Home Visit and Barrage

Wednesday I did my first home visit with Adyara. We visited a small village just past Sassa (the name of the village we actually visited esacpes me, something like Doubousse or Dobourre)
We took the moto. I of course I was wearing a skirt so Adyara had to teach me how to bunch of my skirt correctly and then how to climb on the moto- it was quite the challenge for a girl like me accustomed to pants! And of course there is always a crowd watching the masara getting on the moto. (Masara is morre for white person. The word is called out from everywhere and often accompanied by the word bonbons "masara bonbons!" The kids will shout it and we smile and shout it back..)
Anyways back to the moto. Adyara taught me to get on, and with much laughter from the crowd I managed. The roads are full of potholes and covered in garbage butAdyara is experienced an it was an adventure!
When we arrived the woman we were looking for wasn’t there but a family member was out getting water. So we waited. The villagers went and got chairs, and we sat in the middle of the tiny village with the women. They spoke only moore so they talked mostly to Adyara, but when they talked to me I’d respond with "Lafi" (you can respond to A LOT in moore with "lafi" it’s like saying "ca va" in french). And that would bring A LOT of laughter from the village women, who would say something else and the cycle would continue.
On our way home we passed the barrage. There’s body of water and crops being grown beside it. Adyara pointed it out and asked if I wanted to go see it. She pulled the moto off the road, and up to a house. Adyara and I joined by her friend walked around the barrage to the fields. The fiels are on the opposite side of the the highway and we couldn't drive the moto all the way around. I didn't mind walking though! It meant we could go through a big mango orchard (mangoes aren’t quite in season but they’re coming!) and then came to the fields. They were growing everything. Tomatoes, potatoes, green onions, lettuce, cabbage, carrots and corn etc. I saw the workers getting the water out of wells, and filling up watering cans to water the crops. It was really cool to be shown around the barrage, and see how they grow everything. Ruth told me in Yako they have some of the biggest tomatoe crops of all of Yako. But then trucks come and they’re exported to Ghana for processing because Burkina has no way to process them. Anyone feeling entrepreneurial? Of course I’m kidding but you realize what a shame it is for the Burkinabes to then buy back their tomato products from Ghana at such a steeper price when they were grown here..
So a totally different direction but good news about the bags! One of my bags arrived in Yako yesterday. A missionary family was coming up to Yako from Ouaga and happens to live right near where my bag was being stored. They were kind enough to drive it up for me- which was a huge blessing. And another huge blessing: Air France called yesterday evening. My other bag has arrived! Which means Monday when we are in Ouagadougou we can pick it up. Hopefully one of our contacts will have picked it up from the airport and we can just swing by and grab it from their place. Either way I’ll have it by Monday!
The other thing to be thankful for is the reason we’re making the trip to Ouaga! The new car should be ready for us by then. It will be a huge blessing.
Ruth just a moment ago gave me some very exciting news! Samartian's purse will be coming in March to distribute the Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes and Liz and I have been invited to participe! I will travel for a week with them dirtibuting boxes. This is an answer for me, I've been praying about it for a little while. But also just a dream come true.
I've been trying to upload some photos but it hans't worked yet...pictures are coming! For now i'm off to pick up some clothes at the tailors!