Rain Day

In Ouagadougou, the world comes to a stand still when it rains.  So we had a rain day today, similar to our Canadian snow days, but a lot messier.  As much as this country is in need of rain and would be considered a blessing by most, in the city, it is a less welcome impediment to commerce.  Market stall and road-side businesses depend on traffic.  Transportation is 80% motorbike and bicycle.  Only the main roads have a form of pavement, the rest of the roads have random mini canyons.  SO when it rains....everything stops or significantly slows down.

This is a good road!!!

When the rain stopped, the humidity began.  Thankfully, the temperature was lowered by the rain. It took a long time to puddle jump to the main city.  Tomorrow we will be meeting with the mothers are are receiving the micro-credit, if the roads dry out ;)

First Impressions

I have re-wrote the opening sentence for this blog about 10 times.  I can't seem to find the words to convey my experience here so far.  As an outsider, there seems to be so much chaos.  But there is an underlying tranquility that I cannot put my finger on.  Maybe I will be better able to explain it later on, but for now, this paradox is a bit mystical.

This morning we went to the school and met all of the classes.  Each class rose in unison when we enter the room, and greeted us in chorus, "Bonjour Madame.  Bienvenue a notre class." The teachers were lovely, an even mix of men and women.  Each class has 60 students!  I can't imagine the corrections that come with that!!! There were many smiles, some wariness, and the youngest ones were a bit afraid of the white lady ;)

After meeting all the classes and taking pictures (which they loved) the classes were released for morning recess.  It is amazing to witness that no matter where you are, recess kind of looks the same.  Kids run, the play games, invent new ones.  There are pouters and screamers, wallflowers and leaders and that kid with boundless energy who seems to be everywhere on the playground all at once.

I have some great pics, but it took me 10 minutes to upload this one.  The internet is slow here.  I will try again tomorrow!

Off to the Airport!!

On my way to the airport! I will be arriving in Ouagadougou,Burkina Faso on Monday evening. Watch for updates on Tuesday! A special thanks to all the people who have been so supportive of this endeavor. All in all, Swansea School has raised $3000.00 to give to L'Ecole les Amis du Monde! It has been an inspiring experience to be a part of such generosity. I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with you.

Water Walk Success

Thanks to everyone's support, the Water Walk was an AMAZING success!  We had 38 teams carrying buckets of water around Swansea field.  The teams showed great team work getting those heavy buckets up the field.  

I would also like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to my awesome support team of SwansWE members.  They kept the afternoon well organized.  Also a special thanks to Mrs. Smith who brought freezies for all the participants, DeDe who brought us extra buckets, and of course Ms. Kye who helped set up the event.

Altogether, we raised about $977.75 through this fundraiser.

Water Walk

Bake Sale Frenzy

We took over the main floor of Swansea on May 17th.  We had lots of yummy treats to choose from, thanks to all the student (and parent) bakers!  Ms. Mark made her famous Carrot Cake, Ms. Kye made awesome Candy Kabobs, we even had a tower of cupcakes.
We originally slotted sale times to be at Lunch, Morning & Afternoon Recess, and after school, but we were sold out by 12:00!  We even had to limit students to 2 items each because things were selling so fast!
  In the end, we made over $550!  We are well on our way to reaching our goal of $1000 thanks to everyone's generosity.

Looking for Buckets and Broomsticks

We had our Bake Sale last Thursday.  Sadly, I was not there to witness the frenzy caused by the sale of sugar in its various forms (I was at the Forest of Reading awards ceremony on the Harbourfront).   Ms. Kye did an amazing job of keeping everything organized and running smoothly!   I am still waiting to get pictures of the event and do a final count of the money - hopefully I will be able to post more details on Friday....

But on to the BUCKETS! 

 
On June 8th we will be doing our Water Walk fundraiser.  This is where teams of 4-5 students get pledges to walk around our field with 2 buckets of water, as an act of solidarity for all the women and children who have to carry water to use in their homes.  But in order for this to happen, we need about 10-20 buckets and about 5-10 broomsticks.  (Broomsticks allow 2 students to carry the weight of 1 bucket).

We are not asking that you give these items, just LEND them to us for the day.  I promise they will be returned back to you.  Let me know if you can help us out!