Sirigu: first impressions

My site is so nice! I spent the last few days getting to know the place I will live and work for the next two years. The community of Sirigu is very small and the area it's in is very rural. The countryside is pretty open, it's savanna in the north, but not like in the Lion King. There are trees here and there, a variety of shrubs and grasses, and lots of grazing animals. The land is flat, and the hills in the distance are Burkina Faso, or so I'm told. The people here are almost all subsistence farmers, growing millet, soy, and other crops. Many still live in very traditional mud compound-houses with geometric designs painted on them with natural red, black and white dyes. Photos to come. There are animals everywhere: chickens, guinea hens, pigs, goats, sheep, cows, donkeys, horse(I only saw one), dogs and cats.

The village itself has maybe a few hundred people living in it, and there are some small shops and a market every 3 days. It is on a rough dirt road that connects it to other small villages in the area, and to larger towns nearby. There is also a stream that runs past the village and the road crosses it on the way into/out of town. There is an uncompleted bridge over the stream, so you actually have to drive through the water. It's not too big of a deal when it hasn't rained in a few days-the stream may only be a few feet wide, but right after a rain the stream gets big-up to 15-20 feet across. It can be a problem, because when it rains here, it rains a lot all at once. The water runs off fast, and the ground absorbs it so it only takes a day or so to dry out. There aren't too many cars around, taxis only really come through one at a time. Here in the north, everyone has a motorcycle or a bicycle. I'm excited to get a bike and start riding.

The house I'll be living in is just near the school. Sirigu Senior High School is outside of the village, a 10 minute walk cross country, but there are paths. The building is a nice finished bungalow that I share with another teacher and the headmaster part-time. I have my own room and bathroom, and share the living room and kitchen, although I don't think the other guys cook much. I'm excited about setting up my own kitchen and cooking for myself. At the site, I'm replacing another volunteer who just left after two years of teaching there. Jason left me some good stuff, too: a bookshelf full of books, a nice bike with a bent rear axle(I'll get it fixed...), a stove, plenty of pots, pans, plates, and silverware, and other random items, including a small solar panel set-up. The latter could be useful, because there is currently no electricity to the building. It is wired and there are ceiling fans and light fixtures there, so if they ever actually connect us, we'll be fine. They say it will happen in the next two months, but I get the feeling that they have been saying that for a while.

Everyone I've met has been very nice and helpful, especially my counterpart, Bismark. He showed me around town, introduced me to the chief, and other important community members, and welcomed me into his home. I ate most of my meals with him, and got to know his wife and two young daughters. Photos to come.

I've got two more weeks of training and then I will finally get to move up to Sirigu permanently. It will be a lot of work, but I'm excited to make the place my home, and become a part of the community. I'll keep working on language, because almost no one there speaks english.

Love,
Toby