How do you find a Hardware store in Ouagadougou?

Living in another culture means learning to see and do things differently. What your brain tells you to look for from your own cultural perspective may mean you miss out on finding what you're looking for. Learning to read new visual and cultural cues is important. Here are some examples:

1. A loud hissing sound from someone as you pass by means they want you to stop so you can talk. Although this sounds rude, if you don't stop, you may be snubbing a friend without knowing it, and you will be the rude one in Burkinabé eyes. Even worse, the person may be hissing at you to tell you to stop because you just dropped your cellphone or wallet.
2. Not pushing yourself to the front of any line means you don't want to go next.
3. Greeting someone and asking about the family, the children, the person's health, is important. The first time through, a person will likely say that all is going well. If you immediately repeat this routine a second time with the same person, you will get the real answer.
4. In casual conversation with strangers, if someone asks you to do something that you don't want to do and you say “demain” (tomorrow), everyone saves face while the stranger understands that you don't want to.
5. A woman approaching you with twin babies needs money. She hardly has to ask.
6. Take one of the little plastic kettles filled with water into the public outhouses if you don't just need to relieve yourself by the wall. Toilet paper hasn't caught on here – the kettle of water serves that purpose (don't think about it too much!). Bring your own toilet paper, but take the water anyways to avoid strange looks when coming out of the outhouse!
7. If you are looking for a hardware store, look high! There are usually long tubes stored vertically in front of most of them. There are few big signs high on the street side that let you know what business is coming up while you're driving in your car. You have to learn to look for other cues!

In all of this, it is important to save what you think is “Normal” for when you are in the privacy (hopefully) of your home. Small efforts to do like the Romans are much appreciated.

Observations from an African Dentist Chair

Okay, here are some observations from my first trip to an African dentist. First of all, I live in a city of over 1 million people...this wasn't any bush dental facility. It was probably the nicest office of any kind that I've been in here in Burkina: big screen T.V., nice chairs. It turned out the dentist was a woman. I had no problem with that. Here's when I got nervous:

I was given a mirror as if every thing they did must be justified and approved by the patient. Not a bad idea, but it slowed down the process quite a bit. I'm not great with watching medical procedures either, and when she showed me the massive hole she had drilled in my tooth and told me to look in the mirror, it was, well, disturbing. How does the tooth stay together if most of it is gone like that?

The second disconcerting part was the “we-don't-give-anaesthesia-until-we-see-you-need-it” part. Luckily, I wear my pain on my sleeve, and after a few leg twitches, which I may or may not have embellished, I was given anaesthesia, without the privilege of that first stuff they sometimes rub on your gums so you won't feel the needle. She stuck the needle in 4 different places around the tooth.

Well, I'm not complaining. All in all I was relieved that I found a dentist office recommended by other ex-pats in Ouagadougou that was close to what I was used to in Canada, and that all turned out well for now. In fact, I found it rather amusing that at one point she criticized some of the work I've had done in Canada.

July Newsletter

Here is a July update of what's been going on in Ouagadougou!

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Young People Take Church Seriously in Burkina Faso

Our new worship space has a minor problem – it’s outside and it’s rainy season! On Sunday, it rained all morning and so after consulting with our pastor, we decided to have a family worship time. What we didn’t realize was that the students at the university residence and other students who did not live there were preparing an impromptu worship service. Sure, there was no preacher nor worship leader planned, but these young people, some of whom rode their bikes in the pouring rain to get to the worship space, held a worship service that they have been talking about all week.
“It was marvellous,” says Jérémie. “We were just a bunch of youth, but we did it all on our own.”

Othniel, who was called upon to preach on the spur of the moment, said he was disappointed at first because nothing came to him. He had no idea what to say. Then, he just decided to talk about what he has recently been interested in in the Bible – Nehemiah, a great model for a church leader and motivator. The rest of the group was amazed at how passionate Othniel was and how the Spirit really came through and spoke to them.

Kind of reminds you of the Early Church, doesn’t it? Or maybe Conrad Grebel at age 25 or so leading a group of Anabaptists in passionate, but underground worship? It is such a joy to be part of such a passionate group. How do we sometimes feel when we get up on Sunday morning? Are we excited about church? We sure felt sheepish when we saw the guys later that day – we are the only ones with a car in the church, and even we didn’t brave the elements to go.

Been kind of quiet lately on the Blog...

Yeah, sorry about that. We're still in Burkina, having a nice rainy season...there are some picture updates on our webpage at

http://foothillsmennonite.com/Mission_Partners/Warkentin/ or you should be able to click on a link on the right if you're reading this from the Blog site.

..not to give you the impression with the new pictures that we're just on vacation out here! Keep in touch!

Jeff

May Newsletter

Here is the May newsletter with some updates for our vacation to Senegal and other happenings around Ouaga!

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April Update

Here is a short April update of what's been going on in Ouagadougou!

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March Newsletter

Here is the March newsletter in a new format.

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A vos casques! (Helmets everyone!)

How many people do you count?

Could your Bible stop a bullet?

When the conversation began, I had a plan, but immediately strayed. Sometimes my French is just good enough to get me into trouble... I wanted to find out what people thought of the Bible as a Holy Book, whatever that means. I began by asking the group of 20 Burkinabé university students in front of me whether or not they thought the Bible itself had magical power. "Could it stop a bullet if you carried it with you?" I asked. I'm somewhat cynical at times of the "magic" with which we endow our Bibles, as if God beamed the thing down from the heavens instead of passing through real human beings who wrote down what the Spirit was inspiring them to write.

Everybody laughed at my question. Then, some of the students began to summarize the lesson our very capable pastor taught them the previous week about how the canon was formed - by real people under the inspiration of God's Spirit. The Bible's power comes from it's ability to transform. I was impressed.

Less than a week later, a thief entered our university residence/church building and made off with several cell phones, only a little bit of money (thank God - the students need all they can get to register for the coming university year), and our lone, remaining computer. In conversation with the students the following day, one student marveled at how his phone was not taken - it was sitting right on top of his Bible. In his interpretation, the thief knew better than to steal something that was touching something so holy. Should I eat my words or shake my head? Could I be wrong about the Holy Power of such a book? Certainly, in the African context, there is no place for faith and doubt. Everything happens for a purpose for the African Christian. Do I believe this? Why not?

What do you think?