A few pictures from my life the last few months...
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| This is my new friend, Solange. She came to our village because her mom was deemed a witch, disavowed by her husband and thrown out of her village. Her mom went to another place to try and remarry but had to give up all four of her kids. Solange now helps out the extended family in my village and plans on attending school next year. |
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| THIS is a traditional mask in Burkina Faso (the whole outfit). I was fortunate enough to attend a mask ceremony in my village. It's not everyday someone rich or important enough dies to get masks after the funeral! They danced and it was awesome! |
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| Men dancing at the mask festival. |
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| Me actually working! I hardly have any pictures of myself, but one of the nurses-in-training took this for me. I am showing the women who came to weigh their babies how to make a mosquito repellant out of local leaves ("Neem Cream") to help prevent malaria. |
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| A nurse in training starting the fire for the "Neem Cream" demonstration, since I kind of suck at starting cooking fires (Note the AIDS mural in the background!) |
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Dust stom in my courtyard. It was actually that windy and that color. It was crazy!
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| This is, Justine, the mom of a lot of the kids I love. She has (at least) 7 kids and the youngest is just over a year. She came to my house for a"photoshoot"; I was happy to oblige. |
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| This is my village Ba (Dad) at the market. He is a very respected elder, head of a quartier (a fourth of the village), and small time traditional medicine man. He is very kind to have "adopted" me and keeps trying to make me stay by offering me husbands. He just can't understand why if I'm happy here, I don't just want to settle down and have 4 or 5 kids. :) |
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| These are my best friends. Jillian, the oldest, is secretly a superhero and is one of the most awesome 5(ish?) year olds I know. David, his brother, I have known since birth and am absolutely in love with. The two of them make my heart very happy. |
