Hate Ouaga 2000, Ouagadougou. 5 Sep, Wed

With Fidel coming around for the next couple of days from 0830 to 1130, the anticipation was that I was going to get down and dirty with the clay batter mix, well so I thought. When Fidel arrived, we had to wait for Donat for an hour. When Donat came with the statement of how he was sick and it had been affecting him the whole night. Man, he was really tired and had been dosing up on various drugs to accommodate the whole thing. The sinuses, yes, like anyone who gets sick in relation to the sinuses, it is definitely one that can make you feel a lot crapper then the body really seems to be.

So, with Donat out of action, and sitting aside a bit, Fidel and I were talking more in depth then the previous days, delving into all sorts of situations, dealing with the real situation of community and various elders (kind of priests) who deal with the construction process of the hut. So, even though we were not physically productive, we got some of the real cultural depths of constructing a suri-dogo (definitely spelt wrong), which is applying to the respect of the individual (sorry ladies, men only) for whom the dogo is being built for.

Just before Fidel left, the electricians came to hook up the masionette with electricity and sort out the buggered up fan in the masion. Anyhow, Fidel left with the anticipation that the report would be officially finished on his return, aah! Also, on the electricians’ completion, the heavens opened up. So, while we had our lunch, they dug into their lunch, the rain stopped and au revoir. Also, Patrick and Aoua (Eve) arrived just before the start of the rains, they didn’t actually eat with us, but by the time we had finished they had already gone. Apparently Aoua is not allowed to leave her house unless it is for family or her work/ education (ps she cannot do both at the same time).

Back to the three of us Donat was toked up on drugs and Canazui had a bit of an easier afternoon, finally. After lunch, though, I wanted to get my comparing of Ouaga 2000 report underway. So, armed with book, camera, pen and several other things, I grabbed Canazui’s bike (freshly pumped) and was on the road. Wow, I kind of had a little thought come across me on the ride over: Any white person I had seen had predominantly been stuck in an a/c car or occasionally on a motorbike, so me riding around on a push bike stood out to every person, be they black, white, yellow whatever. OMG, the road down to Ouaga 2000 did not ring any happy bells in me, the thunder clouds were rolling in, and they looked dog ugly. Imagine a badly bruised person from constant thrashings, but then being the portrayal of the sky. It kind of had a mystical feel about it. Electric clouds on the brink of unleashing its fury, I thought it might mean the rain would not fall. Just before reaching Ouaga 2000, big drops began falling, they were the 5 second warning, and at this I threw my jacket over bag and body.

“Ey, ey, si vous plait.” A guy was waving me over to the first house in Ouaga 2000. This house was still in the midst of constructing and kind of looked like it had included a number of architectural influences, from Russian to Mediterranean and so on. After talking to the builders, who were now relaxing midst the downpour, in Moori and French, I was given permission to do a self guided tour of the house. Wow, 4 stories high, the ground level was the same size as my folks home… now that was plain old ridiculous. Oh yea, this place was on the smaller side for the region too. Just as I got back downstairs, the owner pulled up as I sat down with the workers. A guy representing the whole ‘Look at me, I am Mr Bling’ walked along a freshly laid panel, for his shoes, and walked up with a brief update from the leading hand, then his eyes caught me. I suppose it is not every day that you see a white man (or boy) just sitting on your construction site.

This guy was able to talk to me fairly fluently in English, which was apparently his fourth, or fifth, language (after French, Moore, Russian and German). The building that he was the owner of, and under construction, was going to be more for businesses, but in the same token, it allowed for several bedrooms throughout the four story house. It was ludicrously large, but keep in mind this was on the smaller scale of things to be seen in Ouaga 2000. After a small tour, we actually introduced each other, Hate was a guy who had worked for the most renowned (rich) guy in the city, the real Canazui, and had gone about developing his own business. By the end of our extensive conversation, based around how good he was and how he was doing this for his family, the rain had reduced enough for me to have the chance to get the hell out of there.

Once again, I seemed to be the centre of attraction riding the push bike back to Reciproka, but this time was absolutely doused in rain. Walking into Reciproka, dripping, I was able to distract Miriam and Donat from their work. Actually I had to get rid of the clothes and wash off all the dirt that had flicked up on the ride home.

The rest of the day was dealing with black outs that were happening, mostly due to the rain and storms that had been inundating the area recently.

Governmental influence, Ouagadougou. 4 Sep, Tue

Waking up at 07oo heures was so hard, especially after getting to bed at 0030 heures and the heat making it a bit more of an effort to sleep in comfort. It actually made me feel a little ill and disorientated, but I managed to down the breakfast that Canazui prepped up for me and by the time Fidel arrived, with Patrick, I was still unable to concentrate. For the Fidel session today, we delved deeper into the construction methods, as well as the post wall methods (roof and ‘doorway’). It was also here that Fidel began informing of how other material could be used, but with various impacts. An example today was the observation of Karite Butter and car oil. The sample prepared previously was from car oil, and it was about time that Canazui broke it up. A strong cloud of car oil stench bellowed out, whereas after an hour of setting, the Karite Butter sample had already lost the overpowering smell (that it actually did not even have whilst separate or during the mixing phase. Another varying characteristic was the pooling test. Here one would create a small indentation and store water, at the top of the product’s mound. For the car oil, a sheen of oil was glistening on top of the water, contrary to the Karite Butter which was relatively clear, exception to the dirt particles that had not properly mixed in with the Karite Butter.

Fidel sensed that I was not in the right frame of mind and the temperamental weather, he said, was one not to be in when not in the best condition. So, Fidel left, and soon after Reciproka was inundated with a large delivery of supplies for the program (shelves and cupboards primarily). Donat arrived and just in time we managed to move all the materials in a temporary holding place (undercover from the rain). This was followed by researching construction methods and alternative material for the natural building of a Mossi hut. It would have been nice to do this with peace of mind, but the government of Australia was on my back for not suppling adequate information in regards to me keeping my driving license. I gave VicRoads, medical review board, a relatively professional, honest, but blunt response to their lack of operating business. It is due to this kind of ignorance (to the public) that is their major downfall, and wanting everything to be coordinated the way they only think is best, as well as convenient for themselves…. aah, it is so much harder to focus when such crap is pestering you.

Oh well, soon enough Patrick came back around, and if you refer to previous entries, this meant virtually no more work to be done and a bunch of chatting. I tried to help him create an email account, which was relatively difficult as he does not use the computer frequently, then once Donat left for his first series of classes (to teach), Canazui, Patrick and I had dinner. It is pretty funny, Canazui believes in eating with little talking, but Patrick and I were talking the whole time. Nearly three hours passed in the dining room, when I felt tired and Canazui was getting a bit itate, and making fairly blunt suggestions (eg loud yawns, pretty funny actually). So, Patrick and I figured out a few more things on the Internet and I headed to bed, maybe at midnight.

1+2=18; Au revoir M Jean, Ouagadougou. 3 Sep, Mon

Over the night some strange feelings had disturbed me, maybe this was due to the Diabetes reaching exceedingly low levels, so a dose of ‘Gu’ allowed for sleep, that is, until 0830 heures. Jean was there already, I think he was already tapping away for more porn chats.

So, Fidel came into the picture, with Patrick, at about 09oo heures. An experience of seeing a minor practical session the previous day, and writing a basic report, was being used for the basis of the theoretical session in play for today. Imagine, to mix together some material, mould into the required dimensions and include the final materials one may expect all of this to be covered in the course of the two hours. Nah, we weren’t able to do so.

In this same period, Patrick also took me out to see what the Kookai tree was like, as well as th surrounding vegetation. Kookai is highly protective and kills flora within a region surrounding it and fauna that consumes it in an adequate dose. The bark of the tree was hard to strip as well. All properties mentioned above for the Kookai tree was proof enough that this adaption made it a great material to prevent hut deterioration from animal effects.

This session was followed by my recapping of, basically, everything that had been discussed in the two hours. The amount of information given then allowed for me to go away for a number of hours and to produce a ‘written’ document, but also to allow for a good degree of expansion of the topic as well. As Fidel was preparing to leave, I noted the lack of Jean’s presence. By 11am Miriam had come on in and asked Jean to leave. Now, the primary reason has been expressed through out my various entries already.

To be at work and not contributing to original thought, or effective production of required material to be produced for the Internet, but instead to use this to be going through various porn chat sites and similar material is, to me, reason enough to get the boot. This guy had not thought about the perks of his position. Not many jobs gave free meals frequently, or even pay, in Burkina Faso. After a period of time, if satisfactory and productive, Jean would have received a relatively good remuneration.

With such an impact on Reciproka, this allowed for an informal, but urgent, meeting to be held for the three of us (predominantly Miriam and Donat).

By 0130 heures, Patrick and I had already rested and gone about heading towards his quarter. After saying a quick hello to some of his ‘relatives’ (I think she was kind of his step-grandmother, but still all lived together) we went around to where his friends seemed always to be and played some more of the card game Asel. This time less mercy was shown, I think I was able to win one of the three games that I played with them.

While we were in the midst of playing, slowly the rain came on in, and there was a constant increase in the intensity of the rain. The tree providing cover could only do so much for us. So, we went back inside until it subsided. At the right time, and after contacting Eve (Oua in Muslim, and I think referenced to something similar to the ‘Adam & Eve’ story), we went out to Oua’s parent’s place. Unfortunately, due to the rain, water had slightly damaged the engine. With enough grunt to get to a friend’s mechanics, we were able to get things sorted out. While here, waiting for the clearing of the parts, Patrick handed me something called ‘Monkey’s Bread’, an overly sweet product, like thin crisp bread, that was actually pretty delicious, in controlled quantities. Ha, talk about a discount, after paying the mechanic we left, here I asked Patrick how much this set him back; conversions to the amount makes this come to approximately $0.15AUD, yea, dirt cheap.

After fixed, the motorbike was a new beast on the road, so to speak, with Patrick and I heading out smoother to his Oua (Eve). When we got there we found out she was not allowed to leave for some affair that Patrick wanted us to go to, father’s orders. While this seemed like a downfall, I was able to meet a good portion of Oua’s 17 siblings. Her father, being Muslim, had two wives. Oua’s mother had 10 children and the other lady had 8 children. It was amazing how welcoming they all were.

Sitting around for some time in the heat, a front rapidly hit us and we saw the onslaught of the storm approaching giving Patrick and I the need to leave them all. Once back at Reciproka, we hung out for a short while longer, but after a late dinner and Canazui getting worn out early, Patrick left and I headed to bed.

Communication and community, Ouagadougou. 2 Sep, Sun

As of today I am typing my 142 post in both blogs. Wow, that means a bit of activity in the travels, since the start of the USA. And I don’t think this includes the pages, only the posts.

First I want to explain the post title, something which can be determined from the text in the body of the passage, but this one actually is kind of important. It is funny how in many regions in the western world we have a different sense of community, and what it really does include. But the form of communication we also do has altered so much that majority of an individual’s community has dramatically shifted (intensely virtual now). But the title here is trying to show how in Ouagadougou it is the reverse, and rural is even more obvious in the same direction. People will accept outsiders, and interact with them, but the level of activity amongst those living in similar regions was very high.

I mean one point of this was Donat and one of his closest friends. The guy who worked in Atlantique Banque and lived in Ouaga 2000 would still go and surprise Donat for a visit and have some good times. This was a friendship spawned in their original quarters. This has given me a sense of both pride for them and also jealousy.

Anyway, back to the chronological format of this blog.

Waking up at 1230 heures and having breakfast that was prepared a long time ago, well at 02oo heures Canazui and I had lunch. While sleeping, Miriam had dropped off cords for the camera, and just before lunch I fixed up my computer, hooray!

Aah yea, this was a special day in my world for another reason. Canazui had cooked up a portion of meat and said I should try some. Asking what it was before eating it was a big mistake. Canazui told me it was le chien, in English dog. Trying some, wow, it was like a better version of pig. The flavour was oh so succulent and the meat easy to chew through. I recommend dog in Burkina Faso, here it is also a delicacy.

After lunch Canazui willingly washed my laundry, cheers mate, which there was quite a lot of. Then we walked over across the dirt road to the ‘neighbour’s’ house and spoke to ‘papa’. Back in Reciproka Canazui prepared some Kerosine and other material and went back on over to the man’s house. Jumping on the roof, Canazui was repairing minor damage with insulation and burning the side with tar on it and melting the insulation onto the roof. While he was doing this, I was observing him and throwing items up when requested.

Canazui was being a little sleazy, but it was kind of funny, he was trying to set up ‘papa’s’ 19 year old daughter with me. Job done, though, meant time to go. At Reciproka, Canazui grabbed a fairly thick branch and used the machete to dice it into a carvable size. With both machete and knife, Canazui ended up shaping the slab of wood into a fairly solid paddle. This would be used to compact the ground for the patio being produced in the near future, surrounding the maisonette.

He gave me his velo (bicycle) and I gave him my camera, in this temporary trade he was taking photos of me riding around various people in the neighbourhood and chatting to them. At the end of the harassing photo session, we were talking at the gate entrance when the other across the road ‘neighbour’, Silvi, walked on over. We had met a number of times, but this was the first time we actually chatted for a good period of time.

As she is in the process of learning English, it was easy to communicate with her, but we intermingled our conversations with both French and English. Eventually though, she had to leave. At 29, she had been dating a petit ami now for some time.

Now night, we were eating and it was very evident how tired Canazui was. After dinner and still at the table, he was falling asleep. I said he needed a bottle of Guinness to wake up. Big mistake, he took this the wrong way and anticipated that I was going to be buying him a drink or two. Seeing Canazui a little heated up was not a very pleasant sight, so this was reason enough to have an earlier night then usual, wow.

What’s the time Mr Wolf? Ouagadougou. 1 Sep, Sat

Rain, and a whole lot of it. That is, until 1030 heures, and at 11oo heures Jean came around. I think considering he is in his trial period that he is taking this whole situation at a relatively relaxed pace. On his arrival, coincidentally, I downloaded a number of software upgrades and went to the toilet shortly after.

With my computer being the only one available to use, Jean asked if he could use it for a short while. Thinking he would cause no harm, and that it would only be for a short while, I let him. After I’d finished all bathroom activities, I came back in time to see my computer restarting (Jean had left it temporarily as well). I thought this restarting was due ti the software upgrades, checking all of this out, I noticed all of the programs were acting like there was a virus in the entire system. The only extent of operation was with only several functions in the dock opening, aah, bloody hell Jean.

This guy was tapping the wrong side of me right now. Not only did this computer situation cause such distress, but having him lingering around every day, and over consuming the food most days, as well as using the computers for less then adequate research, I have to say, considering he wants to strive in the business sector, he is not off to a good start.

Another thing to add to the day was hearing from Canazui how a boy staying at Miriam’s mum’s house had disappeared. He was about 9 and did not actually come from Ouagadougou, so the pressure was on. All emergency and media was contacted. If people are actually reading these updates (considering how lagging they are), I think it is best to update you with the fact that the boy was found the following day. He had been collected by a stranger who let him stay the night, and then the stranger had handed him to the police. Actually, the man had told the police as soon as he had found him, today, but the police did not put details together until the following day (that is 2 Sep). Kind of strange, isn’t it, I mean I am sure not many kids get reported missing every day. This emphasizes the lack of interaction even in the same department.

Dinner was Jean (yea more taking advantage, now 2 meals a day), Canazui and I, but also Teo joined us. That’s right, he had a party to take me to. Shortly after 20oo heures (I love writing in this system now, thanks Frenchies), we left Reciproka and met his family. The great thing was that no one knew English, actually they knew little French too, but the short stay was great. This was followed by visiting his friends (who were on the corner, just 20 metres away). Zac, Teo’s ami, and another guy, came along on their motorbike, we shortly passed them, and lost them. We eventually called them and found out that they had exhaust damage and were trying to fix the problem. Teo, well, he wanted to party, so he told them to contact him later when they could move.

At the house party, celebrating a girl’s graduation, I first was chatting to a couple of girls, Miriam (12) and Nicole (15) and two very young boys (who actually ended up teaching me Moore) Eventually the girls got bored of me and went about doing their own thing. I think it was more due to their inability to chat to me, so I approached several ladies cooking Broulette (Meat, capsicum, onion and a whole lot of spice) and we chatted in all three languages: Moore, French and English. The funny thing was their extent of English was the same as my extent of Moore.

Majority of the night was a relatively quiet one for me, but people were generous enough to hand various beverages throughout the night. Before the speeches, majority of the people were sitting around talking and slowly drinking. After speeches (for Glorian’s graduation) the party really did get started, with dancing and drinking as well as a whole lot more merriment throughout the crowd. This also gave me a better chance to hang out with people, less talking and more grooving was this period of the night, yea.

So, by 0330 heures I was beginning to fall asleep on the couches and by 0430 heures Teo got me standing and talking a short while longer. 05oo heures we left and just as the sky was getting slightly lighter in colour, well, I went to sleep.

VIEWING A NEW BURKINA, Ouagadougou. 31 Aug, Fri

Thinking my converter had been misplaced at Schiphol Airport, I was a man on a mission (well, more to the point) to the extent of telling Miriam of the situation and that otherwise the photos would need to stop from this time forth. Ha, and the trip had only basically started. The thing that made it more the impossible was due to the male connection requiring the female sockets. Thinking all was lost, I quickly gave up hope. Miriam had not, though. Well, Miriam and Donat left to go to a village, leaving (once again) the estate in the hands of Canazui, Jean and I. Soon enough, the company of Patrick came into play. Hooray, I had kind of lost interest in Jean already, due to his pornographic endeavours. It was in this time that Canazui went about constructing a good portion of the patio’s foundation about the perimeter of it.

Now, Patrick was in the process of learning English, so the ability to get the whole fluent French into the brainwaves was more of a losing battle then anything else. one important part of the conversation was based around the event that was occurring at 1830 heures, but for attendance to be possible, permission had to be granted from the ‘parents’ (Donat and/or Miriam). With this in discussion, Canazui was able to somehow comprehend what we were talking about. There was some kind of event happening at 10oo heures tonight. I forgot what it was, more accurately, I actually did not understand Canazui when he went about explaining the event we were going to tonight. This being the basis of our conversation, now being finished, led to Jean and Patrick listening to Australian TV, Canazui doing the normal routine of outdoor tasks and me trying to keep down the journal side of things. Then 16oo heures hit the scene and Donat and Miriam had still not returned from their adventure.

It was at this time that we actually thought the days could not always be wasted. On Pat’s bike we went and he shot off to his place. Patrick’s actually living area was a single room behind the family’s old haunt, which lay empty and desolate for now, but his place was reasonable enough for him. He also showed me where he would have his dinner, and this area was actually owned by his granddad. Patrick basically lived with his granddad, but had the extra bonus of being free with the separate physically. A sense of independence. The charming thing about some families is that there is a helper who helps out. This helper is not exactly like a maid but seemingly ‘higher’ in status.

Now, Pat wanted me to pass time with his mates that kept him busy for such lengths of time. Literally around the corner (say 30 metres) we were at the group’s hang out. Both shaded and able to prevent a good portion of rain, this place was where the non-monetary gambling occurred. Cards, yes cards, was the entertainment for a good portion of the time. The game, phonetically sounding, was Asel. Aces and 10s have a value of 10 points K, Q, J in sequence and suit was 50 points the first time it was produced and 30 points otherwise, whereas the K, Q sequence in the same suit was 40 points if laid down first, or 20 points otherwise. The stack includes two decks for two players at 7 and higher. Higher same suit card allows for control in play; if initial player (of the play) places a 10 an Ace can be used to ‘capture’ the card and value. 7-9 only allows for switch in play, mentioned earlier. Sequence cards (K, Q, J, etc…) when put aside are also and there is no need to add to your dispose pile. Each card placed on the dispose pile (or flipped) requires a card from the stack to be collected. The final, important, rule is who ever is ‘in power’ at the end gets another 10 points. The game that I did play, Patrick and I ended up on 140-140, but as the play was left in his hands, he got the final 10 points. Oh well.

By now time had quickly spun by, and as permission had not yet been granted for Patrick to take me to this event(I never got to know what it actually was) he ended up taking me back to Reciproka. At least this time Patrick was driving a bit faster, he got a bit more respect from me this time. We got back when Jean’s friend, Desiree, came along to pick him up. Mary was a girl who was kind of adopted at Miriam’s mother’s place. She had her own afternoon job, but used the rest of the day to typically potter around and also prepare the sensational meals that I had been privileged to have in BF. Aah yes, the reason why she was there was to keep me company, until Canazui came back from his driving lesson. Canazui was staying in Ouagadougou until he got his license and Donat was assisting him, so Canazui’s repayment was through helping Donat and his friends.

So, everyone left shortly after Canazui’s arrival, we ate and somehow it was reasonably late (about 2100 heures). Here we got semi presentable and we had someone to meet just after 22oo heures. Firstly we drove around the corner to ‘collect’ a lady who was working until 22oo heures, but due to her being tired, we ended up having a drink at her store and heading off for some night time sight seeing. The hardest thing was that no one spoke any English, so far. French with actions was the practical way of communication. Even with Canazui, he said the word ‘les femme’ and my anticipation was us going to some night life, in the social form. In his communication he was trying to say he wanted a business visit. So, driving around portions of the city, even at night I began to recognise more back street scenery, then bam, I had no idea where we were going, the streets were at the back of back streets.

The final backstreet standard was a potholed dirt road and I thought Canazui was driving slowly to watch out for the uneven road, but him saying “moi femme” was a little disturbing now. Suddenly out of nowhere, girls appeared from both sides of the road, and as they did, the whole of Canazui’s conversation was as clear as a pure diamond. Aah, prostitutes. These ladies approached us and a couple went to Canazui and three to me, yes, being white I am obviously a very rich man. Canazui was actually asking them some questions, while one lady was grabbing my hand and stroking it and using our hands imitated that I should have sex with her. I apologised and said it was a no go. They understood, but were not in any means going to leave. The revving of Canazui’s bike was the signal and hence they left. Turning around Canazui’s femme was nearby. A minute later we were at another region of manly pleasures. Aah, Canazui was happy, Talking to some of the girls there allowed ‘his femme’ to appear. By the sounds of it, I think Canazui had visited her a number of times. This time he wanted me to be with her. From Niger she was able to speak both English and French, I suppose making her ability to get more business higher. There were more Nigerians around here and they swamped around me, English was now everywhere: “C’mon with me”, “Your friend will be OK”, and so on. After several minutes I basically had to say in a resonating voice: “I do not want to fuck”,. This helped, soon enough many girls left. Now a guy approached me trying to sell goods, and soon enough he had semi dragged me over to some booth, showing a collection of either sexual pleasure items (from condoms to other similar items) to common jewellery Funnily, walking away was not an adequate action. ‘Canazui’s femme’ ended up breaking conversation with Canazui and came up to me and split the contact… through grabbing me in two places, one was the hand, and dragging me to Canazui. Canazui shouted at the man and ‘Canazui’s femme’ thought this the right opportunity to persuade me over with her. This really did cut the fuse. I asked Canazui how much he had, then supplied him the difference and him and her went off. Phew, I thought all was clear.

At this point a girl asked me to follow her to the waiting area… the waiting area? It was like an outdoor bar, where friends were waiting for others to dispose of their loads (man I am so funny). Here I was able to talk to another guy waiting, I think he was a part of the TV crew in one of the rare few stations in the country. With a few hassles between the language barrier, soon the conversations became strained. Damn shame, but it was at this point that Canazui appeared, kind of refreshed and ready for sleep… hmm, I guess he had been talking philosophy.

Ah yea, we might have had some interesting times during the night, but the funniest was on the way home. The tank was getting near empty and we were both shouting in glee and edging the moped to make it back. 20 metres away from Reciproka, the moped could no longer travel on the fumes, and hence we had to walk.

WHAT A DAY!

Jean & Purdi, Ouagadougou. 30 Aug, Thu

The previous night Donat had approached me and asked to observe Purdi’s reaction at the completed maissonette. On my awakening John (Jean in French) came in at 8.15am and Purdi 5 minutes later. Listening intently to Purdi’s actions, and reactions, I heard him make some guttural noises in the maisonette and appeared in the maison. Here he chatted to Jean before leaving.

Canazui had been out somewhere and came back to work at trenching. A short while later Donat came. Him and I chatted about Purdi’s reaction, which lifted his spirits a little. This then followed by Donat talking to Jean and the reason in why he was not at work yesterday. Hearing this, Jean immediately turned and looked at me, maybe in disgust. Well, I had told Donat that Jean had been busy, but in fact he was sick.

Because of Jean not being at work the previous day, Donat had contacted his nephew, Patrick, to be my translator with the builder. The builder was actually Patrick’s uncle, Fidel. Patrick had to go collect Fidel as Fidel was physically restrained. While they were gone I was trying to keep my distance from Jean, so I hung around Canazui (and I think Jean continued chatting on porn sites). Canazui was known for talking, singing and laughing to himself. At first this did not seem too believable, until today. I heard him sing while doing work around the yard and tending to the flowers on the outside region of the fence line, bloody cracker.

When Fidel and Patrick came along, we basically crowded around Fidel, so as to prevent too much relocating. Before I knew Fidel’s ‘occupation’, I had this sense that he was a fairly spiritual man. On his arrival he seemed to emit this humble respect, which I attempted to appreciate. Actually I found out that he had special days which allowed him to be especially more spiritual ad typically this was on Tuesdays and I think Fridays. It was these days that he had many people approach him to get either guidance or ability to seek themselves.

Well, in this case, Fidel was here to teach how to produce batter that is used from purely natural material, from the region, but also educating about properties to allow for diversity of products. Both Patrick and Jean were there to be translators, while Canazui was there to be the practical guinea pig. The aim of these session was to allow me to produce a report that can allow fellow volunteers to produce a hut with the practical report that I am to produce over this time of learning.

I believe I have a page linked to the production of this batter, as well as constructing the hut and the roof. If not, this will be created as a separate page, and should be found on the side of my website.

This is both a delicate and straightforward process, but this is where the errors come into it, people do not give the process enough respect. Initially both products look similar, but the product with care will experience an extended life.

Anyhow, Donat and Miriam came at similar times, where Miriam called over Jean. Wow, he sure was not happy with me by now, I think. After the discussion, he soon approached me and complained, but as quoted: “I had not seen Miriam in a few days, hence she only knew what Donat knew,” was all I could relay to him.

So, I had to begin the theory side of the report. Writing it did take longer then expected, especially as Patrick was attempting to learn more english in the mean time.

Miriam had gone again, and Fidel was soon taken home by Patrick. Miriam came back and spoke to Donat for an hour outside alone, while Canazui was working and Jean and I were in the maisson. Well, being in my social moods today, joining them as they were giving each other updates and progresses of the organisation was actually good timing. They had discussed a good portion of the situation and I hope that my contribution to this discussion was able to further help them.

As they both had a pile on their plates, still, Miriam left and Donat went about stenciling for the lecture chairs. By 19oo heures Donat had been exhausted and left to get some peace.

Jean had also gone a while back, and I thought with this discussion had with Miriam that he may try to change a bit.

So, Canazui and I were in control of the place for a good portion of the night. After eating and closing up Reciproka, Canazui and I went around to the liquor store around the corner and had a drink with the two workers (lady may have been Marie). The plan was to go dancing on Friday night after Miriam and Donat had left. A bit suspicious, eh?

After having the drink, which was initially nice but ended up being sickly sweet after awhile, Canazui and I ended up walking to what was called a discotheque. This was actually a place one could buy DVDs, CDs and videos. With the way Canazui was speaking, I think the two people here was anticipating our going out with them the following day. Jeez Canazui, what are you doing? Also, several strange people, including a steroid pumped freak, began hanging around and participating in the conversations.

This is where I claimed affect to my Diabetes, which Canazui knew existed, but not to what extent. Hooray!

Curse of the volunteers, Ouagadougou. 29 Aug, Wed

A healthy length of sleep was soon to be ended. The banging that echoed through the area was soon to be discovered from the newest addition to the helpers list.

The man had been here previously and from now on his name shall be Purdi, I don’t know why, but do know that that really is not his name… Perdu just sounds right. His English was as extensive as Canazui’s but in the same token, I think he knew similar amounts of French as Canazui (ie struggled). Him and Canazui kept up their little routine for a while.

In the meantime, while they were hard at work. I was lucky enough to be receptionist. The first phone call was from Donat (for Canazui), then the International SOS Doctors from Australia (mum in regards to my Malaria had caused a small disturbance in various sectors in Australia about my Malaria situation) and the final call was from John saying how he was sick and unable to come to work.

On Donat’s arrival, he was informed about John’s reason for not coming to work, this kind of upset him. The major reason for being upset was due to John supposedly playing translator for me for some activities today. I think the project was me learning how to construct a traditional house from the Mossi region.

A few things were pottered around with, including more wood delivered from the timber yard, then Donat gave Purdi some money to grab some lunch. So, over lunch was a discussion of the lack of John’s professionalism. Donat had to begin prepare some notes for class that he had obliged to teach earlier.

Purdi left for home once he had nailed in all the panels to the second room to the maisonette. Now what Donat wanted to do was to put strips of aesthetically pleasing wood to cover any gaps between the panels. The larger room was reasonably fast, but due to a small mess on the floor, some delays were still encountered. Two hours, or so, later and the first room had been finished.

Then Donat walked into the room that Purdi had nailed the panels into. Seeing Donat’s shoulders drop the way they did really caused an impact to me. He now had a bit more work on his hands to improve the quality of the product at hand. The nails laid in by Purdi were scarce and skewed awkwardly to be suited to support two panels (causing various weak points). The low quality was already evident with sagging occurring at a number of troughs in the room. Like any man in despair, Donat tried to remedy the problem, but it was far from perfection, and limited budget was reason enough to limit the spending possible to fix the situation. To try and help, without helping, Canazui went about clipping the various quality nails and I organised the room to prevent either clutter or accidents.

We actually finished as much as possible just as a man walked in, Teo was Miriam’s cousin, and a friend of his. While we were talking, slowly, Donat wanted to try and get back on track with his schedule and worked on the design of the lecture chairs. It was funny, with Teo, as we both had bad abilities to communicate effectively to each other. One thing we managed to explain to each other was how we were going to find a lady for the other person from each other’s country. So, any Australian ladies who speak french, there is a very sexy man from Burkina Faso that has a great desire to meet one of you. A very funny man who is a great conversationalist, he was able to keep the conversation very light but still able to give off some wisdom.

Teo and his friend soon left to visit Miriam’s mum (Teo promising to take me out to party on the weekend), while Donat also at the point of exhaustion felt it necessary to head on home for a good wash and feed. This left Canazui and I to eat dinner together (relatively quiet) and then hang around on the street talking to every single passerby.

As I was about to head on to bed, Canazui’s appetite got the best of him and a bag of rice was on the agenda for hom.

Cracking the fondations of waste, Ouagadougou. 28 Aug, Tue

Maybe I was still slightly sick, but in all I felt like more of a waste to the whole Reciproka organisation. I mean, this morning, once again, it was a fairly non-eventful time and I felt like I was being spoilt. This thought comes about with Canazui mentioning about me needing to go and eat some food for breakfast. John was, as I soon discovered, continually accessing porn chat sights and Canazui and I ended up heading outside to do some work.

Actually my original plan of self learning French ended up being pitiful, hence the reason for going out into the baking sun where Canazui had been working for some time already. This was evident from the sheen of sweat coming through his clothes and the weary look on his face. He had been moving dirt around and also talking to the neighbour, name may have been Rasta. Rasta’s head quickly disappeared from sight over the fence when Donat came in. With Donat’s arrival and call to the doctor’s clinic, it was told by them that my need to get the results would be complete at 16oo heures.

We all somehow kept occupied, where Donat went about collecting more lumber for the maisonette’s ceiling and Canazui and I went about trenching for the foundation of the patio section of the maisonette. This labour really was getting to us and well, soon enough we had a reason to stop. After hitting a relatively hard section of ‘ground’ Canazui kind of dug in various surrounding sections. We saw that the harder material hit was the pipe for the grey water leading from the building. This was actually discovered when Canazui cracked open the pipe and we got a small inundation of smell… not like roses.

Talking about roses, my skin had changed into the colours of roses too, damn red shoulders, but the notable thing was the lack of pain. Pain began with Donat as the rain began to come down. All the wood that had been conveniently located outside had to now be brought inside. Well due to Reciproka being in a new establishment and needing the upgrades (for what they needed it for) this meant to take the wood into the ‘office’ area and create a little more congestion (motorbikes had already been stored here).

Soon enough it was nearing 16oo heures and it was time for John to finally do some work, ie take me to get the results. Doctors results proved a number of things, including that my pee was tainted yellow and my poo was iron brown. Levels of bacteria was all beautiful and the only problem had been the parasite (Malaria).

Getting back to Reciproka, we arrived just as some other guy did, we apparently had met previously, but due to my delirious state had forgotten him. Mr Sambda was an English teacher who would help Reciproka in education those less fortunate who could make it to the more convenient locations, soon to be Reciproka after tidy up.

By evening, the maisonette had 1/2 of the ceiling in place (one room, of two, complete) and John’s friend come along to get him. Everyone, except Canazui and I, soon left. For dinner we were entertained by lightning and thunder. Another notable thing was my ability to comprehend more of what he was talking to me about. Conversation was beyond basic one worded fragmentations. If he did not pass on the message right the first time, rewording would normally help the situation.

BRONZING BALBOA, Ouagadougou. 27 Aug, Mon

Talk about a rain to remember. The end of the rain was coming and it really did make the start of the day one to forget. Roland had told Miriam how his house had been slightly flooded from the severest part of the storm, the previous night, and one room was slightly out of service. Also, we had lost Canazui after the market antics, the previous day, but he eventually made it back today. Canazui, as mentioned several entries ago, was able to us his suave talking to be able to get sometimes more complicated situations sorted out.

I think there must be some sort of collaboration between the international museums, as John and I were to go to the Naturale Musee de Burkina Faso and, like my experiences in Australia, USA, Canada, as well as others talking to me, the museum is shut on Mondays. This other place (SIAO), that was down the road and known as being a cultural centre, was kind of open. When we got there we had to speak to several people in administration to find out if we could get a bit of a lesson in Burkina Faso’s regional traditional building. One of the security guards were actually the tour guide for us, He told us about how a man would have his own sleeping quarters, as well as each one of his wives. I don’t think this is what amazed me the most. In one of the domestic quarters were two small ‘huts.’ One hut was for the chickens (which the native African ones taste so much better then the native others that I have tried) and the other hut was for such animals as goats, sheep and other larger livestock. This was for either the night time in unsafe areas or when the torrential rains would come, the sheepies can’t get a cold. After seeing the six or so different styles of houses the man who verified us, and let us have the personal tour (basically for free), had a bit of a discussion with John and I. Not only was the man able to answer questions I had (via John, the translator), but he then come around asking if I wanted to be some sort of ambassador. In this role I would represent SIAO (and to an extent Burkina Faso) around the world. He wanted a higher percentage of people to the festivals to be from English speaking countries, where only several people, over the many festivals, had actually come from Australia. So, the end of the meeting occurred with the passing of information and giving of various (outdated) information and brochures.

Our return back to Reciproka had us firstly go on a detour via John’s friend (and housemate), Desiree, at the motorbike store. This was a kind of good job to have, considering what the majority of the population were doing for a living and he was only at the trainee level. One of the little projects (that John was able to complete while employed for Reciproka) we did, before returning to Reciproka, was research the prices of some whiteboards that could also be used to hang things off. The ones that we saw ranged in price from 45,000-90,000 CFA (100-200AUD), wow that really is a rip off. I think I got one half the size of the smaller one for only $20, and that came with a remover and a marker. When we left the second store, we were approached by a man who said he could get exactly what we needed for less, but it would take a day or two to get it all sorted, with his contacts. Yea, John got his details, but this kind of business was rampant in Ouagadougou. This approach is probably better for the average person on the street, but due to past stories, I kind of have less trust for these transactions.

After having some lunch at Reciproka and resting (yea, the weather does drain people slightly), we went for a slow walk back near the city area. Near where Donat and I went for the SONABEL issue there were a dozen or so people working under a makeshift shelter surrounded by a small concrete wall. For the next hour, John and I watched what these chaps were doing and sat in on their practice. These guys would get unfinished bronze products from some nearby workshop place and do the final steps (refining the detailed sections) before passing on their works on to the vendors. Some of the works were masterpieces, and every single one of them unique, due to their hand manufactured process. The most common, and cheapest, of the products was the balboa tree. It was easy , apparently, to get the bulk of bronze and shape it into the tree. Every single item was made from bronze, but depending on the heating process and the treatment process, there were still a good variety of colours that could be seen among the workspace. Well, after a while, I noticed the collection in front of John and I growing, the men were trying to sell me their works for cheaper then what the vendors would sell them for. When the number was near ten, I still had to pretend to be excited by what I saw, without offending them. Saying to them that I had no money on me, and I wanted to see what was on show, we managed to escape the continual bombardment of masterpieces.

Slowly, after shaking several hands, we walked on over to the vendors, a line of about 26 shacks, with the only way out being the path you came on, or past every single one. Once one man saw you, every other person selling trinkets would also try to say: “Just little look, it will not hurt.” The items varied a little, but by the 8 hut, or so, I was kind of just walking in and looking around and, like with the workers, pretending to be excited by what I saw. Overall, this took about 90 minutes or more. The agony of saying “ooh”, “aah” and “wow” was overbearing, so when the French speaking tourists came by, I was happy to let those guys take on the onslaught of the vendors, and this was also about when the sun was at the point of setting. Some of the intricate pieces of art included such items as farmers tilling the land, ladies with very saggy boobs, warriors on horseback, hands (white and black) shaking, and an array of other materialistic items.

From the workers items would range from 7,500 CFA (18 AUD; for the farmer tilling the land) to anything higher, where a 10cm Balboa tree would cost 15,000 CFA (36AUD). The space available to each vendor was in the order of 2m x 2m, a pretty cramped up space after shelves and tables were put in the ‘hut.’ Also, the French speakers did not want a bar of me, once they found out that I predominantly spoke English, and had crappy French skills. Ooh well.

We walked back to Reciproka while it was peak hour traffic, man, I had to occasionally cup my clothes around my mouth to try and get a fresher breathe of air into me. Something needs to be done about this little traffic having lack of environmental care influence. This was only a short lived experience, but enough to regret it. Shortly after we got back to Reciproka Desiree came along to get John and they headed on home, while Donat, Miriam and I got stuck into some food best eaten by hands. This kind of turned out to be kind of a funny experience, where Donat has a friend from childhood who lives in the newly developed area of Ouaga 2000 and there is more of the Western formalities that are taken at his place. He had just finished work and wanted to come by to say hello to Donat, and also see if Donat had gotten some documents for his recently purchased estate. I think it was either tonight or the next night, but he was telling us that Mars was at its closest to Earth in several hundred years and would be obvious if the skies were able to be cleared of all their blasted clouds.

I asked a question in regards to the flood and storm of yesterday, something along the lines of: “Were you at all affected by the rains of yesterday?” I kind of asked this both innocently and yet to try and allow for it to potentially to sound a little forward. He was not affected at all, but he spoke about how one of his colleagues at work had a room that had some water in the house, oh how devastating!

An hour worth of chatting and hanging out in the street with Canazui was a nights end now. He introduced me to a few people, but nothing right now worth being excited about, he just loved being the person introducing the white person, I think.