Living in Yako

Yesterday I got to ride a moto for the first time. I was a passenger (not driving) and had a helmet. Plus the roads we were on were not very busy. Nevertheless, I was still a little bit nervous (yet also VERY excited). This trip was to visit the village of Kingria which is about 40 km from Yako- which takes at least an hour by moto. Throughout the week we will be visiting various different villages to talk to the producers about their needs for the upcoming growing season. As I said before, this upcoming season is the dry season during which almost no rain will fall. There may be a little bit at the start, but the plants planted in the upcoming month will rely on irrigation or hand watering for them to survive until the harvest in February.

It’s pretty strange to imagine Burkina getting so dry. Right now it is actually very lush and green. There are crops almost everywhere. We even have a couple of corn plots being grown right in front of our house by the guardian of the compound. The trees are full of leaves and traveling from one city to another the road is lined with grasses and shrubs. Right now, most of the animals (including sheep, goats, donkeys, sheep, some pigs and the odd cow) are generally tied up because finding food is not a challenge. During the dry season, however, they are generally untied to allow them to scrounge for food where it can be found.

The chickens are truly free range. They generally wander around wherever they wish. When you want to eat a chicken, you need to catch it, kill it, pluck it, and prepare it yourself, after which you pick through the chicken to try and get all the meat (or you can just go to a restaurant where they will do the hard work for you).

Anyways, back to the trip. In the morning we were in Kingria meeting with the women who were working the fenced area that SEMUS had established there in 2009. It is 2 hectares large and is surrounded by a fence that goes about 40cm into the ground and 1.5m above ground and keeps out animals. These “périmètres maraichers”- there’s not really a good English translation for that- have been established in a number of villages and another is in the process of being constructed. The area inside the “grillage”- fenced area- is divided into plots which are worked by women of the village. These areas range in size with the smallest being only one hectare and serving about 40 women.

So far, Jeannette and I have had the opportunity to visit a few different sites where these enclosures are established and will likely be visiting more in the upcoming months. One of the major activities that we will be doing is an impact study on these systems and their effects on the community. We will be developing a questionnaire for various groups in the village (women working the land, their husbands, leaders of the village, etc.) and creating a report on the impact the enclosures have had in a specific village. At the same time, we will continue to visit the different villages with our boss, learn more about the agricultural system in Burkina Faso, and help out wherever we can.

Well, I kind of went off topic a bit there, but I hope that gives you a bit of an idea about my life here in Yako. I’ll let you know more soon!

Water Woes

Hey there everyone!

So it has now been almost two weeks that I've been in Burkina Faso and I'm really enjoying life here so far. Unfortunately I've been finding it difficult to write new blogs from here: not because I have nothing to write, but because for some reason I have not been able to access my blog very easily. As a result I may have my sister post some updates for me throughout the next eight months. Still I will try to add them myself whenever possible.

Anyways, for school one of our assignments is to write a page on some issue in our country every other week. This week I chose to write a bit about the water challenges being faced in Burkina and how my work while I am here relates to this issue. About 80-90% of the population in Burkina makes a living performing subsistance agriculture so the issue of water is really important here. Sometimes I will post my bi-weekly here while other times I may not, but because this one talks a bit more about what I will be doing I thought it would be interesting to share. Enjoy!

During our first two weeks in Burkina Faso, Jeannette and I have had the opportunity to visit three different Burkinabé villages around the town of Yako. Last week we visited Tindila with a group of students from l’Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec who will be working over the next four months to build an irrigation system for the women in the village. While two of the students already had the opportunity earlier in the year to visit the site and had seen similar irrigation systems in surrounding villages, others also wanted to visit villages where the irrigation system had been implemented. As a result, we were able to accompany three of the students along with four women from Tindila, our boss, and two other SEMUS employees to two of the villages where SEMUS is working. In Noussou we visited a fenced compound where women were able to grow various crops without worrying about animals entering and eating the crops. In Koassa we were also able to see a similar compound where an irrigation system had recently been installed to provide easier access to water for the women working the land in the area. The students from Quebec are looking to replicate this system in Tindila by the end of December.

Burkina Faso experiences three growing seasons. Depending on the season, they choose to grow different vegetables. Currently, we are nearing the end of the wet growing season which lasted from July to September during which corn, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, and gumbo were grown and preparing for the dry growing season which lasts from November to February. During this time, rain is non-existent which means that all plants must be watered either manually or through irrigation systems. Farmers generally choose to grow high amounts of onions at this time with fewer tomatoes, eggplant, or potatoes. The third season starts in March and lasts until mid-June and is considered the“intermediate growing season”.

Over recent years there have been increasing occurrences of drought and erratic rainfall in Burkina Faso. Last year was particularly devastating for many Burkinabé farmers. While a typical rainy season lasts from May or June to mid-October, the rains in 2011 were sparse and failed to replenish the water supply needed to support crops throughout the dry season. While irrigation systems are helpful to women in the area by reducing the amount of manual work required to grow crops, I personally think it will be more effective to introduce greater water conservation efforts in this area.

On Thusday morning we met with representatives from five surrounding villages to discuss the past year’s growing season, look at challenges that were faced, and consider the upcoming dry season. One of the recurring themes was the lack of water to sufficiently water crops in the past year. For example, one of the communities has a fenced compound of two hectares for cultivation, but 300-400 square meters of the area was not used because of insufficient water resources. Even if this village had an established irrigation system it would not increase the available amount of water. The crops that farmers choose to grow in each season reflect their recognition of the water shortage problem. Three of the five villages intend only to plant onions over the dry growing season as they require very little water while the other two will plant onions as well as a few other vegetables. Nevertheless more effort needs to be made to increase the resilience of these farmers to recurring drought.

In the area around Ouahigouya (which is about an hour to the northwest of Yako), efforts are being made to introduce water conservation methods on farms. One approach is the use of furrows and ridges to channel the water and help it to remain near the surface for an extended period of time. SEMUS has also been working to promote this practice in areas surrounding Yako. Nevertheless, this process requires that farmers have the tools required to make the furrows which can be a significant investment. Another technique that is being promoted both in Ouahigouya and by SEMUS is the use of compost on fields. SEMUS has worked in various villages to build up to 30 composters per village and is encouraging people to compost animal and plant waste to be used as fertilizer.

Despite the advances that have been made in sustainable agriculture over the past few years, it is evident that challenges are still being faced by farmers in northern Burkina Faso. More training and adaptation is required before farmers will be able to withstand droughts like the one experienced in 2011. And despite the high amounts of water received in this year’s rainy season, one of the most difficult challenges is being faced over the next month as people need to make their food supplies last until the harvest in October. I’m eager to be working with SEMUS over the next eight months in the sustainable agriculture department as we look to address water shortages and other challenges being faced by Burkinabé farmers. It is difficult to determine the greatest needs of agricultural workers in Burkina Faso, but I personally believe that water shortages will be one of the most important challenges to address over my time here.

Update!

     Where to start??? I’ve done and seen plenty of new things this week. Met dozens of people (of whose names I remember very few, and made a fool of myself a few times. I’ll try to expand on some of the things I touch on later this year, but for now here is an overview of what I have been doing this past week.

      I suppose the adventure started at Pearson International although that seems like a really long time ago. Mom and Dad came to see me off. Taya and David had also come to the airport along with Kevin’s family. Jeannette had already flown to Toronto from Winnipeg on Sunday morning. Our first flight took about 6.5 hours to get from Toronto to Paris. We had about two hours in Paris to make it to our second plane and made it there in about half that time so we were able to relax for a while. According to our itinerary our second plane was going to be flying directly to Ouagadougou, but in Paris we found out that we were first making a stop in Niamey, Niger. In Niger we dropped off about half the passengers, did multiple “person counts” (apparently one person didn’t get off as they were supposed to), and waited for about a half hour before we were up in the air for another hour to Burkina Faso. It seemed like we had just made it to our flying altitude when the captain announced that we were starting our descent.

      Jeannette, Kevin, and I landed at around 16:30 local time in Ouagadougou. Anyone who has been to the airport in Ouaga will know that it is nothing big or fancy. There is only one runway and planes have to enter in the middle, taxi to the end, and turn around to take off. Security was pretty quick as well and in no time we were in the arrival areas waiting for our ride. We were just starting to talk about what we would do if Simon (the person who was to pick us up) didn’t come when he walked through the door. Just a short car ride later we were at the centre where we were staying for the next few days before going to Yako on Friday. We were living in a catholic missionary centre while in the capital with seven other students from Quebec who are also volunteering in the country over the next few months. Six of them will be in a small town just south of Yako called Tindila where they will be helping to build an irrigation system for the women in the area.

     After a long day of travelling- there was technically a night in there, but for us it lasted about four hours, we landed around 16:30 Burkina time (which is 4 hours ahead of Ontario) while other students were not here until after midnight. The three of us spent the evening looking for a restaurant that was still open by 18:30 and finally came across one that opened again as soon as we asked if they were closed J. The next morning we walked around again to find a place for breakfast and ended up on one of the major streets through the city. This is where you find almost all the major banks, a couple of embassies, some European style coffee shops, and plenty of people (in cars, motos, bikes, or walking). Later we came back and brought the Quebec students out for lunch and visited le Grand Marche. By the time we had walked from the front door through to the back door, each of us was talking with a partner vendor who was trying to sell us something.

     Our orientation in Ouaga was quite interesting and helpful. The WUSC drivers brought us around the city to help us find cell phones, take out money, buy mosquito nets, get essentials that can only be found in Ouaga, and helped us find places to eat. Friday we made some final purchases then drove on to Yako. The roads here are actually very good. In Ouaga the major streets are all paved and side streets are packed down hard enough that they are also quite smooth. The road to Yako is also paved and except for a few potholes is also very smooth. The road to Tindila is another story though.

Tindila is about 20km away from Yako and the road leading there is full of holes, bumps, grooves, and plenty of other obstacles. Friday night we brought the Quebecois students to Tindila to their residence for the next 4 months and had the chance to watch the reception they were given. Village life is definitely very different from life in Yako, but would also be a really neat experience.

     The past couple of days we have been touring around Yako and learning more about SEMUS and the work that they do. I’ve been introduced to plenty of people, but remember very few of the names. I’m sure that will come with a bit more time. Yesterday Jeannette and I visited a few potential houses, decided on where we will be living, and today we were able to move in! Kevin is staying with us for the next three days and is then moving to his own “bachelor apartment”. Today we also visited Tindila again for a meeting with the chief of the town and various representatives from the community. We also got to visit the site where the students from Quebec will be building an irrigation system. Back in Yako, we visited le Grand Marché, moved into our new house, and met some of Kevin’s friends from the four months he was here at the beginning of the year.

     Tomorrow there are no official plans as it is Sunday. We are planning to meet a couple more of Kevin’s friends, go to another market, and find some gas so we can start using our stove. We’ve been eating out for almost every meal so far. Admittedly it is very cheap to do that here in Yako- only 400 CFAs for a plate of spaghetti, rice, or potatoes with sauce, or an omelette if it’s breakfast time which is the equivalent of about 80 cents Canadian. Nevertheless, it will be nice to do a bit of our own cooking and start making our own drinking water rather than relying on sachets or Lafi (a trusted type of bottled water).

I’ll send more updates soon…

A tout!

Almost there...

In only a few more days I will finally be leaving Canada. Jeannette, Kevin and I leave Pearson at 6:50 on Sunday night, have a short layover in Paris, and land in Ouagadougou on Monday. Yesterday I finally started packing- mostly just so I can figure out what I still have to buy before leaving. I find that packing itself is not all that difficult. The harder part is figuring out how to tie up all the loose ends before going. It's strange to think that one week from now I'll be in Ouagadougou for orientation training and shortly after that I'll be moving on to Yako for the next eight months.

For those of you who have only started reading my blog recently, here's the two minute run-down on what I'm doing and expecting for the coming year:

•  I will be living in Yako, Burkina Faso. Yako is home to about 25,000 people and is about 100km to the northwest of Ouagadougou (the capital city).
• I'll be working with the organization SEMUS along with two other students from the University of Waterloo. I will likely be involved in some of the environmental initiatives that the organization is running. One is a community gardens project and the other is a reforestation project working with farmers in rural villages.
• The official language of Burkina Faso is French, however only about 20% of the people in the country are able to speak French. The majority still use indigenous languages. In my office, the working language will be French, however we will have a translator accompany us when visiting smaller villages. My French is a bit rusty, but will hopefully be back up to par after a couple of weeks.
• While the typical North American novelties (specifically food) will be fairly readily available in the capital, this is not the case in Yako where the market will be the main source of food and clothing (I'm excited about that!)
• The pace of life in Burkina Faso is very different from Canada. The pace of life is slower than it is here, partly due to the heat, but also because the culture is much more relaxed and seems to place a stronger emphasis on relationships than productivity.
• Internet connections can be fairly unpredictable (along with electricity and water supply). As a result, I may not be able to give updates on my adventures as often as I would like. Nevertheless, I will make an effort to give an update every 2-3 weeks.

A bientot mes amis!