Back to School

October is the start of the school year in Burkina Faso so I'm back to waking up early, getting dressed after a nice bucketbath, and running down the road to teach rooms full of kids packed in like sardines, four to a desk. I really am happy with my job though. Even though its tough sometimes with the lack of resources (chalk, chalkboard, and umm....me), the students are great. They're still kids, so when they come late, I have to make them wait outside, tell them not to talk in class, etc. But knowing how profoundly education will change some of their lives fills me with hope (not to get to idealistic and sentimental because very few of them will actually pass through the system to university). The handful of students who do make it through to get their BEPC (exam after middle school) or BAC (exam equivalent of a high school diploma) do have a chance at finding a job as a civil servant or something with a somewhat regular salary. Contrasted with the cultivating lifestyle that most of their families lead, it's not too bad. One of my best friends in Burkina says that growing up in her village was hard, and that she suffered (she actually uses the french verb to suffer). Mais maintenant, ca va un peu, au moins un peu. (But now, it's a little bit okay, at least a little bit.) Oftentimes there is only one child out of a family who makes it through to university to become a teacher, nurse, etc. They become the head of their family and support the other children and relatives to go to school, as well as providing a financial cushion for their families in hard times. I love to think about my students being able to support their families like this if they can through the system.

If it wasn't for this, and their enthusiasm I really don't know if I could have made it to this point in my service. It truly is inspirational to see them waking up at five in the morning to do chores, then walk to school for seven o'clock classes, back home for lunch, and then back to school in the afternoon. Then finding a way to study at night...if they're lucky and have electricity, then they can use a lightbulb until the power cuts out at 11 pm...if they can't then their parents buy kerosene for a lamp for them. I've even heard of students lighting small bonfires in the bush with remnants from the last millet harvests to have light to study. It makes everything that I did to get my education in America seem so much easier. I had a fantastic free public education through high school and then went to a university with libraries, laboratories and resources beyond imagination.

I sometimes wish that I could give all of my students an educational experience like the one that I had. How many more of them would be engaged during class if they weren't worrying about where their next meal was coming from? Or how they were going to buy paper to take notes and study? How much richer would their understanding of biological concepts be?

But this is not the current reality of Burkina...which is exactly why we're here. No, I can't build the libraries, or buy books, or make a laboratory appear out of thin air. In fact the nature of the Peace Corps sometimes frustrates me because I wish I could do these things, but it really is better if it comes from the community. And these things are arriving...we now have a small library at my school thanks to PLAN-Burkina, a NGO. If all goes well, we'll have a garden by the end of the school year too with Moringa trees, Neem trees, and a bunch of smaller plants. I'm planning on taking on this project with the other biology teachers. It should be a fun way for our students to learn botany. If we keep going someday everyone here will have access to a great education. I just know that it's possible. We just have to stay motivated, even though it might seem impossible. My host dad from training likes to say that development is about each and every person making their small contribution to the bigger movement.

Sometimes when people talk about Africa in the West they make it seem like it's a stagnant place that's stuck in the past. In reality, things are changing quite rapidly here. There is now free primary school education for all first year students (started this year). More and more people are going to school. Movements for women's rights and social change are very active, even on the grassroots level. (Each village even has a group devoted to solving problems in the community like forced marriage etc.). I'm not saying that any of this is easy, but it is happening to some degree. It's nice to know that by serving in the Peace Corps I can make my small contribution to development by teaching the next generation of Burkinabes.