Bonne Fete de Ramadan!

Happy Ramadan to all the Muslims!

So yesterday was Ramadan...or maybe it's today...who knows!  But I can tell you this, between yesterday and tomorrow, Ramadan is being celebrated somewhere in the world.  Allow me to explain how things go here.  Ramadan is a Muslim holiday celebrated at the end of a long fast.  The fast usually lasts about a month.  From what I understand Muslims reflect do their best to improve.  It seems to be like a time for re-purification and they try to avoid doing bad habits, I guess kinda like lent season for Christians.  Keep in mind I am informing you based on what people here in Burkina have told me.  So don't forget this may be there own individual interpretation of the holiday and what it means to them.  

I believe Muslim holidays are based on a lunar calendar, meaning that the dates change according to the moon, so like Easter in the Christian faith, the date changes every year.  What I do find interesting here is that no one ever knows when exactly they will celebrate. Yikes!  As you all know, I am in training right now and they have obviously made a schedule of things and activities I do on a daily basis.  Since I have been here for the past 9 days, people kept telling me, "Ramadan will come one day next week.  I am not sure which day, maybe Tuesday  or Wednesday, but that day you will have off."  Yeah, I know, confusing...well it turns out it ended up being Tuesday.  What happens is (all based on what I have gathered through my own personal interpretations) the Imam determines if the fast is broken based on if he can see the moon or not.  Here in Burkina, there have been times when Imam in the south saw the moon, but maybe not in the north and so as you can imagine, one part of the country celebrated and broke their fast, while the other did not.  Quite interesting.

Since I am talking about Muslim holidays, I might as well give you some insight on religion in Burkina Faso.  There are 3 major religions in Burkina: Muslim, Christianity (Catholic and Protestant), and Animism.  I would guess that Muslims make up about 61%, Christians 23% (most are catholic), and 15% practice only traditional religions, called Animism, but a portion of Muslims and Christians here also practice in some fashion Animism, as it is so very connected to their traditional culture.  The most interesting part about religion in Burkina is that it seems to be religiously free.  During religious holidays, people share with persons in their community that are not of the same religion.  For example, during Ramadan, Muslims here make a big feast and they eat with their families and friends, but also make food for the Christians they know as well.  Often times they invite them over or take food by their houses because its a big feast and since its not a Christian holiday that day, they want to make sure that their Christian friends also get to take part in food, folks, and fun!  I recall when I was here the first time and 4 men came back to village from their hadj (holy voyage) to Mecca and the entire village celebrated, including Christians and Muslims, because they were so excited for and respected the hard work it took to make such a voyage.  On Christmas, Easter, Tabaski, and on and on, everyone is celebrating in some way by taking part in and sharing an important holiday for others.  The Christians don't usually go to the mosque to pray with the Muslims, and the Muslims don't usually go to church and pray with the Christians, but there is truly a level of respect for and sharing in each other's holidays.

So me being a Christian (this might be confusing for some because my name is Aisha, which is the name of the most beloved wife of the prophet Mohammed.  But my parents choose my name from an African naming book and it is Arabic and means the beauty of life.), I was invited to eat at a friend's house for Ramadan.  Obviously since its a holiday there was lots of food, but on top of that it was after a looong fast, so I felt like the food would not stop coming!  Food was great and I thoroughly enjoyed my day off from training and most importantly sharing time with Mariam and her family :-).  Thanks for the invitation...Happy Ramadan everyone!

These opinions are my own and do not reflect that of the Peace Corps, UNICEF, or any other organization to which I am affiliated.

Home sweet, home :-)

My flight to Burkina Faso was a blur because I slept most of the time.  When I got on the plane it was equivalent to like 5 something in the morning and I had not slept much coming into Brussels so this was my shot at it.  I didn’t hear much talking and occasionally when the flight attendant would come with food or give out water, I would wake up to accept it and when my body allowed me a 15 minute window to wake up, I would get up and eat, then go right back to sleep.  After about 5 hours of this routine, I woke up about 30-45 minutes before landing and started to get pretty excited about being almost in West Africa again. 

As the plane started to descend and I looked at the landscape, I thought to myself, “it’s so green!  For Burkina, that is…thank God for the rainy season!”  At this point I am especially excited to be here and start to look around our nearly empty plane.  My sleep was facilitated by the fact that only about 60% of the seats were full so most people were able to have 2 seats all to themselves.  Most of the people on the plane were probably West African and then there were foreigners sprinkled in here and there.  I overheard the woman in front of my look at a neighbor sitting an isle over say to another passenger that she did not appear to know or interact with before beginning our descent, “it does not matter where you have been outside of here; if you travelled and owned houses, but when you arrive you know that this is home.”  How cliché, I know, but she really said it and it sums up what I was trying to express to you all before in my previous blog about the sense of pride Burkinabe have in their home.  It is quite clear that this woman travels often and must be wealthy based on her clothes and the fact that she was on her way home from Belgium, but this small country that most people say, “bu-what?” when you mention it means so much to her and to the man who agreed with her.  I can’t say I feel the same way she does when I arrive here, well because I have a natural affinity to the location where I was raised and where I find the people I call family, but I feel similar.  (Inhale)…it just feels, I don’t know, like I am meant to be here (exhale).  (This is the part where the heavens seem to open and beautiful melodious music plays)

(Record scratches…and we are back to reality!)  I am definitely hopeful and anxious about the work I am going to be doing.  Tomorrow starts official training and look forward to the things I will learn about my assignment and will obviously share them with you all.  Despite my joking, I must be honest, this feels like a good thing and this feels like where I should be in the world, right now and it is so.

This is a picture of an area in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou

These opinions are my own and do not reflect that of the Peace Corps, UNICEF, or any other organization to which I am affiliated.

A Belgium Layover…

I have a layover in Belgium on my way to Burkina Faso.  There are 3 things that are remarkable to me:

1.       It’s Green J- from the air it looks like you are descending on the green crayon.  You know, it’s like real green…so many trees and fields...my favorite. 

2.       It has Curves!- I was impressed that the women’s bathroom sign had a little curve to her body as opposed to the bathroom signs in America.  I wonder what the female self-image is like here.

3.       It’s Green J- I mean recycling this time…there are no stand alone trash cans; they come in a cluster of three: “waste”, “paper”, “recycle”.  I was slightly confused where to put my trash…obviously paper went with paper, but what was considered recycle?  Did waste mean compostable things or cellophane, and what exactly was considered recycle?  The plastics?  I appreciated it nonetheless.

It’s possible that I would have discovered more in the airport, but when I got off of the plane there was a woman holding a sign that said, “Transfers to Africa and India  ß”  funny because all other transfers went through the main airport, I am sitting on the boring side with only one little shop that sells sunglasses, men’s dress shoes, watches, and “tax free diamonds”.  I was hoping to get a post card as I have done in every other airport that I layover in and mail it so my family would know immediately that I was fine, but well, that wasn’t an option this time because I had to follow the arrow.  I guess my family will have to stick with “no news is good news”.   I assume that Belgium is not as boring as this side of the airport because the person beside me on the airplane was from Belgium and he told me all about how he has been in the states for the last 7 months rock climbing on the West Coast and hitchhiking from place to place.  He spoke with the maturity and free spirit of a young man pushing 30.  He was 19 and taking a year after high school to decide what to study.  What amazing maturity!  He has no idea what he wants to do for sure, but I of course encouraged him to figure out a way to use what he loved to do some good in the world.  We never exchanged names, but maybe one day he will be rock climbing to raise funds for women’s health worldwide…who knows.  I wonder if most people from Belgium are like him, but I doubt it because he was somewhat anxious to go back because he said he just wants to be in nature so it will take him a while to get back into the swing of things.  Good thing is, he is not on the boring side of the airport…

forgive me...I can't figure out how to rotate the picture and also I am not sure why this is the orientation anyway...I took it right side up!  last note...ignore the bright spot, its the flash and I didn't want to retake the picture it was weird enough taking one picture of a bathroom door, I didn't want to do 2.

Typed around 4am at home and 10am in Belgium on August 20, 2011

These views and opinions are my own and do not reflect that of the Peace Corps, Unicef or any other organization to which I am affiliated.

“Burkina Faso ya noma, noma, fan ya sida, Faso noma!”

Imagine with me that Jay-Z’s song just came on the radio…TURN IT UP!!  “I’m from New York, (something, something) where dreams are made, there’s nothing you can lose (something, something…I’m mumbling because I never know words to songs…and then here it comes, full voice) IN NEW YORK, NEW YORK, NEW YORK!”  Aww shucks! I know you know the feeling of excitement felt singing that song.   I guess I can call it in some respects the hip hop New York anthem.  Jay-Z then goes on to tell about how awesome it is to be from New York, I assume considering the chorus, but you cannot always trust my skills on song lyrics…lol.  But I think it is safe to say that most people think the same thing I do because they probably don’t know all the words either.  Nonetheless, there is a sentiment of true loyalty.  It’s a song that connects New Yorkers everywhere, and hey, people who are not from New York seem to be more excited about the song so they can perpetrate their connection to a place that most of them have never even visited.  All of a sudden they have a “New York accent” and tell you about the one place they have heard of or some distant cousin who supposedly lives there…am I ranting?  My point is the song evokes pride for a place that does help dreams to come true.  It’s the land of opportunity for many, and a place so many people call home.  Stay with me…

“Burkina Faso ya noma, noma, fan ya sida, Faso noma (something, something) NOMA, NOMA! Lafi beme, ligidi beme (something, something…I’m mumbling because I never know words to songs….and then full voice…) BURKINA FASO YA, NOMA, NOMA. FAN YA SIDA, FASO NOMA!”  I will translate loosely.  Obviously, the song is about Burkina Faso (the landlocked country colonized by the French, surrounded by Ghana, Mali, Niger, Ivroy Coast in West Africa) and if you can put two and  two together, I am sure you have figured out that the song is about how awesome it is and it a song of pride and joy.  Similar to Jay-Z’s song, it’s kind of the young people of Burkina’s anthem.  Well it was pretty popular the last time I was there…who knows now, they might have a new one…just like Jay-Z’s will soon be out of style.  None the less, they words pretty much say “Burkina Faso is truly, truly awesome (or using slang terms that fit, the bomb/ sweet/ bum).  Health is here, money is here, everything is awesome!”  Do you feel the momentum?  I am getting excited just thinking about the song and the feeling that I had in parties when everyone started singing and dancing to the song!  And well, like the Jay-Z song, this song expresses the loyalty and pride one has for their home.  As you can imagine, I am on the bandwagon and I sing the song sometimes louder than actual Burkinabe…lol. 

Burkina Faso is an awesome place, with amazingly hospitable people.  It’s a place that “I want to go where everybody knows your name, (doom doom doom doom-this is me playing the air piano) and they’re always glad you came…” and people are sad to see you leave.  Holidays are full of food folks and fun, at parties everybody dances, your neighbors check on you and your family everyday and it’s almost impossible to not find someone to talk with and share a story, laugh or joke.  Burkina Faso is awesome.  Well, it’s awesome and has some struggles.

Burkina Faso is considered the 2^nd poorest country in the world.  Most persons are subsistence farmers, meaning, they farm to be able to eat and they also engage is small commerce.  The national literacy rate is approximately 26%.  Of the total population of about 15 million, few are able to attend school and many do not complete their education past primary school.  Young boys are favored to send to school, so the young girls literacy rates are lower than that of boys.  But girls' empowerment and education is on the rise.  The infrastructure is growing, but paved roads are few, transportation is a test of patience, and electricity and plumbing is not always consistent, or in existent depending on where you go in the country.  But despite the struggles, I love it and call it like a second home.  I spent 2 years of my life there as a Peace Corps Volunteer in 2006-2008 and I am on my way back for another 10 months as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer. 

Despite New York’s struggles with crime, poverty, overcrowding, overpricing, pigeons, and sanitation, people from their still have pride.  And so can a small developing country like Burkina…

**These opinions are my own and do not reflect the Peace Corps, Unicef, or any other organization to which I am affiliated.**

Who Am I?

“Success is measured by the number of people you help on your way up.” This wisdom offered by my father, when I was just nine years old, helped shape my life goals. The idea that my success is intrinsically selfless and dependent upon my contribution to others is the motivation for my academic and professional trajectory.  My father and mother’s influence was critical in establishing my commitment to community service and development.  From early childhood, my mother, siblings and I were always involved in community service activities through church and civic organizations.  I watched as my mother worked tirelessly to coordinate youth activities to facilitate self-esteem, healthy relationship building skills and to motivate youth to reach their highest potential.  I also recall spending countless Saturdays making lunches for the elderly and sick. The holiday season was coupled with visiting the children’s hospital and nursing homes to sing Christmas carols, share laughs and smiles, and play games.  My father’s wisdom about success and my mother’s concrete example of altruism molded my sense of service and desire for building relationships and exchanging ideas. 

So who am I?...I am, but not limited to:

• a child of God
• a daughter
• a sister
• Auntie Esha
• a teacher
• a student
• growing
• a tree huger
• a green lover
• a volunteer
• sometimes board
• Returned Peace Corps Volunteer '06-'08
• from Chamberlayne Farms
• a listener
• bossy
• a graduate of the Univeristy of Virginia '05
• flawed
• blessed
• loved
• a friend
• hopeful
• and now a blogger...

This is simply a space for me to share my views, thoughts, and experiences.  These opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Peace Corps, Unicef, or any other organization to which I am affiliated.  I hope you enjoy :-).