Under the Baobab

Under the Baobab

They gather in the shade of a baobab, about 20 men and women of all ages, some with babies on their laps.  They are here to learn how to read Siamou, their mother-tongue.  Moussa, the teacher, guides them through a series of pronunciations and leads them into words that eventually create a story about a man and a woman who are caring for their sheep.

The sentence structure and progression reminds me of the “Dick and Jane” stories that I learned to read with, but the activities in this reading material directly connect with life in Orodara.  The subject matter creates immediate interest among the students and they are eager to learn.

Lillian Nicolson, a Mennonite Church Canada Witness worker to Burkina Faso has spent a number of years studying the tonal nature of Siamou and creating orthography for it. She developed the lesson books the teacher is using.

In this particular “classroom”, the process isn’t easy, for a number of reasons.  The students have never read before in any language and the concept of symbols on a page to represent the world around them is a new one. Some students are distracted from their studies by their babies, whom they carry on their backs, or by their other young children, who play in the background and creep nearer, presumably to get closer to the small group of foreigners, a handful of participants in the Burkina Faso Learning Tour, who have come to watch the class.

In addition, there is a wedding celebration less than 100 meters away.  Drums, a balaphone, a xylophone constructed from gourds and carefully carved wood slats, and the sounds of laughter and happy voices almost drown out the teacher’s voice.

It isn’t easy to learn, but they come.

Trapped!

It’s a trap!

Or at least, that’s what it feels like. The mosquito net is suspended from the ceiling with four hooks and ropes, and the bottom edges of it are firmly tucked beneath my mattress.

When I wake up at night to use the bathroom, I have trouble pulling the net out from under the mattress and for a few panicky moments, I do indeed feel as though I’m trapped.

It seems odd to bother with these nets or slather myself in heavy-duty insect spray; I’ve seen only a couple of mosquitoes.  The nights here are practically insect-free - a dramatic contrast to the Manitoba summer nights I'm used to.  But Manitoba mosquitoes don’t carry a risk of malaria.

God for all People

We welcome all people as our friends. This is a rough translation from French of a comment I’ve heard from several Burkinabé in public – and in church.  During the service at Foyer Evangélique Mennonite de Ouagadougou today we sing in a variety of languages to represent all of the people present in the service.

We sing in at least six different languages, including several indigenous tongues, French and English.  Apparently this is a regular occurrence. It’s a delightful show of the hospitality we’ve encountered during our stay.

“Did Jesus come just for Christians?” asks Othniel, the law student who presented the sermon through translator and church pastor, Calixte Bananzaro.

It isn’t a rhetorical question; he encourages people in the congregation to respond.  And they do.

Christ came for everyone because the Lord wants everyone to be saved.

In the beginning we say that God is for everyone. If I confess that Christ is God himself, I will say that Christ is for everyone.

I think that a Christian is one who accepts Christ. And whatever is your mother tongue, if you confess Christ, you become Christian.

Othniel’s sermon is based upon the Book of Jonah, a man who resisted God’s instruction to warn his enemies in Assyria that the judgement of God would be upon them if they did not repent.

God wants even our enemies to learn the truth.

God is for everyone, so we should be too.

I hear and see this gracious acceptance in church, but I also witness it in the wider community, where I can’t tell who is Christian and who is not.

Oddly enough, I feel safer and more welcome here than I do in some parts of Canada.

To Market, to Market

The Dassasgo Market is alive with energy and colour. Individual vendors are jammed together under tarps of corrugated tin or scrap lumber selling everything from natural medicines and plastic products to fabric and hairstyling services.

Bright green peppers, garden-ripe tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers and other vegetables are arranged in neat piles on mats. A veritable salad of aromas fills the air.  I’ve never been in a supermarket that smelled so fresh.  

Vendors, almost exclusively women, sit on mats or lean against posts that support tarps shading their wares, cheerfully bantering back and forth, inviting visitors to purchase their produce.

Bonjour, ça va? Greetings come from everyone, including the children who shyly follow us and extend hands of greeting.  One small boy runs back to his mother, wide-eyed, to show her the hand that I, a pale, Anglo-speaking woman have touched. She bursts into laughter and sends me a warm smile.

The marketplace, I think, captures something of the essence of the Burkinabé.  

A Whirlwind Start

Lack of time and internet connectivity has limited posting during our travels. We’re in Burkina now, with a high speed internet connection. Here are a few highlights:

February 17, 2011

Winnipeg International Airport

Margaret, Nettie, Tina (Katharina), Steve, Natasha, Norm and I (Deb) met at the airport this morning to head for Toronto. Jake, Margaret’s husband, is going out alone on a three-day retreat to pray for our safety and for blessings on our tour.

Jake, thank you for this inspirational support. I don’t know about the rest of the crew, but I feel blessed already.

Toronto International Airport

A late lunch at Swiss Chalet and we were off to the boarding area to meet up with Josh, Len and Clara, Ken, Edgar and Ruby. We’ll catch up with Vincent and Marie-Eve in Paris; it’s more practical for them to fly directly there from their home in Quebec.

Ken tells us that he does not smile for the camera. We are going to prove him wrong on this trip! See, we’ve already begun.

February 18, 2011 

Paris France, De Gaulle International Airport

Jerry, he said his name was. Jerry with a delightful Irish accent. “Can I buy you a coffee?” he asked.

Margaret, Tina (Katharina) and Nettie and I were standing in line at illy Espresso in Paris at the de Gaulle International Airport , debating how we would pay for our morning java with no Euros in hand.

“Visa,” I said. How else?

And that’s when Jerry stepped in. “I’ve been in that boat before,” he said, referring to our lack of the appropriate currency. Jerry was on his way home to Dublin, Ireland after four intensive days of IT meetings in India. He treated us each to a latte and wished us well for the rest of our journey.

“We might not be able to pay you back, but we’ll pay it forward,” Margaret said, referring to a popular movie with a noble theme. It’s a movie that Jerry knew about too.

What compelled Jerry’s kindness? Maybe he was drawn to us because something about us rang a familiar chord with him - the bright (Irish) green Learning Tour t-shirts Margaret, Tina and Nettie wore (Engage, Grow, Learn), or because of the slight reddish tint in my hair. Perhaps dear Margaret with her kind face and lovely grey hair reminded him of someone he knew. But in the middle of an airport where almost everyone spoke French and we didn’t, it was a delight to meet Jerry and to experience his hospitality.

Thanks, Jerry, wherever you are, for the cuppa and a kindness that warmed our day.

African Airspace

I can’t tell you how awe-inspiring it was to visibly recognize the moment we entered airspace over the continent of Africa. In this photo, we’re heading due south. One can almost imagine the rest of Africa’s shape unfolding ahead of us and to the east and west. Red, red soil. Magnificent.

Air France Flight 538, somewhere over North Africa.

Ah, the bathroom lineup. Always long but never boring. That’s where I met Lucas. Lucas, a young Polish man in his late twenties or early thirties, was on his way to Niamey, Niger, our one stop before Ouagadougou. He and about 20 others were going there to monitor the fairness of an upcoming election.

After hearing about our Learning Tour, he referred to his work as a different type of mission. “We’re there for humanity, for political fairness and human rights.”

Thank God for peacebuilders, whatever their profession!

Welcome to Burkina!

More red, red earth with splotches of scrub grass and shrubs. If it hadn’t been for the large palm tree, I could have imagined the place to be southern Alberta during a dry spell. But the air smells different here, almost sweet. The scent reminds of the delicious curried chicken and red pepper lunch we had on Air France.

The atmosphere here is different too. Though the sun has set and almost frenetic energy bubbles through the streets, which we careen through at high speed in our taxis. Vendors dished up food from large metal bowls, men darted around cars at stop lights with wares to sell. Bolts of beautiful fabric hung from pegs. Everywhere people on bicycles and motorcycles zipped through the streets at high speeds. Despite barred windows on lean-to style shops we spotted huge clusters of motorcycles parked by the roads unattended.

I took a number of photos until an airport official politely informed me – in French (and I actually understood!) that I was not to take photos of the airport.

But wow! Are we glad to be here! The smile on Josh's face says it all.

Becoming the...church?

Many in our group are wearing bright green t-shirts with the slogan “engage, grow, learn” emblazoned on the front. As other curious travellers and airport security see our t-shirts the question invariably comes: “what does it mean?” “Where are you going?” “Why?”

And it’s great to hear the responses that our group in forming in these conversations: “We are going to learn from church.” “We are visiting our mission workers and hope to learn about their work.”

As we wait for our final flight to Burkina Faso, it is wonderful see the connections growing in the group. New friendships being formed, the “Mennonite game” has made a few rounds and common friends have been discovered and a few possible common relatives...from a scattering of individuals we are becoming a team...more than a group...could we call this church?

God is present here...and there!

When the alarm went at 6am on Thursday morning, my body reminded me that I had very little sleep last night. Preparing to gather a group of 17 travellers who have never met one another and then travel a combined 16-17 hours...I guess nerves got the better of me.

As my feet hit the floor I uttered the prayer with which I begin each day, “Lord, this is the day that you have made and I will rejoice and be glad in it.” But then more thoughts, words, concerns began to pour out...prayer for health, strength, patience, and then health again.

My wonderful wife joined me for a good breakfast of porridge and blueberries and plenty of milk as I prepared to take my first malaria prevention tablet...again prayers for health and group unity and safety.

As I drove to the city the words of familiar Psalms began to fill my prayers and the reminder that God precedes us on this journey, that God knows the concerns of our hearts, that God has been at work in Burkina Faso for ages past and has prepared this time for this group to experience God’s church in new, unique, wonderful ways.

Anticipation

With only two days until we begin our journey, excitement is mounting.  Although our group of seventeen is spread across Canada from Calgary to Quebec and most of us have yet to meet face-to-face, we have been getting to know each other by email. Some of us have done a great deal of travelling, while others have never set foot off of the continent before. Some are young adults, others are seniors, and a couple of us fall somewhere in the middle.

Reasons for embarking on this adventure vary. Some of the participants have strong connections to Burkina through the Mennonite Church Canada Witness workers their congregations support in Burkina – Jeff and Tany Warkentin, our hosts in Ouagadougou; Anne Garber Kompaore (with her husband Daniel Kompaore); and Norm and Lillian Nicolson.   Others are preparing for involvement in Canadian Mennonite University’s Outtatown program which will begin in Burkina at a later date. And others are looking for an adventure that will help them  experience the world in a new and different way.

Here’s what some of us have to say as we prepare for the trip:

  

I hope that I will really take everything I can out of this experience, in such a way that I will be able to share it with people here when I return. I'm also thinking a lot about the warm weather. And also I'm very curious about, and looking forward to the cultural differences we will encounter. ~Stephanie

I am looking forward to an inspiring cross-cultural experience and meeting many wonderful people! ~Jennifer

I've always enjoyed travelling and I thought it would be a great experience to travel in a group like this….I am also very much interested in visiting the people of Burkina and learning from them in a very different way than I learn in the classroom.  ~Natasha

As departure date approaches, I think about how reports place Burkina Faso as one of the poorest countries in the world.  I have a feeling this will be different from other travel.  Then I’ve read recently that the name Burkina Faso itself means “dignity-nobility-integrity” or “Land of the Honourable”.  How friends who have been there speak to how the majority of Burkinabe live up to this great name, and are among the most humble and sincere they’ve met in Africa.  I sense a sort of grateful anticipation to meet good people along dusty roads, and I think towards how my own life and others might be changed through this experience. ~Steve

I thought that foreign travel was a past item for me but when I saw this tour publicized, I was drawn to it.  It will definitely be the only time that I can go on such a mission tour study as my age is not in my favour.  I could be the oldest person on the tour or at least one of the oldest.  I am 76 years old.  ~Ken

Stay tuned for blogposts from Burkina Faso Learning Tour participants as our journey unfolds.