la prochain (quelque mois)

So if you pay any attention to my blog, you will have noticed that I changed the title of my blog. Why, a small handful of you may be asking? For accuracy's sake, that's why. Let us look at this objectively: "The Daily Musings of Joel in Burkina Faso." What is wrong with this? Well, for one, it is hardly a daily musing. If anything, it is an every 6 week musing. In an attempt to be both overtly honest and witty by employing franglais in my title, I have hereby renamed my blog to "The de temps en temps musings of Joel in Burkina Faso" (The from time to time musings...). It is certainly my hope to keep my blog as up to date as possible, but I am sure you are all able to bear with my sporaticism. And yes, sporaticism is a word I just created on the spot.

IST and what that really means.

So my time here in Ouagadougou (and clearly, the time spent in Ouahigouya) has come to an end. Tomorrow, I part for my village, where I will try to implement that which I learned during my in-service training. In all reality, I did learn quite a lot. The nice thing about having an in-service training is that I was able to bounce ideas off my fellow volunteers. When 15 others are trying things 15 different ways, we are able to determine what works and what doesn't. Yes, folks, our job is a a game of trial and error.

So what IS joel up to?

That is a fine question. Currently, I have 4 primary projects in which I am trying to get off the ground. It is my hope that 25% of my projects will have an air of success. So, first of all, I am working with members of my village to start community-based pre-schools. This idea came to me when I went to visit my friend Salam at his courtyard and I showed up in the middle of what appeared to be a class session. I asked him what the kids were studying, and he explained that he tries to teach his children basic french (the alphabet, simple words) before they begin primary school. Keep in mind, most children never speak a word of french until they are 6 and they begin CP1 (Kindergarten, essentially). What is exciting about this project is the idea came from a Villager, one who has a passion for education. Our next steps are to take his model, improve it a little, and motivate others to do the same in their courtyards.

My second project I have planned is to promote the planting and use of Moringa trees. The daily diet of an average Burkinabe is Millet (we call this Bird Seed in the united states). That's it. They eat this twice a day. Naturally, most people are devoid of necessary vitamins and minerals in their diet, thus leading to more illnesses, thus, a more unhappy life. The leaves from Moringas are rich in vitamins and the trees do very well in the otherwise hostile soil that makes up the Sahel. My job is to talk up Moringas, encourage mothers to mix the leaves in the porridge (millet, water, vinegar) they make for their children. First, though, I need to plant some for myself, so I have an idea what I am doing :)

Third Project: CM2 success. CM2 is the equiv of 6th grade in the United States of America. Students must take a relatively arduous exam in order to pass and move on to Junior High. One must graduate Junior high (9th grade, essentially) if they wish to have any opportunity in finding a job other than cultivator. So for the next few months, I am holding study Halls with CM2 students to help them prepare for their exam in June.

Fourth: Boys/Girls Club. My nearest PCV neighbor, Kim, and I are doing this jointly. We started a Boys and Girls club with Junior High Students last fall, but it fell through. But we're back. Our main goal is to instill crucial critical thinking skills, and to help students gain more self-confidence in this challenging period of life (Hey puberty is puberty, be you in Burkina or Boston). We have a week long camp (more of a teen forum) scheduled for their Spring Break).

Okay, I actually have 5 projects: Girls' Association of Pobe-Mengao. This, too, was the idea of a villager, not me, which makes me hopeful for its success. Essentially, we want to create an association that can provide resources, peer support, and simply a place to study for girls in my village. This, of course requires the construction of a building, so it is safe to say that this will be my biggest undertaking in the remaining 19 months I have here.

I will keep you all posted on how my work unfolds (or unravels, depending). I'm ready to get back and give it all a try...now if only I could do something about this heat...

Don't forget to check out my photos! I added some yesterday. http://picassaweb.google.com/thejdt