There are about 175 Peace Corps volunteers in Burkina Faso. These
range from people who are 6 months in, to those who are 10 months, to 18
months, to almost two years, and to almost 3 years. And while the stereotypical
situation of being in a village hundreds of kilometers from another American,
with no electricity, no running water, and having to bike 50 kilometers (uphill
both ways) to get to anything remotely approaching “civilization” is still
applicable in some circumstances- it’s not the rule- but it’s not the exception
either. There are some people who are so far out that they have to stand on the
roof of their houses to get a (kinda) cell phone signal. There are also people
with DSL internet in their houses and can download music, movies, etc. I don’t
fall into either group. Which, is kind of nice.
For starters, I can get a cellphone signal. The peace corps
subscribes to something which is very much the equivalent of a “family plan” in
the United States. All the volunteers can call eachother (and the staff people)
for free- for the rate of $8/month- or something really close to that. Couple
things though: 1) This is pretty cool. 2) This is really only useful if you’re
in a place that gets an Airtel (name
of the carrier) signal. And, there are some volunteers that do not get an Airtel signal, so they’re just paying
for a service they cannot use. 3) If you want to talk to people you need to have
a way to charge your phone (see below).
My village is on a paved road (called the guidron) between
Ouaga and Koudougou (one of the large cities in Burkina Faso). This provides a
large number of benefits including: 1) car watching 2) a nice landmark and 3)
it means that travel is easy. It takes me 20 minutes to get to Koudougou by
bus, and a little bit longer than that if I bike. But, all things considered,
it’s not that far. Ouaga is around 90 minutes (if all factors are against you).
Also, to both cities there are busses every half an hour or so- which means I
can leave whenever I want. In villages that are way in the middle of nowhere,
some people have to plan their entire day around leaving because there is only
one bus that leaves all day and it’s at 5:30 in the morning. I have
considerably more flexibility than that.
Next, my village has electricity. No, I don’t have it (yet)
but it is in my village which means charging things is pretty easy. I just go
to the CSPS and plug in whatever it is that I want to charge. In other villages
people charge their cell phones through solar chargers, car batteries, and
other things like that. But, not me. And, it also means that I can find ice and
cold drinks in my village which is really nice when it’s hot out (it’s always
hot here).
So, those are the
majority of ways that my village is not way en
brousse or “in the bush”.
Now, we get to the part where I get to continually remind
myself that I am, in fact, in Africa.
My house is made out of cement with an aluminum roof.
Aluminum and cement have a few things in common. 1) They’re both relatively
cheap in Africa (so you can build with them and 2) They’re both really good at
trapping and retaining heat. Funny how often those go together. It’s kind of an
odd feeling to feel the walls of your house and be continually amazed by how
hot they are. But, I’ve dragged my cot to the middle of my living room and get
a great 4-way cross breeze so it’s not so bad.
I shower with a bucket (and only use 3 liters of water a day
for showering purposes). It’s kinda strange to step into your shower and take
water from a bucket- but there is something very Game of Thrones about it.
I poop in a hole. I don’t really think I need to elaborate
on that one.
The donkeys, chickens, goats, and other animals. Having a
donkey braying outside your house is irritating- and while I try and make sure
there’s a significant radius between my house and the nearest donkey the sight
and the sound says to me: TIA (This is Africa).
The dirt. It’s red. And, it’s everywhere.
Finally: there’s no ocean…anywhere.
All in all, I find I’m straddling a nice line between what
is available/familiar and what is different. My village is large enough that I
don’t feel claustrophobic yet small enough that everyone knows my name. I can
charge things or sit under a fan for a bit but I’m not constantly in that
environment. I can leave if I want, but most of the time I don’t particularly
want to.
While this works for me, I’m sure that there are plenty of
people that this type of situation would not work for. It all depends on the
person and what you make out of the situation you’ve been handed.
So now you can decide, how far en brousse am I?
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