In addition to guests and visitors, I’ve also bee working on arranging my living situation so that it’s more livable. My house is extremely nice by most standards here. Many of my fellow volunteers (and the majority of Burkinabe for that matter!) don’t have the luxury of electricity, fans and the potential for running water. That I have so much is leading to feelings of guilt. Hard to believe, but I’ve already had to call an electrician and a plumber! Definitely not what I thought my Peace Corps experience would be like.
So, to start organizing my house I had to visit a carpenter since there are no IKEAs here. I gave him a list and schematics of all the shelves and tables I wanted built. The price for everything was a quarter of my yearly stipend! I ended up getting one really big bookcase, a table for my kitchen and a latrine cover for a grand total of 60,000 cfa (about $120 dollars).
Burkina Faso is not like the US with tree farms and a sustainable lumber industry. We’re located south of the Sahara Desert and northern Burkina Faso is in the Sahel. Trees are scarce and deforestation is a big problem here due to a need for cooking fuel. Gas is relatively expensive and as a result most Burkinabe still use wood fires to cook! When I arrived here in June the first smell I noticed stepping off the plane was wood smoke and now I understand why.
Water is also regarded as a valuable commodity, very similar to the American southwest actually. Without running water I need to have water brought to me. There’s a pump in my neighborhood where people fill old cooking oil jugs, big metal cans on wheels and anything else that can hold water. I’ve sucked it up and hired a girl to bring me water twice a week and to help out with my laundry. I still don’t have the proper technique down and it takes me twice as long to do it! It feels weird having someone else do my laundry though.
I also put up curtains. It’s amazing how curtains can make an empty room feel like home. I found mine in the marché and they have roses(?) and bonsai trees. What a great combination!
So, to start organizing my house I had to visit a carpenter since there are no IKEAs here. I gave him a list and schematics of all the shelves and tables I wanted built. The price for everything was a quarter of my yearly stipend! I ended up getting one really big bookcase, a table for my kitchen and a latrine cover for a grand total of 60,000 cfa (about $120 dollars).
Burkina Faso is not like the US with tree farms and a sustainable lumber industry. We’re located south of the Sahara Desert and northern Burkina Faso is in the Sahel. Trees are scarce and deforestation is a big problem here due to a need for cooking fuel. Gas is relatively expensive and as a result most Burkinabe still use wood fires to cook! When I arrived here in June the first smell I noticed stepping off the plane was wood smoke and now I understand why.
Water is also regarded as a valuable commodity, very similar to the American southwest actually. Without running water I need to have water brought to me. There’s a pump in my neighborhood where people fill old cooking oil jugs, big metal cans on wheels and anything else that can hold water. I’ve sucked it up and hired a girl to bring me water twice a week and to help out with my laundry. I still don’t have the proper technique down and it takes me twice as long to do it! It feels weird having someone else do my laundry though.
I also put up curtains. It’s amazing how curtains can make an empty room feel like home. I found mine in the marché and they have roses(?) and bonsai trees. What a great combination!
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new bookcase - the books aren't on it because the varnish is still drying 
kitchen table 
very exciting latrine cover 
my new water container (thanks Emily!)
curtains
curtain pattern
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