In memory of Seb Kiendrébéogo

Seb Kiendrébéogo was my APCD (director of my sector, secondary education). He was the one responsible for having given me Rambo which was one of the luckier things to ever happen to me. Admittedly, I did not always think highly of Seb, at least not in the beginning. But, over time, he won me over as I saw his strong motivation to aid local communities and his ability to balance that with volunteers' wants. He believed in what we were doing and was always encouraging. He always held a smile. Even at times when I have felt disconnected from the administration, I have considered him a valuable ally. He came to Rambo a few times, even sitting in my class and laughing along with myself and my kids. He was a good man. So, this blog is meant simply to mark my memory of Seb Kiendrébéogo and to say something that I did not get to say to him often enough, thank you. May he rest in peace.

Visit

(This is from Oct 21st)
Work:

Last Friday, I looked out across my class and I saw faces lit up, honored and excited. The Peace Corps regional director for all of Africa had just left, along with Burkina Faso’s country director and an entourage of Peace Corps officials. The chatter in the room radiated, melted into the walls and poured out the door. They accepted that I needed to leave them with something before the weekend so they took a few notes, then they were gone, out the door and into the open air. The chatter magnified.

On the walk home, I was surrounded by kids tripping and scurrying along in their English. They wanted to know more, play more in the words of those foreigners who came to say hi. It had only been thirty minutes of greetings. Single file the kids had gone up to each American, greeted them then presented themselves. But it was more than just practicing their English, it was representing their country. While they surely know little of the inner workings of the Peace Corps, they recognized that an official from that big strange place, America, wanted to come and see their country, their province, their town, their school, their class. They were ambassadors, representatives of their home. What a powerful sentiment. Pride.

I was proud of them. Not only because they were well behaved but they seemed to all understand that it was really about them. Even if they did not consciously process it all, they were proud of themselves and the future they hold. That pride, that sense of importance, builds into motivation and passion. I know it will not last forever and there will be other challenges but it gives you hope. Hope is what makes an education achievable. So we’ll keep chatting along, even if in broken English.

Our curriculum for the course is fairly open, as I was handed a student’s English workbook as a teaching guide. It has no lessons, only a few dialogues and a couple of activities. Thus, the course is as we make it. In that, I can be thankful as my classes only loosely conform to the workbook. Instead, we work on learning intuitive English. Start with basics, everyday uses, and build basic rules as we go along. It’s gone something like this:

Greetings
Saying your name
Pronouns (I, You, We…)
Verbs (Imperative form, ex: Go, Listen, Be Quiet..)
Classroom Nouns (Book, Student, Teacher, Pen…) and “What is this?”
Conjugating “To Be” in the present
Plurals
Possessive (my, your, his…)
Basic Sentences
Negative Form of Sentences
Asking Yes or No Questions (Are you a door? Is he a teacher?...)

My kids have taken to much of the material and rather quickly. In the past three weeks, they have picked up the major points in all the above. My goal is to keep them motivated to learn and to make learning English as instinctual as I can. The visit from the Peace Corps high-ups plays into that. We are using the language, making it a part of our lives. Not learning the translation of things but communicating in English, catching the flow of it in our few short hours a week. Our focus is not spelling or grammar but comprehension. So far, it has had encouraging results. Hope.

Community:

I have started working with a young student from Kongoussi to teach him info-tech. I’ll call him Kid Constant for the time being. In a way, he is my test subject for my course on info-tech. In another way, he poses an interesting problem. All across Burkina there are bright young minds that are excelling in classes. More often then not though, there are bright young minds working in fields when classes are going on. It seems sad to say but it comes down to what often seems luck. Kid Constant goes to school at night (a program that meets only once a week at night) and balances time between odd jobs and his divorced parents. In so many ways, his intelligence shows. Yet, his education is lacking like so many, simply because the parents do not have either the money, will or time to invest (if not all three). It is the luck of the draw as to whether or not any given smart kid will be in a situation in which he can take advantage of that. As an educator, it’s hard to take. After all, aren’t we here to open doors, to build opportunity? Kid Constant is at least lucky in that he stumbled into my path and hopefully he’ll get something out of working together. It does make me wonder though, how many other Kid Constants are there in Kongoussi, Burkina, Africa…?

Personal:

I’ve been finding more and more motivation to do more and more as I get busier. It is as if having more to do gives me the energy to do more. It’s nice being busy. I spent the last weekend rebuilding the PC Burkina website and am much happier with its progress. That project is settling on firmer ground which led me to a meeting with a man who runs an orphanage and wants to build a website. Good work leading to motivation for more good work.

kindness

Community:

I road my bike on Friday evening passed the primary school, along the curve of the only paved road in Kong. Turning in front of me was a large supply truck followed by line after line of mopeds. It was a parade of commerce with everyone clamoring behind to get their piece of the truck. As the truck pulled up next to the gas supplier, I cursed myself for having not pulled out money when I got down to my last few dollars.

In order to buy a new 12kg tank of gas you need about $40. I had $10 and change. Thus, I watched as others scampered to get their hands on these now rare blue bottles. It has been well over a month since any cooking gas has been lifted from a supply truck and placed gently to the ground. I have been waiting since day one of the shortage. Now, so close to putting my hands to the tank of my cooking independence, I find myself without the funds.

The next morning, I wake early, hoping to get a jump on the Sonapost to take out money and, perhaps, a tank of gas. Before taking the trek to the ‘post I go to check the availability at the gas supplier. With a nod and a grin, amongst a crowd, the supplier tells everyone there is plenty to go around. I blurt out the question on everyone’s mind, “how much?” It is $8 for a recharge which helps me none as I have no empty bottle to recharge. I ask the price of a new one.

“They don’t exist.”
“What do you mean? I can see that you have many bottles of gas here. Can you not sell me one?”
“Nope.”
”Really?!”
“Really.”
“Why not?”
“It is not mine to sell. I can only exchange an empty one for a full one in order to recharge them. If you want to buy a bottle, it will be several months more.”

My fist clenched at that moment. Rage tapped me on the shoulder, asking for his turn. I suppressed and left. As I dejectedly opened the door to my shared courtyard, my neighbor was riding his moped out.

“Good morning. How are things?”
“Very well. I slept nicely last night. And you?”
“I slept well enough. What are you up to this morning?”
”I was out talking to the gas supplier but no luck. I don’t have an empty bottle to fill so it will be many months more.”
“What? That can’t be. You know what; I have an empty bottle that I don’t use ever, would you like it?”

At this point, let me remind you that this is the second most under-developed nation in the world. Forty dollars, the price of a new bottle, is a lot of money. And here was my new neighbor, offering to give me his to use. Thus, I let my jaw drop in shock at this generosity and told him I would pay him for it. He would hear no such thing. It was empty and needed to be used. I could have it until I left in a year.

Thus, with kindness, an empty bottle and $10 cash I now have cooking gas and a smile.

On a different note:

Not exactly my primary project but still important, I went to Rambo over the weekend. There, I gave my kids workbooks filled with exercises and answers to help them pass the looming final exam to determine if they can move on to a full high school.

Once there, I was greeted with smiling faces, cold water (from the market), a bowl of peanuts and stories upon stories. Everyone was excited about the great cultivating season they have had and this years prospects. I sat with Husseini (who was my closest neighbor and friend) and played with his newest born, a boy named Mahmadou. We exchanged jokes and stories, laughing and carrying on while my leafed through the books I had brought.

One story struck me. It seems that the local president of the teachers and parents organization had been trying to find a way to take Husseini’s solar panel. (Just to note, when I left Rambo, I gave him my solar panel to use to charge cellphones in order to pay for schooling for his kids and also to use for the kids’ study light at night.) He related how he had showed him the receipt that we put together and the man still insisted that Husseini took it illegitimately. Not being able to do anything about it that night, I sat in my tent turning the situation over and over.

The next morning, Hussein and I took the tour around the quarter and the market. We greeted everyone I knew and were greeted back with bowls of peanuts and many wishes that I would stay in Rambo and not go back to Kong. Along the tour, we met up with the PTA president in a group of friends and family. I congratulated him on a new school year starting. Then proceeded to tell him how grateful I was and how proud he must be that the kids would be able to continue their studies at night without me since Husseini had so nicely used the solar panel that I gave him to help the kids. I made mention of how it pleased me considerately that he was now its owner and the kids would be free to study. It was uncharacteristically passive-aggressive of me and it felt good. It publicly boxed in the PTA president and legitimized Husseini’s position. Just to put the nail in the coffin, I went to greet the chief and gave him a similar praise of Husseini’s use of the panel. He was more than thrilled at the idea and gave Husseini his full endorsement. Oh, village politics.

Politics aside, the fields were full of ripe and ready corn, millet, black-eyed peas and peanuts aplenty. The rains have been plentiful and well timed to give a pretty decent harvest and a positive outlook for this coming year. I did my part to and took my tour of each field, saying hi to all those out working hard, stopping to help pick beans here and there.

Needless-to-say, I left Rambo satisfied and with too many peanuts and a belly full of black-eyed peas and corn. As luck had it, I had the occasion to relinquish two sacks of them as my bike tire and tube blew out forcing me to flag down a ride into town. And just as I awaited gas for so long, I now await a new tire. Looks like I can cook but I’ll be walking the 4k to school everyday and back. It wasn’t so bad today. Besides, I hear it is good for your health. (Of course, so was riding my bike.)













Work:

School has been going quite well. Today, we worked hard on greetings and presenting ourselves. My kids were enthusiastic about being let into the classroom only if they could correctly answer the questions “what is your name?” in understandable English. It was a sort of password into this weird white guy’s class. When they all perfectly expressed their given names, I rewarded them with a little hip hop from back home. Smiles all around.

My principal and I also did the security rounds, meaning we went to all the high commissioner and police types to present the new volunteer, me. In the time between shaking the hands of welcoming officials, I had a chance to just chat with “my prov” (short for proviseur, aka principal, in French). In short, it is good to be working with someone that appreciates hard work and who puts in more than his share of time and energy.

A shock and relief

Personal:

I cannot tell you how relieved I am to have real work starting. Setting up the computer lab and all has been nice but I needed somewhere to be, a real schedule. I enjoy having to make deadlines and work within a certain timeframe (to a certain extent). Thus, school starting is a relief valve for summer stress. I now have a place I need to be each day along with a large amount of time afterwards where I am free to work on lesson plans and the comp lab. It suits me far better than free floating in time and space, perhaps working when someone throws a broken computer my way. I like an outline of structure or, at the very least, a project with a completion date.

On the note of language, my discussions with people are a bit different here in Kong than they were in Rambo. Thus, I find myself reaching farther and farther into Frenchy French. No longer do little metaphors or village French seem to capture the attention of the audience. It is a welcomed natural challenge, as I was finding it difficult to continue advancing in French on my own in Rambo. (Since I read Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography recently I will add a little witticism) It is easier to learn to swim when you are in the ocean than when you sit in a puddle.

Work:

A week before school started, the administration and all the teachers get together to have their little pow-wow. To tell you the truth, it can be one of the most boring parts of the entire year. Stateside, one goes to a meeting expecting efficiency, outlines, schedules and an appreciation for getting to the point. In Burkina, one comes to meeting with a schedule and the desire to be heard, even if his point is already made. Thus, efficiency and an appreciation for the other teacher’s time is often neglected in order to allow every opinion from every mouth. Too often, this does mean that each person gives their spill about a subject even if the exact same thing was just expounded upon profusely. So, it can get a bit long winded in a teacher meeting. After all was said and done, it was a five hour meeting meant to say “welcome to the new year”.

However, this meeting did not go without its drama. My community counterpart, Ben (a math teacher), did speak up in front of the group of thirty-two in order to say his peace about my teaching English on top of IT. While his intentions were well, he had failed to inform the prefecteur (principal) and censeur (one could say vice principal) before going to the meeting. Stateside, it’s not so much a problem. In Burkina, everything is hashed out and spoken about beforehand. There are papers and chains of command to worry about. You miss one step and you offend everyone. Unfortunately for Ben, he missed a number of steps. It was the wrong move for him as a young teacher and it was discussed thoroughly afterwards. Back home, we would not have blinked at his comments but here, for the sake of protocol, it became a situation. Luckily, I am a bit of a grey area so things can be smoothed over a bit easier.

As for school itself, it started today. Well, it was suppose to start today. Today was the first day kids sat in a class. By sitting, I really mean they pulled out all the desks and swept the floor with a bundle of long twigs tied together. This is nothing new. This is a typical first day. Now, just to shock my kids into getting ready for the coming onslaught, I went in and introduced myself. We went over a few points:

First, I am different than the other teachers. (It’s true!) How so?

1. I’m American.
2. I’m an English speaker.
3. I am white.

Then I went over what each of those means:

1. I teach differently so pay attention.
2. I speak differently and it may be difficult sometimes to understand so listen carefully and write things down.
3. While being white is the most obvious difference, it is also the one that does not matter in the scope of our class.

Second, bring your notebooks to class (starting with the next class).

Finally, our third point, make a name card for yourself so I can learn your names and call you by them.

One would not think that those three points were too much for a class of 7th graders but you could see the shock setting in. It was a new year and, for all these kids know, it was going to be a crazy, weird and unexpected ride.

Our next class together will consist of learning how to study. Too often, children are left to teach themselves how to study on their own. Thus, all too frequently, I see kids sitting in front of a notebook and just repeating every sentence until they are done. Those that “truly study” often do this a number of times and complete the homework which puts them ahead of the curve. Thus, a large number of kids can retain information from the class but few can process and use that information in any practical way. So, our class will detail how to make/use flash cards, make/use a translation dictionary, take/use notes (from the board and from the teacher), as well as tips to study at home (in ways that can even be fun). For those that can read French (or know how to use Google Translator) here is a bit of that lesson plan:

Les Notes
- Écrirez tous les notes dans le cahier qui sont sur le tableau noir
- Écrirez tous les exemples dans le cahier
- Notez et écrirez tous les choses importantes que le professeur a dit
- Écrirez la prononciation de mot d’anglais
- Écrirez des questions que vous voulez poser au professeur (en classe ou après)
- Écrirez les réponses des questions

Dictionnaire
- Créez un dictionnaire á la fin de votre cahier
- Partagez les mots en groupe des verbes, des noms, des adjectives, des nombres et des divers
- Écrirez chaque mot dans votre dictionnaire

Créer des Cartes d’Études
- Anglais sur une face de carte et français sur l’autre
- Lissez le mot de français et traduisez le mot en anglais
- Lissez le mot d’anglais et traduisez le mot en français
- Utiliser chaque mot d’anglais dans une phrase
- Etudiez avec les cartes en route á la maison
- Etudiez avec les cartes en route au lycée

Traduisez
- Traduisez quelques phrases d’anglais de vos notes en française
- Retraduisez les phrases en anglais
- Comparez les phrases que vous avez traduit avec les phrases originales d’anglais

Questions
- Posez des questions en classe
- Pensez des questions que vous pouvez posez en classe prochaine
- Écrirez une liste des mots que vous voulez traduire en classe prochaine


IT classes have yet to start for the simple fact that there are no IT students yet. The idea is to have people sign up for the IT classes (as an extra class) over the course of this week. After that, we will assess the situation and see how many classes/hours to build out of that. Lord knows, it may be five students or one thousand. We will see…


Community:

Gas update: none.

The heat and intensity of October has already started to set in. Thank goodness for my fan! One has to love living in luxury. I had two years of baking Octobers and am glad to get a little relief from this one. Typically, October is a mini hot season. It swelters and bubbles just before the coolness of November starts to set in. Luckily, it lasts only about a month. Thus, about the time the next big market comes the days should be less smeared with sweat.

Every twenty first market is an especially big market (well, it is at least a little bigger). Really, not too many more things appear in the market (especially during the harvest time) but people are out and about more. It is as much a community get together as anything. Thus, the day is really spent walking around saying hello to people you know. It is an interesting idea to think that we go to the market to shop, while people here go to the market to gossip and hang-out. It’s like the mall in middle school. You go, walk around, say hi to the girls that giggle when you pass and make sure everyone sees your new jeans. I have to constantly remind myself that (even if I need nothing) I should walk through the market, say hi and just be around for a bit. In Rambo, I could stay in my quarter and just talk to everyone around. Now, with a larger community and friends that are spread far and wide, it becomes necessary to make appearances at places to get that same sort of familiarity and sense of community.