May 18-20th - First few days... Still no work!

This was taken just outside of my house when I was trying to leave with the motorbike... All five of these kids (neighbours) were on the bike at once... I couldn't get them off!

So it's Wednesday and I find myself at home with nothing to do...still. I went to visit the President of the Association I'm going to be working for on Monday and she seems very organized. Mme Drabo is an older lady who has decided to take it upon herself to run the entire organisation... She is brilliant. She single-handedly took a compassionate idea and turned it into a full-fledged working operation. The grounds of AVOH (Association des Veuves et Orphelins du Houet) have grown from one small stone house to two fully operational preserve and drying factories, sterile and all. And the products they pump out are amazing... I never realized how good dried Mangos are until yesterday. And they make several different kinds of juices (mango, orange, etc...) and soaps (with Shea butter and other natural extracts). My job, or what I know of my job so far, is to find a way to market their products... So far they still have no packaging or exclusive customers/contracts. They already have several clients but they are all international... The local market has yet to be tapped.

C'est Mercredi et je me retrouve à la maison avec rien à faire... encore. J'ai visité l'association ou je vais travailler durant mon stage et la Présidente a l'air très organisée. Mme Drabo est incroyable… Elle a entièrement créée l'organisation. L'AVOH (Association des Veuves et Orphelins du Houet) a commencé comme simple œuvre caritative et est devenue une vraie structure. Leur spécialisation est le séchage des mangues et le jus de quelques fruits (oranges, mangues, etc.…). Ils fabriquent aussi le savon et tous leurs produits sont 100%naturel… Mon mandat durant ce stage est de développer une mise en marché assez simple pour que je puisse l'opérationnaliser avant que mon stage soit fini. Ils n'ont pas encore d'emballage approprié pour leurs produits (volume, qualité, prix) et leurs produits ne sont pas encore sur le marché local.

Initial ideas:

• I went to the Marina Market (which is the only grocery store in the city – owned by an Arabic family) yesterday and they carry the same products that AVOH produce except the price points are higher and the portions smaller. AVOH's products are cheaper right from the get go and the quality is exceptional... I've been inside the factory and have already tried the products. I'm thinking they have competitive advantage in the local market without even knowing it.
  
• Marketing platform for any and all customers: YOU ARE SUPPORTING AIDS ORPHANS AND WIDOWS BY BUYING THIS PRRODUCT
  
• Axelle's (my roommate) mom is from Guadeloupe and she has soaps from a local company there... The packaging is very nice but also very cheap. Since I don't have the internet and the cyber cafes here aren't reliable for research, I'm waiting till I get a decent connection to research some packaging options... The problem is that it needs to be cheap enough for them to afford but it also has to do the job in terms of staying intact while shipping and handling.
  
• There is quite a bit of waste in the process – particularly of mango peels. I'm wondering if I can suggest anything for them to do with that... Maybe develop another product, maybe they can seep the essential oils out and make – anything really... even just sell it to foreign companies who will use it for their shampoos or lotions.
  

Idées initials:

• Je suis allé au marché Marina (c'est la seule marché style épicerie dans la ville) hier et j'ai découvert qu'ils vendent des produits proche de ce que l'AVOH produit. Ceux de l'AVOH sont moins cher et ils sont aussi de meilleure qualité (d'après mes testes). Ca serait un bon commencement pour la commercialisation dans le marché local.
  
• Plateforme pour les produits de l'AVOH : En achetant ce produit naturel, vous supportez les veuves et Orphelins du SIDA à la région de l'Houet – MANIFIQUE!
  
• Mon coloc (Axelle) m'a montré des savons qui viennent de Guadeloupe (c'est où sa mère est d'origine) qui sont très similaires de se que l'AVOH produit et l'emballage est très bien et ca a l'ait très peu cher. C'est une idée pour l'emballage de l'AVOH mais j'ai besoin d'internet pour faire un peu plus de recherche sur le sujet.
  
• Une produit secondaire dont ils pourraient profiter serait la pelure de mangues (car ils les mettent dans les déchets). Mon idée serait de préserver l'huile essentielle et fabriquer quelque chose avec… ou simplement le vendre aux grosses entreprises qui font les produits hygiéniques.
  

So these are just initial ideas... I'm going to have to take a few days and really soak in their process... put simple, how they work. I don't want to seem like a mad woman going in there and trying to change things. I want to know as much as humanly possible before I take any steps. It's incredibly important that I make sure the changes are with them and not against them... They are the ones who will have to carry on after I'm gone. As ideas go, I'm ready and welcoming any that you have to share with me... This is after all my first experience in this type of environment.

Alors voila mes idées initiales. S'il vous plait n'hésitez pas de m'envoyer aucune de vos idées. C'est tres bienvenu.

As far as living arrangements go, I am living large, baby. The villa that Axelle and I are renting is a four bedroom two story on top of a hill that overlooks the entire city of Bobo-Dioulasso (along with all its greenery... which is beautiful – a real Oasis). It is beige stucco exterior with a red ceramic roof... You can see it (and it is in fact the way we tell taxis to find our house... "The one with the red roof at the top of the hill") from the end of the street. I am planning on getting the internet very soon, but I'm not sure if our land lady will follow through... She seems to avoid doing any work herself. The water cuts off pretty often... Let me just say that Monday night I bathed out of a small pot of rain water. The electricity seems to only cut off during rain storms. The rain here is completely different from the rain in Canada. When it rains here it feels and looks like the world has reached Armageddon. You feel the earth shake with the thunder and the lightning rattles your bones. Needless to say I was very scared. So this morning it rained again and apparently no one goes to work when it rains here. In fact, people strongly recommend you stay inside wherever you are during a storm. Pretty intense right? So that meant yet another day of twiddling my thumbs... I also managed to secure myself a motorbike to ride around with... For two months, I'm paying the equivalent of $222 Canadian to have my own means of transportation. AND I LOVE IT!! I practiced quite a bit yesterday and I did a full tour of my work commute, including where I will be dropping Axelle off for work every morning... Oh what we do when there is nothing to do – prepare for when we have to do something, of course!

Maintenant au sujet de mon logement. Je l'adore. Ma villa a quatre chambres, deux étages avec les murs beiges et un toit céramique en rouge… Et c'est tous pour Axelle et moi – vous êtes bienvenu pour nous rendre visite! J'espère avoir internet bientôt car les cybers cafés ne sont pas très fiables… mais on va voir ce que notre loueur nos dit… elle est aussi fiable que les cybers cafés. L'eau coupe souvent (Lundi j'ai pris un bain dans un petit pot de cuisine) mais l'électricité se coupe seulement durant la pluie (normalement… On ne sait jamais). La pluie ici est très différent que la pluie au Canada – ici ca a l'air de la fin du monde le monde – On peut vraiment sentir les orages. Aujourd'hui il a plu encore et je me trouve encore sans travail…. De quoi a faire? Se promener avec ma nouvelle moto, bien sur! Je la loue pour les prochains deux mois pour un gros $222 Canadien… J'adore le Burkina-Faso. Alors aujourd'hui on a fait le tour complet de notre petite ville, incluant ou je vais déposer Axelle a son travail et me rendre a mon travail. C'est ce qu'on fait quand il y a rien de faire… On se prépare pour quand on va être occupés!

So that's it for now... I'm still in the honeymoon stage in terms of sociological/culture shock theory... I hope I never come out of it – in fact, I don't think I can come out of it unless a natural disaster happens (knock on wood). But we'll see... Maybe I'm a perfect specimen for denial of culture shock? J

Until next time, be well, be safe, and take care.

C'est tout pour ce soir… Je vous aime tous, prenez soins de vous et bisou!

 

Xoxoxo

A

will update soon... no reliable connection to the internet... yet.

May 15 - 18, 2008

So on Thursday we talked about security in Burkina-Faso. Which was fine. Until people started asking questions like, "What should I do if people start rioting around me?", or "How should I act towards the police". First of all, what would you do in Canada (or wherever you're from) if a riot broke out where you are?? Get out! (As a side note, this also makes me think of the "victims" in horror movies who "investigate" weird noises instead of run away, which would be the smart thing to do...). Secondly, how do you normally treat the Police wherever you're from?? Politely! "Yes sir/maam, no sir/maam, thank you for the ticket sir/maam".

But that isn't even the good part. You know when you're in a meeting that's taking much longer than needed, and just as the meeting is about to be adjourned, the same person who was frustrating you with the silly questions before REPEATS a question that was already answered during the meeting... At the time I was trying to hold back my death stare and be polite but now that I think of it I shouldn't have...?

Thursday night we went to the Centre Culturel Francais (CCF) in Ouaga and watched a jazz band play... They rocked. They also made me miss playing the sax ALOT. I couldn't help smiling the whole time we were there... It was a jazz combo: Drums, Bass, Electric and piano, with a guest drummer and sax player every few songs. I have a video of the drummer playing for four minutes, no break, as a solo... It was insane how talented these Burkinabes were!! Another little note: The MC said a very cool quote before introducing the band, "Quand la tete est la, le genou ne porte pas le chapeau"... The band was indeed fantastic.

Friday we talked about "working in Burkina-Faso"... Finally, the last drawn-out meeting I have to endure for the rest of my internship. Basically, we learnt to follow suit: if the Burkinabes get up and wait at the door if the boss is coming, do it as well... if they walk – walk. And if they run... run! On another note we went for dinner at Angele's (our coordinator) on Friday night and enjoyed some yummy Tabouleh, Filet skewers and Avocado salad... It felt really good to have home-cooked food. I also picked up my new shoes!!!!! (See picture) They are so cool and well made and the little Burkinabe (remember... scared of my feet...) who made them is definitely a master craftsman. All jokes aside, I know they will last me forever and I've already sent several envious colleagues to see him.

Saturday is a wonderful day. You can wake up whenever you want and do as much or as little as you want. That is what I enjoyed this Saturday. The ultimate "laissez-faire" of the week; I took full advantage of it...I slept until 12pm. I also happened to have gone out the night before until really late (to the tune of 5am bedtime) with my fellow interns... Why go to Burkina-Faso if you can't take advantage of the African music and nightlife? I was especially happy when "Like a Virgin – House remix" started playing at the "boite de nuit"(club)... We eventually found ourselves alone on the dance floor after about 2 minutes... But it didn't matter – You can take the girl out of the house but you can't take the house out of the girl...

Cab Drivers. They are supposed to be the ultimate know-it-alls when it comes to directions, but in Ouaga, some can't tell the difference between right and left! On Saturday night we decided to go out for dinner in the city... Which is unnerving itself, since we don't know the city at all. Add a cab driver who has no idea where he is, and you get a wonderful cocktail of nerves, frustration and paranoia. I must say, however, that his antique 1986 Toyota Tercel sure did hold its own on the long (at least it seemed long) trip home. As a side note, this section is not a generalisation – I have empirical evidence proving that every cab driver we stopped in Ouaga had no idea how to get to the main road in the city... Thus two conclusions are possible: 1)The majority of cab drivers in Ouaga don't know where they are or 2) We are indeed the unluckiest group of cab patrons in the world.

So Sunday was "Le grand voyage" from Ouaga to Bobo via Leo, a small town in which we dropped off one of the interns at. There, we got a special treat: the people at the NGO organised a little show for us that included not only singing and dancing but theatre as well... And it was fabulous. I love how art penetrates all cultural barriers and conveys any message. I felt so special to have been able to watch it. After lunch (which was really nice – we went to another "cooperative's" house and ate spaghetti a la tomato sauce with grated cheese... ) we were off to Bobo. Apparently the highway on the way had to be re-done twice in the last 4 years, as our coordinator says, because they keep cutting corners to pocket construction grant money... The road was therefore brand new but still very uneven... It will probably have to be re-done in a few years... again.

We killed two goats today. With a Toyota Land Cruiser. Thank God we were in that truck, which surely saved our lives, but I still felt really bad for the goats... Which is a view I can say our coordinator did not share. As I was still covering my eyes and squealing like a baby after each time, she would say enthusiastically, "at least the kids will get to eat now!" I couldn't help but laugh... Poor goats. I also saw my first monkey... It was amazing – it ran across the highway and was beige and really fast... So fast I couldn't get a picture in time. What I do have pictures of, however, are the transport trucks. I guess that the companies try to maximise their transporting potential every trip the trucks make, to they decide to pile them so high that they look like they are about to topple over. Add a highway speed of 120km/hr and you get a pretty good show. Did I forget to mention that they put PEOPLE on top of the goods as well?

So tonight I am dead tired from the last week and am trying to stay awake to finish this blog post... I'm really excited to settle into my new digs, which we will figure out where tomorrow. For now I'm in a hotel – again. House hunting in Bobo – how exciting. I also get to finally meet the president of the association I'm going to be working for... Voeuves et Orphelins du Houet... equally exciting.

 

 

March 13th - 14th

Red Soil. When it hasn't rained in a while (which is usual during the hot season - March July 40 degree average), you see clouds of red dust all over the place... especially when you're on a busy, unpaved road.

I wore white all day on the 13th and so far, surprisingly, I've managed to keep it clean. Except for the massive red mark on my right pant leg... where did than come from??

The women in BF are absolutely beautiful. the women who works at the hotel has the nicest feet I've ever seen - prefectly painted toe nails and never dry... like she gets a pedicure every morning. African dresses are equally impressive... The most beautiful materials (most of them I couldn't wear - too many different colours, but they are still absolutely gorgeous) and they're all tailor made... two pieces seem to be the trend here.

The food. It is great. It's super cheap too. I bought izza - REAL ITALIAN PIZZA - for $1.70. and I had a half litre of french wine for $6. I love this place. I've budgeted myself $10,000cfa ($20 dollars) per day, since that's what WUSC gave me to spend... This is going to be easy!!

Tiolets. They don't have bowl covers. I don't mind. Makes things easier. The tile work is always really beautiful in the washrooms here too... small squares, lots of mosaics... Flushing the tiolet is impressive... Like a mini-waterfall... very efficient.

We also went to the Canadian embassy... it smells like Canada. Makes me miss it already... until I see the "wine for $6" sign... Then I'm happy again. Just kidding?

My first culture shock: When we were in the waiting room of the embassy, a Burkinabe came to the front counter and said hello to each and every one of us and shook all of our hands... I was waiting for him to say something like "follow me!"... but nothing. He really just wanted to say "bonjour!" to everyone... I find not enough of us do that in Canada... we're so cold if you think about it... So I'm going to do try to do it when I get back - probably won't work.

Jet lag is really getting to me.. although I tried to take precautions to avoid it, like making sure I slept and stayed awake on the right flights on the way here. I almost fell asleep while in a meeting with the "chef d'aide" of the Canadian Embassy... or maybe I was falling asleep because of his monotone-low-talker 4 hour speech about.... I forget. I miss Red Bull.

Today (the 14th), I went to get my feet measured to get some custom shoes made for a whopping $6... When the little Burkinabe shoe maker measured my foot on a piece of cardboard with a crayola, I almost had to pick his jaw up off the ground afterwards. I don't think he's ever seen a foot that big... especially on a girl. It made me feel really great. About my feet. They're cute though - I got them in beige leather... kind of like comfy gladiator sandals, and they'll last me forever... Hand made and all.

I'm still trying to figure out my cell phone. I'm keeping my Rogers SIM card out since I know they'll try to weasel out some "roaming charges" if I leave it in. I bought a chip here at "Telmob" but it won't work since my Blackberry needs to be unlocked. I'm working on getting a cell phone from my colleague's friend. He's got a few phones handy and is willing to give/sell them for cheap.. just something I can text with, since that's what everyone does here. It costs a whole 75 cfa ($0.15CAN)/text to Canada, and anytihng incoming is frreeeeeeeeee!!! I already bought a 5000cfa phone card so I'm not stuck when I get to Bobo-Dioulasso.

I went to a realy African restaurant today... So far we've had French, Italian, Chinese and Lebanese (if you call fries, chicken and gralic tomatoes wrapped up a "Chawarma"... yes - they spell it "Chawarma"...) so we decided to actually eat African... Burkinabe. So we went to "Gracias" and I had "Sauce au feuilles" with "To"(Pictures above)... Interesting. It tasted like plain Grits with spinach, except more tastless. It really is designed for hard-working Burkinabes who are looking for good cheap eats.

I would say, though, that everyone needs to try it. It really is a different kind of food - high in Iron and Fibre and calorie-dense corn. I still prefer my pizza:)

So that's all for now... Tomorrow the plan is to go to the pool at the American Club in the afternoon and soak in the sun since we have it off. Till then be safe and take care!

Day Zero

Today I arrived in Burkina-Faso... AWESOME!

I left Ottawa at 4:15pm Satuday, then left Montreal Trudeau at 8:15pm and arrived in Paris De Gaulle at 8:15am (about 2am Ottawa time). From France we went to Niger then Burkina Faso from 11:00 (paris time) to 6:16(Burkina time). We took Air France and all I have to say is FIVE COURSE DINNERS!! Individual sized baguettes, camenbert cheese, salted butter, spinach canneloni and complimentary wine were just a few of the perks of the plane rides today...

Although seeing the French coast on the way in was cool, nothing compared to the red deserts of Africa. On our way down to Niger, all we could see was endless red desert with towns poking out here and there. Although Burkina is a bit more lush, the ground is still really red and it's really dusty in the capital (Ouagadoudou)... Apparently it had just rained before we got there so it wasn't as dusty as usual. The temperature was 37 degrees in Niger and 29 degrees in Burkina... apparently some of the coolest days they've gotten this year. Wow.

I took a shower and afterwards it was like I had never taken it because of the prespiration... For that reason, cold showers are the only showers here. For the first week we (four girls from Ottawa) will be doing our orientation and are slated to leave on Sunday for our respective towns... I luckily have one other girl, Axelle, who is going to Bobo with me... We have already arranged a place to live. She's from the ivory Coast so it's really nice having someone around who is used to the culture and weather here. Angele, the director here in Burkina for WUSC (the organization who sent me on this internship), took the four of us to dinner tonight... She drives a big white Toyota Land Cruiser, diesel and manual (COOL!) and has been here for 5 years... It was acctually quite funny because it turns out that, when she still lived in Ottawa, she bought several cars from Bel-Air Toyota, the dealership I used to sell at... A good ice breaker.

I had "Capitaine au citron et epinards" for dinner... a white fish in lemon butter sauce with spinach - SOOOO good, and it cost a whole 4900 francs, which is the equivalent of almost $10... dude. Oh and I had a beer too - locally brewed and I forget the name - I'll have to get back to you on that.

All is well and I will definitely sleep in tomorrow morning, seeing as I had a hard time staying awake in the car ride home from the restaurant. In a nutshell, that is how my day went.

Until next time, Ciao!

Sad stage

SO!

1 day before leaving, I find myself a bag of mixed emotions... really sad to leave my very best friends and really excited about getting away from the craziness I call life and going into a completely different atmosphere.

I will really miss my girlfriends, Adora and Vicki, the most... They are the ones who have been there for me in a way only best girlfriends can be. I will also miss my family... Dad, Barb, Ryan (... no you can't stay at my house when I'm gone), Sean(sorry about cancelling karaoke tonight... I was tired) and mom.

Back to girlfriends, though. Vicki has been staying with me for the past week and has kept me sane through all the turmoil of me getting ready to go and her moving to Montreal and on top of that my cat getting sick (I was soooo sad). Adora lent me her car almost everyday so I could get all of my pre-departure errands finished. Such a sweet wonderful ADORAble girl... hee hee. Adora Vicki Alexe and I all went to St-Jean last weekend to drop my car (Kirby) off and move Vicki to Montreal. We finished it all in one day and had enough time to eat dinner with my dad, grand-father and mother and brother. We rock. Tomorrow is really going to suck because Vicki is going to Montreal indefinitely at 6PM and it is the last time her Adora and I will be together for a loooong time. and then it's just me and Adora on Saturday at 4PM at the train station. That is really going to suck. And the kicker is that we are all a bunch of sucky babies and will cry for ages... exaggerated drama style. We have never been away from each other for more than a week. Dude. But again this will be good for me because I will be forced to face my own deamons without AVA (Adora Vicki Afton.. I know - we're so silly). But enough of the sucky-baby crap.

I spoke to my Grand-father today - he sounds really great on the phone! I lent him my car while I'm gone so he can put-put around and get his errands done... like taking Grand-Maman to St-Hubert for dinner... she's so cute. I'll miss them very much. When we were finished dinner at my dad's last week I hugged them all and had a hard time letting go - again with the sucky-baby.

I'm probably not going to get a chance to write again until I get to Burkina-Faso. But my blackberry is loaded with songs as is my computer, and I'm armed with ear plugs and a sleeping mask... Bring it on, 24-hour travel time!!!! Wish me luck and I'll see you all on the other side!

Pre-Departure

For my very first blog post, I figured it would be good to introduce myself and the motivation for my getting into the ever so popular blogging past-time. I have never been a fan of writing let alone writing on the internet so everyone can see... But this is really for my friends and family and/or whoever stumbles upon this blog, to see what's going on in the world of Afton, starting with her first adventure.

I am going to Burkina-Faso, a French-speaking country in North Western Africa, close to the Ivory Coast. I'm going as a student intern for the University of Ottawa, and have partnered with WUSC (World University Services of Canada) in this endeavor. I'm going to be speaking French the entire time (I though that aspect was really cool since I desperately need to practice), and will be helping develop a business plan to gain foreign partners and customers for a micro-enterprise that dries Mangoes and other fruits to earn an income for AIDS orphans and widows in the Houet region. I leave on Saturday, May 10th and am slated to come back on July 31st. This is the first time I'll get to really put what I've learnt in University into practice (International Development and Globalization, anyone?) and after packing and re-packing a solid eight times, I think I'm ready.

So..... This is it. It is now Monday the 6th of May and I'm finally really understanding the fact that I'll be away from home for a while. I'm more excited than anything, but there's still that silly little voice in the back of my head saying, "Afton, what about the dishes in the sink? What about the birthdays you're going to miss (Vicki!!)? What about Fergie?" (for those of you who don't know already, Fergie is the most wonderful dog-like cat in the whole wide world... she is the best companion/buddy/friend/therapist in the world...)

But I just tell that voice that I'm going on my very first adventure - this is the beginning of the rest of my life and I tell ya, I'm pumped. Although I'm going to be half a world away from all the people care about the most, I now this experience will bring us closer to each other... it will make the time we spend together that much better.

SO! Thanks to everyone and anyone who has helped me get here... family and close friends... I promise I will get off my butt even on the most exhausting days and update this blog so you know what's happening a world away!