Picture Time

Hello everyone! Ramadan...my mom made me wear this african outfit (with Lamini my brother)

Lamini is sick day of Ramadan with Malaria...we went to see him in the hospital
Safi and safi with my sister Gwen...Go Ramadan

Ramadan Praying at 9 am (look at the makeup)

Praying under the big tree

Out on my visit to the smaller villages to look at my work with the aguculture we found a Honey bee hive! isnt it cool

This is Bad cultivating

This is good cultivating!

This is a bush bandaid....yep smashed my foot on a rock...

The Minist of Sante (Health Secretary) came to Br Br with the Presidents Wife!

The kids from Banlo doing traditional dancing for the Minist

Ibe, me and Claire ...saying good by to claire she left back to London...we'll miss her

A beautiful Cloud cover on Ibe and I's Bike Ride

Two Flat Tires from our bike ride!

We went only 25k for Ibes first time...the stoped at a caberet and had dolo lol

Ibe exausted after getting half way to 25k!

GO POLIO CAMPAGIN jane and I at 5 am after Ive had Heritage coffee (i am way more excited about this then jane is)

My shirt says "Kick Polio out of Africa"

Momo Inni my parter in crime, look at her lobi traditional ethnic scaring!

A Phul out in the bush like really far away they are nomads and this is a portable house!

Another Phul...With her child..on the polio campagn

This woman never saw a camera before...LOVE IT

What a Big fish! they were cooking this up in Gaoua

Ibe eating Catipilars

Catipilars....

Muton Head!

A mouse Ibe killed with my shoe!

The baby mice that were born in my shower!

JUNEAU

hes so dang cute

A little baby!

Smile

Loving Life

Hey everyone! Back in Ouaga for a few days...unfortunatly the internet is down again for what the past 2 weeks in gaoua so I headed in to do my quartly report in ouaga, though its not too bad I got to pick up my package from Anne with my skinny pants (pants that for the life of me couldnt fit in back in america though low and behold after a year in the african sun...I can fit in them!) thanks anne! okay so I am so sorry bout pictures...I lost my computer cord at the moment i can not post pics though I am working out a plan to get these pics up here dangit! I have some really good ones...though well just have to wait until next month..ou bien?

DOG
I have a new Puppy! his name is Juneau. He is so dang cute. I have to tell ya after dealing with Alaska being a puppy I thougt i couldnt take another though I must of been blessed becaues Juneau is so great he has yet pooped or peed in the house! and he wakes up in the middle of the night to scratch on the door to let me put him out. No one could of asked for a better dog! He even eats bannanas, and cucumbers...wild huh. Ibe gave him too me he came from gaoua. I though had a tragic moment with him i was about to head out to gaoua and i saw juneau trying to go to the bathroom but was having difficulty and so i walked over there and here he has white tape worms comming out of his butt! can you believe that Ive never been so horrified in my life...I tried to pull them out (5am in the morning) though they just kept going and going and so i went inside got a pair of sicisors and cut them off ...though he still had so much inside of him...i called the vet we gave him medicine though it took 3 days for him to poop them all out...omg africa is crazy.....

BUGS
Now this is the season for all the creepy crawlers to come back and have i had my share these last few months...so i have pics that ill post..but I had an infestation of mice...they were driving me crazy..they come out at night and i cant catch them. here im tucked in my misquito net so they cant run over me while im sleeping at night...Ibe finally bought rat possion and now im just finding dead mice in my house...though the crazy thing i heard this mouse at like 12 at night in my shower...which is just a cement section in my livingroom...i was excited to think that i could catch this mouse since he is in my shower...so i see it and its not going very fast or crawling up the walls or anything...so then i notice it ran into the wall of my shower..now its dark and my only light is a candle..so then i ran and got a piece of material to shove into this hole in the wall and then i was excited because i caught this mouse..the i notice something on the ground in my shower....it was 6 baby mice brand new! the mom must of just given birth in my shower...it was so discusing...i rounded them all up and threw them outside...then the next day ibe bought cement and we cemetned the hole with the mouse still in there lol...igh ...

FOOD
now this has been a pretty exciting few months for food...so well the fact there is food is good. the gardens are up and going and the cultivating season is here! that means roasted corn for everyone! okay so last month ibe was excited to bring me food from his town bobo...guess what it was ...catipilars...yep he loves them and they are sooo gross i cant beleive it but you just roast them in a sause and eat them...i cant even describe the taste other then i wont be having it again any time soon!...and other then catipliars i also ate muton head! thats a goat head...now that was gross too im not into brains though they love it here and for 300cfa you can get a muton head (pics later)....okay also my neighbor gave me beans...right from her gardern it was cool she cooked them for me and i just had to peel them and add rice. thoguh that took alot of work..igh i never realized how much work goes into beans...and the other coolest thing with food this month...is SHANNA AND BETH SENT COFFEE!!! yep eat your american hearts out im having Heritage and starbucks coffee! yum yum

AFRICAN
igh so life here is been really good latley...though as always stuff happens huh...well my sister asked me if i could help her with her schooling when i leave for america because come to find out my mom and dad will be arranging her forced marriage when she gains her cep which is finishing 5th grade. Now my family are good people and i was really shocked to hear this though with the help of Ibe and local langauge i found out that infact my mom and dad were a arranged marriage. And that now my dads oldest child is almost the age to get married that he is obligated to the family that gave him his wife to give him his daughter. igh..though if she is in school then he will not send her to get married...so ibe and i are thinking of how we can help her with the situation....My mom is all for us helping her since she doesnt want her daughter to be forced into marriage so soon, though my dad being a very traditonal man im wondering how much we can really even help....
...igh other news of the month is my moms sister in law who lives next door and is 26 yrs old....has been sick and her husband has been even sicker (45) now they are un educated individuals who dont speak french only local language...the sister is a great friend of mine..she has the cutest 2 children...well anyways i come to the house one day and my mom gives me medicine that her sister in law has been given from the doc and she asks me is it good medicine or not (this is not unsual ever since my mom knew i worked at a pharmacy she brings everyone over with there mediceine asking me if its good or not lol and i mean everyone) anyways i go to look at his and ive never seen it before...so i pull out the paper and come to find out its HIV/AIDS anti viaral medicine..I asked my moms sister in law if she knows why she is sick and she said no the doc just gave her the med and told her to take it though didnt tell her why...now i am shocked and angry so here she and her husband have aids...and no one has told them you have to be kidding me...then i said to mom look ....i need to talk to dad because theres something they need to knwo about this medicine...all i could think of is the two small children ...and if they have HIV also...so my mom said alright...I go and call Ibe to see if culturaly is it okay to talk about this to my dad...since here its really wired with AIDS everyone has it but were not aloud to talk about it or anything...so he said yes you can talk to dad and he can 3 party to his sister to tell her she has HIV...so anyways I go and talk to dad and ask dad if he knows why they are sick and he said yes i do know they have HIV....i was shocked beyond reson that he knew then i said why doesnt your sister in law know this then...he said that the doc told him she didnt need to know...and here she is still breast feeding her child which will give her child HIV....so then i asked my dad about that and the doc in gaoua told him the children were okay and that the little one wouldnt get HIV....so that pissed me off even more...finally though with enough talking i was able to talk my dad into telling his sister and brother in law know what is wrong with them and to understand the full effects of their disease...that went over well i guess...though we still havent solved the stop breastfeading...the baby is young and the family cant afford milk....so...yeah ....working on that one.....
on to other work stuff...i was workin at the hospital weighin babies and this woman was rolled up in a wheel barrel getting ready to give birth...she came 5k in that thing lol...it was so funny and incredable...her husband rolled her in and 5 min later no screaming or anything later there was a beautiful little girl!
my work is kickin butt this year...ive got some girls camps going on...girls clubs...i talk about sex all day everyday with all my kids...they love playing with the fake penisis and vagina's that peace corps gave me...they are getting so comfortable talking about issues that affect them like pregnacy and AIDS...my 6th grade girls are making a AIDS sensiblization thats going on the radio here.. i got a hand washing campagn going on here with soap to help stop hand/fecial problems....

RAMADAN
it was just the holiday of ramadan which was cool, i handed out candy and ate good food! everyone looked soo good..now i cant explain the story of ramadan only that its a mulsum holiday where they fast for 30 days and then on the last day pray for a long time and eat good food!

JANE
I love that kid...my new site mate...she has me switching from burkina beer to fanta orange soda...she drinks a coke a day or even two...so now im drinkin fanta...Juneau loves her and we call her Tante Jane...come to find out shes from washington too...well she went to University of Puget Sound! though her fam is from new mexico...when she tells people that here they think she is mexican lol....also we look alike have brown hair and are the same hight..though she is about 40 pounds lighter then me so at first people were saying Jillian i just saw you yesterday did you loose weight lol...the town didnt know there were two whities living there lol

RANDOM
My flipflop fell in my latrine...yep here i was peeing away and there goes my beautiful expensive teva flipflop down the shitter...though thankfully samantha has sent new ones which is good...it was deff a crying moment that turned into anger every time i went to go take a poop cuz i would see the darn thing down at the bottom coverd in magets...
I panted my shower blue with an octopus and fish...its really fun! though Ibe doesnt know what an ocotpus is and i didnt know how to describe it...i told him the biggest one in the world lives under the bridge in washington lol....now he really doesnt want to go sailing with samantha and brian lol
Ibe planted me more flowers so now i have a flower bed with two papaya trees! he stole one from somebodys yard (rude huh) and the other we found out in the wild...its beautiful and the flowers are purple

well thats all for now...lets see for the future...its Ibe and I's bday here the 20th and 21st of november...i think ill throw a party in gaoua...Ibes never had a party because they dont celebrate b days here....so far everyone has gotten me everything i asked for last time though still no Razors...that would be a big help....and I am not asking for anything for chiristmas execpt money to go to Ghana...so if you want to help with that get ahold of my mom... THANKS EVERYONE!!!!!

A Whirlwhind of Affairs

Alaska 09-2008 to 08-2009

My Poission Face!

Ibe's Poission Face!

A Muslium Drinkin a Beer, and Eating Pork (the two things your not supposed to do)

Makin Beesap Yum...a local sweet drink

A monkey off the side of the road on my way home from Gaoua

Takin the brades out! OUCH but when you dont have a pick you use a Fork

Eatin African style...Achece...yum its ground up Manioc

Drying clothes African style...got to love it

Issa and I at Colleen's Wedding in our wedding wear!

Ibe and I in our wedding wear for Colleen and Lido's Wedding

Colleen, Lido, Ibe and I at the wedding

Claire my Britin friend who lives in Gaoua! we speak English together !

My two best friends in Village...Alima, Marriam and me!

A Camillion who changed from green to brown when he fell off the tree

Ibe with the Camillion...hes scared of it!

This snake was in the same tree its a baby Mamba

Womens sensiblization of Aids and how to make Bouilli the local porrage here

Women waiting to eat the porrage yum

Bein Funny in village

Down town! Village during the day where you can buy onions and maggie

Omo, she is a wonderful girl Cm1

Omo, making a dolly...shes brading the roots of grass to make a doll to play with

Hey everyone! wow alot has happend here in the last month I feel...well first off I am sitting here in beautiful Ouaga again for MST which is where you head up here to get medical exams and go to the dentist because weve been here now a YEAR!!! so that means that i only have a year left! Which is hard to believe because I feel like i have just gotten here. I found out here that the earliest day that I could head home is July 28th so what Im thinkin is heading home next August so you can look for me then. Other then that here I learned that my health is pretty good though I do have a bout of bacteria in the intestines again...my 3rd time since being here...it started the friday before i came up...it was pretty bad i ended up having a temp of 103 and gosh at first I had no idea just thought I was cold then my body hurt...took my temp and saw how high took some ibuprophen and gosh what a would of wonder it does because the temp went down fast and i all of a sudden started to sweat...its amzing how something so small in america as ibuprophen can really save lives here...there are alot of people who get sick with a temp and have no medicine to take or they cant afford to buy it for the 500 cfa it cost which is roughly about a dollar american. though i started strong antibiotics and doing pretty well now...though my body reacted pretty wierd to the fever and i broke out with 5 cancor sores in my mouth...i guess it was just my body's way off fighting off what ever was inside of me...igh...so alog with medical the Mid Service Training has been a good time seeing all the other people in my group and eating some good food. I found a really good sandwich last night for 350 cfa of muton and bread spices and yummyness with a great beer for 550 cfa for roughly 1.50 i had an amazing dinner and good time! Got to love africa....

Okay sooo news....well will start with work..Ive been not really doing a whole lot because its cultivating season so all the people are out in the fields and I want to help and there is this woman her name is Poko and I asked her if i could work in her field doing corn or something and she said yes..so the next day i got up early ate good food and set out to her house to go the 5k to her field to work and she was so shocked i showed up she didnt think i would come and then she said i coudlnt come because it might rain and she doesnt want me out in the rain because i could get sick. I tried to convince her that Im a tough girl and it should be fine though she didnt accept it so I went home though told her ill be back the next day though when i came back the next day they told me again that im not tough enough to go out to the fields so then I gave up...I think one day though Im just going to show up! Ive been working at the hospital alot this summer. Ive been helping with this AIDS sensiblizaiton and porrige making and baby weighing and vacine giving...it happens on marche days and mondays...its fun these women come from all over like 10k they walk to get there babies weighed and check and its the perfect opportunity to talk about family planning and really get in there and be exposed to women who dont really get to see ya...they laugh at me because i dont know the local language and the women dont speak french...they all think im the rich docotor from the states...though i have fun and i really love giving the sensiblizations for aids...though thats pretty much it for work...I will start my clubs up again here in October because thats when school starts and ill be working alot with Pregnacy because so many girls become pregnant so early...we just had another 13 yrs old pregnant this summer who was even in my girls club last year. Its kinda discourging though I know i just needs to keep on talking about it and doing the sensiblizations...

...Rain...Rain..Rain I love it...its the season of rain and in the south everything is green and beautiful...just last week we had two days of non stop rain and that is just not heard of because here the rain will start it will be alot and then it will end though not in the south it just goes and goes...which is awesome because i wore a jacket and pants...!!! pants cant you believe it and my sweatshirt...man lifes good...though with the rain were seeing alot more animals...like the camillion at my house and the mamba snake out in my mango tree in the front yard! how awesome is that! We killed it though so no harm to us....

...so I have some not so good news too...Alaska passed away...it was really hard for me...though he was sick for 5 days before he died..we think he had blood posioning...since Ibe and i 8 days before he died had his testicules removed..now here they just with no pain killer or anything just grab alaska a it took 5 men then with a razor cut his balls and out came the testes then they just let go of him and he ran home blood following him...now that was tramatic for me i was a crying mess...i went out and bought alaska speical fish and everything afterward...though Ibe and I were pretty tramatized though everyone said no no jillian he'll be fine...so i belived them until he started to act really wierd...then attacted me twice...now that was scary...and then he couldnt breathe really well...i called the vet and for three days he didnt show up when he said he was goign too then the main doctor at the hospital was out of town so no one was alvalible then at 10 in the mornin he passed...my dad came and took alaska i thought he was going to burry him but no he gave alaska to a lobi kid who then prepaired alaska and sold him in the marche for 5000 mille franc...igh...though my heart was hurting so bad after alaska's death that i went to gaoua without telling anyone...and at 11 30 at night my dads calling me all upset wondering where i was i told him i was with Ibe and everything is fine my heart just hurt and he didnt understand very well and just hung up the phone...when i got home the next day the whole village was so worried about me...15 families had went to my house th enight before looking for me to give me food to eat becaue they knew i was too sad to cook...so then they ended up at my moms house and she had 15 plates of rice there for me when i got back...Ibe helped explain why i left with out telling anyone....it was just what i had to do ya know...though here when someone dies close to you the africans dont leave you alone your watched after until you stop crying...because they think that the burden might be so heavy that you ll go crazy...they were all soo sweet and i was sooo shocked that they treated my alaska just like he was a person and honored him with me....because here animals are just that animals and you eat them to live ya know...though now everyone wants me to get another one...Ibe wants to buy me a goat lol well see what happens...its been pretty lonley at the house so maybe another puppy will help?....

...sooo on to happier news...Im getting a site mate...and 3 other new people in my area...my new site mate is Jane...she will be teaching math at the jr high...im pretty excited about this because meighan who was my closest neighbor had problems at her site and ended moving up north so i was all alone down there but now I have Jane she comes on the 27th this month! then i have another kyle in gaoua, mikey in kompti and jon in peirgban! so that should be fun more close neighbors!

So I was thinking if anyone did want to send any packages to me that i had a little list of things i could use....maskara, fiber powder, AAA batteries, razor refiller, ground coffee, tooth paste, good tooth brush, any spice you want to send, deoderant, tanktops..nicole sent hanes his way size large and they worked well..maybe though in black since white gets so dirty...because it seems i cant really find good quality of these things here...anways Thanks so much for everything all of you guys have sent...i love it and really appreceate it...though one thing i have yet to get is PEANUT M&M gosh that would be wonderful! lol...anways hope to write more later

Its been a long time

Yeah Fun in the Ouyagoua sun...The old crowd back together for some Lebanese food...

Vinni and I at training for the new stage

Colleen (I was her replacement with her new husband Ledo) woot congrats

Ibe and I enjoyin a night with Colleen and Ledo

Ibe and Alaska

My new hair lol its Hot! and ichy

Jenny and I enjoying a very expensive bottle of wine! 7 mille 500cfa

My two sisters Safyeta and Gwen!

Break time in the bush....Dolo and Sardines

School out in the bush...its were i did a sensiblization for aguculture

Sensiblization for aguculture and moranga

Teaching about aguculture...

Hey all...gosh it sure has been pretty long...im thinking 3 months and trust me both rachel and jen keep on telling me that i need to update this so lets see ill take a stab at it...im sure it will be just a rambling of things okay lets see.......So you all know i am now engaged...and a volunteer in africa we got that squared away so on too new knews.....

....I got to ride a camel it came right to the back of my house can you just imagine its like 7 in the morning and i am making coffee i look out my little window in my kitchen and see a camel out the back door...i scream and run outside and this man is riding a camel just trottin around...he sees me and comes over and now the camel is in my yard it is HUGE i cant believe how big it is and Alaska hates it he doesnt know what to do with himself...oh i forgot to say that there are about 100 little kids with the camel too were all so amazed that this guy is here then you know what the man asked if i wanted a ride and so he made the camel sit and i hoped on its Butt....and held on to the camels hair for support it was the most scary thing ever...i almost fell of and lasted about only 30 sec on it before i told the man put me down which he did lol....it was so fun though and to think right out my door...after i was done though alaska couldnt stop trying to hump me because my clothes smelled like camel...i swear i need to cutt off those balls of alaska lol....

gosh i dont know where to go from here...so other then camel riding ive been trying to keep myself busy....work here is kinda stagnet with my village...cultuivating season has started and school has ended so the kids are all out in the field there fore there is no one to really talk to in village....thus i have decided to work stage...that is the new training group of americans that came in here in june...they are really fun and nice and im excited also because i am getting a site mate in my village...i found out yesterday her name is Jane! woot so now two americans in my village which is small it should be interesting lol im excited to have someone so close its going to be great...and we got someone just down the road in gaoua so now we will have a place to stay when we want to head up to the regional capital....stage is fun but gosh i sure did forget how exausting it is i dont think ill be able to ever work a 9-5 again this work is all on the computer planning sessions ext...deff taxing work compaired to playing with kids and having soccer practice like i do in village......

...so like i said it is cultuivating season so that means also rain!! yeah its rained quite a bit though they say not enough they are kinda worried for the crops for next year...i sure hope that all works out these people i tell you work so hard...they start at about 5 30 am and work all day with maybe only water and some to mixed in for energy...every day...in the hot sun....its increadbale though i ask if i can help and they say that i couldnt last so now its a challege and next week when i show back up in village im going to go out with the mossi and cultivate corn it should be interesting....

....so random i saw a monkey for sell at my marche a month or so ago...yep for 13mille i can buy myself my own spider money...sorry i dont have pics of this conventley my batteries are always dead though he was soo cute and just sits on the shoulder of this guy whos trying to sell him...he eats mangos and bannanas...i had ibe take pictures with his picture phone...(yeah a picture phone in africa they have them random huh...they poop in a hole but have picture phones)...speaking of marche it really sucks right now..theres no food to buy ive been living off of white rice and soy sause though that might sound better then it really is the soy sause is magie soy sause which is like top ramen noodles sause lol....you can only buy onions and hot peppers for food right now....mostly everyone is living off of to and baoubob sause...i guess i am too thats what my mom sends me almost daily...shes afraid im not eating enough and she says i cant eat spagettie everyday because its not good lol...she is so funny....

...now i have a story for you oh gosh i almost forgot so lets see one night i had ibe at my house with a bunch of burkinabe hanging out chilling walking in and out of my house and we were all sharing eachothers shoes because you cant wear shoes in my house anyways i dont know if you guys know but i have only two pairs of shoes here flip flops and my chaco's which i wear daily..i love them to death anyways the next day after this party thing at my house i end up going to gaoua and end up wearing my flip flops random because i always wear my chacos daily though i dont know why i choose my flip flops...okay so im in gaoua enjoying myself and i head back home two days later and when i get there i look for my chacos to wear in village and i cant find them anywhere...no biggie i think that maybe one of my friends here took them so i go around village asking my friends if they have seen my shoes ext...no one had...so now im getting really discouraged...i even call up ibe and yell at him and say Where are my shoes where did you hid them? i know it might be funny to hide them but its not just tell me where they are dangit...though he said jillian i dont have them i dont know where they are...i dont believe him though he is telling me over and over jillian i dont have them...so now pissed i hang up the phone...and i walk into my house in a despreate condition...im like i dont have a computer anymore, my solar panel was stolen, i had money stolen and now my shoes are stolen..i might as well just be fully african since all my great american stuff is gone...(im at a really low point here) though i do some self talk and just decided to accept my fate...i now dont have my $100us shoes...so 5 days pass and colleen and ledo show up for a visit...shes is the volunteer i replaced...and were talking and i explain how i dont have my shoes ext...the next morning safyeta my sister comes running at 6am in the morning saying Jillian Jillian i saw your shoes...i was like where....she said they were on the foo (crazy person) in town! I was like what you have to be kidding me...nope she wasnt the foo had my shoes and when she tried to get them he threw rocks at her...so ledo then went and bought flip flops in the village and went out to try and get my shoes...he wouldtn let me go and see because jack the foo is like really crazy and might get upset...so i guess it went smooth none the less ledo placed the shoes infront of jack and jack just took off my way to small shoes and put on the flip flops....and so ledo brings back my shoes which are now coverd in poop from everyone...people, dogs, animals ext...and washes them with bleach ext...come to find out i think on that night of the party when we were all sleeping outside Jack who by the way lives in a run down shack next to my house came over and took them in the middle of the night since they were laying right next to my bed...thank god i was sleeping next to ibe or i would of been freeked out more...so the moral of the story always lock up your shoes or the crazy person might snach them lol......

...okay weather...rain and in the 90's mostly not so bad though the muggyness is out of control...im always wet!

...Alaska...okay hes doing well hes gotten sick quite a few times...aparently open sores are common this time of the year with all the muggyness ext....he keps on getting open gashes...though we treat him and he getts better...Ibes falling in love with him more and more...hes thinking that we might not beable to leave him here when we both go to america so were still discussing maybe bringing him back home with us...beth b sent me some dog treats for alsaka and also a dog toy and HE LOVES the dogy toy though hates the dog treats weirdo so he sticks to his to and fish and i cant find anyone to eat the dog food yet...though Ibe wants to try it lol....

...health...good....i havent been sick in so long...nothing to report here

...life...okay so i went to colleen and ledo's wedding last week now she is a volunteer who i replaced and she came back and now married one of ibs friends which is really cool and she is from washington and lives near bellingham....she plans on going back to washington with ledo in a year so im excited to have another burkinabe in the area to hang out with ibe lol....so yeah after there wedding which was really beautiful i now know what to expect for my own...so heres the low down...we will get married before i come home then have another american wedding in america though we are getting married here to start the visa process that will help him get into america 6 months to a year after i come home...hopefully all will work out..at the moment we are thinking of june next year...so still some time to plan and prepare....it will traditional wedding though i think...so it should be interesting...ill explain details later .....

...other then that all is good...i just found out and see all these people in my life in america getting married and going on with wonderful things in their lives and i want to say that i am sorry i cant be there and it saddens me though i really feel like i am a part of your lives when i see all the pictures....like Jenny F wedding this saturday...samantha in auguast...anne and walton got married last month...and ashely is going off to university here next month and my mom is moving into a new house...gosh life is sure changing im not sure ill recognize anything when i get back...samantha also said there is a sonic on south hill now...whats the world comming too...okay well hope all is well and ill really try to write more...just know im doing well and loving life....

oh yeah Obama hes just next door in Ghana how cool is that! woot

A Burkina Love Story

Ibrahim & Jillian

I remember one day back in september walking through Gaoua (my district capital) and hearing my name as I walked near this reasturant as I turned around I saw Ibe and Issa sitting drinking tea. The first thing I thought was this man is very handsome. At the time I didnt know Ibe though I knew Issa because I was dating his younger brother. Issa introduced me to Ibe where very shyly he said hey and that was that. It wasnt until a month later that I really got to know who he was. Flash forward a bit and here I am waiting for a friend to show up in Gaoua. I walk down the street and see another burkinabe friend under a large tree working on his leather work for his artisin things that he sells. When I walked over to say hello there was about 5 other men under the tree taking tea. Ibe was there too. He asked me what I was up too and I told him I was waiting for a friend though as I said this I saw a chess board that my friend had just finished...I was shocked since chess is my favorite game. I asked if anyone knew how to play and no one did. To my surprise Ibe asked me if i could teach him. Right then and there I taught him how to play in my horrible french and the fact he could even follow what i was saying was surprising...though he did and after I taught him how to play he totally won the first game!!! So after that we ending up playing about once a week. In my mind we were totally friends nothing more. Though in November my best friend in village husband died and I was completely devistated. Ibe had called me that day to check in and through my crying and sobing on the phone I could barely get the story out which didnt matter really because after we hung up 30 min later he showed up with a chess board and a smile ready to make me feel better. It was then that I started too look at him differently. He spent the whole time trying to make me feel better and explaing his culture it was so comforting. After that you could say we were pretty much together all the time. Though still not dating just friends. Then Christmas came and he asked me what I was doing I said I was going to Bobo to spend it with PC's and he said he was doing to the same because his family lived there. I asked him if he wanted to spend Christmas together in Bobo, I was soo nervous asking. I mean thats a big deal and Ive never spent christmas with any boy. He of course said yes. So off we went and I got to meet his family. His family is very very traditional and I was so nervous also they dont speak french only moore! Though I brought Yams from my village and honey to give to them and when I came they were so warm and inviting. Ibe helped me with some phrases in Moore so I could talk to his mother. After the successful introduction his family let me help with dinner and all went well. When we got back to the hotel where I was staying it was there that Ibe and I decided that we should be together!

Life with him has been wonderful. Its been so enlighting to be with someone who teaches you something new everyday. Though dont get me wrong its been very hard too with the whole language department thing though we make it work. I dont know how he can work with my horrible french and he even picks up english to help out alittle. We always tell eachother that we cant remember when we wernt together because it feels like we've been together forever.

Engagement

So now Ibe showed up at my house like any other regular day. It was a refreshing day because it was about to rain and I was able to wear jeans a sweatshrit (unherad of in Africa) and I was in the house when my phone rang. It happend to be my mom, though the connection was really bad due to the storm that was brewing over us. Though while talking to my mom I notice Ibe acting really wierd. He askes if he can take the phone and talk to my mom. So i give him the phone and he walks away and starts talking (he has a notebook in his hand) and I hear him repeating and repeating...he came back to me and gave me the phone and I looked at the paper he had written "Sherry is it okay if I take your daughters hand in marriage" as I look at this and look at him all I could think was Yes Yes Yes my heart starting pumping and as he got down on one knee he asked me if I could ask my mom and as I did he pulled out a silver ring from his pocket and as my mom was telling me yes though in a very speachless way i just looked at Ibe and grabed him and huged him and said YES! I will marry you. He put the ring and I lost connection with my mom on the phone.

Thats our story!

The wedding itself though wont be until I get out of the Peace Corps in 2010.

We hope to live in the States and start our life in Washington as I am applying for grad school in the fall of 2010!

Oh yeah Ibe is 31, Mossi/burkinabe. He builds schools here in BF and wants to go into construction and eventually the police force in the states. We plan to live in the states long enough to make enough money to head back here and open a non profit organization helping children in BF.

Hot Season Hot Changes

Hello Hello Hello Mom and I cooking Rice and Sauce

I finally get to wear a sweatshirt! The rain came that day! Only 85ish great for a pullover

The gift of Live, On my way to the latrine a mama was givin birth 5 babies

BEAUTIFUL....

Moranga Project...Cow Poop mixin time with help from Abe and Alaska

We planted 30 moranga trees

The children picked flowers for me! Fun though they died an hour after i put them in the house

Top of the morning to ya...

Slingshot (lansper) time alaska trying to steal it

Alaska loves the slingshot

Lesson 101 slingshot...Now i scare off all the pigs and get mangos out of the tree!

Alaska is so tired...Hes been chasing pigs all day

hot season is here...sleepin outside!

Off on a walk into the middle of nowhere

A Traditional Lobi dancer for 8 mars day

A Traditonal Lobi Dancer

The Mayor of BrBr giving a speach celebrating Womens Day

The Mossi womens association fo 8 mars

Traditional Women Lobi dancing

Ceremony for Womens Day 8 mars

The Catholic womans association

8 Mars Inspector, Mayor, President of Womens assoication of BrBr, and the Prefait waiting for the parade to start

Babysitting Burkinabe style

Kyde selling Mangos she picks in the tree 25cfa for one....during Marche day

Marche day from the poisson (fish) stand looking into the area where they sell fish and oil

Vegies...Marche day...Cabbage, tomatos, onions, egg plant...and maybe bannanas lol

Cotton...they just cultivated and waiting to send off to ouaga...

BABY GWENDOLEN'S BAPTIM! NOW SALIMATA

Mom and sister

Women enjoying music and food at the baptim

Salimata...they shave her head the day of the baptim...

My Henna work for the Baptim all the women in the family have it done for the new baby...


HELLO MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS.....this new blog is the result of Jennifer's (my sister) non stop hounding for an update....

.....The delay is due to no internet in Gaoua. Lesson I have learned here in Africa is that well if something is not working like the internet you just wait but just waiting doesnt mean wait and hour and all will be fine this means maybe you wait weeks or months and then just then maybe whatever it was you were waiting for will come or not...and if it did it usually doesnt come out or look like you wanted ahh. Africa got to love it....

Okay Life...March was the start of the hot season here in Burkina. It was the first time i was being hit with unbelievable temps where showers 3 times a day becomes ness and sleeping out side isnt an option its a requirement. I was told numerous times as im complaining of the heat that Jillian just wait until April then the wind that comes is hot and burns you as it blows...after the recover from my mouth being droped open in disbelief i was in Horror (now that it is april i know now its true) IT IS FREEKIN HOT HERE. Though as the time has moved on I have found ways to deal with it. Usually it involves doing a whole lot of nothing! nah what you have to do is leave in the morning...come back to the house by 11 shower, changed into a pange and then sleep at 13ish wake up at 15 maybe shower again..though dont towel off...hang outside drink water in the shade read a book dont move then at like 17 you can go back into the community and finsh workin again or ride the bike....and this is pretty much true for all the people in my village. You dont see anyone outside in the middle of the day or i mean out walking around...they are all hiding next to a house with shade or under a tree sleeping...when it gets too hot all you can do is pray that you can fall asleep and just miss the heat of miday....this season of heat has also brought its share of heat rash and boils that just never go away...i at all times have a million little red bumps that look like pimples on my neck where i have to douse myself in babypoweder and anti ich cream...i dont know if you have had heat rash but it feels like a million needles poking into ya...oh man and the burkinabe dont understand the skin of white people its funny the children look at my extreamly white legs and ask why have i painted all these green lines all over my body and how long did it take (they are taking about my veins) and a pimple or heat rash to them of course is mosiquto bites they are horrified to think that that many mosquitos live near my house....for them we are quite strange little beings...okay .....

Work.....March was a fun month for womens empowerment...on March 8th is international womens day here and its a HUGE day for all of BF. They shut down everything and hold a big party. Everyone gets clothes made for the big party and then each village holds a ceremony or some kind of event for the celebration. I had a huge hand in organizing the events in my village. We had bike racing, soccer matches, traditional dancing, a ball, food, theater, singing and a ceremony that sensiblized on womens empowerment and Aids....I was really shocked to see how my village came together to represent women from all different ethnicities and really took the time to recognize and talk about women. Its unfortunate that it is only one day that this happens and infact alittle ironic that in looking at the work that was put into this day from the cooking to well everything it was still women doing the cooking for womens day and serving it to the men of the village...which for me being from the western part of the world erks the heck of out of me, though i have to remember that this is still a developing country and this is why I am sent here to help sensiblize and help change the mentality of the people here. I did my part and questioned why the men wernt cooking...i got alot of werid looks though thankfully most of the time it is because im a white person talking nonsense though really why are the women cooking and the response from the mayor was well they know how...that lead into a great conversation of what womens day ment to him and let me say there is some real work that still needs to be done in my village though im optomistic enough to see it through...

...I am still continuing my girls groups and we have launched into safe sex and aids...they are convinced that aids does not exicite in Brbr and remember these are 11 yr olds though its horrifying that they think it dosent exsist when just 30 k away Gaoua is in the running for the second city of all of BF with the highest aids rate. but here they just dont talk about it. They would rather say they have something like malaria then say Aids because of the negative condisations that go along with when you say that. Its been really rewarding though to teach awareness and help them understand how to protect themselves and their family. I am still working with 6em girls on goal setting and why not being pregnant is a good idea which is kinda hard concept for them to understand. I get asked all the time why am i not married and dont have children if i am 27 years old here that is unheard of though one can understand if you are droping out of school at the age of 14....I have been having a challenging time incorporating american thoughts and ideals into burkinabe thoughts...they are very different you know just the idea of a goal is hard for them to grasp....it took me an hour to explain and they still barely got what i was talking about... My English club is going well. I really need to find a way to get french/english dictonarys here. They are all so lost when it comes to learning english and i always have children at my house wanting to borrow my book. i only have one and there are 80 kids in 3em. I have been using all my Us magazines that beth sends me or sam to give them to 3em to practice the english at the same time looking at the pictures of american celebs.

I have started a sensiblization with the women who come into weigh their babies on mondays to teach nutrition. I went around my village and picked up every item you can get at the botique or buy at the marche to build a healthy diet for their family. Its been fun to teach them though at the same time im really starting to understand the poverty and the reasons why they choose to give their children the food they give them. There is just not money here to buy the food they need to feed their children. Though knowing they dont have enough money to buy the stuff they need i work also with the idea of giving food to the children first. Here the adults eat before the children do.

Moranga...woot Moranga is a tree that can help cure malnurition in my country! Here PC has started a mornaga project planting trees and sensiblizing the women on how to use the leaves and pods in the food that they eat. Do you know Madagascar is the number one country that exports mornaga leaves and the mornaga plant itself is just amazing! only 8 months after planting it you can start eating the leaves. Ahh here the women use leaves of all trees to put in there sauses for to. so it was fun to plant 30 trees here in my village. At the moment i planted them all in small saches for two months then i will be giving one to each family in my village who went to my sensiblization. Abe, Alaska and I planted them in my yard and now just been watchin them grow grow grow. I had to get a girl to go and get cow poop for me though...she told me she walked after a cow and just scooped up his poop when he went and when she deliverd it to my house it was still hot! ha...though i cant believe the difference in responce in my village in the reception of mornaga work compaired to GEE work. I think its because moranga directly affects their life in a way that can provide imediate benifits unlike girls education and empowerment which is more of a theory that is abstract and hard to grasp or even see the results of.

Village life really is just moving along. They have repaired my hanger because it fell down in a huge wind storm. I spend more time with my family now then before. Daily my mom is sending rice to my house for me to eat. Though i have found potatos now here so ive have been making fried potatos and onions alot! vegies now are kinda low all we have is cabbage, egg plant, tomatos and onions to buy at the marche. though now i am starting to see green peppers a little. I have stoped myself going to buy my vegies because they are still charging me way too much for 3 peppers they make me pay 100cfa though my mom in village pays 30cfa so now safye who gets my water for me buys my vegies! Im sad that papya season is over though i hear guava is going to start up here soon. I ate an Apple the other day it was heaven though just for one small one 200cfa! Expensive because for 5 bannana its only 100cfa....oh yeah and Avacato has showen up last week 250cfa for one though worth it! that and some soy sause yum yum

We had the baptim for my sister salimata too that was really fun. it was for the women only...they give two the first is for the men and its where she is given her name and her head is shaved this is 7 days after birth though a few days after that we had the womens baptim for her where we danced ate spagettie and salad i really enjoyed it with all the mossi women.

Here there are still lots of deaths my grandma here died a month ago and just two days ago her daughter died which is my mothers sister. It is so unfortunate. I am not understandign why there are still so many deaths in my village when i talk to other volunteers they deff are not having the same experience as me though. I have learned my lesson with death here and am not as affected as i was before. I deff dont invest myself as much into the funeral process...its just too taxing for me to be that involved. though you still show up give money and give respects. I have grown alot in the last year involving death. I understand that its natrual and a part of life thus here is treated with as much appreceation and love as a birth which i think is healthy!

okay okay im still biking but not as much as before due to the internet never working an me not really having a place to stay in gaoua now i just hang out in BrBr. just this last week i had to bike three daysi n a row to gaoua that is 150k total let me tell you think my legs and butt were hurting so much and i have vowed to not bike for at least a week ha...though i needed to go to the bank and it was closed for holiday then internet connection was down thus no money...though all worked out and now its all good....

Other then that lets see Alaska is doing really well...he is getting really big and stoped killing chickens and pantards though i think its because the locals are trying to beat him with sticks when he runs after them! Hes in good health and is a happy little addition to my life. Though he hates my cooking and refuses to eat anything i make thus he goes to moms house daily to get his fill of cow bones and fish that she and dad save for him daily. I just resently bought a sling shot to hit the pigs with rocks when they come to steal alaskas food and Abe has taught me how to use it. It was only 100cfa and its the coolest thing ever. Abe taught me how to get mangos out of the tree though for him it takes like a second to get a mango though for me 3 hrs for one mango!

Now im really cool with the little boys in the village who also have them, they love to shoot things and kill birds to eat them ha...

....well im out of things to say for the moment....when its been this long i loose track of what to update ya guys on....though Life is really good and oh yeah Im comming back to the states i think i dont have a ticket yet though my sister sam is getting married on august 15 WOOT SAM AND BRIAN and so im working to get over then and not miss it...so you can all expect me then...other then that later!

The Differences

I just read Brack Obamas blook that was given to me by Beth when his wife wrote after she visted Keyna, "I'm ready to go back to america, I never realized how american I was." I will have to say that I agree with her. I never realized how american I was. Ive always held america as a curse more then a blessing but in the last nine mounths i have a new love for america. In BF as i sit in a bus on my way to Ouaga it is stoped by the military where instead of getting in trouble by smuggling motos the driver pays the military money to let them free. My friend here has finished a trade school, he is a skilled worker though since he is the only one in his area his boss wont let him go and the boss refuses to give him his papers of authenticity though why does he want to leave? well he hasnt been paid in over a month though when i asked him to turn him into a better business bureau, he laughed and said there is none. In schools here children are beat, the wives are beat though when the beaten have enough courage to tell someone in the hospital or a friend they are told you deserve it. Here you walk to get water to bathe, eat and drink with all the while holding on your head in 100 degree weather, you do this at least twice a day. You pull wood from the woods daily sometimes walking 10k or 15 k to get just to have fuel to make dinner. Your children dont eat at school because there is no food, you dont wear shoes because you have none and there are holes in your clothes that are brown from not washing. Children have to leave school because there parents cant pay the 3.00 usd to keep them there for a year. When I ask a girl what she wants to when she grows up though her only response is a teacher or dolo (beer) maker because that is all she sees in her village and the teacher most likely came from another village. The girls have no idea of their possibility's or place they can go. All the water is infested with parasites, the bellies are over sized from malnutrition and worms in their stomachs. You go to the bathroom in a hole, or in a field and you have no water to wash your hands with. Your only choices of drink are water or dolo and you choose the dolo because at least in the beer there isnt any parasites. The children drink dolo at noon with their parents. The children here's mom cant recognize her own name let alone hold a pen to write though you need help with your math questions what do you do. The moms still give their breasts to a 2 yr old child because breast milk is free though the child is only 6k the same as an american child 3 months old. the list goes on....though I and you should be glad were american...to be given the opportunity to go to school, drink fresh water, have a toilet, an opportunity to know what we can be when were older...to have the chance to depend on the government, trust the police and know in your heart that there are people out there that are there and willing to help you....I know in this time most of you are scared for the economy scared for your jobs and scared for well your life...though you have to keep it in prospective...You can never compare your life of everything to the life of a person living in the second poorest country in the world....YOU HAVE EVERYTHING....they have nothing....please keep that perspective when you want to complain about not being able to go and buy starbucks that your used too or this year you cant take that vacation you planned....i think we can all benefit from a prospective thats alittle bit more open then the life we live in america......
....Okay on to other news
UPDATES
Alaska is into eating chickens its getting pretty expensive since it costs me 2mille each chicken and the village is starting to call him a bandit ha...he is also into cow tails its his new things so life with him has been interesting these days ha...
...My house got broken into again though nothing of value was stolen though the village is so upset by it all that my Chief is in the process of making me a Fetish which is a huge cement like structure that you give blessings too and feed it gifts to keep you safe! Its from the animist culture...wierd i know but ill post a pic when it arrives in village....
...My health is great and I havent been sick in a month...
...Mango season! Wooot
....I think i have abolished finally the children in village calling me Colleen they now call me Jillian! its a Triumph for me here...

Okay so I want to send a shout out too all the people who have sent me things

Nicole- Hello beauty supplies galore...she sent me Avedia Products that have changed my life here and have provided beautiful hair and face! I also never thought that i would have perfect nails or eyebrows here in africa but i do! Woot
Beth- okay the packages with her are out of control but i want you to know that I have used every single thing youve given me...the coloring books and crayons went to my cp1 class and for the first time they colored...it was really wierd to teach coloring they have never even held a coloring crayon before! the other paper and goodies you send ive made decoration for 8 mars activities which is worlds women day...and of course the endless chocolate and trash magazines have feed my soul yum!
Uncle Ron- you guys have given me so much for the children that ive been able to start a goodie box and the children that score high levels on tests have been able to come to me and grab out of the box! its a really good incentive program...also one frisbee you gave went to an orphanage and the other i use on sunday nights for frisbee football....the other paper and markers i do art crafts with kids one day a week!
Mom- you help fund the soccer team that improves the self esteem of the girls in my village also help me buy decorations for the international womens day here on 8 mars!
Steph- Hello chocolate feeds the brain and the pictures you send feed my heart!
Anne/Walton- hello please send again the granola bars and oatmeal it feed me for a week! and the pictures were great!
Family- I LOVE THE LETTERS they mean so much to me so keep it up

So all in all life is going well here and seems to get better daily. It rained here a few weeks ago which is odd and its never rained in feb in BF history Global Warming anybody? Im continuing my programs in village and seeing a difference with the people...Im closing in on 9 months here which is incredible for me and i can see a real change in how i feel and act it will be interesting to go back to america..... I leave next week for my bike trip...excited though know that its going to be HOT! the heat starts in march...im going on a Safari here at the end of march to see the elephants near my house 50k away so ill keep you posted and take pictures! okay well love you all