Burkina Faso

(Double click on any image to enlarge it) This picture is of most of our day students.Our YWAM/MCC English teaching team left Richmond, Va on August 2, 2007 and after a long layover in Casablanca, Morocco, arrived in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso early on August 4. When we saw the airport name in Casablanca (Aeroport Mohammed V) we knew that we were truely in a far away foreign land. Why Burkina Faso for our trip? Pastor Jermie Niekma attended the YWAM English school in Richmond in 2005 and invited our team to his Evangelical Language Center. Burkina Faso is a landlocked West Africa country and is one of the world's poorest. The United Nations Development Program Report places Burkina Faso as the most illiterate country in the world, with only a 12.8% literacy rate. What better place to go? Their need is so great. To say that the people of Pastor Jermie's neighborhood are poor and have almost no positive opportunity for a financially blessed life is an understatement. Their Christian life is another matter altogether. We love how they praise the Lord and their simple communal life with close friends is to be emulated. Other Burkina photos can be viewed at http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/photos.html.

Just getting to church on our first wet Sunday was an adventure. It was only a 3/4 mile or so walk normally but when it rains there all streets become a flowing stream of muddy water. Here I am trying to walk down our street going to church (notice that there is NO dry street area). This is how most of us were taken to church that day and here my friend,Ky Michele, and I looked on Sunday visitation.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Although we stayed in a very nice house with electricity and running water and beds and ceiling fans, just a block away near the school and the church the people had none of that. Most houses were built of block or mud brick and tin roofs with no electricity or running water. A typical house is shown here. Donkey carts, goats, chickens bikes and mopeds were everywhere and children The area around the school looked like this.

THE SCHOOL

The school consisted of a three room block building (which was Pastor Jermie's home before he tore it down to build the school). He thanked us for our "sacrifice" of coming to his deprived country to teach "his people" so they could better themselves. His family was staying in one of the small classrooms prior to our arrival. They stayed with us (U.S. teachers) in our house (sleeping in the next room on the floor while we had foam mattress beds with mosquito netting) "for our protection" and I do not know where they are now living. I told him that we did not sacrifice anything to come to his country, we were only inconvenienced for a few weeks (almost all of us had diarrhea and vomiting and I also caught a bad head cold, I think). He sacrificed his home for the school. He said that they were his people so it was not a sacrifice. Many people there, including 4 out of 5 of the pastor's family, had malaria while we were there. How many of us would just as a matter of course give up our homes for "our people"? The school and church neighborhoods only had a small generator for electricity and maybe a spigot for water. The school yard is shown here, notice that everyone travelled to school by foot, on bike or on moped. The school playground consisted of 2 old swings and a slide. The rest of the neighborhood had absolutely nothing.

Notice my "blackboard", its the best one there. Pastor Jeremie was always keeping a watchful look over our classes.

CLASSES

Gail taught a class of 29 2-10 year olds during the first week. They only spoke More language (their African dialect) and no French. She fortunately had a great helper after Monday (Appolineair) who could speak their language. We take for granted all the things our children have while most of the world has no idea of even what they are. When she gave them paints and brushes, they had no idea what to do with them. They also had no idea what to do with bubbles and Play-dough. These things were as foreign to them as we were. They do not even know what toys are. They only things I saw children playing with were a flat soccer ball and and old car tire and nothing else. Here is Gail with her class. Painting results.
Gail brought some Burger King crowns for them to wear, you would have thought that they were kings and queens at least for a day.
Classes ran from 8 AM to 12 and from 3 to 5. We also had night classes from 6:30 PM to about 9:30. The walk back in the dark was often a challenge to avoid mud holes. Therefore, we walked to and from school 3 times a day. Good exercise. This picture was taken while walking to school for the night class. The regular beginner class was taught by Licia, Forrest and Gail (during week 2). The Intermediate classes were taught by Jim, Dayne (for 9 days) and at the end with Gail (for 6 days).
They were so appreciative of being given Bibles in English. One night we were inundated with flying bugs an inch or so long which were followed by a swarm of bugs twice that size. It was a challenge to teach that night although the insects never bothered the students. (Enlarge this photo to see the first group of insects.) Our students ranged from youth to professionals to pastors. Two pastors are shown here.
Our every move was always being watched by locals. Just having Americans to go there was a very big deal for this community. Many thought that no American would leave their home of comfort and travel there to be with them. They have a very poor self image because there is nothing in their country to attract outsiders to go there.

The Church

Pastor Jermie's church is one room block building with a tin roof, like so many other buildings there. All the women sat on one side and all the men on the other with mainly children in the center. The congregation was small but boy could them sing. Just the children would shake the rafters in our churches. The women's choir is singing here. My new friend Mr. Ky S. Michele gave me this suit of clothes to match his own. This method of wrapping a small child on a mother's back was the way children were carried around.This is me preaching a message on our last Sunday.