Last day in Yako…..

My final morning in Yako.  I little smile cracks on my face, as I realize the smallest denomination I have is 500cfa.  There’s no way the crew at the “Boulangerie” will be able to make change for me this early in the morning, so I pass on the bread that I have so often cherished and simply have a coffee (finishing off my last grounds of Tim Hortons) and 1 of the 45 granola bars Bev has packed for me (I have 5 left for my airport lay overs on the trip home).

Packing my bags, my initial ignorance in what I thought life in African would be like is exposed.  I can see it in every direction, I look.  As you can imagine, living alone for the past month, I’ve had stuff scattered all over the room…I’m not exactly a clean freak :).  Collecting my stuff, I’m forced to revisit my initial thoughts in preparation for this first African experience.  As someone shared with me before leaving home, “it won’t be anything like you imagine and even less the way people will try to describe it you”.  All the things I thought I’d need.  All the stuff I wish I had brought.  All the thoughts I wish I had written down, the photos I wish I had taken.  These are the thoughts running through my head as I repack my bags.  I’m not sad over these things…no regret….just mindful of them.

Lucien, Marie’s son, dropped by to say goodbye.  I asked him to wait in the courtyard, while I retrieved something from my room.  I returned with several new shirts wrapped up in a Giant Tiger bag.  I handed Lucien the shirts and told him that my wife had instructed me that if I happened to meet a young man here in Yako that was generous, kind and had a bright future that I should give him these gifts.  As I told Lucien that I was certain he was this person, I looked over at Marie and her eyes were filled with tears, her two hands gently clasping her mouth…I thought to myself…..”Oh boy…don’t do that Marie because I’m not done :)”  I returned a few minutes later with gifts for Marie and Melanie….some jewellery and clothes both Bev and Becky had sent along for any new friends I made.  I suggested to Marie that she would be the best judge in deciding who (Marie or Melanie) got which gifts.

I spent the morning with Charles, Agi, and Clementine completing the a variety of volunteer satisfaction and results based reports required by the Uniterra program and then proceeded to have lunch with Clementine, M le President, Charles and Issa.  We had lunch down the road, under a beautiful tree, serviced by a nearby Maquis.  I started with rice and then we all “dove in” again to share a plate of chicken; using our freshly cleaned hands.  The chicken, by the way, is quite good in Yako.  I remarked to myself that not everyone I know back home would be comfortable with the size of the birds that walk around the table searching for scraps while you eat.  To be honest, I’m not sure I’d want them any bigger myself.  They sometimes dust it up a little with the skinny dog that also wants to help keep the ground clean of discarded food.  When you stop to think about it, considering the resources and prioritization here, letting the birds take away the scraps is probably more efficient and effective than collecting things like this in a garbage can or bag.  There’s no sanitation system, no weekly garbage pickup, no blue box/green box system.  There are very good reasons for things being different here and they start with respecting priorities and values.  We all make the choices (priorities) we make because of the privileges we have…there’s nothing different here about that.

After lunch Clementine, Issa and I begin our trip back to Ouagadougou. I’m very sad to be leaving Yako and the friends I’ve made here.  The things I’ve discovered and things I’ve learned; all priceless gifts.  I’m excited to see Bev and the kids.  I’m excited to see the world through these new eyes; a new perspective.

Pulling away from Yako, I reflect once more that I am leaving a rural town in the 3rd poorest country in the world. But I am leaving it in relatively good times.  There are a few folks back home that would consider “good times” in Yako as pretty “dark times” back home.  It’s all relative.  I do know that one bad rainy season (too much or too little), an unstable political regime or an outbreak in disease can easily tilt this place into a very dangerous zone.  It’s clear to me, that this would be everyone’s worst nightmare.  I don’t know if I would personally fair as well as I did on this visit in an environment like that.  But maybe not the end….surely the people I’ve befriended over this past month in Yako have seen rougher times.  They’ve survived and carried on; making progress with and sometimes without our help.  As I’ve mentioned before the word “Sustainability” has a new meaning for me.  This third world country needs our help in establishing a “sustainable” trajectory of growth and prosperity; allowing them to continually re-evaluate priorities and progress and not start from scratch each time hard times visit.

After the 90 minute ride south in the 4x4, I’m dropped off at the same hotel in Ouagadougou that I first lodged in the night I arrived in Burkina Faso.  Again, I marvel at the shift in my perspective.  On that very first night, as the porter walked me to my room, all I could think of was, “Beirut”,”Apocalypse”, “Thank God Bev’s not here (cause I think it might worry her)”….but now, honest to God, all I can think of is “Disneyland…I’ve arrived in Disneyland”.  Same hotel, nothing has changed….but me; my perspective, my appreciation.  This has me thinking…if my experience has had an effect on my perception of this little hotel…what will going home be like?

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