’ monastery for a couple of nights, and then he will be taking us to other areas within Burkina Faso for a few days. We then will depart for a two day safari before we leave Burkina Faso and head to Egypt.
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norma
non-member comment
We enjoy your blog so much and look forward to reading it. We send our love and best wishes for a very happy Christmas whereever you may be. Say hello to Marie. We are off to San Diego for three months come Monday the 30th Nov. but will have computer with us so can be in touch. Much love, Norma