Read These – November Edition

Recommended reading:

• Malaria breakthrough: a new vaccine, under development for the past 20 years (including tests in Burkina) cuts risk of disease in half.
• A less than stellar rainy season means “we are likely to see a real problem” with food insecurity here in eastern Burkina Faso, as well as in other Sahelian nations. I can report that most of my neighbors are doing ok, but those who focused on corn are in trouble.
• Know how to knit or crochet? Head over to knitting for nutrition, fellow PCV Hilary’s new project.
• Design for the developing world.
• Usually when a country has lots of rugged terrain, it means it’s not a good place for agriculture or trade. And that tends to mean its economy has lagged, historically. Not so in Africa, according to a new study, where rugged terrain made it difficult for slavers to penetrate, sparing those regions substantial upheaval. [via WSJ]
• Burkina Faso was cleared to play in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations after a protest about an ineligible player was dismissed, though got put in the same group as top-seeded Ivory Coast, so we may still have some problems.
• Foreign aid directed to education in Burkina Faso has been cut by over 50 percent.
• The Gates Foundation to target Burkina Faso with agricultural grants.
• Peace Corps Postcards – I’m planning on sending one in myself.

Friday Photo: Sacred Crocodiles of Bazoule

Each Friday I’ll serve up a photo and give you the story behind it. This week, my day-trip to see Bazoule’s sacred crocodiles.

A few weeks back I took a short trip out to Bazoule, which is about 35km southwest of Ouaga to visit the sacred crocodiles. I never did get a full explanation of why they are sacred exactly, but years of deferential treatment (and continuously offering up chickens) has created an amazingly tame group of crocs, which creates great photo opportunties.

Burkinabé Cuisine: Ragou

Showcasing Burkinabé cuisine one meal at a time – today, ragou.

Ragou, (sadly not the Italian ragu) is boiled yams in a tomato sauce, and another common dish here in Burkina. The sauce the same tomato sauce used for riz sauce and also includes a couple of chunks of lamb or goat meat (often with its share of bones). Cost: 400CFA ($0.89).

Quote

“You develop an instant global consciousness, a people orientation, an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world, and a compulsion to do something about it. From out there on the moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scruff of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, ‘Look at that, you son of a bitch.’”

— Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell

While speaking to politics, Mitchell’s quote speaks to any life changing experience where those who have not experienced something just don’t get it. Peace Corps can be like that.

Friday Photo: Obama Bag

Each Friday I’ll serve up a photo and give you the story behind it. This week, an Obama branded bag.

One of my favorite pastimes in Burkinabé markets is to look around for Obama related items. Obama is pretty much universally loved here, and a surprising amount of merchandisers have decided to use his popularity to move some products. I’ve found wallets, shirts, basketball jerseys, pens, jeans, and even cologne. When it came time to buy a bag to store a few items (away from all the dust) in my house, how could I pass this one up?

Data/Map Tour: An Overview

As I mentioned last week, my colleague and I about to embark on a six month tour in order to train regional agents on using/updating a new database and integrating it with GPS mapping 2,500+ borrowers. Not only did FAIJ enthusiastically agree to my proposal, they are also going the extra mile and providing additional GPS units and cameras for each region, and even a car and driver for the duration of the project. Read on for more project details.

Project Summary

The implementation of a FAIJ database in all Burkina Faso regions will require a multi-month tour to visit each region and give hands on training. Once up and running, the database will function as a method to:

1. Track payments
2. Create automated reports
3. Track meetings with borrowers
4. Make data/statistics more accessible to both FAIJ and borrowers

The MS Access database will be installed in each regional FAIJ office, where the agent will be trained to use it as well as make future updates. Additionally, the data in the database will be linked to an interactive Google map with each borrower identified by a point on the map with their GPS coordinates. A click on that point brings up a borrower’s photo and relevant loan/payment information, and the color of each point will change in regard to the timing of our last meeting with that borrower and their repayment status.

The reports and map will serve as the basis to create a FAIJ borrower network where we will encourage borrowers to collaborate by using each other in their supply chains, sharing transport, etc.

Benefits

FAIJ

1. Saves time for agents and headquarters, especially important as program expands
2. Automated reports are accurate and uniform
3. Creates agent accountability – headquarters has a more real-time view into payments and meetings with borrowers
4. Sets priorities – easy to see priority borrowers locally and nationally
5. Easier to access data
6. Creates/maintains institutional knowledge

Borrowers

1. Provided more frequent and better targeted follow-up
2. Allows for collaboration with other FAIJ borrowers

Partners

1. Easier to group borrowers for trainings based on business needs
2. Opens up the FAIJ network for collaboration with additional partners

Pre-Tour Planning

We’ll be spending a couple of days at the FAIJ headquarters in Ouaga with the Monitoring & Evaluation and IT groups to determine which data to track, establish collection rules, and to communicate to all regional agents about the upcoming work. We will also create training manuals for database/GPS/camera usage.

Tour Activities

During our visits to each region, we will be:

1. Creating a region-specific version of each database
2. Normalizing data
3. Training regional agents on the database, GPS device and camera
4. Taking locations/photos of all borrowers
5. Data entry

Post-Tour Follow-up

After finishing the tour, we will create a headquarters version of the database with enhanced reporting functions. In addition, we will offer additional training and evaluate usage behaviors. An all-agent meeting will be held to review the on-the-ground use of the database and map in each region.

Profile: Marie-Claire

Bringing you perspective on some of the people I know in Burkina Faso – today, Marie-Claire.

Who are you?

Hi, I’m Marie-Claire/MC/M to the izzo C to the izze

Where are you from?

Montréal, Québec, Canada

What do you do?

I work for Oxfam Québec. I work as a communications consultant with a local women’s association in Ouagadougou.

What is the thing that shocked you the most about BF?

The organized chaos. The smells, the heat, the sounds, the dust, the heat, the kids running around, the traffic, the heat, the poverty.

What impresses you the most about BF?

The people, their generosity, their optimism, their hope, their kindness, their faith.

What is your favorite thing about your experience in BF?

Meeting all the wonderful and inspiring people I’ve been fortunate enough to meet as well as working on a project I really care about.

What is the hardest thing about your experience in BF?

Nothing here is simple (or maybe things are too simple and my North American brain doesn’t get it yet) and everything will always take time and/or be delayed. Other than that, I’ve had to learn how to drive a “moto” in the craziness that is the Ouaga traffic, where there are no rules of the road, way too many drivers of all kinds (cars, buses, bicycles, donkeys, horses, etc.) and no known street names. Another thing would be witnessing the consequences of poverty, especially the impact it has on women and children.

Tell us something you discovered about yourself here.

I learned I am a lot more patient than I thought I was, that as long as I can take a proper shower, I can easily adapt to most situations and that as long as I’m surrounded by good, inspiring people, I’m happy.

Tell us about the people of BF.

Burkinabés are open, welcoming, helpful, grateful people; they are always ready for a good time and a good laugh. However, they are never on time and they don’t believe in “blind spots”.

What food do you miss the most?

A big crunchy, disgustingly healthy salad and Montreal bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon.

What’s the most important item (or items) you brought with you?

My music, my camera and a photo-book my roommate made for me.

What song or artist keeps you going here (local or other or one of each!)?

Although I’ve discovered a passion for dancing until 4am to all kinds of West African music, and that I’ve kept my house filled with music, I’ve found that listening to the Podcasts of my favorite radio shows has helped to keep me connected and grounded. Plus, a friend and I started a new tradition of spending our Sunday mornings with Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald – pure comfort!

Friday Photo: Tree Planting

Each Friday I’ll serve up a photo and give you the story behind it. This week, Halley demonstrates her tree planting technique.

As part of our new project plan, Peace Corps Burkina Faso is aiming to plant 1,000,000 trees over the next five years. During our short stopover in Pô during the bike tour we managed to put a small dent in that number.

Data/Map Project Going Nationwide

Big news – remember the database and interactive Google map I made for the borrowers in the eastern region (plus the subsequent presentation I made to my organization to urge them to take the project nationwide)? Well, a couple of months and many meetings later, the project has received the official green light from all parties.

In order to map all borrowers my colleague and I will go on five mini-tours, visiting two or three regions at a time and coming back to our home-base in the East between each segment. This will allow us to concurrently serve our existing eastern clients and allow us a break every now and then.

Each mini-tour will require quite a lot of work, and will include everything from computer training to GPS device use (and of course meeting over 1,500 borrowers). We’re aiming to get started in just a few days and finish up in April 2012.

The tour itself will take approximately six months, but the resulting monitoring and evaluation, troubleshooting and feature additions likely means that this project will take up the majority of the rest of my service. I’ll be posting many more details as our plans become finalized.

Burkinabé Cuisine: Riz Sauce

Showcasing Burkinabé cuisine one meal at a time – today, riz sauce.

Riz sauce, or rice with sauce, is about exciting as it sounds. However, as with many things in Burkina, I’ve become used to the dish over time, and now actually like it, though lately find myself ordering it less and less. A restaurant will bring out the meal as a plate of white rice, and separately a small bowl of  your chosen sauce – peanut or tomato. I usually prefer the peanut sauce (pictured above), though both include a few over boiled vegetables such as cabbage and onions to make things a bit more interesting, plus a lot of palm oil. Additionally, there are two or three small pieces of meat, usually goat or lamb (often with plenty of bones hiding in there). Cost: 500 CFA ($1.11).