The lovely sound of vultures in flight in the morning....

The pigeon nesting in the branch overhanging my large verandah is cute - as is the “whirr” of her wings on the way to the puddle under the the outdoor tap.

The tiny red finch and his mate flittering among the broken reeds of my carport cover are also fine.

It’s the leaves descending like rain and branches moving from the huge flapping wings of the vultures nesting in the largest tree in the middle of the yard that I’m not so keen on. The first week there were more of them, swooping back and forth overhead from the tree to the storeroom roof on the opposite side, but I suppose the presence of more people around the house have disturbed some.

Vultures are a common sight in Ouagadougou. When I lived at Jane’s house I’d often walk past the market on the way to the mission office, and try to avoid the street where they were strutting around the meat sellers.

You see them even when driving down some of the better roads - wandering around the outdoor restaurants that often also sell takeaway beef brochettes, or perching on the overhead street lamps. I had one almost run into me the other day as it swooped across the road at a low height. I need to check the local road rules to see who has precedence in case it happens again, but have already been told they’re protected so I can’t get rid of them in the normal way for pests here.

So I’ve given $1 to the older man who helped me find the house to buy a “vulture repellent” product that will apparently make them go away if placed on branches they use - and haven’t seen him, the money or the product since. He said he’d climb the tree and place it - I offered to find someone younger but I think he wanted the work and laughed when I told him I was worried he’d fall. That was three weeks ago and I haven’t seen him since, but I’ve seen the size of the nest the vultures are building!

Matching outfits but the drinks ran out

I’m taking a little breather now that we had our 2007 graduation for IMS and can finally get some words on paper after the rush of the last weeks.

The graduation went well, though with the running around before and after it was a bit of a blur getting the invitations and programmes done and arranging with the the tailor and embroiderer for the matching outfits, an African tradition. With all the celebrating and people catching up with others (and us women handing out food to the more than 150 that turned up), we didn’t get together for our group photo until the sun had well set, and flashes set off the Harmattan dust made them all a bit of a blur too! Josiane and I had shopped in the market for hours for an African cloth in school colours for the “uniform” for the ceremony for the students and teachers (those with embroidered logos) and staff (same cloth but different style). The baby is the cook’s, by the way, not Deanna’s.

We had the normal things for a graduation: prayers, news of what the student will be doing, a sermon on mission, along with a light meal of a bottle of coke or fanta, beef brochettes, fried sweet potato chips, piece of chicken and tomato sauce … which ran out near the end. A student from IBEO (the evening bible college I teach at) said later those who were being polite and waiting till the end saw neighbourhood children (not invited) turn up at the end when the ceremony was over and get before them in line. Running out of food it a bit of a disgrace here, but luckily it was only about 10 people. It’s going on the list for “things to do/not do next year”. Next year starts awfully soon…

I may try to take a few days off next week for a rest before starting to work on next year at IMS. I’ll also have to find some way to get my computer fixed so I can use my CD/DVD drive - it’s been a worry lately.

I may finally have a house to rent!

I’ve been looking for a house to rent for 5 months now, and when an older “demarcheur” (agent) turned up saying another missionary had told him I was looking I was a bit skeptical after my previous experiences, but within two days he had shown me two houses within the locality and price range.

One was larger with a small yard but needed more work, upped the price past my absolute limit (ie. where I add to the SIM rental allowance what I can spare monthly) and wanted a whole year’s advance rent, the other has an easygoing landlord only wanting monthly rent in advance, larger yard but much smaller, older house. In fact the bathroom and kitchen you can barely turn around in, but it’s within 5 minutes' walk to the mission, a quiet neighbourhood, and available soon. The problems it has I’ll just have to find creative solutions to, like the ancient metal louvre windows that don’t quite shut with the pervasive wind and dust of Harmattan soon to arrive. The last tenant was there 10 years so it looks like it could be a longterm option

My “Green Princess” gets heads turning wherever I go as the only Peugeot 504 I’ve seen on the roads in Ouaga, and older Africans smile and congratulate me since it brings back memories for them. With only a year to go until her 30th birthday she’s almost a classic. She handles the roads OK, but not without affecting her - there’s a new squeak almost every trip to IMS shaking through climbing up and down the boulders, dirt dunes and rocky hillocks that make the back roads here after rainy season.

It's not old ... it's practically a classic

I hummed and hawed about whether to keep my 29-year-old Peugeot 504 and take it to Burkina.

After getting a quote of about $760 in parts to get it on the road, plus another sum for insurance etc. and being told I’d get a maximum of $3000 if sold in good shape, I decided to go ahead with it, thinking that even with customs duty in Burkina Faso it was better than the $10 000 price for a decent secondhand car there.

The mechanic kept saying “it’ll be ready tomorrow” but it was finally finished the morning we were supposed to leave. He was coming with me to ensure nothing happened on the long trip, so we ended up leaving at 3pm.

We didn’t cross the Burkina border until 7pm, and the customs guy on duty said the car needed to go through processing ‘with the chiefs’ during working hours, so we had to stay overnight at the border. Besides which, the next 100km or so of road was already closed for the night because of bandits.

After a bit of a search we found a very basic inn. The mechanic slept in the car with my more expensive and fragile goods, and I had a room with a bed and overhead fan - and nothing else. No ceiling, no screens, and the latrine and open room used for a bucket bath the other side of the courtyard. I didn’t sleep much anyway, so we were up in plenty of time to sit and wait for customs to open at 7am and see the customs agent that was ‘preparing our file’. There was a lot of smiling, polite conversation with people in uniforms, drinking water and drinks from wandering sellers to cope with the heat,an electricity cutoff for almost 2 hours delaying the computerize document ...

We finally left about 11.30am after paying about $30 for the appropriate customs document and about $80 to the agent and arrived in Ouaga at 4.30pm, 25.5 hours after leaving Parakou. The SIM office contacted another agent once we got to Ouagadougou and I haven’t seen the bill for that yet (do I want to?). I do know that he said there were problems, that the customs alone was over $1700, but one tank of petrol, one week, and oneside mirror later it became a Burkinabe car and ready to be bumped through the hard rocky back roads of Ouagadougou, deformed by the rainy season into obstacle courses.

On the road to ... Ouagadougou

On the return to Parakou our bus didn’t live up to its name (“Comfort”) with windows on my side sealed shut, no air con, repeated delays … but not all were their fault since midday we were among the hundreds of vehicles stationary for over 4 hours due to an uprising and road barricade at Dassa after the killing of a truck driver the night before.

Parakou saw me dirty and tired moving and sorting out furniture, selling what I could, and talking to all and sundry about moving possibilities. One quote for a million CFA had me speechless for a while. It was only at the last minute (a week after I’d planned on leaving) that my car was ready and the possibilities had reduced to putting the stuff on a regular bus out of Ouagadougou: it had the advantage on not only being the cheapest quote but providing some advantages since the customs and police were used to seeing it and there shouldn’t be the exhorbitant extra costs other missionaries had paid.

In fact, signed and stamped documents in hand we (the mechanic and I) proceeded the bus to all the customs points and paved the way. We were already in an interview with the customs chief at the Burkina border about the it and about the car when the bus arrived and in the end did not pay any customs for my household stuff (the rule but not always followed). And with the sale of my furniture covering about 90% of the moving costs it worked out terrific!

The car is another story ….

With the Fon again in Benin

I’m catching up with more old friends in Parakou, sorting out furniture to take back or sell at rockbottom prices here, and changing my mind every few hours about what to do with my old car (take or sell). The price I would get would give me perhaps a quarter of the price of a secondhand car in Ouaga, and there are none of that car model (or age) on the roads there. There are however some older taxis of close models which the local mechanic said can be used for parts in Ouaga so it is not hopeless, and could give me transport for a while until it dies or parts can’t be found.

Last Sunday I was in the tiny church of Patmos, planted in a watery suburb of Cotonou just after I left, and this Sunday in my ‘first’ UEEB church at Parakou, the big French one where Joy and I used to sweep back in 1993-4 with the little local bunches of grass (terrible on the back those hours of bending) while on the cleaning roster.

Earlier in the week I took the opportunity to go to the Fon churches’ conference held on the Bible college site (see photo). The site hasn’t changed much - a lot more empty now it is closed and most of the contents have disappeared but during these days bursting at the seams with Fon church goers, who had arrived in cars, utes, and cattle trucks and were still coming.

I caught up with old friends, and fielded lots more questions about when I was coming back, and what I’d be doing for the church. Friends and some church leaders have propositions about me becoming involved in restarting the bible college, in teaching January leaders’ training as in the past, in teaching womens’ groups, in helping out again with the Fon literature … I tried to explain that I already have more than one job in Ouagadougou.

I've also seen the difficulties invovled with travl here and overlaps with my Ouaga schedule so not sure about taking up this.

Speaking of traveling, the trip on the bus back up here was interesting too. We stopped for about 25 minutes on the northern side of town sweltering without air in the heat as the driver got the bus papers delivered to him until I felt about ready to faint, sped up the road to Bohicon where the short stay in the muddy market didn’t allow enough time to get through the queues waiting to use the wet ‘closets’ used for toilets (5 cents gets you a large cup of water to throw over the floor before your turn), to grind to a slow halt in the small space between two long lines of trucks either side of the highway as we approached the central town of Dassa.

As the Fanmilk bikes drew up to the door (sell frozen and cold yoghurt, ice-cream and cordial in small plastic sachets) they each soon had a small crowd listening to the tale, which involved a dispute over payment of 80c for loading a fourth sack of charcoal, a driver dumping the sack untidily on the road, a police or forestry officer shooting, truck drivers coming down in force, building a barricade across the road and refusing to let the body be removed until higher authorities came to investigate. Others told of rioting, buildings and windows damaged, and two women killed in the aftermath. We heard the military helicopter overhead delivering the demanded Minister, and two hours later (almost 4.5 hours after we had stopped) we finally slowly made our way past barriers and the lanes of traffic lined up in the opposite direction. The driver poured on the speed so we made it back to Parakou only 5 hours late.

Some things differ, others stay the same

After a draining multi-stage trip to get here, I found lots of things still the same at Cotonou, and other things had changed.

Things the same…• The Fon language: surprising how I seem to be able to understand and speak so much of it despite almost 4 years’ absence. It’s been helpful in the markets, negotiating prices of travel, listening in church, and in meeting old friends who don’t speak French.
• The welcoming smile, loving concern and good cooking of my former neighbour in Agla, Brigitte, who is now sewing me a traditional outfit in the new UEEB cloth.
• The sandy back roads with deep puddles
• Zemidjans (taximotos) who will go anywhere - at great speed and within inches of traffic either side, behind or in front
• I was able to reactivate my old sim card so I have mobile phone access - but it’s still very limited, and doesn’t include text messages.
• Talking about needs for leadership training for Fon church elders with Pastor Bruno, possibly speaking at Fon womens’ conferences with Mama Folley, Fon Christian literature technical problems with translator Emmanuel … aware that I can’t promise take on much more than my existing schedule in Ouaga.
• Eating under the mango trees at the church in the village Hevié, built on Pastor Folley’s farm, with a bed provided for siesta in the breezy shade - a well-remembered calm break in the country from the bustle of town


Things that differ…
• The large number of large buses going between towns - it seems the bush taxi industry is suffering but it’s nice being less crowded and apparently more reliable.
• Main roads are wider, a new bridge cuts down the across-town time enormously
• Multiple storey houses in Agla and building up around Cotonou
• Internet and phone access seemed to have deteriorated since I left, despite a large number of people with mobile phones. The government shut down two large cellular networks just before I arrived for nonpayment of taxes, leaving thousands without phone access and the other networks’ sim cards sold out. The email and the internet system doesn’t seem to have evolved, and after the convenience and speed of SIM Ouaga’s broadband going to a cybercafé (especially when you forget passwords) is a big step downwards.
• Agla’s single young people who helped with initial evangelism as part of youth group activities are now established in Hévie and are the families leading the church, involved in that church’s planting of another church on the village outskirts, under their old pastor, Pastor Folley. Agla itself is going further afield and planting a church 30 minutes’ drive north of Cotonou at Glogibgbe under Pastor Bruno, a big change from the elimination of evangelism from the church budget by the intervening pastor who was in charge my last term.

The trip further south

After my wild trip in from Burkina, a day resting up in Djougou after my late night arrival greeting acquaintances there and catching up with old friends I was off 6am the Thursday for a day’s work at Parakou.

I arrived by taxi before the office opened and was able to spend some time over breakfast talking to Alain from SIM France as I had hoped, a former Benin missionary who regularly leads short-term teams back, last year’s being over 80 strong.

During the day the office staff resurrected my keys and papers, I got a mechanic to start looking at my car for an estimate of costing repairs, and started sorting through some of my stuff piled high in the storeroom. I picked out mainly the fragile stuff and my ‘first months’ survival kit’ I had set up before leaving: my village cooking stuff and water filter; folding table, bed, and lounge chair; my tools, and also flat metal bookshelf frames if they could fit. Someone was coming for a few days from Benin from Burkina while I was going to be in Cotonou and could take stuff back for me, the reason for this one-day detour before coming back for two weeks to do the big sort-out. It was exhausting, but I had at least a car load of stuff sorted out before I left again at 6.30am the next day for the coach to Cotonou.

Having your own (even narrow) seat was relative comfort, and despite a lack of toilet stops (at least ones that would be useful to ladies) we arrived 7.5 hours later in the traffic chaos of my old stomping grounds, Cotonou.

Getting to Benin ain't so easy

“I’ll be going to Benin for a month to see old friends and sort out my stuff”: sounds easy, doesn’t it? Where was that creepy music that warns you in films that something unpleasant is going to happen?

I asked the office staff about buses to Parakou or Djougou in Benin: I was told I could get one only Thursday or Sunday, which would really have cut down on my time there, so opted for a trip to Tanguieta, the first large town inside Benin. Apparently a minibus left for there every day at 7am. So I rock up at 6.30am on the Tuesday after finishing teaching and the one late Bible school exam Monday ready to get a ticket and get sold a ticket instead on the direct bus to Djougou instead which left near the mission. Soon I was told to get on a motorbike to go over there with my luggage in front and objected since I was at the bus/taxi station for all trips east and was then told the bus would stop by on its way out of town. Next the story was it was full, and my ticket was changed to Tanguieta at 7.15 for the 7am minibus, almost full. I ended up in the back row without through airflow, but after a lady and two kids joined were left alone for the trip so not too crowded.

At 1.30pm I was dumped at the Burkina frontier town with a slight refund for ‘the taxi the rest of the way’. I asked the border police several times in the next hours if there really were taxis and if I could walk across to the Benin frontier and learned that it was in fact 25km away. At about 3.30pm a crowded minibus pulled up and the police arranged for them to take me across to the Benin border.

I had changed my dates several times lately working on different information about what visas were available at the border for Benin and had no idea of cost but had all the trimmings ready (photo, addresses, money,…) and hoped I wouldn’t be too long holding up the taxi as had happened in other border crossing. After a nice conversation about UEEB (the Benin church) and SIM I ended up just getting an entry stamp and no visa and on to the next stage (I ended up paying the border visa cost later in Cotonou).

It was another trip, another wait, and 6pm before arriving at Tanguieta, and then 8.30pm before starting out for Djougou and arrived at 10.30pm at the mission station there after wandering a bit the streets on a taximoto trying to find familiar landmarks. All the lights were out and everyone asleep. I had tried to contact them from Tanguieta but the fixed phone was dead and two of the 4 mobile phone networks (including of course the one my friend was with) were out due to nonpayment of back taxes. So I couldn’t buy a sim card for my phone as hoped either, since everyone had already used them up switching to the two working networks.

But at least I made it … and had one day of rest before the travels started again.

Latest moves accommodation-wise

Running saga of accommodation …

After seeing a house the demarcheur (agent) showed me behind and west of the mission since I got so hopeful: it was an ideal location, had a screened porch, a storeroom and the right number of bedrooms, and as an older house that had been fixed up just looked like it would be cheaper than all the others we had seen (eg. Kitchen obviously previously an outbuilding awkwardly joined by a wall, older style, old aircon). Unfortunately it ended up being WAY more expensive than the agent had suggested - the owner was adamant that he wanted at least 225.000cfa in negotiations with SIM personnel (250% of the SIM rent allowance) and would leave it empty until receiving that amount.

I got so busy preparing for the end of term tests for the bible school and the week-long seminar I was giving at the Institut Missiologique I couldn’t do any more walking or contacting others.

Next I heard that there was the possibility of a “fixer-upper” offered to the mission for a reasonable rent - as long as we finished the construction. After looking at the house, the location is good but that’s about it at the moment. It needs everything except walls and ceiling, since that’s all there is. The present metal louver windows are rusted and won’t shut so would need replacing; there’s no plumbing, plumbing fixtures, septic tank or water connection; rusted out electric wires and no electric fixtures or connection; compound walls too low and in one case really leaning well over …. They’re getting quotes on how many years’ advance rent would be needed to get it up to livable standards and my heart sank at the thought of another situation like last term in Agla living for months in the guest house having to check up on workmen, since I’ve already heard several stories about the quality of work done by the usual building and been strongly warned. But if I have no other choice?

… the saga continues…

Still house hunting

Accommodation is still a problem, with my stay at Jane’s due to run out in a few weeks when she begins a run of planned visitors, and I really need to get into a routine in my own place…. So far I’ve asked to look out for something for me:
- the office worker whose job description includes looking for accommodation
- SIM missionaries
- Missionaries from other missions
- Alfred who wheels himself in his bike/wheelchair around the suburb selling souvenirs
- Jane’s gardener
- Jane’s next door neighbour’s son who is unemployed and wanders around the suburb looking for little jobs to do
- The local pastor at the SIM-related church
- The local deacons
- The students at IMS
- The students at the evening Bible college
- The doctor I asked about my tummy troubles
- The wife of the owner of Jane’s house here on visit
- the owner of the little stall selling bread and small grocery items at the end of the block where SIM is located
- Even some of the local sort of real-estate agent who usually gets a proportion of a month’s rent as his commission from the renter

I’ve also walked the streets looking for “for rent” signs
- On the way to shops while living in the guest house
- Taking different routes on the way to photocopy while living at Jane’s
- Taking different streets to the mission while living at Jane’s
- Taking different streets to and from church
- Walking for a few hours early in the morning Saturdays before the heat hits trying to cover other streets on the other side where I don’t usually have any errands (the mission is about half way in the square of walking distance and Jane’s is on the west side of the square).

So far I’ve looked at (some only from the outside)
- A mission apartment attached to a main house that is one bedroom and a tiny lounge/dining and been told no prospect of expanding or putting on a secure porch as an alternate living room but with a good location and useful sharing of guard/house help/internet
- Half of a 2-bedroom duplex that is way too far to walk from the mission, and though near a main road it’s not one that is near either the mission or IMS, with only one mission couple next door; internet available
- 1,2 and 3 bedroom “furnished” apartments with tiny kitchens and small rooms but no space for any eventual car or motorbike
- a house that is already rented for the next two weeks and won’t let anyone in to see what it looks like, and at twice what the mission is willing to pay
- a narrow duplex which is essentially two small studio apartments and no through airflow for over twice the mission rental rate on a nearby street
- the outside of a house approved of by mission staff but that doubled in price (to almost twice the mission rate) from morning to afternoon as the old tenants moved out and the owner “would rather have it empty than negotiate on the price”), not too far away from the mission and local church (pray for a change of heart by the owner?)
- a nice new house slightly further away than planned 30% above the mission rental with the possibility of a flat (for short-termers) above the garage (but the mission didn’t want to take up), and disapproved of because of it’s location opposite a large empty lot and cinema which would give security problems.
- Some rundown houses without security bars on windows, or screens, some without kitchens at all or about 1sq.metre in size, without secure outside walls, some well outside the ‘walkable zone’ I’ve specified to help searchers…

I’ve spent a long time at the end of my time in Benin thinking about this whole issue and in talking it over at length at home and I know that I need a place where I can feel secure, have access to company and the mission when needed, have others over easily for hospitality and drop-in visitors, and so far nothing has turned up. However, in the past year or two others like Jane and Robin have found ‘miracle’ places in this suburb where there is rarely anything to rent let alone affordable places, so I live in hope and keep trying although my deadline is getting REAL close.

Thanks Lori

On more frivolous matters this is just a note to say that I really appreciate the job my hairdresser did in Australia helping me get ready for the heat and humidity here. I told her I wouldn’t be letting a hairdryer anywhere near me in addition to the 35-45C heat here (and I haven’t) so needed a style that would take care of itself. Despite showering normally 2-3 times a day on normal days (many more on ‘hot’ days) the style she gave me has been easily finger-dried and I don’t feel that I look too straggly and it doesn’t plaster to my face with the almost-constant perspiration.

The photo here was taken last Sunday after I had pushed my wet hair under a hat for the 20 minutes’ walk to church in the morning, then got soaked walking home in the rain later. Though the rest may still leave much to be desired I think the hair stood up rather well in those circumstances!

Max the tortoise in greeny paradise

Max has a new home - surrounded by grass he can chomp. Or is it a she? That has been a burning question recently. We’ve found out she’s crazy for lettuce stalks, which occasionally market ladies will add to our purchase after they’ve finished laughing about it...

The quality deteriorated even from the digital camera video but you can see Max in her/his new home on YouTube at the link to the side.

IMS student for a week

Last week was full-time at IMS - but most of it as a student, not a teacher.

Joel, the IMS director, suggested I sit it on a course that is part of a Masters on leadership taught throughout Africa. Lots of the aspects that were highlighted brought back memories of working in Africa before.

It turned out to be a long week, leaving home at 7 am if I wanted to get some exercise swimming before getting a ride from the mission at 8am with Alan, one of the teachers, and getting back sometimes after 6pm. After a few days of missing out on my siesta during the heat of midday, trying to concentrate during the afternoons and as usual having irregular sleep during the hot nights I actually felt woozy and went home Wednesday midday to catch up on my liquids and sleep. I felt better Thursday (afternoon off while students teaching kids’ clubs), taught the Bible College class Thursday night, and faced another long day Friday.

I decided to dig into the savings and actually left the airconditioning on all night, meaning that for one of first times in Burkina Faso I actually slept nearly all of the night. I cut class early (12 instead of 1pm) since we were having company for lunch and came back to find the afternoon classes cancelled since everyone was feeling as wrung out as I and unable to concentrate. The weekend began early!

The long road home to Home-cooked food

After the ‘road-side food’ I checked out during the last few weeks living with Jane I’ve been finding out what local Western food can stretch to, including slivers of smoked “Capitaine” fish which would rival smoked salmon, and sausages all locally-made and available in a local European-established butchery (sausages were one of the things I really missed from home in Benin). After a determined search I now know I can get wholemeal rolls (5 for 90c) at a downtown supermarket and a round wholemeal loaf for $4 at a downtown patisserie that has a bakery in another suburb.

There are two small local supermarkets (about the size of a large lounge room) 3 minutes’ walk up near the tarred road where we can get basics while they stay on the shelves, but otherwise it’s a trip downtown avoiding running into taxis or motorbikes to the 2 larger shops there. Local missionaries say heaps more is available now than before, but still, sometimes the shopping list can’t be filled, and it’s a time-consuming job getting around to check. I tried all local and the city supermarkets for oats for my muesli as I had found a month ago (although the normal “freeze for 24 hours then roast” to kill the little beasties feasting inside was necessary) and couldn’t find any now. And though not in the 2 places they had been a fortnight ago, there was muesli in two other stores: at $12 for a 500g box, or finally hidden on the bottom shelf some bags of a fairly basic variety at $3 for 750g. I bought up 5 since there probably won’t be any next week, including one for someone else who had asked. They we tried another new supermarket we’d never been to before - and found Quaker oats at a higher price.

One thing about staying with Jane - we have company regularly for dinner, whether planned or on the spur of the moment. Last Friday was an all-out effort: a roast dinner. The carrots ended slightly darker than they should be and the chicken lighter than it should be, but a great time was had by all (me with my English heritage, Jane having a British father, and our two English guests). We felt we did our heritage proud, though all that heat of the oven on for hours added to the heat of the day did make us doubt for a while. A passionfruit yoghurt dessert (both local ingredients) topped it off.

Household pet

Maxwell, or "Grumpy" grows on you. He's a desert tortoise, recently relocated into urban Ouagadougou to Jane's house, where I'm staying for a while. After eating recently-planted vines that are supposed to eventually provide the only shade in the back, he's been relegated to the side of the house. Three times he's got out to burrow under a car and gets stuck between the cement driveway and the bottom of the car.

To turn around in the small space he sort of climbs up the wall his height and slips over in the other direction.

He's a fan of lettuce, cabbage leaves, tomatoes and cucumber, which he seems to swallow whole. He'll come up to you and listens when you talk even if you don't have these delights in hand.

The International School has several baby tortoises. Not much good to guard the house, but an intringuing possibility for a pet!

Sundays in Ouaga

I attended the third church in Ouaga today - this one small and friendly with a drum that made my ears ache as it reverberated in the small box-like room. They didn't use the little chorus books, so I was grateful to recognize some from Benin days, but dredging the words out from memory was a little hard. One of the evening Bible college students was there so at least I knew someone in the congregation besides fellow missionaries.

Last week I attended an outlying area (photo) and was warned it would be hot. My little fan purchased at home for just such conditions was working overtime. The business agent at the office is the pastor for this church, which has a homework club for children where a SIM short-termer works.

The service order here is: congregational singing led from the front in French and local languages, each choir takes turn to sing (women, youth, children), visitors asked to stand and present themselves, announcements and offering, sermon translated to or from French and the local language, closing prayer and greetings (in one church visitors had to stand with the pastor so everyone shook their hand).

Another move . . . temporarily

I have moved temporarily to stay with Jane, about 15 min walk from the mission down some dusty lanes and across a busy street, past the market, down again for two blocks . . . and it’s the one on the left with the nice hedge and overhanging bougainvillea. My room isn’t quite unpacked (or tidied!), and despite the hard clean I gave it yesterday the bathroom now shows evidence of the dust-storm this morning before the small rain. When I have a shower, the toilet gets a good soaking anyway, so that helps with the dust.

I went downtown this morning with 2 short-termers and a visitor to try to get the layout on foot since it has been confusing when just being taken with others in cars. With the rain still falling we made it there ourselves by taxi caught by the side of the main road, by guesswork and bad memory (of course we forgot our map!). I picked up the extra bit of material I needed, and a few household bits at a “$2 shop”- “everything 1000cfa” here - but prices varied from 150 (the cleaning cloth) to 2000 (the cheap towel for the pool).

On a shopkeeper’s advice we found a patisserie for a nice breakfast that also sold whole-wheat bread and advised us where multigrain was to be found in the future.

The others contended with the throng of hassling-batik-clothes-sellers while I went to look at African material urged along by my own little throng (there wasn’t many customers out there in that damp). A large metal box-structure was piled high with material in all colours and patterns to the roof in the normal 6- or 12-yard “demis” and “pieces”, and a young man sitting on the piles in the interior pulled out the ones customers were interested in. I didn’t get what I went there for, and resolved next time to take an African friend since I’m sure I gave in much too soon on the bargaining on the ones I did get.

We then got directions to the Western-style supermarket where you could get ham (at only $20/kg for the square sandwich stuff and $30+ for the nicer kinds) and cheese (starting at around $15/kg for cheddar, with pizza and Swiss-style cheeses at $30/kg) - and I got a soap dish and my weekly chocolate allowance: a Bounty for $2.20.

The girls came back with me to visit Jane, who hasn’t been feeling well, and for lunch we ate most of the bread with tuna, peanut butter (i.e. ground peanuts), jam, the popular processed cheese triangles on sale everywhere that don’t need refrigeration and mayonnaise (not necessarily all together). They were fascinated by Jane’s new pet - the tortoise (more next blog on him).

First day's teaching in Burkina

Well, finished my first teaching session in Burkina. As part of Old Testament Survey we did “walk around the Old Testament” as an introduction, which livened things up as the students were tired. They work all day and had already had 2 evenings this week, so I tried to make the life of Solomon and the kings of Israel and Judah as applicable as possible for today, and ended up revising the “walk” when they were flagging.

I used a furloughing missionary’s big 4WD this time - a little scared since it was so high and so big among the bikes and motorbikes and I had seen a crushed bike under one similar the other week. It went OK, though, taking it still slowish over the bumpy roads, and I made it back OK. I have now met the recommended taxi driver that has a cell phone and I’m paying him next Thursday to take me there to get to know the place, then in the future will just have him pick me up at night (he says it should cost about $5 a time), since I can get street taxis there earlier. It would be easier with a car, but then cars have other hassles like affording, repairing, etc etc.

Takeaway Ouaga style

Ariane and I are sharing cooking, and consider the road-side barbecued meat too much of a bargain to bother finding the raw stuff and doing it ourself. I got beef the other day (tender spicy thinly sliced pieces) from the road up from the mission - $AU 1.50 for enough to add to vegies to make a stir-fry for the both of us.

Last night we went down to the other road to the mutton sellers we had seen earlier in the week. They had the chopped bits, but also this leg of lamb I'll use Sunday. We asked for yam fries straight from the oil (this lot cost 50c), and since it took a while had hot sweet potatoes (same quantity, same price) while sitting on an offered bench in the dark. I had bought the culturally-correct enamelled casserole dish to carry it home in, that comes in sets so you can have sauce and rice in the others. The little shop on the way home had the fruity drink in sachets that they also sell frozen which is quite refreshing (also 50c).

More exploring today with Ariane - we managed to get ourself to the Artisans' Village by taxi from the main road to check out for the future what is typically made by craftsmen here. There was some beautiful woven materials, and all kinds of metal statues, and modern and traditional leather work. There was not much wood (it predominated the Artisanal Center in Benin). On the way back the taxi we managed to find didn't go all the way into our sector, so we had a hot walk up from the main road in the sun, with a short break to pick up some ice cream for desserts. As a treat we also picked up frozen sachets (mine was chocolate icecream for 40c) to cool our throats on the rest of the walk up the dusty roads home to the guesthouse.

The intrepid explorer

With advice from the African staff on what to say, and my studies earlier of landmarks, I estimated I had studied the route sufficiently to take the plunge and try to make the trip from the SIM guesthouse to IMS by walking and public transport today. Some times I'll be able to get lifts to the main road, but people going to town turn left - the IMS is to the right.

I walked down about 10 minutes to the main road, managed to cross at a traffic light betting that the staged car then bike lights would give me enough time to get accross, then started waving at taxis - not very often coming by. The first two were full, the third stopped and actually agreed to my "Zone Une?" enquiry. Then at the main road he turned left - and I thought of all that exra walking.

My fellow passenger in the back explained as the taxi then bumped off onto a dirt road that the taxi was going in deeper, which would save me time if I walked then laterally to my destination. But pretty soon I was the only one left so I offered him an extra 300francs (80c) to take me the 1-2 km extra, and he agreed. He gave me advice on what to say but warned it was very rare to find one like him coming in this direction. I may have to walk to the main road, take two separate taxis, and then walk from the main road in each direction.

I had more conversation about my future role, a hurried lunch of spaghetti with a 'spinach and fish' sauce, then went off to the market with the secretary, Josiane. She gave up her lunch time to show me around, and I picked up quite a few things in a very familiar environment of little sheds crowded together and bargaining.

Luckily we got a lift back so I didn't have to try the taxi number with the load of shopping.

Something else familiar was the yam chips sellers and the barbecued mutton along the side of the road not far from the mission we saw last evening when out for a walk - welcome when you don't feel like cooking or want to speed up a casserole. The meat here so far has been tenderer and less stringy than Benin, and nicely spiced.

I've had fun starting up and gradually finding people on Skype and reconnecting (?!) after some time with the free telephone service computer-to-computer, as well as using it once to call home at a good rate.

P.S. For those who want to trace my exploring route from SIM to IMS, you can email me and I'll send you the Google Earth files

Rain!

The big news of the day was the downpour last night - accompanied by lightening, blackout, and preceded by an impressive dust-storm. The amount of dust in the air reflected the flash so the photo is not rain as it may look like. It was great having a cool night for sleeping finally.

I was at IMS in the morning to meet the students and listen to a Gospel Recordings presentation. I was able to discuss a bit more about my involvement in the future in the missions courses, start looking at what needs doing in the library (i.e. three bookcases), eat a bit of rice and sauce for lunch and accompany them to the Christian bookstore where I picked up a kids' book (a mystery) based in Benin, a French study bible and a cover for my little English bible.

Josiane, IMS' secretary/book-keeper, has kindly offered to introduce me to the best local market. I hope to get to IMS alone with my legs and taxis where I can find them for the first time tomorrow, leaving plenty of time for the trip.

I've been asked to take over an evening Bible class, and have been able to book an office car for the trip since it's out of office hours. I think I start this week, so I better start preparing soon!

Where I'll be working ... and living?

9 May 2007

Tuesday evening I talked about the Missiological Institute with Joel Gray as their family were our rostered meal hosts As a result, I met some key personnel and participated in my first Missiological institute committee meeting Wed afternoon, and was slotted to teaching devotions at Thursday morning. It is a bit complicated to get to, but not far on bumpy dirt roads about 15 min. from the SIM office.

This meeting happened after lunch with an English couple in a duplex which is one possibility for me, about 7 min drive from the office sort of in the direction of IMS. It’s smaller than any of the places I’ve lived in in Benin, but there would be a Swiss couple next door to start and an American lady later. Like IMS, it seems an extremely complicated route from the office, and both way off the taxi routes so I’ve been advised I should have transport. I explained I’m willing to pay extra to book a regular taxi, since I won’t get much for selling my car in Benin (I’ve been told that customs, repair and resell costs make it worth little to bring here) and will probably need those funds for moving costs.

I haven’t been sleeping well since my arrival - the heat at night coupled with a really hard foam mattress. It should be rainy season soon, though, which will be better for sleeping but not for getting around the mostly dirt roads of Ouaga. Hopefully by next hot season I’ll be more used to the climate.

10 May 2007

In between being taken out to visit sites we need to learn about and meals to get to know Ouagadougou SIMers, Ariane and I have been taken shopping a bit to see where to get things, and wandered a little around the quartier but still have lots to explore. The heat cuts short walks except if very early or late. I need to get a map since I can’t remember how to get back anywhere. I’m missing the convenience of the prevalent Cotonou taximotos, who would take you from anywhere to anywhere for a reasonable fee - even car taxis don’t seem to turn up near the mission, near any accommodation I’ve visited or near the Institute.

After getting the all-clear on my project last week I’ve felt free to get stuck fully into things and am continually asking questions trying to get my bearings as soon as possible. I’ll attend the closest church this Sunday and try the other ones out once I know where I’m living and what are the transport possibilities. I’d like to friends with some African women, perhaps by joining a choir??? I’d appreciate prayer about the whole accommodation thing (especially getting something close to other missionaries but also available transport) and the moving, which looks increasingly complicated.

Arriving in Ouaga

7 May 2007
After an uneventful (and unsleepful) flight from Paris of 4 1/2 hours we dragged handluggage down another steep stair, and loaded onto other buses to go to Ouagadougou International Airport Arrival area. We had no problems getting through immigration, and Ariane’s luggage eventually came off the carousel, but my name was up as “awaiting baggage” so I had to wait in line to explain what as missing. One advantage was that by the time I was done the customs were just barely interested in my carryons and her 3 bags, as we were practically the last out.

I was to return at 4.30pm the next day for the next flight for the bags. I was taken by SIM office staff in at 5pm (to give the flight time to get through), we arrived at the airport by about 5.15 and saw my bags being moved away to storage. We stopped the porters, got a scolding for being so late, and were allowed to take the bags without any customs wanting to see them. We obviously had not had enough faith in Burkinabe efficiency. In all, it took 30 minutes to go and return to the Guest house, where in a few minutes our lift to dinner turned up. As far as I can see, everything arrived safely, and the few things that I found damp (and already smelling moldy) in one dried out overnight.

8 May 2007
Tuesday morning I filled in the required forms (including the required will in French: where do you want the body buried…) and started discussing about accommodation options; the afternoon I filled in the director with a bit of my background and reasons for what I’m looking for in accommodation. The short-term co-ordinator here that picked us up at the office showed us around a bit, and we had main meals with missionary families.
Days and nights are hot, hot, hot …. And sticky if you try to do anything. I keep waking up at night, even with the heat on, and have welcomed getting back into the ‘afternoon siesta’ system to rest.

Getting here ...

3 May

A 12 hour car trip with friends from Benin days Mary and Lee: just a few quick breaks, but the traffic holdup at one point had us crawling for hours. I had visited other ex-Benin friends at the SIM retirement home in Sebring, Florida. Didn’t see much of the area, but did catch up with people, as well as joining in with the morning aqua-aerobics in the pool. When she heard that I hoped to keep fit with this sort of exercise in Ouagadougou the leader kindly gave me an instruction book.

6 May - after repacking for a few days, I finally have the grand total of 2 bags and one box for check-in baggage, carryons and coat loaded, 2 trunks to follow late in the year by container to Niger (my plan to send books by mail didn’t work - they were returned), and a small box (mainly of books I need sooner than that) that may be added to other travelers to the area in the next few months.

I’ve had messages from a Canadian short-termer going on the same flight as I to Ouaga about meeting to spend some of our 9/10 hours in Paris, but she has other commitments as well in the day, and we agree to try to find each other in the terminal on the way out.

I take in a small plastic bag of things that I hope to add to bags if weight allows: when we get there the first bag is 51 lbs (1 over), but the second has 2.5lbs spare so the guy stops the conveyer belt leading it out of sight and I add 2 items. It’s decided that it’s too complicated to add to the box and retape it although there is a few pounds free. Calvin shoves the other 2 items (books) in the outside pocket of my already-full carryon - I hope that it will fit in the overhead bin now. I’ve already phoned to book in the excess item which was priced at US$180 to Ouaga, but the checker gives it to me for US$85, saying he wished he could waive it but doesn’t have the authority.

…..
As I typed the above paragraph waiting near the boarding gate I heard a garbled announcement with my flight number so went to the desk as I thought we were asked. Turned out they had overbooked and were looking for people to swap on to a Chicago flight instead of Washington. I thought of my flight early April out of Chicago (7 hours late due to 2 cancellations and a delayed flight I eventually got in via standby) but knew I had plenty of time to spare in Paris before the Ouaga flight and at least knew the Chicago airport (pretty well by now), and they promised I’d arrive only 2 hours later, so I agreed. Then I found out I got a voucher for a free round-trip within the USA for doing it, and they put me in first class for the flight to Chicago (only difference from economy on this short domestic flight was continuous free drinks instead of the one, and slightly more space).

I watched from the window as Charlotte had the first fine weather for days until I saw my luggage arrive at the Chicago flight - cardboard box still intact in the seat behind the driver and bags held on the front of the tractor bonnet with one hand. I’d overheard the desk attendant tell them to change “the luggage for OUA - don’t even try to pronounce the name”.

I had a good connection in Chicago with a front row seat as we left of queues of planes on the tarmac in 4 directions taking off. The man in the window seat vacated it to take place in an empty center row so I had plenty of room, and relaxed but didn’t sleep as we flew to Paris.

7 May 2007
Since I still had several hours in Paris I did get out a bit, but with damp weather and my carryons too heavy to walk much I took a few bus rides past famous places, before meeting Ariane in the Ouagadougou departure area. We felt like we were on a “mystery tour” as a bus that had loaded us passengers kept going farther and farther around the airport.