School has been going really well for me. My students are really becoming very interactive in my classes. I honestly believe that some of them are really starting
to like school. Then again I have started to bribe my classes with different things each week if they are well behaved and complete their homework. This is not at all a good thing to be teaching my students, but at this point I honestly just want to them to actively participate in my classes—do their homework. One of the bribes that I used to get them to complete their homework was an entire 2 hour open room discussion on the U.S. along with a book that I have of Illinois. I had one of the best times in a very long time just chatting with my two classes. They of course were fascinated by the U.S. and everything that we do. We did a lot of comparing between the U.S. and B.F.
The students that this was the greatest thing ever since they could better distinguish the similarities and differences between the two. They were super excited to learn about how we do farming in the U.S. When I showed then the book on Illinois and the saw the fields, they were completely blown away that one farmer had a field that large and then even more astounded when I told them that farmers have more than just the one field. It was really a refreshing look on the U.S. seeing things through their eyes. Oh by the way they thing that white tailed deer are one of the coolest animals ever. Tim had to shut down his lab the last week of February because the heat during the day is too much for the type of computers in his lab. He has talked with the administration and put a little pressure on them to fix the A/C in the lab. I am still amazed that by tying into the electricity in the computer lab for the new building they sent a surge through it and burned up both A/Cs.
Our Country Director, Shannon, came for a site visit the 16th. She walked with us and got to see some of what Boulsa has to offer. She visited the school with the Principal, Tim and myself. She was very impressed by how clean Boulsa is compared to many other places. The community here does a fair job of picking up the used black sachets. Shannon also got to meet with the Vice Principal of the school and the money man. They all of course loved Shannon and loved even more the chance to talk about their school and all the wonderful things that the school has to offer to the kids. In the afternoon, we accompanied Shannon to a 50th anniversary tour celebration in
Namtenga. This is site where Mike, a former volunteer and president of Friends of Burkina Faso, served out his two years. During his service here, he was part of a well digging stage. He and many of his friends were charged with the job of digging wells in villages that needed them. Mike said that he was able to dig around 25 wells in his two years of service. That is quite a good number to have completed in 2 years and even better; one of the wells still has water in it 30 years later.
The celebration in his village was an amazing sight to behold. The energy in that village and the love that they have for all things Peace Corps was a HUGE boost to all of our morals. They had a welcome party which was practically the entire village there to greet all the volunteers and Shannon. They had masked dancers performing for us. The kids made American and Burkina flags and sang a song for us. There was a different group of men who played instruments and danced as well. We also got to visit the women’s traditional weaving center. They make some of the most beautiful cloth I have ever seen in my life. 
The day after Shannon’s site visit, Tim and I traveled to Ouaga for the SOFANWET tournament. This is a small international softball tournament held every year in Ouaga. Peace Corps had a team and we played 3 games. Unfortunately, we did not win a single game, but we had a great time playing. Tim pitched two of the three games and he was a pretty good hitter. Me, well, I got onto base several times, and I had a good hit down 3rd that the baseman caught. It was a great weekend to just be us. We do not get the luxury of just being Americans and blending in very often, so this was a heaven sent. Many of us attended the banquet dinner following the tournament. Some of us participated in the raffle. David won four different items, Michael won a necklace and I won a vase and a 24 pack of Heineken which was shared with my teammates. Good job team Peace Corps!
The end of the month was passed in Kaya with our other volunteers working on Camp Glow. The camp is really coming together. The kids are going to have such a great time at this camp and they will learn so many important things that will help them with the rest of their lives.
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