I am now two days back from visiting my village that I will call home for the next two years. Visiting my village has changed everything. I now have a concrete place and actual people to which I can attach worries and aspirations about the coming years. I was able to see me house. I know the names of my neighbors. And experienced for the first time humbling respect that I will received from my future students. I should note that it was only by this respect was I able to discern students from adults as many of my students are only a few years younger than I. Let me start from the beginning.
The week prior to our actual site visit was the site announcement. For obvious reasons, all of the trainees were excited to find out the location of our new homes. Peace Corps delivered this information in a fun and creative way. On a cement basketball court was painted a giant map of Burkina Faso. On the map was labeled the cities/villages to which a trainee was going to be sent. We surrounded the map and followed orders to blindfold ourselves. We were then lead to stand on the city that would become our new home at the end of summer. After a countdown, we took off our blindfolds to see where in the country we were standing. Not only were we able to see the name of our new home, but we could also see who would be our nearest neighbors. I was happy with both.
Fast forward a week to the days leading up to the actual site visits. A counterpart from each village is matched with every trainee. These counterparts are fellow teachers, principles, or members of the Burkinabe equivalent of the PTA. They are directly responsible for easing our integration by being our first point of contact to handle concerns in village.
Roumba Abu Bakar is my counterpart. He is 23 years old and looks much younger. The fact that he is a teacher at 23 is an impressive accomplishment considering most of my middle school students (I am guessing) are between the ages 15 and 18. This indicates two things. The first is that Roumba’s parents valued his education and started him in school at a young age. The second is that he worked very hard as a child to avoid “redoubling” grades which is very common in the Burkinabe school system. Working for the government in Burkina Faso is an esteemed position as it is the only way to guarantee a steady income. Most people aspire to become government employees (i.e. teachers, policemen, etc). The opposite is true in America where the real money is in the private sector. Government employees are often haggled about being civil servants as they would often get paid much more to do the same job in the private sector. Good money in the Burkinabe private sector is few and far between. Therefore, I would compare Roumba’s accomplishment of becoming a teacher at 23 to a college graduate in America immediately making six figures.
All of the matched counterparts made the journey to Ouagadougou for a two week workshop introducing them to the incoming volunteers as well as the basics of Peace Corps. Roumba and I got along very well as we spent these two days together. I treated him to dinner the first night and he returned the favor a few nights later. He was eager to talk about our village and the school at which we will be working together. Similar to how PC volunteers are placed at a site, public school teachers also do not choose their assignments. I asked him about his initial reaction when he first received the news that he would be heading to “bush.” He admitted that he had apprehensions about the lack of electricity and restaurants. These apprehensions, by the way, are the same ones that I have now. The lack of electricity worries me much less than me cooking for myself for the next two years. I can do Ramen, mac N’ cheese, and frozen pizzas. But to make raw products straight from the ground into tasty meals is not something I would say I am experienced with. I foresee myself making veggie omelet sandwiches daily. I shared my concerns with Roumba and assured me that if he could adapt then I would be fine as well.
I suppose I can try and describe my house. Getting out of the Peace Corps land cruiser that Fermin conveniently arranged to take me from Bobo to my village, I was not expected to be suddenly stricken with fear. But fear was my first emotion when I first saw my house, and my dog to be standing guard. To make a long story short, I didn’t even attempt to touch Jack, my dog, one time during my 3 day stay. He was always chained up and I had to wake Jenny, soon to be introduced, in the middle of the night to restrain the dog so I could use the restroom. To say the least, it will be an adventure my first day at sight when I need to get into my house and Jack is there standing guard in front of the door, most likely unchained.
The intensity of the fear of my dog was easily offset by the warm welcome of the volunteer whom I will be trying to replace. Filling the shoes of Jenny will be a difficult task. I don’t even like using the word replace. I prefer to say that I will try to continue her work and not completely drop the ball that she worked so hard to get rolling. [I think I could be more cliché if tried]. Anyways, I was so thankful to have her there to explain the ins and outs of the village. The things she told me will make my transition so much easier come next month. This isn’t even to mention that I don’t have to worry about furnishing an empty house as I will be the third volunteer in my house.
My three day stay was full of introductions. I met the mayor, the chief of the village, the police, the village doctr, the president of the PTA, my neighbors, fellow teachers, and my future boss. I won’t go into detail now describing each of these people primarily because I don’t think I could say much about any one person. All of the people that I met have since blurred together into more or less on vague personality. Anything I may have tried to say would most likely have been more inaccurate that truthful. The time will come to describe the people of the village, but for now just know that I spent nearly three full days in introductory conversations.
Before I ramble on too long, I am even more excited for my two years after my site visit. I realize the importance of the next month or so of training, but at the same time I am biting at the bit longing to make a new home.
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