Another workshop

Between October 20-25, it was the workshop week for me.

That’s because, as I wrote in the last blog, I organized at first the compost workshop then during the same whole week, my colleague organized an improved oven making workshop for instructor training. I participated in it too.

“Improved oven”

If you are the regular visitor of my blog from the beginning, you must know what it is, mustn’t you ?

Yes, in Komagane, on the snow, I made it with other volunteers with frozen hands and feet…although this time, the oven is based on 3 rocks with soil but not the square block one.

My colleague is oven professional maker. She is demanded from all over the Burkina. She made an example one, very nice one so quickly.

It seemed to me pretty easy to make it.

In fact, no it wasn’t… When I made one by myself, mine was somehow different from hers…

I learned that it was very important to do that by oneself, not only watching the process.

Other participants (5members of YANTA) made one everyday from Mon to Thu, in total 4. I made 2 on Tue and Wed. On Thu, I was going to make 3rd one but I didn’t feel well then gave up.

Anyway I know now the main technique after two oven making.

With my colleague’s guaranty☆

Didn’t you notice something about my making position on photos ?

“Why I don’t bend knees?”

This is the African style ! I didn’t do on purpose. This is easier than the position with bent knees !

The last day of the workshop (Fri), we tested the wood consumption amount of different type of ovens with making riz gras (=greasy rice: it doesn’t sound good but it is good !) We would like to use our own oven that we had made but they weren’t enough dried so we used others

Riz gras is a daily food in Burkina. Make rice in tomato based veggies’ sauce with meat or add later fried fish.

I tried to cook it in local way (with an improved oven on wood) with other women!

I used the same type of oven that we made during the week.

We started splitting wood. I couldn’t manipulate well the sickle then everyone laughed at me then a woman got the sickle from me then did for me…

During the whole cooking process, the women, daily cook, couldn’t keep watching me.
To make fire, cut veggies, fry fish, season the soup etc, different women helped me, well did it for me…

At the end, a woman was going to even wash rice for me so I said that rice is Japanese daily food so I know how to wash it at least !

It was however true that I wasn’t accustomed to cooking in African style : I cut my finger with cutting veggies on hand with knife

Anyway the rice was sooooooooo good ☆

What? The test result ?

I will confirm it to my colleague later ! :p

Compost

In October 20, I organized a compost workshop.

The participants are 10 women from YANTA. (They were chosen at random although I would have preferred those who were really interested in compost... too bad !)

I had been thinking to do it since the beginning of my work here so I was pretty happy. At the same time, it was the first time to organize a workshop by myself so I was very anxious about it…

To get to know each other and prepare some before the workshop, I asked them to come to a meeting on Oct 18 through the Union’s president.

Only 5 of them came… (the info didn’t pass to all…)

Besides that, although I expected it, there were no one who could speak French… Fortunately another member of the Union was there so I asked her to translate French to Dioula.

On the day, the workshop was supposed to start at 8 a.m.

There were again only 5 who came on 18… although I asked them to come “at 7”…

While waiting others, I found out that some of the participants even don’t know that they were concerned for this workshop…

Yes, this is my fault. The Union is so big that I let the president choose 10 women and pass info to them all the time, which didn’t work apparently…

Anyway all came by 10 and we finally started : 2 hours later.

Once the workshop started, they were so serious and we had good discussion about community sanitation.

Although I prepared the workshop resume in French, none of the 10 women could really understand it…I realized then the importance of mastering dioula to work here.

Therefore I used photos, images and drawings for them to understand well.

Anyway, the workshop went ok or even well, I think because the women were really cooperative to prepare the compost base soil.

But, the real practice starts after this workshop at home.

They must have started putting cooking waste or gardening waste in the bag everyday. After 1 week, 1 month and 2 months, we will hold meetings then share their experience, difficulties etc.

Honestly I am not sure if this idea will work…

Here in Burkina, we don’t have yet the idea of “separating garbage by type”…

But we should try before giving up the idea, shouldn’t we ?

Don’t miss the next step!

Info for certain

From October 30 to November 9, there will be

SIAO (Salon International de l'Artisanat de Ouagadougou)

in the capital, Ouagadougou.

This craft fair takes place every 2 years so this will be the first and last chance for me to go there during my stay in Burkina as JOCV.

So I'm very looking forward to it

By the way, today's blog title is "info for certain" just because this blog info can be more useful for my friends who live in Japan... Sorry for my lovely friends abroad !!!

For those in Japan who are interested in african arts and would love to be at the fair but can't,

Check out the NHK TV programme on November 2, at 6 in the evening in Japan and 9 in the morning in Burkina, called "International Network".

You can watch onlive the SIAO event on TV !

Besides, in this programme, there will be reportage about GAFREH that I talked about before in this blog because this reportage put forcus on environmental issues.

So that you can better understand the work of GAFREH in this programme with some interviews and images.

Interview scene

NHK journalist, Mr. NIARD who has lived in Japan more than 10 years, speaks perfectly japanese and cameraman Mr.Pierre

Visit

My friends came to Burkina and they stayed in Bobo from September 10 to 16.

3 girls came although I had known only one of them who I met in Osaka just after I came back from Canada. She told her trip plan to her friends then 2 other girls decided to discover Africa.

Although it was 1st time to meet them, they were very nice and open to anything new.
What we did for the week…

・Eat

Soumbala (Néré’s grains) Chicken

Rice Sauce

Restaurant style

Daily style (bring a pot from home to buy it then share with other people by hand)

Tô made with maize (by my collegue)

Florence didn’t like Tô made with millet that she had in the North of Burkina but she loved this Tô. (I was glad that she didn’t bring back a bad memory of Tô to France !)

・ Make

Buy clothes at central market

Order original costume

・Move　

By bike in the town

By bus for distance

Waiting for the bus to leave to a village close to Mali border to stay there for 2 nights

We waited for 3 and half hours but enough number of passengers didn’t come finally the bus was canceled. We had really hard time to get total amount of our bus tickets refund…

・Visit

Roam in Guinguette (forest) only 30min (by bike) far from Bobo

YANTA

Excursion to Banfora (Southern area, 1h30min from Bobo by bus)

Sugar canes fields

Sugar factory

Dome & Waterfall(I was sick so while they were there, I was at my friend’s house, took rest)

Thank you so much Laure, Segolène, Florence for lots of Japanese and French food from France and a great week !

Take an action !

The biggest enemy to clean the city : Plastic bags

A very important policy when we think about environment:
3R (Refuse – Reuse – Recycle)

This policy is in practice by little and little in Japan while in Burkina, it’s not yet recognized well. But there are always some people who have a good conscience anywhere.

Union YANTA is one of them.

Women and girls of this union used to cut down trees in quasi-national forests and sell the branches or charcoal to gain a small amount of money, which is illegal. Then if they are found, they have to pay a fine which is more than their income. Furthermore, as they didn’t plant new trees, the deforestation proceeded.

So Luxembourg project introduced to them cashew nuts processing, soap or karite butter production etc to give them alternative ways for income to selling branches and charcoal.

One of the ways is sewing. Some girls of Union took sewing training and now they can make clothes. Also as one of the Union’s activitie, they sew eco bags and sell them to encourage people not to use anymore plastic bags.

It’s nice design, isn’t it ?
The message says that “protect nature with sustainable rapping/bags”

But it’s not easy not to use at all plastic bags.

In that case, we can recycle them !

Another female association called GAFREH recycle plastic bags that they collect from streets or from informal deposit sites of household waste in the city.

These bags get a new life !

Coin purse

Pouches

Even dolls!

Or, they weave plastic bags like cotton.

The outcome...

Bag

Cosmetic pouch

We can’t recognize easily/quickly the material of these goods.

They are so well done.

But the sale is not easy.

Their quality is so good although the price is too high for local people even for me for certain goods. So the target is foreigners (tourists).

So I am going to work with them in marketing as a way to clean the city, to let more people know their great work and initiative and also to give them more opportunities to gain money.

Here the web site of GAFREH (it’s in French but you can see photos at least)
www.gafreh.ouvaton.org