SO! Its been a pretty smooth run. Seen, done, experienced, appreciated... And a little piece of me is ready to come home, while the bigger piece would very much like to hop over to a neighboring country and start this journey all over again.
We are back in Ouaga (in the insane heat - it was MUCH cooler in Bobo) wrapping up the festivities. Before leaving Bobo we visited an orphenage which was definitely an experience. Adorable babies everywhere, crying. The majority of the children there were there because their parents couldnt afford to raise them to 18months (at which, if not adopted, their parents are called to come pick them up). The had under 10 children who had actually been abandoned by their parents as well as some whose parents had both died. I can definitely see now how people can take trips like these and come home with children. Pretty heart wrenching.
We gave over the donations to the Orphans and Widowed women's mango factory. We had a lot of toys meant for children but turns out the majority of the orphans were around my age... hilarious girls. Definitely wish we got to stay there longer.
Air conditionned bus ride went really smoothly except for the 30 minute pause the followed a little scare we had after noticing there was smoke rizing from the bottom of the bus. But, not to worry, all is well and we made it back in one piece.
I guess that's it from this part of the Globe. This isnt my last post, just my last post from over here. Thanks for reading and following my trip with me. Im sure it'll take me a while to make sense of everything Ive experienced here but the good thing is I have a lifetime to do it.
Until the next time.
PEACE
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Got a chance to upload some pics early!
Here you go :)
watching Sonia pound out the beef we ended up eating for dinner (yummm)...
The kids showing me their brushing skills! (Thanks Dr. Joe!)
Me climbing out of the Case Peulh tribe's traditional house at the Provincial Museum in Bobo...
The US AID we handed out that day to Men, Women, and orhpens with HIV/AIDS.
Thats it for now... Many more to come.
PEACE
Sunday, May 24, 2009
On est arrivé en Bobo-Dioulasso
Got here on friday afternoon (on an air conditionned bus, might I add). Pretty nice bus ride. Cool scenery (took lots of pics that I wont get to post until next week, aka when I am home) and I was pretty surprised but the bus was even equipped with an in transit film. I was more into my ipod so I decided to skip the film (which was some West African french movie that really had rest of the crowd on the bus pretty into it - haha).
We are staying on campus at the Ecole Nationale des Enseignant des Ecoles Primaires et Secondaires (basically teachers college) in - get this - AIR CONDITIONNED ROOMS.... sigh, its a beautiful life. So far at the mango factory we have 1. Peeled a ton of mangoes, 2. Sliced a ton of mangoes, and 3. Laid out a ton of mangoes to be dehydrated (yummm). We've eaten a couple mangoes each by this point, as well as having our fair share of mango juice and dried mangoes... Before this I didn't think it was possible to ever get tired of Burkinabe mangoes but now I'm thinking I might just have to slow down a little bit (haha).
We also got to check out the Provincial Musem which had a couple re-creations of traditional houses of 2 of the 60+ ethnic groups represented in Burkina. (Pictures to come soon).
Today we checked out what the locals refer to as the "Sacred Fish" (our catfish) - got some pictures of that. They say that women would go to the river and seek advice or wish for a husband, amongst many other things. We also saw Burkina's oldest Mosque - again, pretty cool stuff.
Or experience here has really just started so I dont have a whole lot to say yet but the temperature here is much cooler than Ouaga because they have more trees, more wind, and I think they have more bodies of water in the surrounding areas. In general, the people are just as amazingly welcoming and hospitable as seems to be the norm here. That is definitely a quality I will want to bring back with me. When I talk to some of the friends I've made here they tell me that being welcoming is very important to les Burkinabés... Even the most obscure stranger is a human being that deserves a "Bonjour/Bon Soir; ça va? et votre famille?" (Goodday/ Good Evening; Hows it going? and your familly?).
I get home next Tuesday (leaving Ouaga on Monday) so that means, 1. Back to a normal climate (haha), 2. Goodbye to the amazing people I've met here, the continent of human origin (and the region of my ancestors), and 3. And hello to a new outlook on my life back home....
Mom - Can my first meal back be Phad Thai please?
Alex - Stay out of my room.
Until next time...
PEACE
OH, P.S. I am the only one on my trip that hasnt gotten sick (i.e. Parasite, Bacteria, or Travellers Diarrhea). Just goes to show...
We are staying on campus at the Ecole Nationale des Enseignant des Ecoles Primaires et Secondaires (basically teachers college) in - get this - AIR CONDITIONNED ROOMS.... sigh, its a beautiful life. So far at the mango factory we have 1. Peeled a ton of mangoes, 2. Sliced a ton of mangoes, and 3. Laid out a ton of mangoes to be dehydrated (yummm). We've eaten a couple mangoes each by this point, as well as having our fair share of mango juice and dried mangoes... Before this I didn't think it was possible to ever get tired of Burkinabe mangoes but now I'm thinking I might just have to slow down a little bit (haha).
We also got to check out the Provincial Musem which had a couple re-creations of traditional houses of 2 of the 60+ ethnic groups represented in Burkina. (Pictures to come soon).
Today we checked out what the locals refer to as the "Sacred Fish" (our catfish) - got some pictures of that. They say that women would go to the river and seek advice or wish for a husband, amongst many other things. We also saw Burkina's oldest Mosque - again, pretty cool stuff.
Or experience here has really just started so I dont have a whole lot to say yet but the temperature here is much cooler than Ouaga because they have more trees, more wind, and I think they have more bodies of water in the surrounding areas. In general, the people are just as amazingly welcoming and hospitable as seems to be the norm here. That is definitely a quality I will want to bring back with me. When I talk to some of the friends I've made here they tell me that being welcoming is very important to les Burkinabés... Even the most obscure stranger is a human being that deserves a "Bonjour/Bon Soir; ça va? et votre famille?" (Goodday/ Good Evening; Hows it going? and your familly?).
I get home next Tuesday (leaving Ouaga on Monday) so that means, 1. Back to a normal climate (haha), 2. Goodbye to the amazing people I've met here, the continent of human origin (and the region of my ancestors), and 3. And hello to a new outlook on my life back home....
Mom - Can my first meal back be Phad Thai please?
Alex - Stay out of my room.
Until next time...
PEACE
OH, P.S. I am the only one on my trip that hasnt gotten sick (i.e. Parasite, Bacteria, or Travellers Diarrhea). Just goes to show...
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
More Updates
Since the last time I wrote a couple interesting things have happened...
Went out to a Burkinabé "Bôite" (nightclub) the other night with the contacts from the HIV/AIDS organization and my whole team, and boyyy was that ever an interesting experience. Kinda funny the "North American" music they decided to play but the West African music is definitely something I am going to have to get my hands on before I head home. Pretty good night.
Sunday was a little bit of a flop... We were supposed to go to a national park but ended up never getting picked up so we ended up just walking around our neighboorhood where we ended up sitting and drinking some much needed ice cold fanta's (mmmmmmm) and talking about everything under the sun... I got into this really good convo with one of my teammates, once again randomly discussing development issues as well as our thoughts about where we saw ourselves being (professionally speaking) in the future... Along with the endless amount of options i have already considered for myself, law school kinda jumped into my head (yah mom I know... u can wipe that grin off your face now haha). Anyways, I guess we'll see how that ends up.
Back to Ouaga-work. Monday we visited the Medical school because the brother of one of our contacts in enrolled there. We also had a quick look at the public University (L'Universite d'Ouagadougou) but apparently their teaching assistants and profs are on strike now even though there were still students all over the campus. Was a pretty cool experience. Seems like universities are pretty much the same no matter where you go in the world... for the most part anyway. I must admit that some of the lecture halls are incredibly huge (sometimes up to 1500 students) and Im sure that if I were sitting in even the middle of one of those classrooms I would be hard pressed to read what was going on on the chalk board.
Been playing A LOT of bilingual scrabble (side note: who would've thought that Scrabble would be so popular here). All I will tell you guys is that I haven't won once yet but I've been really close! (Ps Thanks again for the travel set mom!)
Tuesday: Went to UNICEF. That was really cool. We spoke to a woman in the Health and Nutrition department and she really took the time to answer a lot of our questions about UNICEFs involvement with Burkina. Being that UNICEF obviously has a specific mandate to work for the benefit of children, she spoke about how UNICEF is working to train community workers that will be able to go in to smaller villages in specifically the nothern and eastern parts of the country where they will be able to give mothers - who typically prefer to have their children at home whether it be because of a lack of access to health centres or a lack of money - information that could potentially save their lives or the lives of their babies. So there was a pretty big focus on capacity building, which I love. She told us that in Burkina the yearly birth rate is estimated to be just under 700,000 babies a year; the mortality rate for mothers is 484/100,000 per year; and the child mortality rate (under 5 years old) is 184/1000 which they are hoping will be reduced by 2/3s by 2015 (part of the millenium development goals). She said that UNICEF finances the 7 vaccinations endorced by the government of Burkina for children (some of which were Diphera (sp?), Tetnus, Hep B, and Yellow Fever). She also talked about the time she spent in Toronto for the International AIDS conference. She said she remembered that the portion sizes for food at restaurants were huge and so were the beds in the hotel rooms (haha).
(Side note: Hope I didnt sound to harsh with CIDA in my last entry. I know they're doing great work and I actually hope to intern for them just would love to see more grassroots partnership but I understand all big organizations have their mandates to follow.)
Yesterday, myself a couple others were present for a "safe sex" kinda talk that was done by the HIV/AIDS organization we've been working with, with school children in a small primary school just outside the city. Pretty surprised at the amount of specific information these kids already knew regarding HIV/AIDS and that kind of signalled to me: 1st How real the epidemic must be if children that young are retaining all the information; and 2nd How well the message must be being delivered if (again) children that age are retaining all of that information. The second thought was kind of challenged after I watched the video they brought to show these kids. The video did nothing but show really horrifying pictures of what STI's and other diseases can do to the body and then underneath would label it and say "This is a person with HIV". Pretty harsh stuff that couldn't have helped but send mixed messages to these kids who were just told earlier that if you know someone with HIV/AIDS you can do everything and anything with them as long as your not swapping blood. Basically the video didn't appear to do much but reinforce hateful stigma but that what you get when you use outdated material.
I think thats about it. Have so far made a small dent in "Roots", about 182 pages in... (Kunta Kinte has just begun his journey through the middle passage... interesting/horrifying stuff.)
Thanks for reading! We leave for Bobo-Dioulasso on Friday, where we will be for a week. Excited for another change of scenery and hopefully more perspectives on life as a Burkinabé.
Until next time...
PEACE
Went out to a Burkinabé "Bôite" (nightclub) the other night with the contacts from the HIV/AIDS organization and my whole team, and boyyy was that ever an interesting experience. Kinda funny the "North American" music they decided to play but the West African music is definitely something I am going to have to get my hands on before I head home. Pretty good night.
Sunday was a little bit of a flop... We were supposed to go to a national park but ended up never getting picked up so we ended up just walking around our neighboorhood where we ended up sitting and drinking some much needed ice cold fanta's (mmmmmmm) and talking about everything under the sun... I got into this really good convo with one of my teammates, once again randomly discussing development issues as well as our thoughts about where we saw ourselves being (professionally speaking) in the future... Along with the endless amount of options i have already considered for myself, law school kinda jumped into my head (yah mom I know... u can wipe that grin off your face now haha). Anyways, I guess we'll see how that ends up.
Back to Ouaga-work. Monday we visited the Medical school because the brother of one of our contacts in enrolled there. We also had a quick look at the public University (L'Universite d'Ouagadougou) but apparently their teaching assistants and profs are on strike now even though there were still students all over the campus. Was a pretty cool experience. Seems like universities are pretty much the same no matter where you go in the world... for the most part anyway. I must admit that some of the lecture halls are incredibly huge (sometimes up to 1500 students) and Im sure that if I were sitting in even the middle of one of those classrooms I would be hard pressed to read what was going on on the chalk board.
Been playing A LOT of bilingual scrabble (side note: who would've thought that Scrabble would be so popular here). All I will tell you guys is that I haven't won once yet but I've been really close! (Ps Thanks again for the travel set mom!)
Tuesday: Went to UNICEF. That was really cool. We spoke to a woman in the Health and Nutrition department and she really took the time to answer a lot of our questions about UNICEFs involvement with Burkina. Being that UNICEF obviously has a specific mandate to work for the benefit of children, she spoke about how UNICEF is working to train community workers that will be able to go in to smaller villages in specifically the nothern and eastern parts of the country where they will be able to give mothers - who typically prefer to have their children at home whether it be because of a lack of access to health centres or a lack of money - information that could potentially save their lives or the lives of their babies. So there was a pretty big focus on capacity building, which I love. She told us that in Burkina the yearly birth rate is estimated to be just under 700,000 babies a year; the mortality rate for mothers is 484/100,000 per year; and the child mortality rate (under 5 years old) is 184/1000 which they are hoping will be reduced by 2/3s by 2015 (part of the millenium development goals). She said that UNICEF finances the 7 vaccinations endorced by the government of Burkina for children (some of which were Diphera (sp?), Tetnus, Hep B, and Yellow Fever). She also talked about the time she spent in Toronto for the International AIDS conference. She said she remembered that the portion sizes for food at restaurants were huge and so were the beds in the hotel rooms (haha).
(Side note: Hope I didnt sound to harsh with CIDA in my last entry. I know they're doing great work and I actually hope to intern for them just would love to see more grassroots partnership but I understand all big organizations have their mandates to follow.)
Yesterday, myself a couple others were present for a "safe sex" kinda talk that was done by the HIV/AIDS organization we've been working with, with school children in a small primary school just outside the city. Pretty surprised at the amount of specific information these kids already knew regarding HIV/AIDS and that kind of signalled to me: 1st How real the epidemic must be if children that young are retaining all the information; and 2nd How well the message must be being delivered if (again) children that age are retaining all of that information. The second thought was kind of challenged after I watched the video they brought to show these kids. The video did nothing but show really horrifying pictures of what STI's and other diseases can do to the body and then underneath would label it and say "This is a person with HIV". Pretty harsh stuff that couldn't have helped but send mixed messages to these kids who were just told earlier that if you know someone with HIV/AIDS you can do everything and anything with them as long as your not swapping blood. Basically the video didn't appear to do much but reinforce hateful stigma but that what you get when you use outdated material.
I think thats about it. Have so far made a small dent in "Roots", about 182 pages in... (Kunta Kinte has just begun his journey through the middle passage... interesting/horrifying stuff.)
Thanks for reading! We leave for Bobo-Dioulasso on Friday, where we will be for a week. Excited for another change of scenery and hopefully more perspectives on life as a Burkinabé.
Until next time...
PEACE
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Update
So just got back from Kaya, on sunday, which is a province outside of Ouaga where we accompanied the AJPO (HIV/AIDS org) in one of their outreach projects where they go in to surrounding towns and villages and try to test as many people asd they can. Unfortunately there wasnt actually much work for us to do but I got in some really good conversations with some of the residents of Kaya. Met one woman about my age who has worked with the partnering org in Kaya since 2006 (since she was 18) and is in charge of Tuberculosis outreach/info. Sh was really cool, spoke 7 languages and was born in Cote D'Ivore. She made it really clear to me that the look at Burkina that I was getting was not really reflective of the major need. She told me that the reality of the larger population living in small villages outside of the major cities is that families are struggling to find their next meal. More often than not they are eating once a day. This couldn't help but make me wonder how one starts the development process if people are not even able to feed themselves (let alone able to access adequate healthcare). Definitely served as some food for thought.
Also got to talk to a young guy who had just gotten tested (thinking of it now I couldve talked to him about AIDS and stuff) but I ended up just generally talking about poverty in Africa because his perspective was that "en Afrique, il y a la misère" (in Afirca there is misery)... interesting convo. I dont know how deep in to that convo he was willing to go... I felt like he thought I was just going to agree with him and than move on. Anyone who knows me knows that is NOT how I function (haha).
Spent the bulk of the week doin a variety of things. We did some work in the HIV screening clinic where I got to sit in on consultations between clients and the doctor that comes in 3 times a week. We also spent some time at the organizations other location where we handed out their weekly supply of cornmeal, lentils, and oil to people living with HIV and/or orphaned children. That was a pretty interesting experience because it was all out of containers marked "US AID". You always hear that the US supplies food to the global south but it is definitely something else to be handing out that food personally to people with lives, smiles, and super cute children running all over the place. I could almost feel the cynicsm lifting off of me... almost (haha). We also spent another day colouring, painting, and watching "finding nemo" with the kids, which is always nice. Actually got to hand out a lot of the gifts we took up so I have a bunch of pictures for all those of you that so generously donated toys and stuff for me to bring up. I defiinitely saw a lot of happy faces that day.
Went to the Canadian Embassy this week and got a chance to meet with the Second Secratary (a CIDA employee) and she breifly talked about the work the Canadian govt and CIDA are doing in Burkina. It was an interesting discussion but left me with more questions than answers... and considering her time was really limitted I didnt get to ask all the questions i wanted to. One thing she did make pretty clear was the amount of money that CIDA allocates to Health, Education, etc flows pretty steadily through canadian NGOs meaning that they dont necessarily sponsor any local grassroots orgs in Burkina. I thought that was definitely pretty unfortunate. We have an appointment with UNICEF on Tuesday so that should prove to be interesting...
Last thing. Just got in from le Grand Marché (the major market in Ouaga)... I am pretty sure that is an experience that I never want to have to deal with again. I have never had so many people trying to talk to me at the same time in my life. Thing is though, regardless of how many ppl were yelling at me or pulling me in different directions, I still felt pretty safe because I could tell some of them were pretty cool. Did end up buying something from one of the guys only because he made me laugh. Other than that, I couldnt have gotten out of there fast enough.
Well I guess thats it for now. It is becoming pretty clear to me now that the culture shock I am really going to experience is going to be on my return home. Just hope it hits me hard enough to push my life in the direction it needs to go.
until next time...
PEACE
Also got to talk to a young guy who had just gotten tested (thinking of it now I couldve talked to him about AIDS and stuff) but I ended up just generally talking about poverty in Africa because his perspective was that "en Afrique, il y a la misère" (in Afirca there is misery)... interesting convo. I dont know how deep in to that convo he was willing to go... I felt like he thought I was just going to agree with him and than move on. Anyone who knows me knows that is NOT how I function (haha).
Spent the bulk of the week doin a variety of things. We did some work in the HIV screening clinic where I got to sit in on consultations between clients and the doctor that comes in 3 times a week. We also spent some time at the organizations other location where we handed out their weekly supply of cornmeal, lentils, and oil to people living with HIV and/or orphaned children. That was a pretty interesting experience because it was all out of containers marked "US AID". You always hear that the US supplies food to the global south but it is definitely something else to be handing out that food personally to people with lives, smiles, and super cute children running all over the place. I could almost feel the cynicsm lifting off of me... almost (haha). We also spent another day colouring, painting, and watching "finding nemo" with the kids, which is always nice. Actually got to hand out a lot of the gifts we took up so I have a bunch of pictures for all those of you that so generously donated toys and stuff for me to bring up. I defiinitely saw a lot of happy faces that day.
Went to the Canadian Embassy this week and got a chance to meet with the Second Secratary (a CIDA employee) and she breifly talked about the work the Canadian govt and CIDA are doing in Burkina. It was an interesting discussion but left me with more questions than answers... and considering her time was really limitted I didnt get to ask all the questions i wanted to. One thing she did make pretty clear was the amount of money that CIDA allocates to Health, Education, etc flows pretty steadily through canadian NGOs meaning that they dont necessarily sponsor any local grassroots orgs in Burkina. I thought that was definitely pretty unfortunate. We have an appointment with UNICEF on Tuesday so that should prove to be interesting...
Last thing. Just got in from le Grand Marché (the major market in Ouaga)... I am pretty sure that is an experience that I never want to have to deal with again. I have never had so many people trying to talk to me at the same time in my life. Thing is though, regardless of how many ppl were yelling at me or pulling me in different directions, I still felt pretty safe because I could tell some of them were pretty cool. Did end up buying something from one of the guys only because he made me laugh. Other than that, I couldnt have gotten out of there fast enough.
Well I guess thats it for now. It is becoming pretty clear to me now that the culture shock I am really going to experience is going to be on my return home. Just hope it hits me hard enough to push my life in the direction it needs to go.
until next time...
PEACE
Friday, May 8, 2009
email received May 8th
hey everyone;
if u didnt see my blog post i just wanted to let u all know that i am here safe and so far its going great. I have gotten to meet alot of new ppl and have seen some of the city. our first tourist attraction activities will be done today (friday afternoon) and i think we are going to a local artisan market. please forgive the horrible grammar and spelling because i a, trying to do this fast but it is on a french keyboard. I would upload sone of the amazing pictures that i have but i, afraid it would take forever to upload and i dont have that kind of time. Its only been 4 days and my french has already picked up alot, im really impressed with myself. there was also a crazy lightening storm last night which was definitely a sight. Have met many beautiful kids and am really starting to understand how when people come here they never want to leave. Met a young boy named Parfait who had meninigitis so I guess its a pretty good thing i got that shot. Alot of the young children only speak Moree so it is sometimes even hqard to communicate in french. But they are a breath of fresh air none the less. Im pretty sure the weather has been consistantly staying at around 40 degrees and so there is no doubt I will come back with some much need colour. I will try to write again soon, the interent cafe is pretty dang cheap and i think it is close to our house. its just this friggin keyboard that is driving me insane. N@
hey everyone;
if u didnt see my blog post i just wanted to let u all know that i am here safe and so far its going great. I have gotten to meet alot of new ppl and have seen some of the city. our first tourist attraction activities will be done today (friday afternoon) and i think we are going to a local artisan market. please forgive the horrible grammar and spelling because i a, trying to do this fast but it is on a french keyboard. I would upload sone of the amazing pictures that i have but i, afraid it would take forever to upload and i dont have that kind of time. Its only been 4 days and my french has already picked up alot, im really impressed with myself. there was also a crazy lightening storm last night which was definitely a sight. Have met many beautiful kids and am really starting to understand how when people come here they never want to leave. Met a young boy named Parfait who had meninigitis so I guess its a pretty good thing i got that shot. Alot of the young children only speak Moree so it is sometimes even hqard to communicate in french. But they are a breath of fresh air none the less. Im pretty sure the weather has been consistantly staying at around 40 degrees and so there is no doubt I will come back with some much need colour. I will try to write again soon, the interent cafe is pretty dang cheap and i think it is close to our house. its just this friggin keyboard that is driving me insane. N@
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Im Here!
Hey Guys,
So as mom has told you I have arrived safe and sound after 18 hours of travel time (24 hours with the time difference). It was really crazy because we first landed in Niamey, Niger for about 30 mins before heading to Burkina and it was almost completely desert.
Definitely must say it felt amazing to be on African soil even though I hadnt actually left the plane.
When we landed in Ouagadougou going through customs and getting our bags was really easy and went pretty smoothly but as soon as we left the airport it was pretty much madness. We found our contacts and everything but we werent too sure who was with them and who wasnt. We also didnt know the customs on tipping nor did we have any small change and ended up giving away 20 euros to those helping with our bags (which really should have only been the two guys who obviously worked at the airport but ended up being some other randoms that just started grabbing our bags).
After that ordeal was over it was pretty cool getting into the car and driving through the city to the house where we would be staying. The people here are overwhelmingly friendly and one of our contacts has been kind enough too cook all of our meals so far.
I have to cut ths short because we have to go. I was trying to upload pictures but it is taking ,uch longer than I hoped so you guys will have to wait sorry :(
A plus tard les amis!
So as mom has told you I have arrived safe and sound after 18 hours of travel time (24 hours with the time difference). It was really crazy because we first landed in Niamey, Niger for about 30 mins before heading to Burkina and it was almost completely desert.
Definitely must say it felt amazing to be on African soil even though I hadnt actually left the plane.
When we landed in Ouagadougou going through customs and getting our bags was really easy and went pretty smoothly but as soon as we left the airport it was pretty much madness. We found our contacts and everything but we werent too sure who was with them and who wasnt. We also didnt know the customs on tipping nor did we have any small change and ended up giving away 20 euros to those helping with our bags (which really should have only been the two guys who obviously worked at the airport but ended up being some other randoms that just started grabbing our bags).
After that ordeal was over it was pretty cool getting into the car and driving through the city to the house where we would be staying. The people here are overwhelmingly friendly and one of our contacts has been kind enough too cook all of our meals so far.
I have to cut ths short because we have to go. I was trying to upload pictures but it is taking ,uch longer than I hoped so you guys will have to wait sorry :(
A plus tard les amis!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Family and Friends:
below the first contact (received Wednesday morning - May 6th) from Nat's team in Burkina Faso...s
Hi all,Just letting you know, our team has arrived safe and sound. We are currently in Ouagadougou with our first contact, the AJPO centre de depistage. We arrived early evening yesterday and were greeted by our Contact. they were gracious enough to have reserved us a villa for our 2 week stay here in Ouaga. We are in the midst of getting ourselves organized and will update you soon after.To both the Twyman and Tam family, could you please initiate the phonetree. We will have more to update soon, but for now we are still just getting oriented with the contact and our surroundings.Much love,Natalie, Anthony, and Ben
below the first contact (received Wednesday morning - May 6th) from Nat's team in Burkina Faso...s
Hi all,Just letting you know, our team has arrived safe and sound. We are currently in Ouagadougou with our first contact, the AJPO centre de depistage. We arrived early evening yesterday and were greeted by our Contact. they were gracious enough to have reserved us a villa for our 2 week stay here in Ouaga. We are in the midst of getting ourselves organized and will update you soon after.To both the Twyman and Tam family, could you please initiate the phonetree. We will have more to update soon, but for now we are still just getting oriented with the contact and our surroundings.Much love,Natalie, Anthony, and Ben
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Clem's address
Hi Nat: I now have Clem's address in hand - I'll complete a form and send it off to Beth...so that they can send his tax receipt...m
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Hi Nat: I sent Starr and Veronica a message on facebook and the below are their responses.
Also Aunt Faye said the following....Ah youth!!! That is so wonderful to be able to have such first hand world experience! I will send a blog and a donation as well.!
And... the following from Dad's friend Coleen: Hey Patrick: May (the month) crept up on me and I have just revisited your e-mail and realize that Nat is leaving today. Can donations still get to her? Please advise. If so, expediency is of the utmost. So please take $50.00 from the price of one of your Rusea's dance tickets and remit to her a.s.a.p. Thanks.
Also Aunt Faye said the following....Ah youth!!! That is so wonderful to be able to have such first hand world experience! I will send a blog and a donation as well.!
And... the following from Dad's friend Coleen: Hey Patrick: May (the month) crept up on me and I have just revisited your e-mail and realize that Nat is leaving today. Can donations still get to her? Please advise. If so, expediency is of the utmost. So please take $50.00 from the price of one of your Rusea's dance tickets and remit to her a.s.a.p. Thanks.
Veronica Ciandre
Today at 12:58pm
Reply
I wish I knew sooner, I would love to have donated some toys. I look forward to following the journey!Bon voyage & Many Blessings NatV.
Starr Jacobs
Today at 1:34pm
Reply
well girl .......I have not been on top of things as i should have.we get caught up in our lives, but that does not mean that we are not thinking of you.take lots of pictures ,,,,stay strong and safe. I remember my travelling and let me tell you it was the best experience and i thank the powers for that opportunity.You will make good friends and have lots of memories.I am sure mom and dad are proud and abit nervous that their baby is really flying and soaring now. So you have to keep them together tooo ha ha ha .I am proud of you nat and I always knew you had that adventure in your eyes since you were a little girl .you go girl and rock the place when you get there.peace starr
Today at 12:58pm
Reply
I wish I knew sooner, I would love to have donated some toys. I look forward to following the journey!Bon voyage & Many Blessings NatV.
Starr Jacobs
Today at 1:34pm
Reply
well girl .......I have not been on top of things as i should have.we get caught up in our lives, but that does not mean that we are not thinking of you.take lots of pictures ,,,,stay strong and safe. I remember my travelling and let me tell you it was the best experience and i thank the powers for that opportunity.You will make good friends and have lots of memories.I am sure mom and dad are proud and abit nervous that their baby is really flying and soaring now. So you have to keep them together tooo ha ha ha .I am proud of you nat and I always knew you had that adventure in your eyes since you were a little girl .you go girl and rock the place when you get there.peace starr
Friday, May 1, 2009
It's that time! N@ does Burkina Faso!
So the time has come to say goodbye... to Toronto, anyway. I have gathered all the essential goods and have attempted to logically pack my bag...
I think I've remembered everything. I had made numerous list in hopes to avoid forgetting anything... I figure if there is anything else that I desperately need it'll be part of the learning experience, living without it. Thanks Mir and Alex for loaning me the bag, it is definitely doing the job.
I have another suitcase that I am bringing with me which is so far about half full (*see how optimistic/positive I am?? haha) of french books, some clothes and shoes, a puzzle of the Map of Canada, and a box of a hundred toothbrushes (kindly donated by my dentist Dr. Joe - Thanks!!). I have a couple more pick-ups to do tonight which will hopefully fill up the rest of the suitcase and, if not, I'm pretty sure my other teammates will have stuff that they will need to find space for...
Orientation should be fun... I have a feeling it's going to be a bunch of team building initiative game type-of-things.... Meh... Should be alright. I must say I kinda would just like to fast-forward to the airport part but everything in due time. :)
So that's it for now. Can't believe the time has finally come for me to head to the motherland! Very very sureal and I'm sure it won't fully hit me till I get off the plane but that's pretty much how it usually goes...
Until next time :) (which will be from either the airport or Burkina)...
PEACE! and let the globe-trotting begin...
Thursday, April 23, 2009
One Week to go!! (give or take a couple days haha)
Exams are done, placement wraps up tomorrow, and (get this) I have once again started reading for pleasure which I must say feels amazing (hahaha). Once again I have to thank everyone for being so eager to contribute to my trip, it was all very very much appreciated.
So the bags are half packed... I've pretty much bought everything I need to get except another pair of earphones and some sandals but those will be bought next week... I've decided to bring Alex Haleys Roots with me which I feel is exceedingly appropriate for this trip (don't you think??). Those 700 pages should keep me company over the next little while...
I must say, I never expected to be heading to Africa this soon... I always thought of it as something I would do much later in life, but I think this is probably a better time for it. I still have a lot of people telling me that I'm not going to want to come back home (and I have a sneaking suspicion that they're right) so I've been researching a lot of different opportunities that may have me heading back there sometime this year... Whatever happens I will keep you all updated! No promises on what my access to internet will be like once I'm in Burkina, but if I get to a computer, my blog will be one of the first things I check.
Thanks again for your support.
Peace!
So the bags are half packed... I've pretty much bought everything I need to get except another pair of earphones and some sandals but those will be bought next week... I've decided to bring Alex Haleys Roots with me which I feel is exceedingly appropriate for this trip (don't you think??). Those 700 pages should keep me company over the next little while...
I must say, I never expected to be heading to Africa this soon... I always thought of it as something I would do much later in life, but I think this is probably a better time for it. I still have a lot of people telling me that I'm not going to want to come back home (and I have a sneaking suspicion that they're right) so I've been researching a lot of different opportunities that may have me heading back there sometime this year... Whatever happens I will keep you all updated! No promises on what my access to internet will be like once I'm in Burkina, but if I get to a computer, my blog will be one of the first things I check.
Thanks again for your support.
Peace!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Two weeks to go!!
Hello Hello!
So... I have one exam to go before I can call this university thing quits (until I do a grad degree anyway, so I guess its only temporary gratification haha) but that means only 2 weeks till I break out of the Western World and jump head first in to the rural West African lifestyle! Absolutely excited but getting somewhat nervous as well... This is a big deal.
If you haven't heard, one of the organizations that I will be voluteering with in Burkina has asked for donations of children's french books (to help them establish their library for children living with HIV/AIDS) as well as children's toys. If you have any of these items you are willing to part with, let me know so I can take them over with me. Might be bringing some other things down with me (i.e. tooth brushes) if I can get them, so if you have any other ideas just give me a shout!
I think that's it for now...
Until next time... :)
So... I have one exam to go before I can call this university thing quits (until I do a grad degree anyway, so I guess its only temporary gratification haha) but that means only 2 weeks till I break out of the Western World and jump head first in to the rural West African lifestyle! Absolutely excited but getting somewhat nervous as well... This is a big deal.
If you haven't heard, one of the organizations that I will be voluteering with in Burkina has asked for donations of children's french books (to help them establish their library for children living with HIV/AIDS) as well as children's toys. If you have any of these items you are willing to part with, let me know so I can take them over with me. Might be bringing some other things down with me (i.e. tooth brushes) if I can get them, so if you have any other ideas just give me a shout!
I think that's it for now...
Until next time... :)
Friday, April 3, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Hey Everyone,
Again, I want to thank everyone for their generous donations. I am about $950 away from my goal of $3500 and I leave in just over a month! I'm incredibly exicted about this trip, I know I'm going to return a different person. This is exactly how I pictured the end of University to be... I feel like I've been going a million miles a minute finishing up my 7 final papers and 2 final exams but I know its all worth it in the end...
I'm not too sure what level of internet access I will have while over there (if I have any at all) but I will try my best to update everyone on how my trip is playing out so be sure to bookmark this page! If I do get a chance to update the blog I will try to attach some pictures so you all get a chance to experience a taste of what I'll be seeing everyday (lol).
Everyone tells me that once I go, I won't want to come back. But not to worry, unfortunately it is Global Youth Network's policy that if you leave with them, you must return with them as well. So, moral of the story is I will be back June 2nd to fill all of you in on what promises to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
Look out for more from your friendly neighborhood (budding) globe-trotter ;)...
-Peace!
Again, I want to thank everyone for their generous donations. I am about $950 away from my goal of $3500 and I leave in just over a month! I'm incredibly exicted about this trip, I know I'm going to return a different person. This is exactly how I pictured the end of University to be... I feel like I've been going a million miles a minute finishing up my 7 final papers and 2 final exams but I know its all worth it in the end...
I'm not too sure what level of internet access I will have while over there (if I have any at all) but I will try my best to update everyone on how my trip is playing out so be sure to bookmark this page! If I do get a chance to update the blog I will try to attach some pictures so you all get a chance to experience a taste of what I'll be seeing everyday (lol).
Everyone tells me that once I go, I won't want to come back. But not to worry, unfortunately it is Global Youth Network's policy that if you leave with them, you must return with them as well. So, moral of the story is I will be back June 2nd to fill all of you in on what promises to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
Look out for more from your friendly neighborhood (budding) globe-trotter ;)...
-Peace!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
THANK YOU TO MY VERY GENEROUS SUPPORTERS:
Relatives, sister-friends, neighbours; colleagues (past and present) and strangers continue to responded generously
to my fundraising appeal on behalf of the Global Youth Network and my planned volunteer trip to Burkina Faso in West Africa. This is a note to say “thank you” for your outstanding generosity. As you may know, I’ll be graduating from McMaster University this year in social work. I hope to focus on youth. One of the things I do hope to get from this relatively brief visit to Burkina Faso is a better on-the-ground understanding of the daily challenges of people in the developing world and, in particular, young people.
As the diversity of Toronto continues to expand, I believe that this experience will serve me well in helping to address the needs of young people, particularly newcomer youth, who often feel disenchanted in their new country. Again, thank you very much for your generosity. Nataleah
I am going to Burkina Faso (Central West Africa) in May 2009 - as part of a volunteer work team. I will leave Toronto in early May and return June 1, 2009.Immediately after graduation in 2009 I have decided to volunteer in Burkina Faso (Central West-Africa) as part of McMaster University’s Global Youth Network work team. While in Burkina Faso, as part of this team I will be working with street youth, helping in HIV/AIDS clinics, and working alongside widows and children in a mango factory.
As a result of this trip I hope to have experiences that will increase my confidence in my ability to make a difference in the world. Also to encourage and develop leadership skills and offer valuable work and educational experience that will better help me determine my future career focus.
Generally speaking these short-term trips serve to inspire Canadian youth toward effecting change in their own communities and to continue to stay connected to the world. The Team Travel programs also allow Global Youth Network to sustain relationships with its international partners thereby keeping its commitment to long-term development.
Each team member is asked to raise $3500 to cover a portion of the team’s expenses of transportation, accommodation, meals, and training. I am grateful for the many contributions already received toward almost two-thirds of the fundraising goal. If you are able to support me in this effort, your gifts should be mailed directly to the Global Youth Network office at Box 26100, 25 Frederick Street, Kitchener, Ontario. N2H 6T4 . CHEQUES SHOULD BE MADE PAYABLE TO ‘GLOBAL YOUTH NETWORK’. GLOBAL YOUTH NETWORK is Registered Charity # 852077163RR0001 PLEASE NOTE DO NOT WRITE MY NAME ANYWHERE ON THE CHEQUE, just include my name (Nataleah Hunter-Young) on the donor slip and send it with your cheque. Please also note they are unable to accept post-dated cheques. You can also make your donation online through their website www.globalyouthnetwork.ca by clicking on the “Donate Now” icon. If making a donation online, please include your name and address. Tax receipts are available for all gifts of $15.00 or more. Any support you are able to offer will be greatly appreciated. Please do what you can …and thank you. Nataleah.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
BACKGROUND:Burkina Faso (pronounced /bɚˌkiːnə ˈfɑːsoʊ/ burr-KEE-nə FAH-soh), also known by its short-form name Burkina, is a landlocked nation in West Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the south east, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the south west. Its size is 274,000 km² with an estimated population of more than 13,200,000. Formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta, it was renamed on August 4, 1984, by President Thomas Sankara to mean "the land of upright people" in Moré and Dioula, the major native languages of the country. Literally, "Burkina" may be translated, "men of integrity," from the Moré language, and "Faso" means "father's house" in Dioula. The inhabitants of Burkina Faso are known as Burkinabè (pronounced /bɚˈkiːnəbeɪ/ burr-KEE-nə-bay).
Burkina Faso's capital is Ouagadougou. After gaining independence from France in 1960, the country underwent many governmental changes until arriving at its current form, a semi-presidential republic. The president is Blaise Compaoré
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