This morning, Alice and the kids dropped Kirsten, Sarah, Jess and me off at EAC.  Pascal from the clinic was waiting for us by the gate (we told him on Friday that we would see him at church).  He walked us in, but we parted ways because the men sit on one side of the church and the women on the other.  We sat about halfwat from the front.

Worship at EAC

The worship was great this morning.  I am going to miss praising God in Jula, More, French, and dance.  To just sing out to Gos in an unfamiliar language is such an incredible feeling.  At EAC, they put the words up on a screen—which is very helpful.  My French lessons with Mark Hoover during the spring semester made reading and pronouncing the words so much easier.  Sometimes I know what I am singing, but other times I am simply making a joyful noise to the Lord.

Pastor Thomas Traore preached today.  He talked about choosing the right path and avoiding temptation from Satan.  His main passage was 1 Kings 13—where a prophet took the wrong path.  He is such a powerful and passionate speaker.  Sarah translated some of the message for me.  Afterward she told me that it was the best message she had heard since coming to Ouagadougou nine months ago.  When the service ended, I went up to talk to Pastor Thomas.  I gave him a photo from my dad’s graduation and told him that I enjoyed his sermon.  He apologized for not having me over for dinner.  A church wife died yesterday when he was planning to call and he had to do the funeral today.

EAC Youth

After the service we went outside the church and were mauled by small children.  I found out that my friend Ami was out of town.  I talked a lot with John. He showed me his English bible that Emily Shaver sent with Jackie Reich for him.  He told me that he really enjoys reading English books.  I also talked with Jonas Kabore, Francis, and another youth that I worked with.    Francis introduced me to Michelle, a 22 year old Burkinabe girl who had some gifts for the Appleton team.  He said that they would stop by our house in the afternoon.   Jasmeet came over to see us. She gave us a formal goodbye (4 taps of the forehead—alternating between the right and left side) and a big hug.

One of our favorites from the clinic!

She was wearing the necklace that we gave her.  She is such a beautiful young lady.  She is so joyful and fun loving. We took a few pictures and said our goodbyes.  It was so hard to say goodbye because they asked me to tell them when I would be returning.  I have been given instructions from some of the EAC youth to learn French for the next time that I return.  They promised me that they would learn more English.

Alice picked us up and we drove to the Rec.  Kirsten and I had a photo shoot with Sammy and Charity in the back seat of land cruiser.  Some of the pictures are priceless…especially one of Kirsten and me kissing Sammy on the cheeks.

Kisses for Sammy!

Charity--what a playah

Kirsten and I struggled over what our last meal from the Rec should be.  In the end, we both got our favorite chicken sandwiches (mine being the Chicken Club and Kirsten’s being the California Chicken) and we shared an order of the DELICIOUS french toast.   I also ordered a glass bottle of orange Fanta…I am going to miss those.  They just don’t taste the same back in the States.  Kirsten, Alice, and I went over finances from the trip (well, it was mostly Kirsten and Alice since my financial skills are lacking).  My phone rang during lunch, and someone jokingly asked which of my Burkina boyfriends was calling…when I picked up and said Bonjour Francis…the whole table started laughing at me.  Francis and Michelle were at our house and wanted to see when we would be back.  We set up a time for them to come back to the house after lunch.

As we left, the Wyoming team was coming to the Rec—they had gone to church out at the LAC.  I got to meet a few of them and say my goodbyes to Andrew, Abby and Larry.

After lunch, we went back to the Hub and did some more packing.

After lunch, we went back to the Hub and did some more packing. Jess, Kirsten, and I had a photo shoot in our matching outfits made by Mark!  Susan did all of the photo taking.  It was tons of fun!

Matchy Matchy

Around 3:30, Francis and Michelle came over.  Michelle and her mother had made necklaces for all of the Appleton team members as well as Kirsten and me.  She wanted us to bring them back to Appleton with us. The necklaces were so cool!  Michelle was a beautiful and funloving girl!  She speaks English fairly well.  We introduced her to Jess—I hope that they will form a friendship and hangout since Jess will be here until December.  Francis said that he had to drop off Michelle and go home quick…but he would be back to pick us up for the EAC soccer game…so Kirsten and I went to get ready.

He came back with his cousin and we rode on their motos to the soccer field.  We talked for a little bit initially—Francis explained to me that his cousin is a Muslim—but he thinks that the Lord will come for him soon.  Since we were running late (45 min late) Francis and I did very little talking on the way.  It was a blast because he drove really fast on the major roads…he did slow once to ask me if I was afraid…and when I told him that I wasn’t afraid and enjoyed going fast…we took off again!  When we got to the field, all of the tops of the walls that surrounded it were filled with men waiting to watch the game.  Francis and his cousin drove us into the “arena” on the motos and circled around the outside of the field—it was like being in a parade!  The teams had actually waited to start the game until Francis arrived!!  We ended up not playing in the game at all—we opted to watch when we saw how intense the other team was.  We went to go get water bags for the team with Rosalie.  We walked down to the corner store to buy them with her.  It was 10 CFA per water bag.  Kirsten and Rosalie carried the bucket of water bags back together.   The game was played on a dirt field—7 on 7.   I was glad that I wasn’t playing—it was pretty fast paced and there was a lot of rough play going on. Francis was kept pretty busy tending to the goal.

Soccer game

The other team ended up winning 1 to 0.  After the game, I noticed that one of the youth from EAC gave Francis’ cousin a Bible—he put it away in the seat of his moto.  I hope that he will have a curiosity for reading that Bible because of his interactions with the youth at EAC.  I rode home with Francis’ cousin.  When we got back to the Hub, Kirsten and I tried to give Francis some money for gas—but he would not take it.  He told us that it was his gift to us.  It was sad to see them drive off.  I will be praying for him a lot—his work at Compassion, his search for a wife, and the concert that he is planning for the 26^th of September.

Kirsten and I went over to the Brokopps house to give them some things—mosquito repellant to keep malaria away, Pringles, Kool-aid packets, and a fishing game for Charity and Sammy.  They really like the game—we played one round together.  Alice gave us a card to read at the airport and a mini Taureg knives as gifts.  She made me feel so good about our time spent with her family—sometimes I worried that we intruded on family time—but she told us how much she appreciated our time with her and the kids.

We returned back to the Hub—and I think that I ate coconut pie for dinner!!  Sarah, Jess, Kirsten and I danced to a Rockin Body video for the last time—we did Booty Time—the same one that we did the first time we danced.  After showering and making sure all was packed—I took a quick 30 minute nap before Pete came to pick us up at 12:30 am.

Since the last day blended into the travel home…I am going to write about them in the same post.

Pete drove us to the airport. It was great because he has a badge that gives him access to a lot of things at the airport.  He got our luggage checked all the way through to Chicago—so we wouldn’t have to lug them around London!  Everything went pretty smoothly—Kirsten’s backpack was searched…but that was it.  We spent the next few hours waiting in the airport…our flight didn’t board until after it was supposed to leave (classic Burkina style).  I don’t remember the first flight at all.  I fell asleep and didn’t even wake up for the meal that came around.  The first flight was from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to Casablanca, Morocco.

In Casablanca, Kirsten and I walked around a lot.  We stopped in this AWESOME store called Zara.  Kirsten and I both tried on skinny jeans and tops.  I tried on a pair of pale pink jeans with a brown shirt and a white/gray vest.  I really liked the outfit but the vest (which was my favorite part) was too big—so I didn’t buy anything, but it was fun to try them on!  Kirsten really liked the black jeans she tried on too.  Maybe we were over excited about them because we hadn’t had jeans on in over 6 weeks…

Business Class!

On the plane ride from Casablanca to London, Kirsten and I got bumped up to business class!  The seats were bigger and we were served a fantastic meal.  We geeked out a bit and took pictures of all of the courses of the meal.  It all tasted so good!

Round 1

First we were given a fruit spread and cheese dish.  The cheese was really good (something that was not readily available in Burkina).

Main Course

Next was the main course—I had beef with veggies and Kirsten had chicken and rice.  The meal was served with either red wine or champagne.

yumm

Then the flight attendant came by with a basket of fruit…I picked out a pear (which was heavenly) and Kirsten took a peach (she though she grabbed an apple…but she did not regret getting the peach).  This portion of the meal was also served with cheese.  I told the flight attendant to give us her favorite one.  It was really good!!!  Then, it was time for the desert.  There were mini cakes on the tray—a chocolate one, a white one, and a little fruit pie with raspberries in it. We finished up with coffee.  It was wonderful!!  Both Kirsten and I decided that someone must have been praying for comfort on our trip home (maybe it was Alice).One of my favorite sights on this plane ride was the northern tip of Africa—it was beautiful!

Once we got to London—we had to go through customs because our flight didn’t leave until morning.  Once we got past where they check your card—I realized that I had left my camera in my seat (4D).  So we had to go ask at a desk if they could call the gate and get my camera back.  They found it but they were boarding a plane so it would be at least 30 minutes before they could send someone out to give it back to me.  We stayed and talked with the Indian man who helped us out.  He gave us tips about travel in London and told us that it would be impossible to experience London in only one night.  After getting my camera back we caught the free bus service to our hotel—Jurys Inn.  We dropped off our backpacks in the room and headed right back out to take the Tube to Piccadilly Circus.

The ride took about 40 minutes.  When we got to Piccadilly Circus—we just started walking around.  London is a really neat city—very full of life and things to do.  We walked by several theaters (Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Thriller and others).  We had thought about catching a show…but it would have been tight.  I enjoyed just walking around and observing.  There were lots of young people out walking around.  We went into a few stores—but mostly everything was closed.  We ate dinner at a Thai restaurant.  The overall cost of our meal was more that we had paid to cook our own meals in Ouaga for the entire 6 weeks. I got a really awesome Pad Thai dish with tofu and Kirsten got a butternut squash chicken dish.  We split sautéed chicken.  It was delicious.  The cool thing about this restaurant was that you were seated at large square tables with lots of other people. There were no tables for 2 or 4 or 6…it was a big table with benches.  Each group was at different point in their meal.  It was a neat atmosphere—I’m not sure how receptive people would be to it in the States…but I really liked it.

After dinner we walked around some more—listened to some street drummers and sat at the foot of a statue in the middle of Piccadilly Circus.  There was such a huge contrast between the digital advertisements on the big screen and the old style architecture around it.  It was quite strange to see so many neon lights, stores, cars, etc.  I enjoyed my time in London—but I might enjoy it more when I haven’t recently spent time in a third world country—all of the glamour seems a bit pointless—although I noticed that I hadn’t lost my enjoyment of shopping.  I hope to go back to London some day and spend more time there.

We slept pretty well that night—in the morning I took my first HOT shower in 6 weeks.  It felt amazing! The pressure in the shower was really high and it felt so good to get sprayed with hot water at an angle rather than a straight down stream of cold water (although I didn’t mind cold showers while I was in Ouaga—they often felt wonderfully refreshing).  I even got to blow dry my hair afterwards.

We got to the airport with no problems and in plenty of time.  We wondered around the airport…looking at all the shops (soo many designer stores). On the plane we both had aisle seats.  I sat next to a man from Munich, Germany.  He is a biology and chemistry teacher at the high school level.  He was headed to the States to road trip on Route 66 from Chicago to Albuquerque.   When I told him that I was on my way home from Burkina Faso—he got really excited because he had been to Burkina Faso to build schools during his Christmas holiday about four years ago. We talked about Burkina for a little while and then I fell asleep.  Most of the trip was sleeping, reading, and watching movies.

We landed safely and got through customs with no problems.  We were eagerly greeted by our parents when we walked out of the terminal.  After big hugs all around—we headed toward the car.  4 hours later—we were back in Appleton.  I didn’t last much past 9:00 before needing to go to bed.  Erica was still at work—so when she got home she came in to say hello by flipping on my lights and saying welcome home.  It was great to see her but the light was blinding!

I’m home—safe and sound!  I may  continue to post for a couple of days—with reflections/adjustments back to life here in the US.  I am going to turn all of these posts from my trip into one of those books that you can make online—complete with a hard cover and pictures!

Well—thanks for reading!

-JK

Burkina

I come from an island far from Africa. Where my blood has known comfort, luxury, and spoils

I felt the heat of Burkina, the sun’s heat of raging fire.
I have touched the rain of Burkina, the sweetest sound of a thunderstorm.
I have seen the women of Burkina, with an intelligence and a beauty unimaginable.
I have danced to the music of Burkina, around the the beating drums.
I have sung the songs of Burkina and heard children’s laugher echoing among the trees.

I have beat the drums of Burkina, a rhythm divine for the whole of Africa to hear – “Ek het jou lief Burkina” – I love you Burkina!
I have seen the passion of Burkina, in man’s eyes while he works the land

I long to go come back here, where the drum’s rhythm is so divine, and I will sing along, “Ek het jou lief Burkina” – I love you Burkina!

(the italics will eventually be changed into More…but my sheet with some phrases translated is already packed and I can’t get to it)

Snickers and her new cast

Susan and Lorinda took Snickers to the vet again.  She came back very drugged and with a cast on his front left leg.  Since she was so calm and drugged, Susan, Kirsten, Lorinda, and I signed her cast!

Alice dropped us off at the Village Artisanal to get some last minute things before going home (She didn’t go shopping with us because Charity had a fever this morning and needed to go into the doctor).   We went into the Village with a mission—we only got sidetracked once or twice—but it was worth it.  I was happy because I had a much better experience with the Taureg vendors.  The man that followed us around the Taureg display was much less pushy and friendlier then the other men that I met last time.  He was very reasonable with his pricing as well.  When Kirsten said that his first price was too expensive (it wasn’t a terrible price to begin with…) he immediately took 1,000 CFA off of it.  He wanted me to buy more, but was very respectful when I didn’t want anything else.  The Taureg work is so beautiful.  It is so interesting to think that these desert travelers…very weathered, tough, and scary looking men…make some of the most gorgeous things with leather.  They make very ornate swords…which suit them perfectly.  The actual sword is such an intense and intimidating object (like the Taureg)—yet the sheath is such a beautiful cover that masks the sword (like the rest of their leatherwork).

When Alice dropped us back off at the Hub, it was packing time.  We moved one of the big dressers from our room into Jess’s room and got mostly everything packed into our suitcases.  We were constantly going from the Cap to the Hub bringing things to the girls that we are leaving behind…tape, some first aid, kool aid, etc.   After getting a sufficient amount of packing done, Kirsten and I stopped for a coconut cream pie break.  Sarah made it the night before…and it was DELICIOUS!

A visit from Virginie

Virginie stopped by to say goodbye to us.  She came over wearing the pair of earrings that we gave her, the necklace, and one of my t-shirts.  It was awesome to see how happy she was to wear them.  She brought us really cool bowls made from a coconut shell.  It was really great to see her one more time before leaving.  She is such a kind and beautiful woman…I will miss her very much.  She has been such a wonderful help and fun to interact with.  I am impressed by her humbleness, ability to teach, and fantastic English!

Jess, Kirsten, and I walked down to the shoppette to get some laundry detergent (since we have been using Susan and Sarah’s since we have been here).  We walked through the market to get there.  It really hit me as we were walking that I am leaving tomorrow.  I love it here so much—the people, the sights, the culture, and even some of the smells.  On the way home, we stopped at the Marina Deco…it is this mini department store on the street.  We have always passed it but have never gone inside.  It is full of the most random things.  There are sofa sets in the front window, sphinx figurines covered in gold paint, dolls, kitchenware—it was very weird.

Nema (Dr. F’s wife) came to visit us as well this afternoon.  She came to the gate and when Susan answered she asked if “the girls” were in.  Susan had never met Nema…so it was a good thing that I came out pretty quickly.  She brought gifts from the staff at the clinic.  They gave us these mini purses with a necklace and earring set inside along with a card that had the names of all of the staff on it.  She gave us each 2 big hugs before leaving.  Nema gives the best hugs that I have received in Burkina (not many people hug here).  Her hugs just make you feel so loved and happy!  I found out yesterday that Nema means Grace in her native language (She is from Mali).  It is so fitting because the Greek word for grace is charis, which means “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness”.

Around dinner time, Mark came back with all of our tailored items.  The only item that as new today was the apron that I had made—I figured since I learned how to cook from scratch here in Burkina, I should have an apron made out of African material.  It has a huge pocket in the front.  Jess joked that I would be able to put a rolling pin and a whole bowl of dough into the pocket!  He asked me to send his greetings to my family when I get home.

Then the Brokopp family picked Kirsten and me up for dinner.  They took us to Le Cordon Bleu.  It was a very nice restaurant (it was where Pete took Alice on their first date).  I got chicken in a red wine sauce with fried plantains.  The plantains were AMAZING! The best I have ever had.  They were very sweet—it was hard to eat them all.  My chicken was good—but I couldn’t eat much of it because it was really red in one part of it…I was advised not to eat the rest.  The sauce was really good though!  This was our debrief session with Pete and Alice.  We talked about our most positive experience.  It was really hard to choose one…I decided that medically it was probably the clinic visit to Tougan since it was a bit more hands on.  Outside of medicine, the trip to the bush was probably my most positive experience.  Then Kirsten reminded me about going to Compassion and seeing Tinwende…and experience which could possibly rival the all night dance party.  It is impossible to choose just one experience.  He also asked us about a negative aspect of our trip…we talked about how it would have been nice if the Tougan trip could have been a longer one, the transportation frustrations, and not connecting with the youth of EAC right away.  Pete told us how much he appreciated our flexibility and positive attitudes—things got changed around for us right off the bat and we just went with it and made the most out of each experience that we had.  They are still working on getting short term missions smoothed out and this was definitely a good learning experience for the missionaries as well.  I feel so blessed to have gotten so much one on one (well two on four) time with the Brokopp family.  They have taught me a lot about life as a missionary.  I appreciate how hospitable they have been to Kirsten and me—they have opened their house, cupboards, and family to us.  It was really nice to hear that they have enjoyed their time with us as much as we have enjoyed our time with them—and to be affirmed that we didn’t bring a burden into their lives (I’m sure we did at times, but I’m glad that the good overtook the bad).

When we got back to the Hub, we hung out with Jess and Sarah…looking at what we were going to wear to Central Church tomorrow.  We are all going to wear African outfits!! I am so excited.  I took some of the scraps from the fabric that I had an African outfit made of and figured out how to make a headpiece to wear to church (seen in the following photo)—it isn’t nearly as beautiful as the headpieces of the women here…but it’s an attempt to be a ¼ as gorgeous as them!

Goodbye Gilbert! Nin Dare

Kirsten and I gave Gilbert an American Eagle shirt and a nice thick windbreaker as a goodbye gift.   He asked Sarah to thanks us for him…and that he really liked the gifts.  He immediately put the jacket on.  Sarah said that he will probably wear the jacket every night until December.  We heard the other guards and Gilbert talking excitedly when he went back outside.  Gilbert has been such a comfort to have around.  I have never worried about my safety at night while I have been at the Hub.  He really likes working at our house and he is always so happy.  I love that he always greets us when we come home and he puts up with me saying the same phrases to him in More over and over and over again.

Well, it’s time to go to bed…my last night of sleep in the Cap…

-JK

There was a HUGE storm last night!! I slept right through it…but Kirsten informed me that because of the few windows that were open, it seemed like a tornado was formed inside our house!  A large part of a tree fell into our courtyard again.  It was still raining when we should have left to go to the clinic, so Alice called to tell us that we were going to wait till the weather calmed a bit, which made sense because people don’t go to the clinic when it is raining.  So Kirsten and I went back to laid back down for about another hour and listened to the rain and slept.

The clinic was very slow patient wise.  I don’t know if more than 3 or 4 people showed up all morning.  The old lady with the leg sore came in with her granddaughter to get her wound cleaned.  Julia did the cleaning for her.  I spoke the little More that I know with her.  We found out her name…but it was hard to pronounce so I don’t remember it anymore.  She is such a strong and beautiful woman.  Julia said that there has been a lot of tissue regrowth since the first time we saw her back at the beginning of our time here in Burkina.  She has been much better about coming in to get it cleaned.  It is really encouraging to see this improvement.  When they left the clinic, Kirsten and I followed to catch up to them.  I gave the granddaughter one of my necklaces to keep.  Her smile was precious.  Her eyes got really big when I showed her the necklace and that beautiful smile stretched across her face as I put the necklace on her.  I told her in English that she should continue to take such good care of her grandmother.  I know she couldn’t understand me…but it seemed like she understood it in a way.  I don’t know how to explain it.  Her grandmother looked so happy as well.  She kept saying barka barka barka (which means thank you in More and Jula).

Most of the morning was spent just hanging out with the staff in the outside waiting room.  We took a group photo.  Kirsten and I had made cookies for everyone ( my mom sent a packet of cookie mix with the Appleton team).  Nema (Dr. F’s wife) immediately smiled when she bit into the cookie and she asked if the chocolate was American chocolate.  When we told her yes, everyone got so excited.  Marieatou came in with her daughter Hulda (who has malaria) to get some tests done.  She didn’t stick around too long, but long enough for us to give her a necklace and some clothes for baby Hulda (which we swiped from the back room that the Appleton team filled up with clothes…thanks!).

JULIA!

Julia showed off her new African outfit that she had made…it was so beautiful!!  Jasmeet (the receptionist who is a youth at EAC) wrote out the words to our favorite worship song sung at EAC.  We started singing it outside—Nema, Jasmeet, Kirsten and I were just singing it over and over.  It was so fun!  Then Jasmeet (who sings in the Jula choir at EAC) taught Kirsten and me some of the Jula choir dances that we have seen at church.  It was so fun…the staff would sing the songs and we would dance.  While we were dancing, a group of the neighbors of the clinic piled up outside the gate watching us.  It was really funny.  Paschal was cracking up the entire time—he didn’t join in the dancing but I could see him grooving a long a little bit—and he was definitely singing.  It was so much fun to just hang out with the staff—to talk, laugh, dance, and sing with them.

Dr. F wrote us a little certificate about our time spent at the clinic.  He also made me a copy of the architecture plans for a maternity ward that he hopes to get built.  Before leaving, Kirsten and I gave all of the women at the clinic necklaces.  It was so hard to leave! Celestine (from the pharmacy) asked us when we were coming back.  When we couldn’t give her an answer…she asked if she could come along with us in our luggage.  It was so funny.  I hope to get to see them all again someday.

We ate with Susan and the Brokopps for lunch.  We had a peppersteak dish and mashed potatoes.  After lunch, Mark the tailor came back to the house with some of our outfits.  I packed up some stuff in the Cap while we waited to Virginie to return from running some errands.  Today is the last day that we will see her (she doesn’t work on the weekends).  Kirsten and I gave her some t-shirts, fun bracelets and shell leis for her daughters, a pair of earrings, some bobby pins, and my favorite necklace that I brought with me.  When she saw the necklace at the end of the gift giving, I thought she was going to cry.  She was so happy and sad at the same time.  She asked Susan to thanks us for everything and wish us many blessings for her. In this culture, gifts are usually given through another person, and thanks are given back through that person.  Ie: Kirsten and I should have given the gifts to Sarah, Jess or Susan to give to Virginie for us—and she would ask them to thank us.  We gave her big hugs goodbye.

Jess, Kirsten and I went to the Women’s Co-op to pick up some last minute things.  The walk was a great chance to talk with Jess and Kirsten about life etc.  When we returned to the house, Virginie was still there.  She thanked us again and asked us when we were returning to Burkina.  She wished that we could return for her wedding in October.  I wish that we could be there for it!  So many great things are happening in Burkina…and I wish I could remain here for all of them!!!

Sarah made tacos (on Sam’s delicious tortillas) for us for dinner tonight.  I helped by cutting up the onions (without crying!).    We had a family style meal where we all ate together.   Jess, Kirsten and I brought the extra tacos to Gilbert to have.  We sat outside and talked with him about his family for a little while.  Jess and I watched A Knights Tale on the projector.  It was nice to just relax.

Well… time for bed so that I can wake up and make the most of the day tomorrow!!

-JK

This morning, Jenny (the lab technician at the clinic) picked us up to go to the clinic.  Alice and Jenny are good friends and their kids had a play date this morning so it was nice that she could take us to the clinic.  We spent most of the day back in the lab with her and Nikodem.  I got to look for malaria parasites in several blood slides.  The slides are so cool to look at under the microscope…some of them start looking kind of pretty—and then I have to realize that the “pretty structures” are causing millions of children to die.  We also saw the blood smear of an old woman who has a form of leukemia.  It was interesting because all stages of development of red blood cells are present in the blood because they are being over produced.  We learned a ton about red and white blood cells today.  We also got to look through a couple of stool sample slides—looking for giardia bacteria.  Well, we didn’t find any, but we did have confirmation that one of the patients ate meat recently.  There are a few things, like meat fibers, that can be seen as far as the person’s diet, in their stool.  Jenny also had a book of Tropical diseases…it was incredible!  It is the kind of book that gives you nightmares because the pictures are so horrific—but I couldn’t help but be fascinated by it!  I want to be seeing the strange cases like that—I realize that every doctor needs to put up with the day to day complaints of patients…but I want to be helping people that are dealing with diseases that are like the ones in this book…its hard to think though that treatment might not always be easily accessible…even if I could just make the quality of life better.  It would be so rewarding to help someone get rid a disease that has probably caused them to be shunned by their community because it is so grotesque—to improve not only someone’s physical health, but their self esteem, and their ability to live and interact with the people of their community.

An interesting thing that Jenny brought up while we were in lab was that she is still adjusting to the idea that we can’t save everyone.  The lady with the leukemia…isn’t going to get treatment because it is too expensive and difficult to get.  Supportive treatment can be given to help her suffering to be less.  The need is so great here…it can be overwhelming.  To think that someone can be diagnosed with a problem, but that the problem can’t be treated (even though treatments exist) because of availability or expense, is hard to swallow at times.  I was talking with my parents and sister tonight over skype…because we will be donating some money to the clinic that I am working at…and they asked about where it should go at the clinic…to help pay for the medicine of patients that can’t afford any…or elsewhere.  The clinic has wanted to build a maternity ward (the clinic has a big mother/child focus) and I think that I would like the money to go there.  It is one of those things though…do you help patients buy their medicine so that they don’t die of malaria or do you build a place that provide a place for mothers to stay before and after the birth of their children…a facility that will hopefully have better technology to make the birthing process safer and save the lives of mothers and babies.  I can’t save everyone…and I’m learning that…but I still want to.  I think that one of the hardest things to deal with as a doctor in this type of environment would be…who do you choose to save? No human should be in a position like that…but in deciding where to use money here…sometimes you are choosing which lives to prolong.  How often can/should the clinic help pay for a test or a treatment?

After doing lab work, Kirsten, and I went outside.  We saw some of the workers cutting away grass with machetes.  So we asked if we could try.  I went first…the men just laughed and laughed at me.  Kirsten and Julia did a better job of cutting the grass…but it was really fun!  Then we went outside the gate and helped Pashcal lay some bricks for the new parking strip being built outside the clinic.  We talked with him and laid lots of rows of bricks.  He was the first Burkinabe to let me help with construction without helping out himself.  He just sat and watched us.  It was nice to help him with that and talk to him about his work.  He is a Samo (they speak Jula).  Samos are known as being much better administrators whereas the Mossi are known for their hard work.  I was told that you can tell them apart by how they work—not by any physical feature.  A Mossi will work really hard but not always efficiently.  A Samo will work less but work smart.  So it wasn’t surprising when Paschal told us that he was a Samo.

Jenny drove us over to Alice’s for lunch.  We had a delicious chicken casserole dish.  After lunch, Kirsten and I went back to the Cap for a nice nap.  I was up really late last night…I just couldn’t sleep.  I found out at lunch today that the coffee served at last night’s goodbye party was not decaf.  I haven’t had much caffeine (no soda, no chocolate, no coffee) so that one cup of coffee went really far!!

The Walking Park Crew

Jess, Kirsten and I took Charity and Sammy to the walking park.  It is a beautiful forest in the city…it has lots of trails, ponds, benches, etc.  Crocodiles can be seen walking around sometimes…I saw one in one of the ponds.  It is also the city’s hot spot for meeting one’s significant other.  There were couples walking or sitting all over the place!  Sammy and Charity rode their bikes while Jess, Kirsten and I ran.  Yes, I went running.  I did pretty well…I was in charge of carrying the water bottles…so I had little weights to run with too.  We saw a tree FULL of bats!!

BATS!

It was unreal! They looked like the leaves of the tree—there were so many!  Most of the paths were blocked with water so we didn’t get very far but the grounds were beautiful.  We took some cute pictures on a log that had fallen over a small pond.

Playing around

Sammy took a spill.  There were three different reactions from the 3 of us…

Jess: Whoa Sammy!  Way to go. That was so extreme.  Great fall!

Kirsten: (concern—I can’t remember if she said something…but it would have been…) Sammy are you okay?

Jenny: (without even looking at his face) Sammy, sit here and let me wash the dirt off your knees (and then pouring some of my water bottle on to his knees and hands and wiping them off with my shirt to check for deep cuts)

You can tell a bit about each of our personalities based on that!  This trip is probably the first time I have been around the same young kids consistently for an extended period of time.  Being the youngest child (in my own family and on both sides of my extended family)…I’ve never dealt with little ones.  It has caused me to question my mothering capabilities.  It is so much work!  I enjoy my time with them…they are great kids…but these 6 weeks have showed me just how time consuming a family is.  I am only around them a few hours a day…but a mom has very little time apart from kids…there never seems a moment to spare for oneself when kids are around.  Just the idea that my first instinct when Sammy fell was to fix his knee…not to even ask how he was or give him a hug of comfort…might make me a good doctor (although lacking a bit in compassion)…but is that the way that a mother reacts?  Family life is so important here.  I’ve probably been asked when I am going to get married and how many kids I want to have—every other day.  It is at the forefront of everyone’s mind here…so I have been thinking about it a lot…

Kirsten and I ate left overs before going over to EAC for youth night.  The night began with worship—which I always enjoy.  The power went out near the end of the singing.  It was really neat because the last 2 songs were done in the dark to an acoustic guitar and a jimbae drum.  As soon as the lights went out, about 8 or 9 children came running in to find Kirsten and me.  They figured if the lights were out, the youth wouldn’t be able to see them.  One of the kids plopped herself right on my lap. The kids left after a little while and when the lights came on, I noticed the imprint of 2 little butt cheeks on my white skirt.

Then a student presented a fairly formal presentation about the effects of “modernity” on relationships.  He talked about how people aren’t confiding in their friends and there is always a hint of mistrust present in relationships.  Individualism is seeping into the culture here—especially in the city.  After this presentation, one of the youth asked me if I would like for him to translate for me.  I was soo happy!!!

The next part was an interview with a pastor that has been studying at Trinity in the States (Chicago) He talked about his life in the US and his impressions of the American church.  It was hard to listen to because his views of the US church weren’t super positive in my perspective—which didn’t surprise me much because the church in Burkina is so vibrant and lively.  He described the services as very professional—ahh that makes me want to cry!  When asked about the presence of the youth in the church—he said that they were not very present in the church body…the main thing that they do is go out on missions trips during their summer vacations.  The youth here are the main body of the church—they lead worship, Sunday school, etc.

They had a little skit presentation as well—Francis was one of the main characters.  It was evangelism and how sometimes it is hard but you have to rely on God and not worry about what others say about you. (this skit wasn’t translated as much…so I gathered a lot of it with my limited French…)

Most of the meeting was a new type of forum for them called Coeur to (don’t know the French for to)Coeur –Heart to Heart.  The youth got the chance to ask the main pastor—Pastor Thomas and his board—questions about the church.  It was very interesting to listen to.  The elders also got to ask the youth some questions.  I think that it went very well—but it made evident where some of the tensions in the church exist.

Jonas and Abe's Fender

The youth president, Jonas, presented Abe’s Fender guitar (Abe was a member of the Appleton team) to the worship group at EAC.  I got a picture and some video of Jonas Kabore playing it at the end of the meeting.

After the meeting, we hung out with some of the youth.  They gave us little bags of beesap (which we aren’t allowed to drink because we can’t know if the water is safe) and beef sandwiches.  I think it is cool that they all share a small meal together after meeting.  My friend John asked to take a picture with me and Kirsten.  After taking the picture, he asked me to send it to him…along with a picture of just me.  It made me laugh.  Adama, John, Francis, Kirsten, and I prayed together for Jackie Reich and my sister because of their birthdays being today.  I thought that was really cool.  We stood in a circle and prayed outloud together for them.

Adama and Francis took Kirsten and me home from Central on their motos.  I rode with Francis this time.  We had a great conversation on the way home.  He asked me more about my promise to remain pure until marriage.  He asked me why I wanted to do that.  I explained to him that I thought that intimate relationships before marriage cause you to give pieces of your heart away.  I told him that I wanted to be able to give all of my heart to my future husband and that I thought that there is a special relationship between a husband and a wife that I don’t want to share with anyone but my husband.  He then asked me if I was ever planning to get married (last time he asked me I told him that I wasn’t sure if I would or not).  I told him that I felt like it is easier to carry out work for God’s kingdom as a single person—because you are not preoccupied by family life (which is super time consuming and draining) and you are able to more easily move to where you are needed, but that having a husband has its advantages as well.  The companionship and someone to share all of your time, ideas, and dreams with is something really special.  So I ended up saying that I would be content in either situation…so I am just waiting for God to make it clear what I should do.  He asked me to pray for him to find a wife.  He is 28 and would like to be married soon.  He explained that it is important to him that his wife be in love with God first and then him.  He also asked me about my sister…what she did, how old she turned today (25) and about our relationship.  It was fun to talk with him about my family life.  As we were driving, I saw this white boy on a moto next to us.  Andrew Burg was riding his moto home when he saw us.  He said that he saw this girl with long red hair on the back of the moto and was surprised to see that it wasn’t fake…and then he noticed that I was white and realized that he knew exactly who it was.  So he joked around with Francis as we moto’ed back to the Hub.  Francis and Adama dropped us off and walked us up to the front door.

When we got to the door—I saw that Pete and Lorinda were over.  They came over because Snickers, our dog was hit by a car tonight.  He is living, but two of his legs are broken.  The vet will come over to the house in the morning.  Andrew, Pete, Francis, Adama, Jess, Kirsten, Sarah, and I all talked together for a while before saying goodnight.

I skyped with the family to wish Erica a happy happy birthday and talked with Kirsten for a bit in the Cap.  It has been a long day…and I am a bit drained…little sleep, lots of running, and sitting through a 2.5 hour youth meeting in French on a hard bench.  I’m ready to go to sleep…but I am not ready for the days to keep passing by…

-JK

I spent some time with Maggie the midwife again today.  OBGYN services are so needed here in Burkina…and honestly…it isn’t as terrible as I’ve always thought it was.  I’m not as awkward around that type of thing (as I don’t even explain in correct terms…maybe I still have a little way to go…) as I was before.  I like that relationships are built with the women because they come in before the pregnancy, for the birth, and afterwards with the kids.  Having children is so important to the culture here…and an OBGYN gets to help increase the chance of the baby living  Granted, it is difficult to see several pregnant women that weigh less than I do, or that  haven’t gained any weight in the last 2 months.  One mother brought in her baby girl…she brought her in for a vaccination…but the baby kept throwing up.  It sounded like she had debris stuck in her throat and just in general didn’t look healthy…but then I looked at the mother and saw that she was dressed well and looked very healthy…it just didn’t seem like the same care was being put into her baby girl that she was putting into herself… One baby boy came in that melted my heart!!  He was about 6 months old…and by that time…a baby should have doubled in weight…this baby had tripled!!  He was soo pudgy!!  We kept complimenting the mother on how strong he was, how big and beautiful!  His eyes cracked me up though—they were the biggest and roundest eyes I had ever seen—and they never seemed to close.  He was so precious.

Sector 27

Julia, Kirsten, and I went for a walk because the day was going so slow.  The clinic is in sector 27-which is fairly poor.  Dr. F told us about the “shanty village” so we went looking for it.  We may have walked through it but I think we were expecting tents and leaning metal houses…but it was a different type of mud brick and things looked a bit more impoverished…not that there is much difference between really poor and poor here.  I practiced some of my More and people always smiled a lot when I spoke to them in More.  Mostly greetings…but it means so much to them for a white girl to speak their native language.  I really enjoyed our walk.  We talked a lot about our observations of life in Burkina…especially about missionary couples and the struggles that they must deal with.

Alice picked us up a little early so we could go to visit Dr. J before he went home for lunch.  We went to his office to say hello and see how he was doing—and let him know that we are leaving on Sunday/Monday.  He told us that yesterday he received information from TeleHealth in Texas that they are going to give him a scholarship to go to Texas for 4 years and specialize in Cardiology.  He will probably come over in the fall of 2010—and his wife Natasha will probably get to come with him and specialize in OBGYN (she is in her last year of medical school here in Ouaga).  He is very excited…but is nervous about his English.  He is already planning to do an intensive English course for a year in Ouaga and then get to the US 5 months early before school starts to practice his English.  I am so happy for him and he said that he would like to visit us when he comes to the US.  He also updated us on news that he has been reading about Michael Jackson (supposedly he did not actually molest a child that testified against him…and his personal doctor is responsible for his death…)  We gave him his wedding gift (a vase from the US) and he saved it to open with Natasha.  He is hoping to have us over for a meal…I hope that we will be able to do that…but I’m not sure if time will permit it.  It was sad to leave…I am going to miss Dr. J the most out of all the Dr. that we have worked with.  He is so young, so smart, and he really wants to be able to help people.  He isn’t into medicine for the money or prestige…if he was…he would be practicing elsewhere.  He has such a great heart!

We had lunch at the Brokopps with Jess.  Alice made enchiladas!!  They were delicious!  After lunch we went back to the Hub and Mark came with some of our tailored clothes!!!  I had an African outfit made (tight fitted long skirt and matching top) that I LOVE!  Kirsten and I both tried on the items that he had finished…it felt like a fashion show.  Most of the stuff needs to be altered a tad..but I am so excited about the things that I had made!!! YAY!

Then…it was time to COOK!!  I don’t think I will be able to accurately describe how fun it was to make the pate d’arachide with Virginie…or how CRAZY Virginie must have thought we were…but let’s just say…we took lots of pictures!  We were tourists in our own kitchen.  I had a pen and notebook in hand for almost the entire process…so I can replicate the sauce in the US.

The bookkeeper

We all took turns stirring the sauce and getting our pictures taken.  We made the sauce in a HUGE pot.  The meat used can vary…but we used some thin steaks that Kirsten and I had purchased earlier.  We didn’t let Virginie cut the meat because Burkinabe will put everything into the sauce…including all the fat and questionable parts.

The Butcher

So my task was to cut off all of the fat and cut the meat into bite sized pieces.  We all took pictures with the cabbage—because there is a French saying used for a boyfriend…petit chow (small cabbage)…like a pet name.

Mon petit choux

So we took pictures kissing the cabbage etc…it was very entertaining for us.  Virginie taught us how to taste the sauce like a Burkinabe.  Instead of putting your finger in, or taking a taste off of the spoon, you flick some of the hot hot hot sauce onto your palm and lick immediately.

Burkinabe Taste Test

Ya so ma (Se bon) (it is good)

It was really fun.  She was so surprised to see that we did it another way.  Kirsten did not enjoy tasting in the Burkinabe way as much as I did (I think her hands were a bit more sensitive to the heat).  Virginie also showed us how to make Beesap juice…it is made like a tea but the petals of a beesap flower are used…and it is soaked in room temperature water for a LOOONG time.

Beesap

Virginie adds mint (also soaking in water for a LOOONG time)…but some people add gingerroot.   We also cooked up a lot of rice.

We asked Virginie to stay and eat with us but she needed to get back to her girls.  Sarah, Jess, Kirsten and I ate the pate d’arachide for dinner with beesap juice.  The sauce was very good.  But we made soo much!!  Burkinabe usually eat one BIG meal a day…and so their serving size is double or triple what an American would eat in one sitting…so we made sauce for 4…but really probably for 8 or 10.  I liked the beesap at first…but I couldn’t drink very much of it.  We brought a HUGE plate (Burkina portion) of the meal to Gilbert (our night guard).  He was so excited and licked his plate clean!

Gilbert and the Girls

Tonight’s prayer meeting was actually a farewell to the Albrights.  Ruth and Tim have been missionaries in Burkina for a long time and they are leaving to serve with ECHO in Florida.

the Albright Family

We had cake, coffee, rootbeer floats, and coconut bars.  Tim told us about what they will be doing with ECHO.  Francis called while we were there…and I had him talk with Pete.  He was calling to see if we could come to the youth night at Central tomorrow.  We are going to present the youth with the guitar that Abe from the Appleton team left for them.  I am excited to get to hang out with the youth again!  When we got back to the Hub, Kristen, Jess and I did a dance video workout again tonight!

-JK

Kirsten and I went back to Navigators today.  It was a fairly slow day.  The pregnant woman who had fainted the day before was stayed in the broken X-ray room overnight…so we went in to take her vitals and give her more medicine.  Another young woman had come in during the afternoon when Kirsten and I were not there.  She came to the clinic 10 days before because she had miscarried her baby and there was “debris” left in her uterus.  They were going to need to put her under anesthesia so they wanted someone to be with her so they asked her to go home and come back with a family member or a friend…well she didn’t return until 10 days later…cramped over…barely able to walk.  They immediately hit her with the strongest antibiotics to get rid of any infection in her uterus.  Dr. F explained that she probably had a pelvic infection—the number one cause of infertility in Burkina Faso.  They would take an ultrasound to look around and analyze it the next day.  Infertility is grounds for divorce in Burkina—a woman who is unable to have a baby is shunned from the community.  It is very important that everything be done for this woman so that she will continue to be able to have babies.

Africa has caused me to gain weight I think—lack of exercise and excess of starchy food…I was wearing a dress today…and Marrieatou (one of the nurses) came up to me.  She put one hand on the front of my shoulder and one hand on the back of it.  Then she slid her hands all the way down to my ankles…then she exclaimed…Bon Forme (good form).  To be fat here is to be in good form/beautiful because it shows that you are wealthy enough to buy food.  Not only was I surprised to be felt up (well actually down) by a nurse…but I was a tad sad that my good American form…has turned into a good African form…

I spent most of the morning in the laboratoire with Jenny.  She is a missionary from Australia—she is a technician at the clinic part-time.  She also works at Dr. P’s clinic on other days.  I got to help with counting the different types of white blood cells—it was a 2 year old’s thin smear—and he had some sickle cell shaped red blood cells.  I also saw a centrifuged capillary tube of blood—all separated out.  I also learned about the test for typhoid fever.  We also had a pregnancy test (looking for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin—hCG  in the urine)—which turned out to be positive.  It was interesting to see all of the different tests.  I enjoyed looking at all the blood slides the most.  On Thursday…I get to go hunting for malaria in the blood slides!  Jenny was a great teacher—and it was nice to have things explained in depth and in English.

Kirsten and I went over to the Brokopps for lunch again today—we had this GREAT Korean beef sesame seed and rice dish.  It was in honor of our failed attempt to make Chinese fried rice the night before.  It was DELICIOUS!  After lunch, Jess, Kirsten, and I went to the market with Virginie to get ingredients for the meal we are going to make tomorrow—pate d’arachide (peanut gravy).  The whole trip cost only about 1,500 CFA (which is about $3)  We bought poivron vert, tomate,  oignion, oignion vert, chow, persil, ail, bouillon cubes, et pate d’arachide. My favorite purchase was the pate d’arachide (peanut butter).

pate d'arachide

The recipe needs natural peanut butter.  So we found this lady at the market with a HUGE bowl of natural peanut butter.  She pulled out this small bag and lined a tin can with it.  She then measured out a little over 1.5 cups of the peanut butter by scooping it out of the big bowl.  The peanut butter was put into the bag inside the tin can.  Then the bag was tied and pulled out of the can…and that was our peanut butter!!

Ya so ma

It was really fun to go around the market with Virginie.  We had one man ask Virginie if one of the Nasarras (white girls) would marry him.  We also got some mint to make besaap juice.

Once we returned, we put on a couple of episodes of Monk and helped Sarah decorate some bookmarks that she made for her woman’s bible study at the Tabitha Center.  They were originally going to be embroidered…but that took too long so we ended up drawing designs and then sewing on a button with the bible verse—Jeremiah 29:11—in either French or More.

For dinner, Kirsten and I made an interesting cous cous dish.  The sauce was a mix of chicken broth, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, and rasins.  It tasted mostly like chicken.  I actually enjoyed it…I’m not sure Kirsten felt the same way.  Throughout the night—the power went off several times. Around 8:30 (when the power was out) I decided to lay down in the big arm chair in our living room.  Well…the next thing I know…it is 1 am…and no one is in the living room anymore.  While I slept, Sarah baked cookies, the power went on and off a couple of more time…so the lights turned on…and I didn’t move and inch!!  The girls were astounded!  So…I went straight to the Cap and went to sleep…no posting…sorry!

It was a wonderful night’s sleep!!

-JK

A young girl visited us who was about 5 months pregnant. She was in complaining of feeling sick—she had malaria.  This young girl weighed less than I did (as did one other pregnant mother) and had lost 10 pounds in the last month.   When the girl left the office to go get her tests and prescriptions ordered, she fainted.  It turned out that she had very severe malaria—but she wasn’t able to pay for the test—Dr. F paid for the blood work to be done—I’m not sure if the clinic was able to get a hold of some family to help pay for the necessary medication.

A 3 year old boy came in to get some wounds rebandaged.  He fell into a fire on Saturday and had terrible burns on his back and in between his legs.  Kirsten and I went in to watch—and I ended up assisting a little bit.  The kid was so brave as the nurse ripped the old bandages off—tearing away some of his skin—and lanced the blisters that had formed.  He didn’t start crying until the second round of cleaning.  Both of his parents were there—the dad kept having to leave the room to buy more gauze compresses to put on his son’s burns. The mother seemed to ache for her small boy—I could hear her inhale sharply with each wipe of the stinging cleaning solution.  She had to hold her boy down as he cried so that the nurse could do her job.  The parents were actively involved in the procedure—they held some things for the nurse…but mostly restrained their boy and picked up gauze compresses from the floor as the fan blew them off the table.  I helped by holding onto the little boy’s arm, and holding the gauze while the nurse wrapped bandages/tape around it.  The burn was so big—and when she clean it—small chunks of his black skin came peeling off.  It was so strange to see because the kid looked as if he were white skinned underneath his black skin.  I don’t think that I will ever forget this little boy—his big beautiful eyes were so full of pain and his small body was so badly burned.

The Faithful Granddaughter

The old lady with the big ankle sore came back for her cleaning.  Her granddaughter always accompanies her.  She is such a pleasant old lady to be around…I don’t know if I could be if I had been dealing with the pain that she is.

Old Lady with the ankle sore

The 10 year old foot sore...cleaned frequently at the clinic

I also got to change out and IV bag—but that was not very exciting.

Alice picked us up from the clinic and we went to her house for lunch.  It was a big group for lunch today—Pete, Alice, Charity, Sammy, Sarah, Kirsten, and me.  We had spaghetti.  It rained really hard during dinner and the temperature outside got very chilly!  After lunch, Sammy wanted to give everyone massages.  He and Charity took each of the girls individually back into his room.  I got a nice arm massage—complete with raspberry lotion—and a manicure.

All dolled up!

They painted my fingernails bright blue with white polka dots on one hand and green with white polka dots on the other hand.  While we were at the “spa” Charity asked me a lot about my sister—she wanted to know all about her.  They were surprised to find out that I was the youngest in my family.  Charity was very excited that it is Erica’s birthday on Thursday.  Charity and Sammy thought that the perfect birthday would be the following….

-go swimming in the pool

-have mom make sandwiches for lunch

-go get a pedicure and manicure

-go out to dinner

-eat icecream

-go to a movie at the movie theater

After lunch, Pete took Jess, Kirsten, Charity, and me out to Pan Bila.  It is a street kid ministry.  Young girls who are at risk for becoming prostitutes or are already prostitutes are brought in—they attempt to reconcile the women to their families—they also educate them and help them learn a vocation.  They are given free food, water, and shelter.  The site also takes in young boys who drop out of Islam school. They teach them and help them reconcile with their families.  We got to tour the place and then hangout with the people living there.  I watched the babies of the young women for a while…but then I went and passed around the soccer ball with the young boys.   The mothers were so young—and some of their babies were so tiny!  They seemed very happy and well connected within that community.  This site also has on site housing for interns that can come in to work with the project.  Over 120 young women have been through the site since it opened (it has 18 right now) and 15 street boys (this program is only 1 year old).

Back at the Hub—I helped Sarah embroider the edges on some bookmarks that she is making for the women that attend her bible class on Ester at the Tabitha Center.  Kirsten and I attempted to make Chinese fried rice—but we had to walk down to Alice’s to borrow some soy sauce.  When we told her about what we were making, she asked if we were putting carrots in it…and we told her that we were going to add a can of mixed peas and carrots to it…she immediately said No no no and gave us some fresh carrots to take home—so we walked back to the Hub with carrots and soy sauce.  The rice turned out kinda like dog food again—Kirsten mixed the rice together so much that it no longer really looked like rice.  We didn’t have onions to put into it…so I added a bunch of random spices…the taste that showed up the most ended up being Italian seasoning…There are some left overs in the fridge for tomorrow….yummm.

I just found the site for the movie about Wake Forest’s Jon Abbate—the 5^th Quarter.  I saw lots of people that I recognized in the trailer! http://www.the5thquartermovie.com/index.html

-JK

When we returned to the Hub, Kirsten and I read and napped before lunch. We usually go to the Rec for lunch on Sundays but today Alice and Pete had  a lunch to go to.  Since we were missing out on our French Toast at the Rec, we decided to make pancakes.  Each time we make pancakes, they taste worse and worse.  We must have had beginners luck! We salvaged these pancakes by spreading peanut butter (pate d’arachide) on them. After lunch, we napped again and then walked down to Dr. P’s house to say goodbye to him—he left for America this afternoon.  We talked with him and Marc (his friend/clinic technician) for a little while.  We found out that Dr. J might be coming to America to study cardiology—one of the partner programs that Dr. P is working with would like to help him get training.

When we got back, Francis and Adama came to pick us up in a car. On the way to the game, we found out that Francis used to play professional soccer (as a goalkeeper) but decided to stop playing so that he could work for Compassion International.  Francis asked us to bring identification cards so that we could get photocopies for the game.  We were really confused but it seemed like the viewers needed to be registered to watch the game…well…when we got there…Francis asked us if we had our shorts on under our dresses because we were playing on the team (which was why we got the photocopies of our IDs—to register with the team…not to register to watch).  Well, we thought we were just there to watch…and we pleaded with Francis not to have us play…but he had Adama take us back to the Hub so that we could change into shorts to play in.  When we returned to the field (which was solid dirt with sidelines, goal boxes, and a midline circle carved into it) we started to warm up with the team.  I gave Adama my camera so he could take pictures for me.  Warming up was fun!  We basically played keep away.  During the warm up, Francis noticed my promise ring.  He asked me if I was engaged and I told him that the ring was a symbol of my promise to God and my future husband to remain pure until marriage.  He then looked over at Kirsten and asked if she had one too…and she told him that she made that promise in her heart but not on her finger.  Francis jokingly responded—“So Jennifer made that promise on her finger but not in her heart.”  It was pretty funny.  We had a bag of red jerseys that we played in…mine was #23 and size XL.

The EAC Team

This was actually a tournament, so the teams had to line up and one of the sponsors does the opening kick—kinda like baseball.  Kirsten started at forward.  She played pretty well—the Burkinabe were so encouraging and told her how good she was.  Our team scored one goal in the first half and our opponents didn’t score.  During halftime—there is an evangelists that preaches the gospel.  In the second half, I waited for the team to tell me to sub in…but they never did…so I didn’t play at all.  At the end, they told me that I was supposed to just tell someone I was going in for them.  I told them that I was waiting until the score was 2 to 0 to go in…so it was their fault that I didn’t play.  We ended up winning 1 to 0.  We talked with Francis for a while after the game because we had to wait for Adama to return…he had to run the car back to his uncle and bring a moto back to the field.  So—I got to ride on the back of a moto with a Burkinabe to get back to the Hub—it was soo fun!!!  Kirsten rode with Francis and I rode with Adama.  Moto is by far my favorite means of transportation!

On the Moto with Adama

Back at the Hub, Sarah and Jess were busy in the kitchen preparing dinner.  Sarah made parmesan biscuits, applesauce, and lasagna for dinner.  Jess made fresh squeezed lemonade and sweet tea. Sarah also made apple pie for desert.  Lorinda came over to eat with Jess, Sarah, Susan, Kirsten and me.  It was a lot of fun…eating, talking, making origami with our napkins, and watching youtube videos.  After the food finally settled in our stomachs, Kirsten, Jess and I did a Rock Your Body—hip hop.  I took some video of it on my camera—pretty much HILARIOUS!

Kirsten and I return to the clinic with Dr. F tomorrow…so it will be an early day!!

Gnight

-JK

Next, we went to visit the LAC…we just walked around and looked at the progress of the building. It was neat to see because the Franklin team had put the roof on it while they were here—but the last time that I saw it was before they worked on it. It looked really great! On the way home, the team asked Pete to pull over so they could buy some Burkina soccer jerseys. The vendors started giving the jerseys to Pete through the front, but Nate wanted to buy a jersey from a few stands behind us…it had his hockey number on it. I asked a vendor who came to the backside window to get it for us. It was really fun talking with him and making a deal with him (in French and some small conversation in More) I should have probably gotten the price lower…but I enjoyed talking with the guy and his price was lower than all the other vendors to start off with. When I handed Nate the jersey—the vendor asked if he was my older brother (the kid is 4 years younger than me) and I responded yes—to Kirsten’s amusement…I knew it was easier to say yes than to explain. Then he returned with another jersey for me…and I asked him if I could have it for free….and he just laughed. It was a very pleasant interaction!

Kirsten and I ate tacos with the team for lunch and then went back to the Hub. We tried to visit Dr. Peter’s house (he called Alice and asked her to tell us to see him before he left for the US) but he wasn’t home. So we instead went walking around. It was really cool because we had heard about a little corner store that sold a lot of gift type things…and when we found it…I realized that it was a store that I went to when I was in Burkina in 2005—I had no idea where it was at the time that I went to it…but it has been so close to my house the entire time!! The lady who works there wears beautiful elegant clothing. I bought a panja from her when I was there the first time.

After our walk, the Brokopps picked us up and took us over to the guesthouse to say goodbye to the team. We played a round of spoons and watched the locals play soccer near the canal. Kirsten and I also did a whole lot of swinging Sammy and Charity around and throwing them on beds. It was pretty fun. The team left for the airport around 7:15. For dinner, Kirsten and I made corn, noodles, and white sauce. It was great! Now we are watching August Rush with Jess. These posts have been a tad short…but I’ve had to catch up on 3 days…so my apologies.