Ouagadougou Days are over….
Yesterday evening I arrived at my ultimate destination,
Diebougou. It is a town in the South
West region, close to the Ghanaian border, and is the base for VARENA Asso, the
NGO I will be working for. I was brought
from the bus station in a trailer attached to a bike, sitting like a queen
among my possessions; my luggage, a
brand new mattress, a water filter and a gas cooker. My house is on the outskirts of town and by
most standards here it is sumptuous. I
have three bedrooms, some 6 mattresses, an ensuite shower room and a separate
shower room. Not to mention a sitting
room, terrace, roof terrace and fully equipped kitchen with a fully functioning
FRIDGE. I am overwhelmed! The house is surrounded by a large courtyard,
with three acacias, a young mango tree, a young avocado tree and lots of
bougainvilia. And other stuff ..... Not that I could see all
that in the dark …. Ousmane from VSO BF directed
operations – mosquito net; check. Water filter;
check. Water supplies while the
filter is being sterilised; check. Then
with instructions about the early start and keeping the gates locked at all
times he and Ali were gone and the taximan was gone; I was able to walk about
my new home, unpack a bit, rest a bit, unpack a bit more, play with light
switches and taps etc. and finish unpacking.
Oh, and move the desk over to the window so that I can type, look up,
and see into the courtyard.
A very odd experience , sleeping in my new home under my
mosquito net. Listening to next door’s
metal gate clanging, odd bangs and voices, and mopeds rushing past. For a while a local maquis (bar) was rocking and
there was even drumming at one point. I
managed to stay asleep most of the night, and was ready when Mrs Next Door –
whom I have still to meet – started pegging out her washing at 5.30 am. I was pretty much on the same mission, and
had soaked my own week’s washing overnight so was able to rinse and peg out,
too. Small things cleaned and pegged out
are small things indeed, I know, but
pleasures nonetheless. And I cannot
recommend Burkina Faso highly enough for lovers of pegging out. Cotton, jersey all dry in an hour. Whooo!
At 7am I was ready for collection – which did not take place
until 7.30am. I was taken directly to VARENA
Asso’s office with Simon and Ousmane to be introduced to the director and the
two field workers I shall be in touch with;
I am sharing an office with one – a young married woman who specialises
in women’s projects. The meeting was
brief as the director had a meeting elsewhere.
We are settling in today and tomorrow and will not start in earnest
until next week.
Considerable progress has been made. I have a BF bank account, I know my way
around the market and shops of Diebougou.
I have bought some of the basics I need thanks to Ali and his scooter,
so I can look forward to a hot meal this evening. I have an operational water filter so can
begin to wean myself off bottles; the filtering, boiling and cooling routine is
going to take some getting used to! Simon
says he doesn’t bother any more.
Ummm. I am not that brave. Have decided I must have a Mobylette so as to
be independent – too far, and too hot to walk to VARENA Asso, and I cannot be
dependent on Simon as it will drive us both mad. I shall ask Ali to sort it.
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