Second week in Burkina. The temperature and humidity have increased at once. It is specially noticeable at night.
Bougainvillea’s at the nursery school of Kofila.
Activities in the villages
It has not rained since 3 months and the nature is struggling. The dust, mainly brought by the wind from the Sahara desert, is covering everything.
Normally in February / March some rains called “mango rains” are falling. They normally come when the first mangos are ripe and clean the dust out of them. This dust can bring many diseases, one of them being meningitis. This year some mangos are already ripe, but no rain yet to clean them.
The men are not very active right now. There are still some activities with the cotton: weighing, loading. Women still have to take care of the family. In addition it is a period for wood gathering which will be used during the year for cooking. The traditional water wells are becoming dry and many women / girls have to walk long distances to gather water.
Cotton waiting to be picked up
Nursery school of Kouekouesso
Children of the nursery school of Kouekouesso.
LAP (Secondary Agricultural School)
You will have a lot of information and pictures about the LAP this trip. The plan is that I spend 2 days per week there.
We have planted 64 fruit trees which are protected by branches. Each of the trees is under the responsibility of 3 students. The trees are: mango, orange, pomegranate, lime, sugar apple.
Protection for the fruit trees is also a place to dry the boots…
Results of the first quarter year 2014-2015
Results of the first quarter are rather good. It is very encouraging especially for the class CAP4 which will pass a state exam in June. With help of excel I had prepared some analysis of the results so that we can see what we can do to help students who are behind.
Front left to right: Banaon (husbandry), Theodore (French), Emmanuel (Director LAP / ASAP), Macaire (Agronomy and vice director), Daouda (Math)
Students coming out of class.
New constructions at the LAP
The sport platform is finally ready for some game of volley ball.
We are also building new dormitories. The 2 new buildings will be able to take 72 new students as of April 1st.
Existing building and the 2 new ones under construction (above and below)
Payment of the tuitions from the parents
Parents have to pay 50 euro in cash and 250kg of corn. Last year we did not check the quality and the volume delivered. This year each bag is checked and stored in the refectory room.
Gardening project in Nefrelaye
In this village one hectare of land is protected by mash wire. A water well was drilled to 140 meters. The water flow is above 5m3. The water is pumped into to water basins of 60m3 each. The pump is powered by solar panels.
The pump had to be put at a depth of 80 meters. Unfortunately, the pump used and the power of solar panels was not enough to pump enough water for the gardens. Farmers have to fight for the water. We will install a new type of pump next week with additional solar panels. We will let you know how it develops.
Each farmer has surface of 9×10 meters to cultivate vegetables. The project was mainly asked by the men of this village. The people working on the gardens are mainly women. When asked why to the men, the answer was that a man has several wives…………………….
The birds are back
Strange beak!!!!
“I am watching you. Do not make comments on my behind!”
Proverbs:
Dogs do not actually prefer bones to meat; it is just that no one ever gives them meat. ~ Akan
Les chiens ne préfèrent pas les os à la viande; c’est seulement que personne ne leur donne jamais de viande. ~ Akan
“You cannot change your future, but you can change your habits and they will change your future” – Marco Polo
«Vous ne pouvez pas changer votre futur, mais vous pouvez changer vos habitudes et celles-ci changeront votre futur» – Marco Polo
Until next week,
Hervé