A bit about Bobo

Bobo-Dioulasso, known as Bobo, is the second city of Burkina. It’s quite big, around half a million inhabitants, and about 10km across side to side. It's sprawling, even in the centre it’s not very densely occupied, with very little high rise. As you go out from the centre, it’s more like an agglomeration of villages. The main arterial roads are hard surfaced – in between the potholes that is – but the roads off are mostly unfinished red dust roads, and the roads off those even less well made, with lots of humps and bumps and, after rain, puddles of unknown depth. I live on a main road which has a tarmac finish, and lots of little roadside kiosks and enterprises under every tree – there are quite a lot of trees in Bobo, more so than in Ouaga.Just round the corner, there are animals – sheep, goats, cows (Zebu cattle with humps), a few horses – living in the street and in the courtyards off the street, and there are hens, chickens, cockerels everywhere, even on the edges of the main road. I’ll try and post some pics but am conscious of the need to be careful and avoid causing offence when photographing.

The traffic consists of a mix of pedestrians, handcarts, donkey carts, cyclists, mopeds, motorbikes, green taxis and a few private cars – not many coaches or lorries, although there are a few – I think they don’t really get in to town very much, but are common on the roads between towns.

If you want to have a look on Google Earth, the coordinates of the building where I live are something like

11° 10’ 58” N and 4° 18’ 45” W

And the building where I work, which is quite close by:

11° 10’ 23” N and 4° 18’ 31” W

In the centre of town there are hotels, restaurants, cafes, a huge market and lots of shops, some touting African Art and souvenirs to tourists, but more serving locals. And of course loads more roadside stalls, selling shoes (mostly flip flops/thongs or trainers), clothes, bags, kitchen equipment….. but more about shopping another time!

Water, water

Water – that’s a subject in its own right. It’s very nice to have running water. I’ve had a bit of a week with water, one way and another. We have one temperature of water here – I wouldn’t call it exactly hot or cold, it depends what the weather has been doing where the pipes are. Often in the kitchen it comes out the tap about right for washing up, but if not can top it up with some from the stove. The shower is quite a pleasant temperature most of the time – this morning for the first time it felt a little cold. All these things are comparative! Anyway, water is all very nice in the right place, and not to be taken for granted. The day after I moved in, we had first a power cut – to be expected at this time of year when power is under pressure everywhere – shortly followed by a water cut. I thought they might be connected – that the water might be pumped some where – but no. Turns out, surprise surprise, that it’s connected with the change of tenancy of the flat and something somewhere has not been signed or paid or some form filled in. Not nice, having no water in this heat. I had a couple of bottles (no, water) in the fridge to drink, so that was ok, and I scrounged a bucketful from next door for the basics. But eventually I got fed up with it all and went into town and treated myself to an afternoon by the pool, after which I felt better. Anyway, Ali the fixer for VSO sorted it all the following day, after a rather sticky night.

That day someone came to set up my drinking water filter, and seemed to have got it going – but it seems it was not something he was very familiar with. The filter is slow getting going and seemed ok when I went to bed, but in the morning there was water all over the kitchen floor – on inspection I realised he had not fitted both the tap washers on the outside, none on the inside (imagine something like a party beer barrel…) and so I fixed that myself. And at least the floor dried quite quickly. The next day, there was a universal water cut-off, again overnight – this time I had a couple of bucketfuls by me which I had filled up just in case. Eventually some water was delivered in containers…. Things we take for granted!

Then of course there is the stuff which comes from the sky. According to the guidebooks, it doesn’t rain here until later in the year – although there are apparently light ‘mango rains’ sooner. Anyway, someone hadn’t read the book because Saturday, clouds gathered, winds got up, and from about 4 for about an hour it rained harder than any rain I have ever seen. The street, usually full of activity – most life is lived outside – emptied. Bikes skidded on the greasy surface, and the road outside my window became a river, the drains overflowed and all sorts of rubbish floated by. They say (joking I hope) that babies get carried away in it and it could be true. Huge great eddies of red brown water. Then it eases back and eventually stops, leaving tides of mud behind, which eventually turns into dust. And the people reappear and start clearing up and resuming business.

Chez Moi

This week was set aside for In Country Training (VSO speak) and Orientation, which includes lots of sorting out of practicalities. On Tuesday I moved into my flat, which is on the first floor of a modern building on a busy road, with a little balcony out the front - and celebrated with my first proper mug of tea - see pic!
The road has lots of traffic and pavement life, with loud music. Moving in is a gradual process, it is taking a bit of time for it all to work properly. Funny thing, time – some things take forever, others are very quick. There’s quite a lot of waiting around for people to turn up – bit like British Gas or City Link! The VSO office has an agent in Bobo called Ali who coordinates all sorts of things which need doing, including bringing in various people to fix things – or not. He and his envoys are forever, allegedly, on the point of turning up.

Here apparently you move in in the evening, so that people get less chance to see what stuff you’ve got. I arrived with my luggage from the plane – so a suitcase, a rucksack and a holdall - and various plastic bowls and other purchases from Burkina Pas Cher, where we had just been shopping for domestic bits and pieces. Shopping, that’s a whole other subject.

My flat: up an external stair from the street. Into the ‘salon’, which has been furnished with a 3 piece suite – you’ll have to wait for the pics – a coffee table, a little ‘study table’ and a chair. Only at present the chair is in the bedroom covered with clothes because the cupboard for my clothes is apparently not finished yet. Window onto staircase. An overhead fan, much used.

Off the salon is the little kitchen, which is really quite nice, except that it’s very hot – the window in there gets the morning sun (nice at home, not good here!).

All the windows are treated with something reflective which I guess deflects heat and also means you cannot see in during daylight, although you can after dark if the lights are on. To try to reduce the heat I have put dark film on the kitchen windows, I think it improves things although it’s harder to see out. The kitchen has a stainless steel sink and drainer, some shelves, a ‘garde-manger’ – cupboard for food – on top of which sits a 3 ring gas burner, bit like a moderately posh camping one. And I have a good sized fridge. Also a water filter, provided by VSO, which is meant to make the water safe to drink – makes it taste a bit funny tho – slightly chalky.

And 2 bedrooms, one of which is furnished with a bed, comfortable mattress, with mosquito net and bedside tables. There is supposed to be a clothes cupboard but there isn’t yet, so I am still living out of suitcase, apart from the study chair! The bedrooms look out on to the back of the houses in the street behind, and I can see people hanging their washing on to the branches of palm trees, There’s more jolly music from this direction too, so not much peace and quiet.

Then there is a little shower room, with a proper flushing loo (pleased about that), a shower of sorts and a little sink. In each case, one working tap with water of variable temperature – of which more in due course.

To Bobo

On Easter Monday I travelled from Ouaga (short for Ougadougou) to Bobo Dioulasso, where I am going to be working. Air conditioned coach, quite comfortable, 5 hour journey. You need to get to the depot early; bags have to be checked in and labelled with masking tape and marker pen so they get given back to the right people – this is an upmarket coach operation, no goats tied to the roof. No more than one adult per seat, sometimes 2 kids. Quite quiet on the coach, they showed a film (James Bond, Moonraker, dubbed in French) and then some local soap on little screens like on a plane. One official 10 min stop half way, where passengers get mobbed by vendors of all sorts of things. Think I was the only white person on the coach, so extra-mobbed!

In between, unofficial stops about once an hour for children and others (not me!) to pee by the roadside. I didn't have a good enough view to see if there was any attempt at decency. When we arrived in Bobo, there was a delegation from Sida Ka Taa there to welcome me, which was really nice – even if I didn’t catch all the names, I could understand most of it and they were all really friendly. To a hotel to rest and refresh, and then out with Bobo based volunteers, all welcoming too, and some who are visiting from Ouaga. Took advantage of last night in hotel to wash my hair – looking forward to being in my own place and being able to make tea!

Easter Weekend

The 2 Canadian volunteers, Richard and Alexis, arrived in the wee small hours of Easter Saturday. The heat varies between sunny, which is nice, and overcast, less so - if it was southern Europe you would expect thunder any minute, but apparently no rain is due for 2 months.

Saw a bit more of Ouaga - signs we drove past said 41 and 44 degrees! Two outings – one by taxi to the National Museum, weird complex of pavilions very widely spaced out in a dusty compound – the only one which was open had an exhibition of masks – fine masks, described mask by mask by a well informed guide – but no ventilation or air con and really meltingly hot. Alarming for objects as well as visitors!



And then on Easter Day Alexis, who is a Burkinabé volunteer recruited in Canada, kindly invited Richard and me to lunch with some relatives – where we had delicious guinea fowl and some Easter wine!


Then the challenge for the evening was trying to get all my luggage back into its containers, as I move to Bobo early tomorrow.

Welcomed to Ouaga

On 1 April this little fool pitched up in Ouagadougou, in melting heat – at 3 in the morning, having travelled from London Heathrow via Casablanca. Luckier than my Canadian colleagues who were meant to join me for In Country Training but got stuck for 2 days in Algiers because of a faulty plane and a missed connection.

The first overwhelming thing is the heat. It’s hot, but mostly bearable – there is air con, and a pool to cool down in at the hotel VSO uses for new arrivals, when it’s not full of children having swimming lessons! But a bit of a challenge when the power goes off in the middle of the night. There is a shower with water of a single tepid temperature, heated by the sun I guess, anyway the temperature is quite nice. There are lizards, much bigger than in France - this one is my room mate!

After some sleep, to the VSO office, where everyone seems very welcoming, and I get issued with my first banknote, so I can go out and about and spend, and a local SIM card for phone.

Everyone – including the Canadians over here - is talking French, in very unfamiliar accents. The Africans talk quite fast and with a very strong accent, the Canadians also have strong but different accents. Head spinning, still at the stage where I am having to translate, so permanently half a sentence behind - ok but tiring.

Next day, registered at Consulate – honorary Consul is a Frenchman! – then hard morning's training, learning all about Health in African French and then about Organisational Development in Canadian French. Then to market to look at household supplies, and then supper with the other Ouaga based volunteers, who gathered to meet the newcomers (of whom only I have arrived by this point) and to say farewell to some departees. Got my first cheque today, an advance on my 'pay'... but don't yet have an account to pay it in to!

Intro

Hi all

this is my first attempt at blogging, so bear with me please. I've been in Burkina almost 2 weeks now and just got round to setting this up, so to start with I am going to post some of the info which I emailed to various family and friends, to bring us up to date. And then I will aim to add regular updates, with pics when I have mastered the technology!

I haven't quite got the hang of formatting or layout, but if I wait until I have, it will all be old news, so here goes.

It's great getting to hear from everyone, so keep those emails coming - right now I am trying to imagine european skies without planes!

A bientot