the end of the rainy season

Personal:

In Rambo, everyone knew me. I don’t know that such is possible in Kong. For the most part in Rambo, I had all the calls of “nasara” (whitey in Moore) changed to “Thomas” or “monsieur” but there are far too many random calls in a town to stop for each and effectively putting an end to such by introducing myself.

What happens in Kong one perhaps could call a sort of anonymity. I can hide in my house for an hour or two and no one comes knocking down my door to see what happened to Mr. Ellison. Further, there are far less people keeping track of my comings and goings. Yet, in that new anonymity, I have not lost the ability to quit standing out like a sore thumb when I do step foot outside. One might say that has a touch of irony. I am no longer the famous white person. I am just a nameless white person.

In a way, it is regression. I do want to hear “Thomas” or “monsieur” everywhere I go. I want people to care about me. However, I do not want it to be on the basis of my skin color. Thus, in a way, the situation in Rambo came to the point where my skin color weighed less on people’s minds. Now, it seems to be the only recognizable thing about me to the vast majority of people here for no other reason then there are more people.

It will improve in time. More and more, I hear the call “Thomas” from random alley ways. Heck, just today, I was biking through the outer edge of town for scenic reasons and stumbled across one of my neighbors. He was busy playing Scrabble with buddies. (Yes, they play French Scrabble here with boards they have made.) To be in a random area of town, far from my neighborhood, and stumble across a familiar and welcoming call of my name, it was nice.

On a dietary note, I have been eating yogurt like it is going out of style. While it was traditionally an unrequired taste of mine, I have found that I now crave it. It is perhaps the closest thing that one can get to ice cream in Kong and that perhaps can best explain the change in my taste buds. Beyond that, it seems to have some health benefits associated with it. My gut is full of that supposed good bacteria now and I'm getting my daily dose of protein. Now, if only the lady would let me keep the plastic container it comes in. It's annoying to have to always return them (though nice as it does give me an excuse to grab another one).

Work:

I am posting some of the pics of my computer lab. So far we have eleven computers that look to be decent enough to type on. As you can see from the pictures, the lab is hardly a top-notch facility. Really it consists of aluminum tables, a circuit break and a number of thrown-together computers, all precariously put together in a room that has a leaking roof and an invasion of frogs. Yet, who is looking for perfection? It may be the first the time ever that these kids are getting the ability to sit down and work with a functioning piece of the Information Age. Having said that, the conditions could use improvement and can sometimes be frustrating, even disheartening.

My first objective is to use the lab in two different manners: to learn to manipulate a computer and learn the basics about hardware. There are a million things one can focus on (internet, typing, games, MS Office, OS, programming, etc.) so why those two? Simply stated, if they are comfortable sitting down and knowing how to interact with any computer, then they will be prepared to learn any set of programs (and who knows what those will be). Second, so often the reason why labs fail in this country is hardware maintenance and it often something as simple as being able to change out the hard-drive. All the other pieces of computer knowledge will hopefully then follow. This is only the beginning.

The larger goal for the lab is to have a Burkinabe teacher or community member take over its maintenance and operation. In the past, there was a lab that existed at my school but it was quickly shutdown when computers ran into simple errors. Further, a local administrator can be responsible for coordinating the acquisition of new resources for the lab. This will hopefully go beyond an adequate number of new computers to include a projector, scanner, battery backup, air-conditioning system and whatever else we can put into the budget that will improve the chances of bringing my students into the current century.

On the note of bringing my kids into the current century, I believe my job as a teacher is far more about expanding opportunity than teaching technical details. My students are as intelligent, resourceful and eager to learn as any students out there. The difference is that they often come across far too many barriers. Think of the difference it would make if that genius in my math class had the resources and free time to experiment and research instead of trying to scratch enough food from the earth to live. These minds our the resources of the future. And that all sounds lame and cheesy but it's true. What do we lose out on when lives are absorbed in surviving instead of expanding? Further, what good does it do if I teach them about computer programming yet they never get to sit down and type on a computer? Thus, it is my job to encourage them to push forward with all the will they can muster and to find ways to open the road before them. I guess you could say my teaching style is like a guy with a bullhorn and a bulldozer who is bullheaded.

Community:

The rumors of long lines for cooking gas in Ouaga are plentiful. With any luck, that means gas is on its way to Kong in less than a month. (Though I bought rice and beans from a lady last night that was cheap and tasty which makes cooking a lot less necessary.)

The rains have slowed down but not fully stopped. It now rains about once a week instead of a few times a week. Thus, it looks like we will avoid some of the major flooding that happened at the end of the season last year without losing on the crop yield side. At the moment, the millet plants are standing far above my head, reaching up to eight or more feet along the main road in Kong. What a blessing, too, as it seemed for a while in June that the rains would never come. Of course, it is Africa and anything can happen.

On a book note: I just finished with a number of books that I would recommend. First and foremost is the Zeitoun by David Eggers (big old author crush on Dave!). The man knows how to write narrative journalism and, even more so, knows how to pick stories that connect to the deeper better parts of our humanity.

On the great writers’ side, I just finished Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. A classic American writer’s of America. You have to love how it gets Texas just right. If you know any Texans, get the book, open to the last section and read it. You’ll smile. It’s true. Texas pride and is beautiful thing.

Finally, I would recommend a combo. The first of the combo would be The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind about a teenager in Malawi (true story) that through his own studying builds his own windmill (without any outside help) using local materials. Simply inspirational. Then, read Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers for no other reason then it speaks directly to such a story as William’s, who harnessed the wind. After all, he is not the only boy genius or mechanical wonder in Africa, just one that had the will, community and circumstances to make something extraordinary. Just think how many others here in Africa could do the same. I know a few myself that have visited my courtyard a half-a-million times.