That's a wrap

After the somewhat ominous last line of our previous blog entry, I really should've followed up sooner. However, as it was, our lives got really busy from that moment on and we never really got down to writing the next/final installment. Here's the quick-and-dirty version:

In early April we returned back to school, but students' motivation was at an all time low. Attendance dropped severely. I personally added some afternoon and weekend classes to get students up to speed, but the attendance of those supplementary classes was worse than ever, so I decided it was best to just proceed as normal.

Towards the end of April there was further unrest with the military, and the Peace Corps decided to consolidate volunteers into clusters for a week so that it would be easier to keep track of everyone. As one of the consolidation sites, we welcomed 10 other volunteers to Tougan. Over the course of their stay they joined in on Jessi's dance club practice and girls club activities, cut veggies for an annual black-eyed-peas cooking contest, participated my English club, and celebrated Easter with our neighbors and family in Tougan. All in all, it was actually an enjoyable week.

Jessi was extremely busy in April and May collaborating with community members to put on a girls conference on planning for the future. All of Jessi's efforts paid off brilliantly with the three day conference at the end of May. Speakers from the community talked about everything from resume building, to the challenges of being a mom who attends high school, to setting goals for the next 5, 10 and 20 years, to learning about the necessary steps to attend college or work for the government, to job shadowing at the various employers and agencies in Tougan. I was lucky enough to sit in on a couple of the sessions and see the conference play out. The conference ended with closing ceremonies for the two girls clubs and the conference, and we were happy to welcome PC Burkina Director Shannon and our friend Bovard to the ceremony. This conference was an incredible culminating event for her service, and she did an incredible job of collaborating closely with the community members to provide a insightful program for the 30 girls that attended.

The end of the school year followed shortly after, but not without further problems. The last week of school the teachers went on strike, which threw me in to an interesting political situation: as a volunteer, I'm supposed to teach unless the school administration tells me not to. So, I continued teaching. On Wednesday when I arrived at school the teachers informed me that nobody was teaching that day, including me. After feeling a little awkward about teaching the past two days I decided I probably should just give it a rest, and dropped my briefcase in the classroom and called Peace Corps to inform them. As I walked back into the room, two of my colleagues came in, dismissed my students, picked up my briefcase, and walked out of the room. My colleagues understood PC policy and didn't hold it against me, but more or less relieved me of my obligations. I have to admit, it was a relief!

School coming to an end was bittersweet. The students hadn't learned as much as they should've, and that wasn't their fault. I tried my best to make up for that, but in exhauation realized it was beyond my power. I was glad this bizarre, roller coaster second half of the school year was finished, but wished the past few months had gone differently.

In early June we welcomed our good friends Jen, Justin and Vern to Burkina for a visit. We got a real scare just before they came as a military camp declared mutiny, but the situation was handled before the friends arrived. Vern gave the whole airport a show as he charged at Jessi and I and carried us a good 10 yards. (Our taxi driver was convinced that Vern was professional wrestler, and imitated wrestling slams as out taxi swerved down the roads of Ouaga). These three got a different trip flavor than the Vachtas, complete with public transportation, hot-and-humid weather, mangoes, digestive issues, and biking. Vern even got to be a tow truck has he sat on the back of a moto and pulled his pedal-less bike back to the hotel. We got to spend some great time with our friends, family and neighbors in Tougan. We did some touristy things like seeing hippos, visiting the cascades and taking a dip in a pool as well. They brought flag T-shirts for our friends, candy and frisbees for the kids, and people absolutely loved them. We got in some much needed chill-time, and they got to meet a bunch of our PCV friends. It was incredible and meaningful to us for them to come all that way to visit us (on Jen's only week of vacation) and see first-hand our lives in Burkina.

With the month and a half that remained we tackled the paperwork involved in leaving Peace Corps (a governmental organization, need we say more). We had the privilege of meeting the two volunteers who followed us, and showing about 10 different volunteers around Tougan. We also set about taking photos of the people and places we knew and loved. Saying good bye took a long time, and was anything but easy. People were incredibly generous, as they always had been. Our friends and colleagues really affirmed the work that Jessi and I did. Students stopped by to thank me, parents of Jessi's girls voiced their appreciation of all her work, my vice principal bragged to our replacements about the work we did, the superintendant's office threw a going-away party for Jessi and presented her with a certificate, neighbors came by with gifts and kind words. Saying good bye was hard. The neighbor kids. Our friends. Our Burkinabe family. The morning that we left our house for the last time the neighbor kids came over for one last good bye. Brahima, the oldest and most loyal of the boys, started tearing up and had to walk away, leaving us blurry eyed all the way to the bus stop. Good byes didn't stop there, and our family the Yaros took the five hour bumpy ride to Ouaga to have one more meal with us and see us off at the airport.

As of August 18th, 2009, Jessi and I became RPCVs - Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. It was truly surreal at first, and it still is. When we got on that airplane and left, we were emotionally exhausted, and couldn't fathom what it was going to be anywhere but Burkina. Now, after a 3 week COS trip and visiting family and friends back in the US for a month and a half, it is still unreal, but in a different way. It almost feels like Burkina was a dream. A good dream.

We really haven't slowed down enough to process it all, but I'm sure that it'll be a very emotional time when we do. Here's what I can say for the moment:

Peace Corps Burkina was an intense, and overwhelming experience. Learning to live and work in another culture, speak a new language, and be thousands of miles away from the people we knew and loved was challenging. The flood of tastes, smells, textures, colors, storms and living conditions on our physical senses were so much more intense than we knew in the convenient, sterilized, air conditioned US. Realizing how insignificant and limited we are was profoundly humbling. It was equaling hubling to learn to accept the moving generosity of those who have much less than we do. Witnessing the impact we had, the growth that we made, the height of the trees we planted, and the appreciation of our community was empowering. Reflecting on the limited opportunities and pitiful resources afforded to intelligent kids and motivated adults was disheartening. Hearing the hopeful aspirations and dreaming of a better future for our friends and neighbors in Burkina was motivating. Sharing holiday meals with Muslims and Christians, without animosity, where the human bond came first, was heartwarming.

Burkina has changed us far more than we have changed it. "Thank you" US taxpayers for supporting the Peace Corps and continue pushing your congressmen to support the PC - our annual budget is less than the cost of 5 hours of the Iraq war. Thank you family and friends for your emails, calls, letters, packages and support over the past two years.

Education on Hold...

Safety First

First of all, you may have heard that Burkina has been experiencing some political unrest, dating back to the end of February, continuing today. There have been a number of protests, but the situation IS NOT anything like what has happened in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Ivory Coast, etc. You can search for news on Burkina, but be warned that some of the stories are highly embellished, and the french word for “military transport” has been mistranslated as “tank” in a few stories. Jessi and I are both safe and sound, presently in the capital. Peace Corps keeps us very informed about the security situation. It's hard to read about these things from 4000 miles away and not worry, but please rest assured that we are safe and being taken care of.

Classes Canceled

One of the effects of this month long political unrest is that elementary schools, high schools, and universities have been closed since the end of February (more or less). Schools attempted to resume classes Monday, but by Wednesday were already shut down again.

Unfortunately, school closures are not a dream come true for anyone. The kids are BORED out of their minds! Just one week into the closure our neighbor kids began to congregate under our hangar to avoid the sun and simply hang out. They were willing to do anything to stay busy: wash dishes, sweep the dirt courtyard, go out to the bush to find firewood, etc (though Burkinabe children are generally more willing, dare I say happy, to do chores.) Perhaps half of Burkina's high school teachers are employed by the government and continue to receive a paycheck during the closures. However, the other half are temporary contract workers, who get paid only for the hours they actually teach.

For Jessi and I, the closures have meant being frustrated and bored. Jessi gave her best efforts to continue clubs, but the students didn't show up. Parents seem to think that since school is closed that the girls shouldn't go to club, despite those girls being as bored as everyone else. I lesson planned a lot at first, in an effort to get ahead, but in the middle of the second week my motivation really dropped.

The situation here is particularly complicated for students in exam classes, who have exit tests at the end of the year. These students are at a serious disadvantage because they have missed so much school. If a blank year is declared, everyone loses. A blank year was declared one year after long standing political unrest, which meant that the school year ended early and none of the students advanced to the next year. That means everyone is one year behind in a system where students already graduate late, and that schools and parents have wasted one years worth of school funding.

Where it's Way Worse

In a talk about humanitarian work vs. development this past week, our country director Shannon talked about her work in various crisis situations over the years, including in Iraq, Kosovo, Liberia, and Guinea. She talked about international requirements for basic needs in disaster situations, and refugee camps in particular: 20 liters of water per day, per person, 1 outhouse for 40 people, basic shelter basic medical care, etc. One of the basic needs that is not covered by international law is that of education.

When we hear of refugee camps, we think of people fleeing their homes with nothing, and settling in these camps for short periods of time. The unfortunate reality is that many of these conflicts are not short term, and that people spend years of their lives in these camps. Few of these refugees are granted refuge in the US or Places like Somalia and Uguanda have sustained long term conflicts for over two decades. That means nearly two decades that virtually no one in the country has attended school, resulting in a generation of people that have no formal education. In a couple of decades this generation will be responsible for leading their country. As if the countries weren't going to be messed up enough already from the conflict. It's like their being setup for further unrest and failure.

It's important for Westerners to remember that war, military coups, genocide, etc. are NOT parts of everyday life in most African countries, though watching a 24 hour news station may give you the opposite impression. Poverty, hardship, and tragedy disproportionately effect this continent, but we can't simply dismiss these atrocities and say “that's just how it is in Africa.” After living in Burkina for nearly two years, I know that it's not normal here. I know that my friends and neighbors are proud of Burkina's relatively peaceful past. I know they want a bright future for their children, and work for it daily. Of course they do. I'm hopeful. They're my kids too.