One Month at Site

I read somewhere that a person should treat bargaining like a mellow drama rather than a business transaction. I put the theory to practice and it made shopping in the Banfora marché less intimidating and loads of fun (without making significant contributions to rapidly increasing local inflation). After feigning a heart attacks over the outrageous opening prices of a table, chairs, buckets, kitchen supplies, I was equipped to spend a relatively comfortable two years in Karfiguela.

I arrived at a cement house with a tin roof at nine in the morning on December 30th, 2008. It was filthy. The driver dropped my stuff in a pile outside and I went to work cleaning. In a few minutes a caravan of women appeared carrying huge containers of water on their heads. I felt like the whole village descended on my house and four hours later we were all sitting on my cement patio drinking tea and enjoying the afternoon. Now I just have to figure out how to get rid of the bats.

The most difficult part is...everything. I am trying to work with the people of Karfiguela to help them meet their needs. I don't know what their needs are, and, as it turns out, they don't really know either. On top of that, my primary language is English, they speak Karaboro and we are trying to communicate in French. They are not well educated in the traditional sense of the word - finishing primary school is rare for the men and even more rare for the women. They have a little equipment from NGOs, but they don't know how to use it. Suddenly, I appreciate that I can read and write and use a computer because I have access to knowledge, and knowledge gives you power and opportunity. They don't seem to know what opportunity is and they don't seem to care what power is. At first, I think that might be a better way to live, but then again, I'm not mal-nourished, living next to a garden, selling my vegetables at a loss so I can eat millet paste and sleep outside on the ground with my three kids and no husband. Its hard because everybody wants something from me -- a visa, marriage, a free ride to the states, money, a contact in the states, a cadeau, 50 CFA. Sometimes, I'm overwhelmed and I feel like I can't give anybody anything. I don't have anything to give except ideas. And I have no idea what I am doing here.

But I am not discouraged. I am confused, but I'll figure it out. There is so much work to be done here and it will take patience for me to do it.