wha...?

Construction projects normally take an awfully long time here.  Example:  two bridges on the road from Ouaga to Dori were scheduled to be completed by June 2007, in time to avoid flooding during the rainy season.  What's the date today?  3 March 2008.  Yeah, no bridges yet.  A couple trucks overturned last rainy season trying to drive through rushing water, and I had some tense moments myself.  In three months the rainy season will begin again, and I have serious doubts that the bridges will even be ready for this year's rains.  Voila the standard operating procedures of construction in Burkina.

So in November, when the Dori post office told me they'd open a cyber cafe by January 2008, I just assumed it wouldn't be here by the time my service finished in July.  As one would say in Burkina, "ca va aller." Meaning, basically, that life goes on.  So when I came up here in February over a weekend, my jaw dropped when I saw that the post office had already opened their cyber cafe!  And that is how I'm here today, faithfully updating you on my oh-so-exciting life.  (Although much of the time it doesn't feel very exciting!)

My new reading groups with primary school students are going exceptionally well.  As I said in the previous entry, students just do not study outside of school.  They get no encouragement from their parents, so of course most of them aren't going to study at home.  But now that the reading groups are in full force, I actually have a few students who come to my house at night to read more on their own.  This is a huge step, and I am so happy about it.  All they need is a little encouragement from an adult outside of school; someone to tell them that yes, they can read, and do well at it.  Go them!  I finally see a very tangible improvement that stemmed from my efforts.  Go me, too!  :-)

I'm not sure I'll get back to internet before the beginning of April, but it's entirely possible.  My COS (close of service) conference is 2-4 April, during which I will set my official COS date.  Ack!

Scorpions suck.

Comments

[Hughiegf]

well done, dude