Merry Christmas!

Dearest All,

Merry Christmas to All. Hakim, Omar and Matthew are joining me to wish you great holidays. Enjoy your time together, your last celebration in Reading. No need to say that we will all of you terribly, and I miss the opportunity for the boys to be with their cousins... now that Hakim is grown up and much more into socializing. We are flying to Paris tonight, Saturday the 24th at 2:40am, and staying in our friends house in the 14th arrondissement, Metro Volontaires.
When I went to the Royal Air Maroc's agency the tickets for Paris were the cheapest, even cheaper than for Morocco, and we thought if we have free accommodation, it's manageable.
This has been decided last week, when Matthew had the confirmation that he was off between the 24th and the 1st.
My brother has visited us for a wee, december the 2nd and I have plenty of recent pictures of the boys to share, but we have had no connection in a months. I've been calling one guy form the internet company 3 times a day, and finally went to his manager last friday. As of today, still nothing.
It is as frustrating for me not to be able to post any text or pictures, and please bear with me.

We will call from Paris on Cgristmas day, and take many pictures to tell you about our Christmas,

We love you dearly,
Hakim, Omar, Matthew and Zineb

Dusty wind of November

Hello All,

It's been a while since I posted anything on the blog, yet I always think of you all and talk about you everyday with hakim and omar. You are regularly in the stories hakim tells me: you ride regularly in his planes or boats, he remembers very well what each and everyone gave to him, he still sings the "clean up song" he learned with aunt kathy,  he loves seeing pictures of his cousins on the Web…

Life is going pretty well in Ouagadougou so far, thank God. The boys are overall healthy, except for minor colds, and a quick episode of roseola for omar last week, and painful growing teeth sometimes. We had to go to the medical center last sunday and tuesday to check for malaria, because of a three-day fever preceding the roseola diagnosis. At his age, doctors don't want to take any risk, so they always encourage you to have the test done. 

Their social life, as I told you previously is "blossoming": they both love Madina, the super zen and friendly nanny - nothing ever gets her mad or angry, and she has a total control over the tone of her voice: I really envy her. She has the softest and most delightful lough; it's very communicative. Celine the cleaning lady, who is always singing Celine Dion's songs, loves the boys too, and is always tuned to "playing mode". I promised that if Celine Dion one day performs in Ouaga, I'll get her a ticket for the concert:)

Hakim loves playing soccer with the guard or the driver outside the house; he also loves being in his arms. Friday morning, hakim and I got into our taxi at 8 am to go to school -our car was still at the garage getting the engine changed-, he told me: "mameena, I want marcel to take me to school today". I got out of the car and let them go… Yes, I was proud of my hakimo, but sad.

The space in the house is a gift for hakim's running and omar's crawling. And thank god for that because there are not a lot of outdoor spaces in Ouaga (playgrounds, museums, gardens, not even sidewalks…) where to walk and play. Plus the traffic's pollution (cars, taxis, mopeds) doesn't really encourage the neighborhood walks.

Both hakim and omar are very attaching at their age and full of interest, I feel very blessed -and also challenged- to get to spend so much time in their company, and watch them grow. Hakim is very curious, asking billions of questions, describing and commenting every little object, person or action. He tells stories at night to his friends in his bed ( tito, papy, bunny and doggy), and resists everything we ask him to do, either by "non" or "jamais, jamais, jamais" (never). he loves wrestling, and anything that involves a lot of energy.

Omar has a constant smile on his face, he's a happy baby, and… biting, crawling, standing up, braking mameena's glasses and calling "daddy" all day long are his favorite things to do.

"Raising a toddler is like chewing little rocks", one of matthew's collegue said…  well it's definitely challenging: we love our boys to death but boy, when sunday night finally comes, aren't daddy and mameena drained!!

In short: you better be healthy, have a great mental constitution, and put as much patience as you have in your voice, your heart and your brain.

Matthew said they will soon play together and we will then enjoy some quiet moments. Which is probably true.

Meanwhile, they are both an inexhaustible source of happiness, unique joy and comfort and at the same time a great deal of exhaustion:)

Langage skills: hakim has a pretty extended and detailed vocabulary in French. Unfortunatly he doesn't speak English anymore and even though Matthew reads to him in English every night, he also tells him stories involving "zibo zibo" the nasty monkey, his sister "zaza", their father "zouzou", the bird "souke souke", the elephant… and that's in French. I am trying to convince Matthew to speak more English to him, even if it means some frustration in the beginning, but that would be the only way to get it back. I am also encouraging hakim to join the weekly English class at school.

I also offered to teach him some Moroccan arabic, "darija", so that he can speak to "Jimi" our cook and home sunshine for 25 years, when we visit her in May, as well as when she visits us in Ouaga. 

A couple of good news here as well: Both Vincent, the guard and Marcel, the driver are in their 30's. They both got out of school in the two first years of elementary school more than twenty years ago. After discussing the importance of schooling and feeling of regrets, we offered to pay for their education ($20/year for  5 classes/week!) and school books ($10) for the time we are here. So they both went back to school, for adults evening classes in their neighborhood public school. And now they spend long hours of the day and night writing and reading together.

And the second great news is… after nearly dying, our car is alive, with a new engine, ready to travel to Bamako, Mali! After spending two weeks in three garages and no fixing, we finally brought it to a French car mechanic, Alain Camier. When he first saw the dying car, he said: "I am not touching it, it has been fixed so many times that nothing is working really!" The car was driving with the sound of an airplane taking off; it was consuming as much gas as a 4x4; and the engine was getting to really high temperatures very fast…So he said the only thing he can do is change the engine entirely. Now, we can't really travel to bamako with it, but for the city, it's great! We even have air conditioning, which we got used not to have:)

The big news in the family for those who don't know it yet is Matthew's promotion, from program manager/producer to country director of the project. It's a big change: I think he has over 30 people to manage, more responsibilities and work; but probably less traveling. Which is great for the family life. He still works 10 hours a day though.

Three new employees are arriving successively a Ouaga, between mid November and late December. And now matthew is in charge of picking them at airport on saturday, picking them at their hotel on sunday morning for a 2 hours car tour of Ouaga, and lunch with us. We went last sunday to eat "crepes" with Cheikh, a malien radio and TV producer who lived in Ottawa, CA for over thirty years. And we had a couscous at home yesterday with Salim, former BBC employee from pakistan who lived for years in London. Cheikh and Bassirou, both from DMI joined us too. And the surprise guest was: Omar my brother, who's visiting us for 10 days!! Hakimo is thrilled with his uncle's visit.

Life in Ouagadougou doesn't offer much to see, to do or to buy. Fabrics are great, music instruments, wood furnitures, wooden masks, gold and silver, cotton and wall paintings on cotton called "batiks", woven baskets, shea butter, and other local products are pretty much what you want to take home to remember your trip to Burkina Faso. Gold mine industries and NGO's are the largest official employers, beside the administrations, but the majority of the industries are "black market". That gets the job of collecting taxes probably like hell. 

The richness here in Ouaga is the social network and all the relations you can grow. All the relations you have with people, whether it's your guard, cook, nanny, shopkeeper, plumber… become very easily meaningful. People here have so little that they can't imagine living without the support of each others; they all count on a solidarity that gives sense to their life. If they were so poor and isolated… they would probably die. 

I think the boys are lucky to be exposed to such a different culture in such an early age, and to so little temptation to buy things, and toys…

When you give hakim money and you ask him what he wants to get, he answers: "I'll go to the market and buy avocados, potatoes, carrots and bread, and bissap juice…"

As far as I am concerned I've been challenged several times in my relationships with  the Burkinabes men and women. There are situations when I don't understand how people function and think. I am quickly learning that my Moroccan-western, rational, "logical'(?)  way is definitely not the local people's way. And… if I want to make friends here, and not miss an opportunity to learn about a totally different culture, I better start observing, discovering and appreciating the differences! 

Matthew, who has long lived in sub-Saharan Africa, knows very well his way around and how to communicate with people here. He is completely open, permeable to what each and everyone can express,  and to who they really are, without a hint of judgment ever. He even said that he feels much closer to Muslim Africans,  like Mauritanians, because he can share their tea, and not the local beer. 

I understood pretty quickly after meeting Matthew that, while he loves his family and country in a very deep and strong way, a reciprocal adoption happened with Mauritania and the Mauritanians since he heard his very first concert of mauritanian music in Dakar, Senegal.

As an example of  my personal failure to understand some people here: I'll tell you about two professionals I met, both trained overseas and back in their country to work. The first one is Dr Forogo, a very competent physical therapist; the second is a librarian, Mr Milogo, brilliant guy who knows his job. The PT's appointments start at 9am, and some days he doesn't want to show up at the office, so he just does his errands and comes whenever he feels like it. The second has his office on the first floor, in the middle of the shelves, because "he wants to be close to the readers and clients to better answer their questions and needs". Of both professionals, I feel closer to the librarian's work vision and work ethics than the PT's; but there's probably more in the PT's whole picture for me to understand!

Another area of questioning: do I have to speak the French I learned in French International High School, or the Burkinabe French, which is slightly different. As matthew said, "it depends what your goal is. If it's to be natural and yourself, or if it's to be understood and communicate with the local people". Hakim understood it way before I did, and he's been using some local words and adapting his French already, as well as using sophisticated sentences and verbs (from the Literature French).

We had great crepes for daddy's birthday. Against all odds, there is a very good "creperie" in Ouaga. Hakim has been acting as if he was a big bear all morning that day, perfectly imitating his gait, arms and legs wide apart. And he didn't stop kissing and hugging daddy for his birthday, walking to his room and back to daddy!

I  apologize for taking so long to translate the French version this time,

We think of you and love you all,

zineb

Novembre a Ouaga

Bonjour a Tous,

Cela fait un bout de temps que je ne me suis pas penchée sur le blog, et pourtant je pense toujours a vous tous, et parle de vous au quotidien a mes enfants. Vous etes régulièrement dans les histoires que raconte hakim, vous montez régulièrement dans ses avions, ses bateaux; il vient vous rendre visite et manger des "mlaouis" avec vous…

A Ouagadougou tout se passe bien: les enfants sont vraiment contents, bien portant (Hamdoullah) a part quelques rhumes de saison ou autre petits bobos passagers, et quelques visites au centre médical international motivées par des fièvres passagères pour  faire une "goutte épaisse" (test pour détecter le paludisme), histoire d'avoir le coeur net. Ils sont bien entoures: omar fait danser sa youpala lorsqu'il voit arriver marina (nounou) le matin, hakim veut régulièrement aller passer la nuit chez celine (perle du menage), il joue au foot avec vincent (gardien) et veut aller dans les bras de marcel (chauffeur)…Pour l'anecdote, lorsque marcel rentre chez lui le soir en moto, et qu'il a oublie son casque, hakim lui demande:" marcel, il est ou ton casque?"

Les garçons Lavoie sont autant charmants qu'il sont une grosse charge pour les parents a leur âge, et malgré toute l'aide disponible. hakim a deux and et demi, et il court, il saute, il nous grimpe dessus, il crie, il tape très fort avec des couvert en métal sur tout, il grimpe sur les canapés du salon et les mort, il nous mort matthew et moi biensur... Et il n'écoute pas.

Le week-end, lorque le personnel est au repos, et que nous sommes seuls avec eux entre samedi 14h et lundi 7:30… nous organisons toute notre vie autour des siestes!

Bref il faut être en bonne santé physique, de forte constitution mentale, et on a besoin surtout de remettre en permanence sa patience dans sa voix, dans son coeur, dans sa tete et dans ses mains. 

Omar presente une difficulté d'une autre nature; c'est plutôt un challenge physique et créatif. Il a l'ambition de marcher bientôt, alors il se met debout et s'accroche a tout ce qu'il peut attraper avec ses petites mains. Il faut donc "prévenir la chute" en permanence, donc être derrière, porter, supporter, tirer, soulever… et lorsqu'il ne fait pas la sieste… je suis incapable de le laisser jouer seul, et en silence pour de longues heures. Alors nous lui parlons, chantons, jouons avec lui…

Bientôt me dit matthew, ils joueront ensemble et nous pourrons apprécier quelques moments de quiétude. Ce qui est probablement vrai.

En attendant, ils sont tous les deux une source intarissable de bonheur, de joie unique, et de réconfort, et en meme temps une grande source d'épuisement aussi:)

hakim, apres être entre dans la période du "non", alterne maintenant avec des "jamais, jamais, jamais":) Il a répondu "oui" par contre lorsque je lui ai propose d'apprendre a parler "Darija". Alors on s'y est mis a raison de quelques mots par semaine, pour pouvoir un jour parler "la langue de jmia"!  C'est la seule, dans son entourage proche a rabat, avec laquelle il a eu un réel problème de communication faute de parler une langue commune. 

Voici une bonne transition pour parler d'une autre source de joie depuis quelques temps: vincent (gardien) et marcel (chauffeur), tous deux sortis de l'école au niveau CP et CE1 se sont re-inscrit au cours d'alphabétisation du soir, dans leur école de quartier. Nous avons propose a tout le personnel qui souhaitait reprendre les études de payer les fournitures scolaires (70DH) et la scolarité (140DH/an) afin de les encourager. Au lieu de passer leur journée a voyager d'un coin d'ombre a l'autre, ils travaillent tous les deux et lisent a l'ombre du meme arbre pendant de longues heures de la journée et du soir. Lorsque vincent est de garde de nuit, il se barricade sous son bonnet, sa veste et ses gans pour échapper aux moustiques, et sous la lumière du reverbere fait des ligne entières d'écriture, puis lit quelques pages de son livre de lecture. 

Autre source d'espoir: notre Peugeaot 406 est enfin au garage Camier pour un changement de moteur!! Au bout de trois mois de fonctionnement elle a rendu l'ame. Apres être passée chez trois garagistes, elle en sort dans un état bien attristant. Elle roule, mais avec le bruit d'un avion qui decolle, la consommation en essence d'une grosse 4x4, et un tableau de bord purement décoratif… qui n'indique ni la vitesse, ni le niveau d'essence. Ah si! il indique la température du moteur apres 5 minutes de conduite: entre 90 et 100 degrés!

Apres deux pannes seches d'essences, c'est frustrant c'est stressant… et ensuite on s'y habitue, on met de l'essence tous les jours, beaucoup d'essence, on n'est plus genes par le regard des cyclistes au feu rouge, et on sait que quand le moteur s'arrête en plein carrefour, "brave marcel" va réussir a la redémarrer...

La grande nouvelle dans la famille est la Promotion de matthew, qui est passe de "charge de production et programmation" a "directeur de projet", suite a la démission de leur directrice américaine. C'est un grand changement pour lui, plus de travail et de responsabilité biensur; mais aussi une chance d'acquérir une formation et une expérience qui lui serviront très certainement par la suite.

Trois nouveaux employés arrivent successivement a Ouaga, entre mi novembre et fin décembre; c'est maintenant matthew qui leur fait faire le tour de Ouaga le dimanche pendant 2 heures, et qui s'assurent que leur installation se passe bien.

Il reve de trouver un poste au Maroc biensur, et nous le suivrions tous avec bonheur! Mais je sais aussi combien cette expérience au Burkina est enrichissante pour les enfants, meme a leur âge. Ils ont une réelle chance d'être exposes si jeune cette difference culturelle et humaine. N'est-ce pas une belle façon de leur ouvrir l'esprit et le coeur?

Quand je vois mes limites a comprendre et accepter la différence chez les Burkinabes dans certaines situations, ou meme celle de communiquer, je saisis assez vite qu'il faut prendre le temps de comprendre comment les choses, les hommes et les femmes fonctionnent dans ce pays, en étant dans un état de découverte permanent. Pour ne pas passer a cote d'une occasion d'apprendre. D'apprendre que ma vision, celle marocco-occidentale, rationnelle, logique ou "cohérente" (?) des choses est loin d'être une reference. Ou du moins elle n'engage que moi; pas meme mon mari, ni meme mes enfants plus tard.

matthew, qui a longtemps vécu en Afrique subsaharienne, aime les Africains et s'entend avec eux souvent plus qu'avec ses concitoyens ou meme ses proches. Il est comme un poisson dans l'eau dans la rue comme au travail. Il est complètement ouvert, perméable a ce que les individus lui envoient, sans un soupçon de jugement, jamais. Et il me dit qu'ils est encore plus proche des Africains musulmans comme les Mauritaniens, car en partageant leur thé il partage bien plus avec eux. La consommation de bière locale n'encourage pas le meme rapprochement.

Mais ca je l'ai compris assez vite apres l'avoir rencontre: sa famille biologique et irremplaçable c'est sa famille américaine, mais une adoption reciproque et très forte s'est passée avec la Mauritanie et les Mauritaniens depuis un bon moment deja.

A titre d'exemple de dysfonctionnements locaux: je vais voir Dr Forogo, un kine très compétent qui doit me donner un contact pour acheter une table de massage. J'arrive a son cabinet, ou 5 personnes attendent dans la salle d'attente. La secrétaire l'appelle pour lui rappeler mon rendez-vous avec lui a 9 heures; il se pointe a 9:30, me prends la première devant tout le monde (Je m'excuse auprès des autres en précisant que je ne suis pas la pour un soin, mais pour une information rapide). Arrivee a son bureau, il me dit que je n'ai pas a m'excuser auprès de ses clients, il sait ce qu'il fait; et qu'il y a des matins ou il n'a pas envie d'aller travailler, alors… ayant oublie mon rendez-vous il allait d'abord voir son garagiste avant de venir a son cabinet, ou 5 personnes attendent depuis 7:30 du matin.

Par ailleurs, dans la librairie professionnelle MERCURY, un très bonne librairie pour adultes, Mr Milogo le patron est un homme brillant qui travaille dur et différemment des autres. Son bureau est installe dans la librairie, au milieu des rayons de livres. Il veut être pres du lecteur pour mieux appréhender ses besoins, répondre a ses questions, et découvrir ses centres d'intérêts. 

Ces deux professionnels ont tous les deux eu une formation a l'étranger, et peut-être meme une expérience de travail ailleurs que dans leur pays. Ils ont tous les deux choisis de travailler avec les burkinabés. Je comprends plus facilement l'attitude du libraire que celle du kine, mais si je veux au bout de 4 ans de vie ici connaitre le Burkina et les Burkinabés, je devrais plutôt m'attarder sur le cas du kine, "ou bien"?? ("ou bien" est le "n'est-ce pas" Ouagalais).

Autre sujet de questionnement: est-ce que je dois parler le Francais du Lycee Descartes ou est-ce que je dois parler le Francais du Burkina. Comme dit matthew ca dépende de ton objectif. Si c'est d'être naturelle et toi-même, tu continues a parler comme tu me parles; si c'est pour te faire comprendre, tu as intérêt a parler le Francais Burkinabe. hakim l'a compris avant moi, il a integre dans son vocabulaire des mots d'ici: il dit "le jouet est gate" ("gate", mot générique qui englobe les sens suivants: casse, pourri, abime, détruit, fondu, tordu…); il dit "c'est qui sur la moto, comme ca?" (Ici, les gens mettent ce "comme ca " dans chaque phrase),  et en meme temps il utilise le subjonctif: "mamina, je doit attendre que tu viennes dans la chambre pour que je puisse monter sur la table de massage":)

Hier on a ete manger des crepes pour l'anniversaires de daddy. Contre toute attente, il y a une tres bonne creperie a Ouaga. hakim a joue a etre un gros ours -imitant parfaitement sa demarche, les bras et les jambes tres ecartees-, et il a passe son temps a faire de grosses bises a son pere pour son anniversaire:)

Je vous embrasse tous tres fort,

zineb

News on our end!

Hello, hello, hello everyone!

I hope you are all doing well, and to hear from you soon. Here are some news of the family on our end.

Omar, turned nine months October 19. He's growing fast, getting taller and bigger. He finally decided to eat some solid food and drink formula as well as breastmilk, about three weeks ago. Now that we don't have our one-on-one feeding session,  every two hours, I can ran away for longer periods of time:) He is the king of smiles, he smiles to each and everyone without discrimination, even when he is sick. He also started screaming with a very high pitched voice: it sounds like he's trying to break a crystal glass! He started "talking", Hakim says: "daddy, baby, mama, adadadada …". He rides his walker like a car bumper and run from a room to another at a very high speed. This is the only time when hakim fears his brother, he doesn't enjoy his toes crushed by the "engine"!

After a few days of crying, he is finally able to go to sleep by himself at nap time and bedtime at night. He naps at 10am and 3pm, and plays for the rest of the day, to maintain the freshness of his smile and complexion:) Hakim and him have been playing more and more together recently.

His favorite activity at the moment is cushions climbing; he also likes to put himself in all kinds of unstable positions, and to fall out of balance on a thick floor mat… You don't buy those type of things here, but it was very easy and affordable to make thick mattresses, covered with plastic bright color sheets for hakim and omar, as well as all a serie of cushions of different sizes, covered with the fabrics of your choice. That way he has an exercise field to work out his muscles.

Right now, the big challenge for me: to pay attention to the way I talk to both of them. It's very easy to be constantly yelling at hakim -for all the "terrible twos" , and to talk with softest voice to omar -who is as gentle and laid-back as can be! 

I am progressively finding my way to yell and spank only in critical/dangerous situations, and using time out more often, as well as just reasoning him the rest of the time. when he pours all the salt, soap, sugar container on the floor, when he empty all the nail polish remover in the bathtub -as soon as I bought the bottle-, when he lays butter and jam all over the table -pretending to do painting…

Matthew is less challenged during the week, because he spends long days at work. But week ends just run his energy out much faster than he would have hoped! He also noticed that he has more authority on hakim when he warns him in English.

Here is my transition to talk about our toddler. Hakim is a delightful child, full of discussions, humor, malice, and curiosity. He is also 2 years  and 5 months old: His favorite word, "No" to everything, he does not want to eat, he is fussy and cranky for no reason, he is still jealous of his brother -even thought he got much better, he is "glued" to mameena. The school in the morning is probably tiring him up, which might explain the fussiness, but boy! it's exhausting. After bath time, story time -in English-, and lying down on his big bed -which he doesn't want to sleep in yet- , all with daddy, he opens up much more about what he does at school than with me. He even sings to him that he has been painting and playing… Another challenge for me is: it hurts my feelings and my spirit much more than his when I spank him, for several reasons. It doesn't feel right to be violent, weather it's verbal or physical violence; it for sure doesn't teach him anything but fear; it's hard to spank him and to tell him at the same time that he shouldn't be hitting his friends at school (because even though I differentiate hitting and "parents occasional spanking", it doesn't really sink in his brain). So I decided to really pick my battles and spank him only when I think that time out is not appropriate enough. And learning through patience, listening, a lot of play and reading time and communication how to get through this challenging period. And Matthew and I have been talking about those challenges a lot, to update ourselves, give or get advice, and stay on the same page.

Hakim has been asking me many time "why does mameena give spankings to hakimou?". I considered myself lucky, because it was a chance for me to tell him why, but mainly to reinforce how much I hate doing that, and how much I'd rather give him just hugs, kisses, and love.

Daddy likes to tell hakim secrets. The biggest one, that he says loud as well as gently in his ears is :"I love you soooo much!". So each time you ask hakim to tell you or someone a secret, that's the exacte same words that he tells everybody!!

He has been going to school for a month: we were fortunate to find a very good daycare and pre-K, run by Marie-Cecile, a French teacher living in Ouaga for over 30 years! It took his 10 days of regular morning crying to get to like it, and enjoy staying there for three hours every morning. He is still saying that he doesn't want to go to school, every other day, but it's rather that he doesn't want to get out of mameena's arms…

And I think omar can appreciate some calmness and gentle playtime without his brother around:)

Matthew has a lot of work, he won the ten-hour days schedule. After installing their offices, and getting them and the studios equipped and ready to broadcast, he and his team had an intense recruitment period, with 7 to 10 interviews a day. they are right now in the process of training them to script writing and radio production and broadcasting. 

At DMI office in Ouaga, there's the country director, two international broadcaster, all foreign. And the local hires are: a financial consultant, the director assistant, a communication specialist dealing with the local broadcasting radio stations, two secretaries, and 14 radio broadcasters… 

So it's a pretty busy office, with a pretty good atmosphere of work so far…

Except that the country director is leaving in december,  after 7 months of work, and that matthew has been asked by the London office if he would be ready to take over.

Matthew is highly appreciated and respected by his Burkinabe collegues, and they are all hoping that he will be the next country director. Although he knows that he'll have much more work, and that it will probably be less interesting than the work he does in his current position, he doesn't really have any alternative than to say "yes", and it will probably be a great learning curve for his personal experience and his resume. 

He went to London for a week this morning, to help with interviewing new candidates for their office here in Ouagadougou. 

Last year was pretty intense for matthew: juggling work at the VOA, hunting for a new job, raising a toddler and a newborn, moving in MD and to Ouagadougou, going through thousand of CDs and selling them in Princeton, NJ, starting a new job and launching a new project here in Ouaga with no vacations… That ended up weakening his immune system big time, and the mosquitoes knocked him out for a week!!

He was the first one to catch malaria! In a way it was the less stressful situation: hakim and omar would have suffered much more from the disease and mainly the strength and secondary effects of the medication, and… matthew would have been completely overwhelmed with the boys if I had been in bed for three days. But poor daddy, you could barely recognize him, lying in bed for three days, and suffering from residual head and stomac ache the rest of the week.

He finally went back to work after a week of rest, and some work done at home; and he went this morning to London on a business trip, to help the main office with interviewing new international candidates for the position of radio producer/broadcaster.

I think that physical fatigue added to the stress of his country director departure in december got to him. Let's hope that, once this launching period is over things will cool down a little, and he will adjust better to the rhythm of work, and the challenges ahead of him.

He is very pleased with the local team though, and he enjoys going to work for the most part though, which is good. 

On his way back to Ouaga, next monday, he has a 4hours layover in casablanca, Morocco. He asked my brother Omar to meet with him at the airport, and he begged him to bring a plate of Jimi's couscous and a bottle of fresh orange juice:) For the record, hakim always says that jimi's couscous is "the best couscous in the whole World". And he's not the only one!

Mameena ... I told matthew we don't need to have a third child for several good reasons, but I never expected to give him the argument that "we kind of have that third child already since Marcel, the driver, calls me mameena as well:) And hakim classmates also started calling their moms "Mameena"!

we began to live according to the local way of life, that is to say "as long as we eat, we are happy." In other words, we downgraded our expectations and ambitions, and learned to live with the resources, materials, skills, and ways to live that are available here. Not the ones we were used to, or wish we had, or think would be "natural to have". It's a lot less frustrating this way.

Matthew has been living this way for a long time, for he has a broader and more sensible understanding of the african people. I… had to adjust, and to go through frustration and annoyance before switching gears. A lot of things that I couldn't understand and enjoy, many situations that I didn't really chose, lot of things that happened out of my/our control appear to be not so serious, to be "the way things work here", and to even be enjoyable. 

The latest example I can think of is our car. We bought a second hand Peugeot 406 two months ago; it had three connected problems and we took it to a mechanic. The car spent three weeks in three different garages, and came back home in a barely different shape than it was three weeks ago. Why? Because none of the car spares ("pieces detachees") in the engine are original; because all a mechanic does here is to fix a part, and… probably unfix another one:) The car owners here have very old cars, in poor conditions and don't have the finances to buy new car spares, and pay the price for good quality maintenance. So all they do is locally and temporarily fix problems until they occur again, and again.

When you ride with a regular taxi driver, you sometimes wonder weather you are going to make it to your destination or not, you sometime feels like you are rather in a boat than in a car, you sometimes wonder how can these people be so close to death all day long - a family of 5 riding a moped with no helmet, a sleepy 5 years old child riding with her mother on a moped with no belt or helmet…- and be so relaxed with it!!

Well this whole car story got our driver into a depression. He came back in tears the 5th night, because he was "out of work"; he couldn't drive us everywhere we wanted. To calm him down, we had to reassure him and tell him that despite the complications that went for so long, it was a car, not a person with a critical condition.

I'm working on acquiring a massage table, good quality essential oils and creams. But mainly working on a business plan to finally open a "Wellness and Balance" center, a massage therapy place, here in Ouagadougou. Who would have imagined that? Not me!

There are very few trained and certified massage therapists here, there no legislation in the massage therapy field. The massage businesses exist within beauty salons or in a hotel spa (for two of them). And the business mostly done on site (in clients homes), seeks relaxation exclusively, except when you go to a physical therapist. And relaxation doesn't always rime with "best intention".

So I believe there's a market for a professional, customized, diversified, and therapeutic massage services; and I am working on how to bring these new concepts to people over here. We'll see how it goes: either a big "flop", or hopefully a good idea!

Ouagadougou is like a big village: people have more time to eat and meet, friendships happen faster, some type of information flows well,  networks intersect more rapidly, and things happen in an easier way.  

The children are living a community way of life: they live with 5 other people at home during the day, they meet a lot of kids and people outside home; kids we meet in the streets knock at our door to come in and play with hakim. That we have to monitor a little, or else we will quickly open a daycare. Because parents here, and adults in general let children play with children; they don't really "take care" or spend time with them in the way we do it in the western countries. So matthew and I end up babysitting a lot of kids in many situations:)

The streets in Ouaga are not suitable for walking; traffic is so chaotic with motorcycles and bicycles, you are not immune to accidents even when you are a pedestrian! there are no parks in the city, but there is the forest of Bangr Oueogo, three equestrian centers, a nice hotel swimming pool, a recreation park, a dam and a lake not far from us, where we take omar and hakim and to get some fresh air, and run their energy out.

Here are the news on our end,

We miss you all,

with love,

hakim, omar, matthew and mameena

Des nouvelles de la famille

Bonjour, bonjour, bonjour a tous et a toutes!

J'espere que vous allez tous bien. Je vous ai promis la fois dernière de vous donner des nouvelles de la famille. Allons-y, on commence par les enfants?

Omar, a eu 9 mois le 19 octobre. il grandit vite, et s'est enfin decide a manger des céréales, des purées de légumes et de fruits il y a 3 semaines, et a boire du lait en poudre. Ca me laisse beaucoup plus de liberté… nous n'avons plus rendez-vous toutes les deux heures pour un tete-a-tete gourmand:) C'est le roi du sourire, il sourit a tous et toutes sans discrimination, meme quand il est malade. Il commence a "parler" comme dit hakim: "daddy, baby, mama, adadadada…", il prends sa "youpala" pour une voiture tamponneuse et file d'une pièce a l'autre a la vitesse de l'éclair. C'est le seul moment ou hakim le redoute, il n'aime pas se faire écraser les pieds par l'engin!

Apres quelques jours de pleurs, il a enfin appris a s'endormir seul, a l'heure de la sieste et du coucher le soir. Il fait deux siestes par jours, a 10h et 15h, joue a longueur de journée pour garder a son sourire et son teint leur plus grande fraicheur.

Son activité favorite du moment: grimper sur des coussins, faire la tente -la tete et pieds au sol, les fesses en l'air-, se mettre debout en appui sur ce qu'il trouve et se mettre dans toutes les situations d'equilibre instable qu'il trouve… autant dire qu'il ne faut pas le quitter des yeux, au risque qu'il atterrisse la tete sur les carreaux. J'ai fait faire des tatamis et des coussins pour qu'il s'exerce sur un terrain moins risque.

En ce moment, le grand challenge pour moi: ne pas être constamment en train de brimer et remettre hakim a sa place  les nombreuses fois qu'il fait des betises, et parler d'une voix mielleuse a omar, comme si j'avais comme enfants "un petit diable" et un "ange".

Voila toute trouvée ma transition pour passer a Hakim. C'est un enfant délicieux, plein de discussions, d'humour, de malice, et de curiosité. Mais… hakim a 2 ans: Il dit "Non" a tout, il ne veut pas manger, il est grincheux et pleure pour un rien, il est très jaloux de son frère, il est "colle" a sa mère, et il enchaine les bêtises. Alors mon challenge avec lui c'est établir une hiérarchie des bêtises pour ne pas être constamment en train de le gronder ou de lui donner des fessées. Autre challenge, ca me rend malade de lui donner des fessées. D'abord je suis convaincue que ca ne sert a rien d'autre que lui faire peur, et lui signifier que "frapper est un comportement acceptable", d'autre part je suis mal placée quand je lui demande de ne pas frapper ses camarades d'école.

Je justifie les rares fessées que je lui donne, et les explique, et lui dit la différence entre "fessée" et "coup gratuits". Enfin c'est une période réputée pour être une longue période d' apprentissage:  des regles de vie en communauté et d'obéissance a l'autorité pour hakim,; apprentissage de la patience et de l'écoute, avec un effort constant de communication pour matthew et moi.

Il va a l'école depuis un mois: nous avons eu la chance de lui trouver une place dans un très bon jardin d'enfant, tenus par marie-cecile, une Francaise installée a Ouaga depuis plus de 30 ans! Il a pleure tous les jours pendant une semaine, lorsque je le quittais; puis il continue a dire qu'il ne veut pas aller a l'école… Mais une fois avec Severine, sa maitresse, les 4 assistantes Burkinabes et ses amis… il est loin d'être malheureux. Il ne veut rien me raconter de ce qu'il fait a l'école; il le parage plus volontiers avec matthew, parfois meme en chantant, le soir, entre l'histoire du soir et le quart d'heure de chant avant le coucher.

Matthew a beaucoup de travail; il enchaine des journées de dix heures . Apres l'installation dans les bureaux, et l'équipement des locaux, ils ont eu une période de recrutement intense, avec 7 a 10 interviews par jour, et puis la de formation. Apres l'année écoulée, ou il a enchaine: travail et recherche d'emploi, déménagement, démarrage de projet a Ouaga… sans vacances, ni véritable repos. Son organisme a accuse le coup et il a attrape le paludisme. Le premier Palu dans la famille. Apres trois jours au lit, et prise de médicaments, il a eu des maux de tete et d'estomac residuels qui l'ont bolque a la maison pendant une bonne semaine. Il se porte mieux et a repris le travail.

Je pense que la fatigue physique au plus tard en décembre 2011… ce qui le jette un peu dans l'arène. Il est sollicite pour reprendre sa place, et doit gérer les différents entre le bureau de Londres et l'équipe de Ouaga - qui lui donne au demeurant beaucoup de raisons d'être satisfait.

Il part a Londres lundi 24 octobre pour une semaine, et transite par casa au retour. Il a demande a voir Omar a l'Aéroport, et il l' exorte de lui ammener un plat de couscous de Jmia pour retrouver toute sa forme. Pour l'anecdote, hakim dit du couscous de Jmia qu'il est "le meilleur couscous du Monde".

Et mamina… Figurez-vous que Marcel le chauffeur, m'appelle aussi mamina, et que les camarades de classe de hakim se sont mis a appeler leur mère "mamina" a force d'entendre hakim m'appeler ainsi.

Je/on commence a vivre selon le mode de vie local, c'est a dire "tant qu'on a a manger, tout va bien". En d'autres termes nous avons revu a la baisse nos attentes et ambitions, et appris a vivre avec les moyens, les matériaux, les compétences, et les façons de vivre et de faire locaux. C'est beaucoup moins frustrant ainsi.

Dernier exemple en date, notre Peugeot 406 achetée d'occasion est tombée en panne il y a 15 jours. Elle est passe par trois garages, avec problèmes de courroie, valves, pompe de climatisation diagnostiques, pour revenir hier… toujours "en panne" a la maison. Tout ca ajoute a une grande dépression du chauffeur, qui est rentre en larmes le 4eme soir ou "sa voiture ne roulait pas"! C'est vrai. J'ai du lui rappeler, malgré toutes les complications et les depenses annexes, qu'a occasionne cette longue panne, que c'était une voiture, et non une personne gravement malade.

Je travaille sur l'acquisition d'une table de massage et d'huiles essentielles, et de crèmes de qualité pour réponde a une demande imminente en massage thérapeutique. Ensuite j'espère être capable de créer un petit centre "Sante et Bien-etre". Il ya très peu de masseuses qualifiées a Ouaga, et les services qui existent visent exclusivement la relaxation, et pas toujours avec les meilleures intentions. 

Ouagadougou est comme un grand village, ou l'on retrouve les meme personnes au meme endroits, ou l'on connait assez vite les gens; le bon cote de cette vie, c'est que tout est plus facile: les contacts et amitiés se tissent beaucoup plus rapidement, les réseaux se croisent très vite, l'info circule bien, et les enfants sont très entoures et vivent beaucoup en communauté. ce qui est merveilleux a leur âge.

Les rues de Ouaga ne sont pas adaptées pour les balades; la circulation est tellement chaotique avec les motos et les vélos, qu'on est pas a l'abri d'accidents meme lorsqu'on est piéton!  il n'y a pas de parcs dans la ville, mais il y a la foret de Bangr Oueogo, trois club équestres, la piscine de l'hôtel Azalai, un parc de jeux, des barrages et un lac non loin de chez nous, ou l'on emmene hakim et omar pour prendre l'air.

Hakim est en vacances du 24 octobre au 3 novembre; il dit que l'école ne lui manquera pas. Nous verrons bien!

Demain Le centre culturel américain organise une fete de halloween pour les enfants. Traditionnellement les enfants se déguisent et frappent aux portes de leur quartier, un sac a la main, pour réclamer des bonbons et confiseries. J'ai demande a Hakim ce qu'il voulait être, il m'a répondu: "un monstre".

On vous embrasse tous très fort,

zineb

PS: the English translation will be posted tomorrow afternoon; I am still working on it. Please bare with me.

My first day of school!

Ouvrez le lien ci-dessous/ Open the link below:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=dc3c066cb1bfac60&page=play&resid=DC3C066CB1BFAC60!140&authkey=owhbYNP0PWA%24

Faso Parc, Ouagadougou

C'est l'une des sorties qui plait bien aux garcons: Faso Parc offre des jeux d'attractions comme voitures tamponeuses, trampoline, pedalo sur l'eau, trains et maneges... et beaucoup d'espace pour courrir.

This is one of the boys top ten activities to do in Ouaga: Faso Park, an amusement park with bumper cars, trains, boats, trampoline... and a lot of open space for the toddlers to run their energy out.

Open the link below/ Ouvrez le lien ci-dessous

https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=dc3c066cb1bfac60&page=play&resid=DC3C066CB1BFAC60!147&authkey=97rpcoaX0MU%24

Les freres LAVOIE

Open the link below/ Ouvrez le lien ci-dessous:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=dc3c066cb1bfac60&page=play&resid=DC3C066CB1BFAC60!158&authkey=WCaFzi99HRc%24

Omar Martin LAVOIE

Open link below/ Ouvrez le lien ci-dessous:


https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=dc3c066cb1bfac60&page=play&resid=DC3C066CB1BFAC60!181&authkey=VcAf9SK4M3k%24

Hakim Martin LAVOIE

Ouvrez le lien ci-dessous/Open the link below:

https://skydrive.live.com/redir.aspx?cid=dc3c066cb1bfac60&page=play&resid=DC3C066CB1BFAC60!208&authkey=yOCAUiOEBh4%24

L'equipement de la maison

Lorsque je faisais les cartons a Washington DC, j'appréhendais de tout laisser sur place, d'arriver dans une maison vide a Ouga, et de devoir tout recommencer a zéro. L'équipement de la cuisine me paraissait particulièrement pénible. En fait, nous sommes entres dans une belle maison d'architecture coloniale, avec de grands espaces, plafonds hauts et une disposition des différentes pièces très simple et reposante. Nous avions le minimum pour commencer: des matelas au sol, une cuisinière, un frigo, le minimum de vaisselle pour la cuisine, de quoi prendre le 1er petit déjeuner, et… une table de ping-pong:)

En réalité toute l'installation s'est avérée être bien plus sympathique que prevu. J'ai d'abord beaucoup fait les magasins pour découvrir le mobilier que vendent les Libanais (qui ont le quasi monopole de l 'électroménager, le mobilier, l'immobilier, les commerces de voitures et de motos…), pour ne rien trouver a notre gout. Et puis j'ai découvert les magasins qui font des meubles sur mesure. Nous avons opte pour ca. J'ai du trouver des modeles ou les dessiner moi-même, acheter du tissus et confier le tout aux menuisier et tisserand. C'etait une partie de plaisir, très creative et inspirante. Nous avons eu la chance de tomber sur des artisans très compétent et relativement sérieux et respectueux des délais (le menuisier, le tisserand, le spécialiste des rideaux et des draps…).

Pour les réparations, on appelle sur leurs portables Alois le plombier, Martin l'électricien, Mr Georges ou Moussa les menuisiers…. il faut s'habituer au fait qu'une réparation ici est le plus souvent provisoire: " On repare jusqu'à ce que ca casse a nouveau". C'est comme ca! Pour les vêtements, on appelle Benjamin le couturier, il recupere les tissus et les modeles de chemises robes ou pantalons a domicile, et il livre les vêtements cousus quelques jours plus tard, toujours a domicile! Les chemises a manches courtes de matthew coutent $10, les ensembles T-shirt/short de hakim pareil, et mes robes $12 (prix du tissu et façon compris).

Les libanais importent aussi beaucoup de vêtement et de chaussures de Chine, Dubai, Afrique du Nord, et Turquie. On peut donc trouver du prêt a porter européen dans quelques boutiques, plus ou moins chères. 

On peut aussi appeler les marchands ambulants sur leurs portables, pour passer une commande d'avocats, de papaye ou de mangues, de soutien-gorges et autres biens consommables;  on appelle aussi pour se faire livrer une plaques d'oeufs frais tôt le matin.

Quand on vit dans un pays aussi pauvre que le Burkina Faso, notre attention est tournée vers les relations humaines et la raison de sa présence ici, bien plus que sur l'acquisition de biens. Les gens ont comme soucis de base de "manger", et s'estiment chanceux par rapport a beaucoup d'autres lorsqu'ils "gagnent" un repas par jour. Alors on finit par acheter les choses pour un usage immédiat ou précis, on s'encombre beaucoup moins du superflux.

Lorsque je vois la chambre de hakim, qui a été équipée ici avec le minimum pour jouer lire et se s'épanouir, et que je vois des enfants d'un an, dans les rues de Ouaga, assis par terre en train de jouer avec une boite de conserve vide, je comprends que hakim n'a pas besoin de plus pour "grandir'. Il prefere passer du temps a lire les livres de la bibliothèque, a discuter et jouer avec Marcel, Salam, Celine ou Madina;écouter les histoires lues ou racontées par daddy et mamina, jouer avec l'eau dans une bassine, arroser les plantes, faire le fou dans sa piscine en plastique, faire des glaces a la bananes ou a la mangue avec mamina, et voir de temps en temps la maison de Mickey, ou Jack le Pirate et ses aims a la TV:)

Matthew en Vespa! 

A Ouagadougou, il y a autant de voitures que de motos et de vélos sur les routes, ce qui entraine une circulation très très chaotique. Peu de temps apres son arrivée, Matthew a achete une Vespa. Il apprecie beaucoup la liberté et la rapidité de circulation qu'elle procure. On le reconnait dans la ville a deux choses: son sac a dos rose, mais surtout son casque rouge. Il doit erre le seule avec 5 autres Ouagalais a en porter un. Les raisons du non-port du casque: "ca tient trop chaud et empeche de bien respirer". Matthew a voulu encourager le port du casque chez le personnel de maison, en offrant la moitié du prix d'achat a ceux qui voulaient le porter: seul Marcel le chauffeur a accepte l'offre, sur quatre employés qui roulent en moto:)

Et puis nous avons achete une Peugeot 406 d'occasion, équipée d'un bon moteur, avec une facilite déconcertante. La transaction s'est déroulée a domicile, echange de voiture, papiers et assurance en cours contre "cash", et… nous étions sur la route pour un tour de Ouaga des la lendemain matin!  Marcel la conduit les jours de semaine; hakim, omar, daddy et moi-même montons a bord, et le dimanche matthew prend le volant. C'est très facile de conduire une voiture a Washinton DC avec hakim et omar a l'arriere, et de les emmener seule au parc, faire des courses, ou a la bibliothèque… Ici, je me suis vite rendue compte qu'en tant que "Blanche", conduire avec cette circulation, sur des routes parfois en très mauvais état, sans signalisation ou nom d'avenues, et débarquer au grand marche ou ailleurs avec deux enfants sur les bras tournerait systématiquement au cauchemar!!! hakim, a force d'être harcele par les marchands ambulants, a appris a leur faire signe de la tete et dire "non, merci"… avant meme qu'on sorte de la voiture.

Pourquoi autant d'employés?

Lorsqu'on vit dans une villa, il est d'usage a Ouaga d'avoir un gardien/jardinier de jour et de nuit. Sans que le quartier soit incertain du point de vue sécurité, personne ne vit autrement ici. En effet pour aller chercher le pain le matin, pour s'occuper du jardin, pour balayer les feuilles et évacuer l'eau apres de violents orages (assez fréquents aux mois d'aout et septembre), pour ouvrir la porte et gérer les arrivées des employes et des visiteurs, pour répondre aux différentes sollicitations sans être deranges,… et tout simplement pour être completement rassurée lorsque matthew part en mission pour quelques jours et que je reste seule a la maison avec hakim et omar… c'est très utile et rassurant d'avoir quelqu'un de fiable.

Tous ces hommes et femmes sont aussi des ressources précieuses qui permettent de mieux comprendre et mieux naviguer dans une société et une culture totalement nouvelles pour nous.

Salam et Vincent alternent les jours et nuits d'une semaine a l'autre. Salam, la cinquantaine est une perle rare, aux doigts verts, qui transforme le jardin en véritable Paradis/Potager; il est par ailleurs un homme extrêmement humble et travailleur. Vincent  est un jeune paysan d'une vingtaine d'années, qui parle a peine le Francais, qu'il faut prendre sous son aile et bousculer un peu pour travailler. Il peut rester la journée entière assis, si on ne lui donne pas de "taches a faire". Mais il est très gentil, a un esprit très pur et très touchant: il nous serrait la main chaque fois qu'il nous voyait au début, jusqu'à 6 fois par jour! Il a finalement compris qu'un bonjour chaleureux était bien suffisant:) Et le deuxième Salam vient le dimanche pour laisser Salam et Vincent se reposer un jour.

Madina nous a été confiée par sa tante Irene, une très bonne amie. A son agenda originel figuraient cuisine et garde d'enfants. Mais a l'age de hakim et omar, nous avons decide que leur garde seule était une activité a temps plein. Elle le fait avec beaucoup de coeur et de douceur. Monique, qui a longtemps travaille avec des Libanais (en termes locaux: "elle sait cuisinner autre chose que les sauces au riz Burkinabees"), fait la cuisine pour la grande tribu de la maison. Monique est une femme faite pour la cuisine, elle me rappelle beaucoup Jmia; elle aurait juste besoin d'une bonne formation. J'ai commence a lui transmettre les bases de la cuisine marocaine, mais nous espérons faire venir Jmia un jour, pour l'aider encore plus. Monique fait donc a manger pour nous et pour 6 autres personnes chaque jour. On nous a explique au départ qu'on a le choix entre donner 250 CFA (50 cents/  5DH) par personne par repas, ou les faire manger avec nous. Matthew n'a jamais aime la 1ere solution, et il est évident qu'il sont plus motives a travailler  et forment une véritable equipe lorsqu'ils mangent la cuisine de la maison! Et… Celine s'occupe du menage, de la lessive et du repassage. En réalité Monique pourrait s'occuper de tout, mais comme Celine était la la première et qu'elle nous a presente son amie, il m'est difficile de trouver une bonne raison de m'en séparer. Toutes sont très consciencieuses et dévouées!! Nous avons eu beaucoup de chance.

Une maison aussi grande, donnant sur un jardin qui est une mine de poussière, et d'insectes en tous genres a besoin d'être nettoyée tous les jours, si on ne veut pas que les enfants se fassent piquer et qu'ils soient noirs de saleté a force de trainer par terre.

Pour une idée du cout de la main d'oeuvre ici "5 employés a plein temps et 2 a mi-temps" nous coutent environ $700/mois, Sezarine -une jeune femme inoubliable- s'occupait de hakim 24h/semaine, et nous coutait $1500/mois!

Et puis il y a Marcel, la trentaine, un amoureux/maniaque de la voiture. Il l'astique et la lave 3 fois/jour. Il roule a 40km/heure, comme si nous étions en perpétuelle "visite guidée de Ouaga". En réalité, il ne veut pas que la voiture ait une seule égratignure:) C'est un hyperactif, qui a très peu frequente l'école, mais très débrouillard. Il est très doux et très attentionné. Il adore les enfants, arbore un visage d'une honnêteté rare, et prend soins de la voiture et de toute la famille sans exception!! 

L'equipe du 91 de la rue 8.29 vous a été présentée au grand complet! Au prochain épisode: des nouvelles de dada, hakim, omar et mamina!!

On vous embrasse tous très fort,

zineb

The furnishing of the house

When we packed everything in Washington DC and stored our furnitures in a storage space, I was apprehending to have to start all over again. The equipment of the kitchen seemed particularly painful. In fact, we entered a beautiful colonial house, with wide open spaces, high ceilings and a nice and relaxing layout. We had the minimum to get started: mattresses on the floor, a stove, a fridge, dishes in the kitchen ... and a ping-pong table:) I hope we organize tournaments with our visitors to make up for using it twice in two months and a half!

The whole furnishing experience ended up being much more pleasurable than I thought it would be. After long days of touring furniture stores, I decided to have the furniture built. the Lebanese are running the furniture, fabrics, building, car and motorcycle  businesses as well as other economic fields, but they had nothing that suited our house. We had our dining room table, living room sofas and table, as well as closets and shelves made by local stores and carpenters. It was not cheap, but it was to our taste and at a much more reasonable price than what the Lebanese are selling. So it was very creative and inspiring to find a model, or to design it with with the craftsman, to look for a nice fabric to cover the sofas...

We were fortunate to come across very skilled craftsmen and relatively serious and respectful of deadlines (the carpenter, the waver, the sheets and curtains man). 

Things here happen in a much easier and cheaper way than in Silver Spring, MD. For instance for repairs, we call the plumber, the electrician, or the carpenter's cellphone. They usually show up the same day, and charge you $4 for fixing your problem .... you just need to keep in mind that a repair lasts only for so long; until the replaced material falls apart again:) That's the way things work here!

You can have your clothes made for a very cheap price again, in a very easy way. The stylist pick up your fabric and models, and delivers your "garde-robe" a couple of days later! Matthew's short sleeved shirts cost $ 10, sets of T-shirt/short for hakim the same, and my dresses cost only $ 12. That includes the cost of fabric and labor, and you have a very unique clothe this way!

So who ever come to visit us, that's a very fun thing to do here: you can bring models of clothing that you like and have them made in local african fabrics… to be a little exotic!

The Lebanese also import a lot of clothing and footwear from China, Dubai, North Africa, and Turkey. We can therefore find European style clothing as well.

You can basically get any street vendor's cell phone, and call him to know if he/she has what you need: Avocados, bras, eggs…. anything you want really!

When you live in a country as poor as Burkina Faso, your attention is turned towards human relations and the reason for being here, rather than the acquisition of goods or property. People face challenges as basic as "being able to eat once a day".They consider themselves lucky when they reach that goal. So we find ourselves buying things for immediate and specific use, not for the sake of buying. And I have to say that I find much more balance and happiness in this way of consuming.

Hakim's room was filled with some toys and books once we arrived here; the minimum to play and develop I thought. Once I saw not once or twice but everyday one year old kids playing naked in the dirt with empty cans, I feel that he doesn't need more to thrive…. and he leans naturally towards discussing with to Salam (the guard),  Marcel (the driver), Monique (the cleaning lady) or Madina (the nanny) and playing with them, playing with water or the sand in the garden, reading books and listening to stories with daddy and mameena, making banana or mango ice cream, and watching Mickey or Jack the Pirate on TV half and hour a day…

Matthew's Vespa!

In Ouagadougou, there are as many cars as motorcycles and bicycles on the roads, which results in a very chaotic traffic. Shortly after his arrival, Matthew has bought a Vespa. He appreciates the freedom of movement and speed it provides. You can see Matthew on the roads because of two things: his pink backpack, and his red helmet. He must be one of five in Ouaga to wear a helmet. Why don't drivers wear it here? Because it makes them hot and they can't breath very well, they say! Matthew wanted to encourage helmet use among the house staff, providing half of the purchase price to those who wanted to wear one: Marcel (the driver) is the only one who's now wearing one. The three women still ride without.

Can you imagine that there's no public transportations in Ouaga: no buses, no taxis, no metro. That explains why you see a family of 3 or 4 people on a motorcycle, a man with his 10 chickens, a woman with her 50 fabrics behind her, a man with two goats, one at the front and one at the back…. That's their only way to get around! How can policemen stop them from doing that, when the authorities don't provide some of the poorest citizens in the world with means of transportation?

We also bought a used Peugeot 406, in a very easy way as well:)  An acquaintance of DMI's driver brought a car on a saturday night at home, with all the paper work and a running insurance; we paid cash like everything we buy here, and the next night Matthew was driving it! Marcel drives the car on week days, mameena hakim and omar get. Daddy drives it on Sundays. It's very easy to drive a car with the boys in Washinton DC and take them to the park, shopping, and to the library ... I quickly realized that if a "White woman " with two young and tubulent boys is driving in a messy traffic, on very bad roads, with no signs and directions… THAT has to turn systematically in a horrible nightmare! hakim after he's has been seeing the street vendors running to our car, opening the door, and trying to sell us everything and anything, started saying "NO, thank you" before we even got out of the car:) 

I LOVE going to the market and talking with the women/vendors; I can tell the street vendors "leave us alone, I don't want your stuff" and they understand and behave in most cases. But it's good to have Marcel around sometimes, as a bodyguard:) His Moore (the most spoken local dilect) is the best defense!

Why so many employees? 

When you live in a house, it is customary to have a guard/gardener day and night. More for its conveniency and maintenance of the house than for safety reasons. Salam gets fresh bread in the morning, takes care of the garden, sweeps the leaves and drain water after heavy storms (happening daily during the months of August and September); he opens the door  overtime the car and the numerous employees' vespas enter and leave the house, he handles all kind of solicitations and visitors. And he is the reason why I feel completely safe when Matthew is away for a couple of days, and I am by myself with hakim and omar.

All these men and women help us understand better the culture, the people and the society we meet for the first time.

  

Salam and Vincent alternate days and nights every other week. Salam, 50ish is our "jewel", a very humble and hard-working man who transforms the garden in a heaven of trees, flowers and vegetables. We started eating pomegranate, home made pesto from the garden's huge basil production, salads. And we are waiting for zucchinis, pumpkins, tomatoes, spinash and fresh mint. Vincent, in his twenties is a young guy who grew up far from the city; he barely speaks French, and needs to be given challenges to get working, orals he can spend the whole day sitting. He is very gentle and friendly with the kids, and had a very funny habit when he first started with us: he shook our hands every time he saw us coming in and out of the house, up to 6 times a day! He soon realized that a warm hello was just as good:) At last a second Salam works Sundays to let Salam and Vincent rest one day a week.

Madina was introduced to us by her aunt Irene, a very good friend. She originally was planning to cook and  help me with the boys, but we quickly realized that the toddler and the baby at their age, with their needs were a handful. She takes great care of hakim and omar when I am away. Monique, who has long worked with the Lebanese (in local terms, "she's not limited to cooking rice and two or three type of sauces"), cooks for our tribe:) Monique has talent for cooking and the kitchen things, she only needs some more training. I began to transmit the basics of Moroccan cuisine, but we hope to bring Jmia if possible, to help even more. She cooks for us and 6 other people every day. Here is the choice you have when you live here, in our situation: either you give your staff 250 CFA (50 cents / 5DH) each for a meal, or you shop and cook for the whole tribe:) Matthew has never liked the first option, and eating home made food is definitely a very strong motivating and team building factor… And finally, Celine takes care of cleaning, laundry and ironing. Monique actually could do it all, but Celine came first and brought wonderful Monique, so how can we separate from her now? I personally would have liked it better if we had two women helping at home instead of three, but all women are real jewels at the same time… and it is expected from expats who are relatively well paid to hire and get jobs to locals.

A big house, overlooking a garden that brings in dust and insects of all kinds needs to be cleaned daily, if you do not want your children to be bitten and full of dirt. 

As you can see, we have radically changed our lifestyle, also because we can better afford the labor cost here. To give you an idea: 5 full-time employees and 2 part-time ones cost us about $ 700/month, while Sezarine was taking care of hakim 24h/week and was paid $1500/month! 

Last but not least: Marcel, 40 a car lover, borderline freak. He polishes and washes the car 3 times/day. He drives 40km/h because he doesn't want it to have a scratch. No complains: it feels like we are on a constant Ouaga tour! He really is a hyperactive, workaholic,  uneducated but very resourceful. He's the most soft spoken and gentle man at the same time. He loves the Lavoie boys, and is very caring for all the family without exception! 

Our house staff was all introduced to youl! Your next post will tell you how omar, hakim, daddy and mameena are doing!!

Love to all, 

zineb