More from the Journal...
January 4th 2006
My much-needed vacation has come to an end. Ryan’s visit was everything I hoped it would be. He experienced some real culture shock but I really feel like he had a chance to understand my life here. It was great to see an old friend and to watch him discover Africa. We visited Ouaga, Bani, Dori, and Mali all in 3 weeks. It feels good to be back in village. I’m ready to get back to work and get some new projects started.
Jan 6th
I just tasted my first try at making cheese locally. The taste is very similar to the milk itself (because I didn’t add any other ingredients), and I did not produce as much as I had hoped for (about 6 oz). But I do not consider this a failure. In fact, for a first try, I’m proud of it. If I can make it taste better than the processed European imported brand, and sell it for the same price or less, I think it could be profitable.
When I came back from my trip I found a new addition to my courtyard. El Hajji’s son, Aljumma, built a little house next to mine. Semi-privacy is not a luxury I will enjoy for much longer. In the past, this might have caused me some anxiety, but at this point in my service, I guess I’m ready to take the next step. Sharing a living space will give me a greater opportunity to observe and learn more about how people live here. Juma is a nice guy, we get along fine. He speaks almost no French, so it looks like I’ll have to get better at Fulfulde.
I just finished the report cards for the first trimester. I’m satisfied with the performance of my students. I haven’t done any statistical analysis, but most of my classes seem to fit a nice bell curve. I’m actually willing to take on more classes like English, but I don’t want to give up my 5-day weekend yet. I’ve also begun organizing the lab equipment, and plan to get a library up and running in the near future. If I can find French language updates for my laptop (which works presently) I’d also like to start a selective computer club for my best students.
On top of these things, on the advice of Mssr. Kabore, I’m going to make an effort to bring legitimate financial service to Bani. A network of national credit unions, called Caisse Populaire, was created during the Sankara era to encourage savings and address the problems of loan sharks and exploitative foreign banks. Sankara is dead, but the network is stil alive. The plan is still in the early stages, but I hope to know a lot more after my next trip to Dori, where the regional office is located.
January 16th
10 months. I’ve been reading over some of my past journal entries, and it seems like I’ve come a long way. It takes quite an adjustment to make a remote African village start to feel like a home.
Today is the last day of the Muslim holiday of Tabasci. Its actually a lot like thanksgiving if you substitute a goat for a turkey. Everyone is getting ready for the big final party. They’ve even groomed the soccer field for an exhibition match against a neighboring village. They might even let me play a few minutes.
Just next to the field there are about 20 villagers digging the foundation of the new cell tower. This is big news for me, now I just need a way to charge my phone. I’m hoping both the phone and the pavement will reach Bani by the end of March.
My new mandolin is a great way to pass some of my excess free time. Little by little the bird builds its nest (African proverb).
Jan 20th
My second attempt at cheesemaking yielded about twice as much as the first. Encouraging progress. Better yet it was eaten all before lunch, so it must have been good. I made it at Boly’s house so his wife could learn to do it herself. I got about a pound of ricotta-esque cheese from about 30 cents worth of fresh milk. We mixed it with other things to try and change the taste. Surprisingly, mayonnaise cheese was a hit. I preferred the honey mix. The cost of the milk should go down in the rainy season making it almost free to produce.
Based on these first successes, I plan to take this project to the next level. I would like to investigate the demand in the larger towns like Dori or Kaya, and of course Ouaga. If demand is high, I want to hold an exposition at the next public gathering/celebration. (Boly’s idea, and a good one).
The second trimester began this week. I’m feeling better about my lessons this time. I can tell that I’m not loosing all of my students, and that a few are quite intelligent.
Today
In Dori trying to get some things done. My phone should be working and on this weekend, so feel free to give me a ring. I’d like to say thanks for the Christmas presents, they were all very well appreciated. I even got some mail from people I never expected to think about me. I’d like to wish my friends and family back home a happy (and belated) new year. It’s not too hot in Africa (its still hot) so every day is kind of like a vacation.
My much-needed vacation has come to an end. Ryan’s visit was everything I hoped it would be. He experienced some real culture shock but I really feel like he had a chance to understand my life here. It was great to see an old friend and to watch him discover Africa. We visited Ouaga, Bani, Dori, and Mali all in 3 weeks. It feels good to be back in village. I’m ready to get back to work and get some new projects started.
Jan 6th
I just tasted my first try at making cheese locally. The taste is very similar to the milk itself (because I didn’t add any other ingredients), and I did not produce as much as I had hoped for (about 6 oz). But I do not consider this a failure. In fact, for a first try, I’m proud of it. If I can make it taste better than the processed European imported brand, and sell it for the same price or less, I think it could be profitable.
When I came back from my trip I found a new addition to my courtyard. El Hajji’s son, Aljumma, built a little house next to mine. Semi-privacy is not a luxury I will enjoy for much longer. In the past, this might have caused me some anxiety, but at this point in my service, I guess I’m ready to take the next step. Sharing a living space will give me a greater opportunity to observe and learn more about how people live here. Juma is a nice guy, we get along fine. He speaks almost no French, so it looks like I’ll have to get better at Fulfulde.
I just finished the report cards for the first trimester. I’m satisfied with the performance of my students. I haven’t done any statistical analysis, but most of my classes seem to fit a nice bell curve. I’m actually willing to take on more classes like English, but I don’t want to give up my 5-day weekend yet. I’ve also begun organizing the lab equipment, and plan to get a library up and running in the near future. If I can find French language updates for my laptop (which works presently) I’d also like to start a selective computer club for my best students.
On top of these things, on the advice of Mssr. Kabore, I’m going to make an effort to bring legitimate financial service to Bani. A network of national credit unions, called Caisse Populaire, was created during the Sankara era to encourage savings and address the problems of loan sharks and exploitative foreign banks. Sankara is dead, but the network is stil alive. The plan is still in the early stages, but I hope to know a lot more after my next trip to Dori, where the regional office is located.
January 16th
10 months. I’ve been reading over some of my past journal entries, and it seems like I’ve come a long way. It takes quite an adjustment to make a remote African village start to feel like a home.
Today is the last day of the Muslim holiday of Tabasci. Its actually a lot like thanksgiving if you substitute a goat for a turkey. Everyone is getting ready for the big final party. They’ve even groomed the soccer field for an exhibition match against a neighboring village. They might even let me play a few minutes.
Just next to the field there are about 20 villagers digging the foundation of the new cell tower. This is big news for me, now I just need a way to charge my phone. I’m hoping both the phone and the pavement will reach Bani by the end of March.
My new mandolin is a great way to pass some of my excess free time. Little by little the bird builds its nest (African proverb).
Jan 20th
My second attempt at cheesemaking yielded about twice as much as the first. Encouraging progress. Better yet it was eaten all before lunch, so it must have been good. I made it at Boly’s house so his wife could learn to do it herself. I got about a pound of ricotta-esque cheese from about 30 cents worth of fresh milk. We mixed it with other things to try and change the taste. Surprisingly, mayonnaise cheese was a hit. I preferred the honey mix. The cost of the milk should go down in the rainy season making it almost free to produce.
Based on these first successes, I plan to take this project to the next level. I would like to investigate the demand in the larger towns like Dori or Kaya, and of course Ouaga. If demand is high, I want to hold an exposition at the next public gathering/celebration. (Boly’s idea, and a good one).
The second trimester began this week. I’m feeling better about my lessons this time. I can tell that I’m not loosing all of my students, and that a few are quite intelligent.
Today
In Dori trying to get some things done. My phone should be working and on this weekend, so feel free to give me a ring. I’d like to say thanks for the Christmas presents, they were all very well appreciated. I even got some mail from people I never expected to think about me. I’d like to wish my friends and family back home a happy (and belated) new year. It’s not too hot in Africa (its still hot) so every day is kind of like a vacation.
posted by Adam Cohen at 1/28/2006
1 Comments:
Great to hear from you Adam. It's great to hear you are busy getting some things done. That's awesome. Good luck with all of your future projects.
Charlie
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