The temperatures are quite high here, 25-28°C at night and nearly 40°C during the day. It rained heavily yesterday. The increased humidity isn’t helping. But at least it’s cleaning the trees, which were covered in red dust.
We are staying a week longer than planned. Eugénie wants to finalize the reorganization of ABF’s sewing workshop and I need more time to work with the accountant on the LAP report.
The cashew trees have started to produce nuts.
Gas or charcoal
Most families still use charcoal for cooking, especially in rural areas. This involves cutting a lot of wood, posing risks to those preparing the charcoal, and inconveniencing women cooking due to the smoke. Campaigns have been conducted to promote gas cooking, and the government subsidizes the price of gas for domestic use. However, women remain accustomed to charcoal and primarily use gas for heating water.
Refilling a 12 kg gas cylinder costs 5,500 FCFA (8.8 euros). Three companies offer this service. Their cylinders are different, and it is not possible to have a cylinder from one company refilled by another. Some people buy all three types of cylinders, but each additional (new) cylinder costs 20,000 FCFA (31 euros).
Since last year, the difficulty in refilling gas cylinders forced families to resort to charcoal. The price of a bag of charcoal (approximately 50 kg) rose from 3,000 FCFA (4.5 euros) to 6,000 FCFA (9 euros).
Cooking with gas should be preferable for many reasons, but fuel shortages discourage women from using it. With gas prices likely to rise again, the use of charcoal will continue for a long time.
Traditional cooking on “3 stones” and gas cooking.
Oualana Village
This week, we visited the village of Oualana. It was this village that granted us the 42 hectares on which we are building the LAP (Lycée Agricole Privé). Relations between the LAP and the village are not always good because of the villagers’ goats and pigs, which come and ravage our gardens. Despite the cinder block fences, the pigs still manage to get through. We even tried an electric fence. We haven’t yet found a satisfactory solution, and the villagers refuse to control their animals.
This is also a problem for the villagers themselves. It’s impossible to grow vegetables in the village. They asked us to help them fence off the primary school garden! We asked them if it was worth it… No answer.
Oualana is a small village, but it owns vast tracts of land. The imminent construction of the future highway between Bobo and Ouaga is expected to attract buyers. In theory, landowners in Oualana don’t sell their land. But as one villager confides: “It’s a very delicate matter”. No one in the village has a title deed . The main reason? The boundaries of the plots are imprecise and have changed over time.
The Oualana football team returns from the neighboring village after winning a competition.
It is often said that the men of a village do not work together for three main reasons: land problems, problems related to women, and money problems.
We inform them that with the future development of the region, there will be pressure on the land and that they must prepare by possessing the appropriate property documents.
Some women from Oualana
Visit of the Dutch ambassador to Bobo
Last November, we had the pleasure of meeting the Ambassador of the Netherlands in Bobo-Dioulasso. He then visited the LAP. During this trip, the Ambassador also came to Bobo. This time, he visited our offices, which, in addition to our offices, house a honey packaging unit, a soap factory, and a production unit for washable menstrual products.
The ambassador is visiting the sewing workshop for the construction of the kits.
Photos taken along the way
Saturday morning, we were supposed to go to the LAP. Eugénie was going to make jam with the girls from the school, and I was going to supervise our income-generating activities. An accident involving a truck happened about 15 km from Bobo. Luckily for us, Fidèle was returning to the LAP and told us to wait a little while. Three hours later, traffic started to pick up again; there was probably a 15 km line of cars, buses, and trucks trying to get to or from Bobo. We decided to leave the next day.
Quotes of the week
“The same sun that melts wax hardens clay — same life, different results.” – Kenyan quote
“If your relative gets rich, they become your boss; if they get poor, you become their relative again.” – Tanzanian quote
I wish you a wonderful week.
Hervé