"Did it rain by you? Yes we got a lot of rain, did it rain by you? Yes it rained well!"
That would be a typical conversation you hear nowadays since the rainy season has officially begun. It feels like life has been breathed into everyone and they can move freely without the oppressive heat. For me I know I can sure sleep better as Andrea exclaimed one morning, "It was so cold last night!" I emphatically agreed before remembering we slept outside in shorts and tank tops and did not sweat, this for us is the new definition of "cold". After the rains the landscape has changed dramatically. It literally looks like I just ended up on the other side of the rainbow and I am not complaining. I forgot just how many shades of green existed.
In business related news the president of the COGES came over and we held a sensibilization together in one of my neighbor's courtyards. He told me he only had 45 minutes before he had to go to prayer but that was plenty of time. We sat down with our audience, a grandmother of about 65 years and had a great information session about malaria. The president asked her how she thought one got malaria and she replied that from the cold, a strong wind, not eating enough, drinking dirty water or eating dirty food that one could get malaria. This was all translated from sonhrai to french for my benefit so then I asked the president what he thought the real modes of transmission were (keep in mind I gave a presentation on this information about 3 weeks earlier) He told me that from drinking dirty water, from not eating enough or from sleeping outside without a bednet. Well 1 out of 3, I'll take it. So I did a quick recap of the appropriate modes of transmission for him to correct our audiences' response. And in that way we went through the modes of transmission, treatment, vulnerable groups and methods of prevention. After 40 minutes we were done and I genuinely thanked the president for his hard work, as he was the only member of the COGES to approach me about giving a sensibilizationn I thought positive reinforcement was the way to go. I reasoned that when we held our monthly COGES meetings then the rest of the group would hear what I thought of their performance. Well the monthly meeting came and went and because it was raining apparently people thought attendance was optional since no one showed up. There's always next month.
Today was my graduation from my four week course in Sonhrai, my local language. I am constantly berated or congratulated in village for my level of understanding depending on who I am talking to or what they ask me. If a woman I have never met greets me and I respond perfectly then she will laugh and exclaim, Ah you know Sonhrai very well! On the other hand when I go to the market and see the same men who sit and drink tea every day they will chastise me for not understanding more when they ask me where I'm coming from, what day I arrived, where I am going and other very introspective questions of the like. So as part of my in service training I recieve language training with a doctor from Gorom named Altine who just happens to be our 'go to' guy for anything we need whether it be advice, support, guidance or just to have tea and chat. All the volunteers around Gorom feel that he understands our work and our frusterations better than anyone sitting in their airconditioned office in Ouaga who are supposedly employed to have our best interest in mind. Altine tells us that he understands that change does not come easily or quickly here but he never fails to thank us for continuing to try and encouraging even the smallest efforts. So I was very gald to hear that he would be my sonhrai instructor and we spent the last few weeks accomplishing so much and I loved to be able to practice what I know in village. Although I do not aspire to be fluent in the local language it can certainly be helpful in clearing up a few misunderstandings. For example my neighbors have an adorable little girl that is one of my favorites and who for the past few months I have apparently been calling, "cow." As in, hey cow, hows my favorite cow, does cow want a cookie, and so forth. Her name being Hoowa and the word for cow being howa I really can't blame anyone for the mistake but it does make sense that her mom would always repeat her name after I said it, I thought for encouragment but really for correction. Similar things have come to light such as marriage proposals and my water boy asking for a hat when i just thought he liked mine. But it has felt good to be in a structured learning environment and making progress even if it is just for my benefit.
Well thats about all Ive got for now but keep in touch as always and hope you had a happy fourth o' july. Love y'all!
Take care,
Caitlin
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