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