First mission in the North

This was my first mission outside of Ouagadougou, the capital city, heading towards Ouahiguya. Ouahiguya is located in the Northern part of the country and is very close to the Malian border. The objective of the mission was to meet with stakeholders involved in implementing a pilot rural electrification project. The idea is to install PTFs (multi-functional plateforms) with micro-electricity among the functionalities in 6 villages of northern Burkina. Two days mission consisted of one full day of discussion on how to proceed, who is responsible for what and setting dates. I do have to tell you that they like spending hours on discussions. Efficiency might have a different meaning in Africa! I also need to add that participatory is the development approach praised by great development workers right now. But this approach certainly requires time and resources to bring everyone together and allow an equal participation on all sides. The second day was the interesting part for me, as we visited the pre-selected villages for project implementation. Well, it was as rural as it could get and the people that I met are the beneficiaries to the services we are trying to create. So I think it has tremendous value to meet these people, to see their livelihood and to really understand their needs. Of course my one
day visit to the villages is not enough to go in
depth about their needs. But it was certainly an eye opening experience and a reinforcement on the thought: I am so damn lucky to live and have lived the life that I have.

A white person in the village, attracts a lot of attention. Little kids are normally scared of white people and they hide away from you. In one of the villages that we visited, they held a village meeting to discuss the project and to express their thoughts. Almost everyone in the village participated in the meeting except the village chef! So my first reaction to this was sort of like “well, if he is the head of the village, he must be the most important one here and so why isn’t he participating in this gathering?” And the response was that its the visitors who will have to go to the village chef and not the chef to them! So after the gathering, we went to give our salutation to the chef, men shake hands with the chef while women kneel on the ground and pay their respect from a distance. I followed the other women in doing so which brought a laughter to the crowd.

It was also during this mission that I had a thought provoking and yet frustrating experience with a co-worker. The conversation started as we were driving from village to village. I was in a 4X4 (big cars are the way to go in rural areas) with four co-workers (all men) and the base of the conversation was the male-female roles in Burkina verses Canada. I have to admit being in the back seat stuck between two men while hearing them bluntly claim that God created men first and women were created later to serve men’s needs was not the most comfortable position. As I further discovered, this fellow co-worker of mine believed with all certainty that women should not have the same rights as men, that he would not allow his wife to occupy herself with activities other than house work and raising kids, that men need to put their women in the right direction……. By this point; I was about to explode with anger but I did a good job of controlling myself. I tried to explain to him that not everywhere in the world this is the case, that in Canada I would have the same rights as my husband would and that I certainly believe his wife is capable of making her own decisions to determine what is best for her…..

The challenging part was the realization that as much as I could not agree with what he was saying, nor could he understand my side. I realized how different we are, how ingrained are the roots to these differences and how challenging it is to try to change one another.

My work in Burkina

I think its about time to tell you about my work here in Burkina. I am here to work with members of the program PTF-LCP (Programme National Plateforme Multifonctionnelle/Lutte contre la pauvreté) initiated by United Nations that is geared towards reducing poverty through providing access to energy services. Here is some info on the actual multi-functional plateforme:

-The multifunctional platform is built around a simple diesel engine, than can power various tools, such as a cereal mill, husker, alternator, battery charger, pump, welding and carpentry equipment, etc. It can also generate electricity and be used to distribute water.

- The multifunctional platform also stimulates the creation, development and/or modernisation of other artisan activities in the villages (e.g. blacksmiths, mechanics, carpentry, etc…). It is both manufactured, installed and maintained by private mechanics
If you are interested in learning more about the program, you can visit the following website: http://www.ptfm.net/



So where do I fit in? The main objective of the program in Burkina during 2006 is to install 100 plateformes with 20% of them geared towards micro-electricity and water distribution systems. My job is to collaborate with the engineer on the team to mis on ouvres les activites prevue pour l’annee 2006. Among these activities are conducting feasibility studies on areas of Implementation, creating a preventive maintenance program, follow-up and evaluation of the already installed systems…

So there is a great deal of learning for me which is quite exciting. Another interesting part about the work is that its really a collaboration among many groups and sub-groups. From governmental departments such as ministry of environment and energy to local and international groups such as local NGO Tin Tua and the UNDP, in addition to consultants and many more, for me its really interesting to meet with people in each group, learn about what they do and become a part of this team to achieve a higher goal, reducing poverty in Burkina through access to energy services.

As for the logistics of it; the Burkina program consists of a national office in the capital who consists of six experts (this is what they call themselves “les experts”) in different fields. Then there is four subgroups CAC (cellule d’appui conceille) in four different regions of the country who will proceed with the activities in each region. As part of my job, I am to coordinate the activities between the national office and the CACs. We will see how that goes! I am stationed in Ouagadogou where the national program is but will most likely travel to the four regions quite frequently.
This was an overview of what I am here to do. It may sound all clear and pretty to you. But let me tell you and I can guarantee there will be lots of challenges along the way. This is a development project, and as I've heard, there is no development project that is not complex with fuzzy areas and uncertainties.

My first impressions of Ouagadougou

As Guillaume puts it: It`s chaos!
So I am going to start with the not so impressive side of where I currently live and then will end the note with the good part!
Streets are jammed with pedestrians, cars, motors and bikes all sharing the same path. I am not really sure if there are any driving rules as no body follows light colours! Being white, you`re most likely to be picked on by venders who approach you and try to sell their products (of course three times the actual price). You will also get called frequently ``Nasara, vienne ici!``, nasara meaning white person in local language, local language being More. Not to say that they mean any harm. They`re mostly curious and are amuzed by teasing the white person walking on the street. The air is hot, dry and polluted but eventually you will get used to it. In fact, you`ll get used to what what I’ve mentioned as downside of living in this city. However, what I may have difficulty getting accustomed to is the level of poverty that is so evident in the area. Knowing that majority of the kids you will pass by on the street are hungry, majority of the younger groups have no opportunities such as the ones I have, majority of the population has less than a dollar a day to spare, is not an easy reality to get used to and its certainly very difficult to digest. On the other hand, it is this reality that gives me more reason to be here, to understand the problems that these people are facing and to play a role in making a difference in their lives…..

Let me move on to the good part of the city: PEOPLE, Burkinabés are incredibly warm and friendly. They don`t have much (in material sense) but they know how to enjoy the little that they do have. They are very positive and I am saying this because the answer to every question that you may ask a Burikinabé is most likely Ya pas de problem! (not a problem!) And this is really the attitude that carries these people through the struggles that they face.
FOOD: To be honest I was abit concerned about the food before I got here. In fact, I was convinced that I won`t be able to have a salad for the next year or so. Guess what? I can have a salad every night if I want to. There is lots of fruits and vegetables. In restaurants you can find really good food, rice and sauce, grilled fish, couscous…. In the morning, you can have fresh baguettes and even peanut butter (the real organic kind!) There is also a special warmth to the city. Its very colourful. The Africans are very good with including lots of colors in what they wear. My favourite part of this liveliness is seeing woman with these elaborate and colourful dresses riding their motor bikes. The markets are also fantastic. There is all sorts of things in the market, from fabric to tomatoes to tables and chairs to cows and sheeps, which in my mind also adds to the liveliness of it all.

So this was a brief overview of what I think of Ouaga.

Am I ever going to Arrive?

After a month of training in Toronto and visiting my parents and friends in Vancouver for two weeks, it was finally time to get on the plane and take off to Africa. Ready to start this adventure with three bags on my shoulders, said goodbye to my teary eyed family at Vancouver Airport. Then came boarding time and I was finally on the plane which would take me to Houston to get on another plane to Paris and another one to Ouagadougou (for those of you who have never heard of this destination, it is the capital of country Burkina Faso in West Africa). All set to go except two hours later we were still sitting on the ground…. Frustrated passengers were demanding an answer to why we had not left the airport yet and finally after two hours this is what we were told: ``technical problem with the engine. We must evacuate the plane and wait till the issue is resolved``. Oh boy, I was thinking in my head, what a great start!!

Let me condense the story by telling you that the engine was only fixed 6 hours later which caused me to miss all connecting flights (Vancouver-Houston, Houston-Paris, Paris-Ouagadougou) and after waiting in the airport all day long I was sent back home to figure out a new itinerary.

Two days later, after being on the phone almost all day long trying to explain the situation to customer service of all airlines in the world and trying to arrange a new travel plan, I was again at the airport waiting for the plane to take off. Fortunately, there was no more technical problems and I was on my way to Africa for real this time….

Six hours to get to Houston, few hours of waiting time in Houston, nine hours of flight time to Paris and a night of sleep at Orly Airport in Paris, it was finally time for the last take off, five more hours from Paris to Ouagadougou. This is definitely the longest I have had to wait to get to the final destination. Total time of flight: 20hours, Total waiting time: 14hours + two days of delay in Vancouver!!

Local time 2:15pm, temperature 34 degrees, welcome to Ouagadougou, says the flight attendant. Finally I arrived!!