A Giant Birds Nest? ... no, its bean stock and leaves being dried before being fed to cattle, sheep, and donkeys.
A Women's group cleaning and drying plastic store sacks before turning them into 'thread' to weave clothes (see blazer below!) and beautiful hand bags. Smart, resourceful and job producing!
A blazer made entirely of recycled plastic sacks!
This is how trucks are typically (over)loaded here in West Africa! and yes, they do tip over from time to time, so dont linger on the side of one!
I nearly fainted when I saw this sign announcing the Mayors office(mairie) of the Konsa district (arrondissement) of the major city of Bobo Dioulasso in the southwest of Burkina.

(photos:) top: yes, thats the nicest (and only?) golf course in Ouagadougou. The little green patch that my friend Aaron is hitting off of is astro turf that the caddie runs up to and puts under your ball for your next shot! the "greens" are actually "blacks", that is to say, an area of sand covered in ash(to facilitate ball rolling) and a oblong hole in the middle.

bottom: a womens dance troupe in Zogare, in the north of Burkina

Once again, it has been a long long while since my last post, but hey, Im in the middle of Africa, and delays can surely be expected. Sorry. All is well here, it is hovering around 110 degrees everyday, and in many parts of the country, including my region, it hasnt rained since last September, which is roughly what happens every year here. Around now, April, people start to get nervous that the rains,that begin in May and secure a good growing season, may come too late this time. Since theres not much more than the weather to talk about, well, its all the rage. Well, Ive been all around the country in the last few weeks, doing workshops and trainings, and general field trip like activities with the rest of my incoming small enterprise development group, there are 12 of us. We gave some presentations to villagers on the importance of mosquito nets and eliminating standing water in order to reduce the chance of contracting malaria, we helped out on a small scale gardening project, and we studied some French and local languages, amongst other activities. Im headed back to Fada tomorrow where hopefully we will be beginning contruction on a little house and pig pen where pork raising will be going on with a local womens group hoping to make some money in the dry season, when farming is not really possible for them. Until next time.