I’m
changing the name of my blog. I decided
on the name “American Burkinabe” when I created it the month before I left for
Africa. I have since realized that it is
misleading for a number of reasons.
The
name “American Burkinabe” grew out of my perception that I might become
culturally integrated enough during my Peace Corps experience that I would
consider part of my identity to be Burkinabe, even after spending the first 22
years of my life in America. I was at a point in my life where I was frustrated
with many aspects of American society and I was looking for a different way of
life. Making the commitment to living
and working in Burkina Faso for over two years was obviously an extreme way to
deal with this frustration, but I decided it was the best option available to
me despite the mountains of job and grad school offers I was forced to turn
down (0 and 0 respectively).
But
throughout my service, I’ve found that, contrary to my belief that my Peace
Corps experience would lead me to abandon part of my American identity, the
opposite is true. It has made more
American. I’m not going to start a self-righteous
rant of how good we have it in the states, but we do. I have never been so thankful to be born in a
progressive and free society. I have never been more appreciative to have grown
up in a huge, beautiful country that is easily accessible by reliable* forms of
transportation. The healthcare system of
the US (despite the political battle over healthcare reform) is extremely
good. A vast majority of the population
of the US has access to electricity, running water, and basic sanitation. The education and work opportunities in the
United States far surpass those available in Burkina. Not to mention access to those education and
work opportunities is much more widespread (although not as widespread as they
should be). All of these achievements
were accomplished in less than 300 years.
*The
word “reliable” is used in a relative sense. After Peace Corps, I would
consider the ever present possibility of a 5 hour delay in an air conditioned
airport surrounded by food and water “reliable” transport. I would not consider the ever present
possibility of a 5 hour bush taxi breakdown in sweltering heat far from food
and water “reliable” transport.
I
acknowledge that there are strong counterarguments to all of the points that I
just raised, but the bottom line is that life is pretty damn good in the US.
That being said, I hope I don’t come across as condescending. I fully acknowledge that you don’t need to
spend 2 years in one of the poorest countries of Africa to appreciate being
American. However, an experience like
mine does give one a unique perspective on why being American is great. To illustrate this point, I want to share a
list I kept during my first few months at site to mentally cope with being away
from the US for so long. The contents
of that list are as follows:
Things I’ll Probably Miss Most
About Burkina
-Importance
of family
-Unconditionally
respect for elders
-$1.20
22oz beers
-Sunny
beach weather almost every day
-Volunteer
friends
-The
sun seems bigger here (great sunsets, sunrises)
-Being
my own boss. All of the time.
-No
worries about being prosecuted for downloading music illegally
-Excessive
leisure time (reading, napping, listening to music)
-Fighting
“the good fight” (not working for “the man” or the 1%)
-Living
in a community where everyone knows each other
-Not
having to be on time to anything or follow through on commitments
Things I Probably Won’t Miss About
Burkina
-THE
HEAT (THE SUN SEEMS BIGGER AND MORE POWERFUL HERE)
-Living
in a community where everyone knows each other
-Lack
of electricity
-Lack
of running water
-Lack
of basic sanitation
-Lack
of fast internet / inability to download / inability to watch Youtube videos or
stream anything online
-People
not being on time to anything or following through on commitments
-
NO OCEAN / BEACH / LARGE BODIES OF WATER
-Unmotivated
coworkers and community members
-Lack
of bacon
-Being
stared at and called names every day
-Terrible
Burkina pop music (Ivoire Mix DJ needs to be stopped)
-People
trying to get stuff from me (money, US visa, etc.)
-
Difficulty of travel
-Lack
of ingredients to cook with / Lack of good restaurants
-Being
out of touch with American culture / movies / TV shows / music / sports
-People
always saying what they think I want them to say instead of the truth
-Sweating
all of the time
-Being
away from friends and family
You
can probably see why I stopped making this list after a week or so. As far as coping mechanisms go, it wasn’t the
most effective. Don’t get me wrong, I
definitely appreciate certain aspects of Burkinabe culture, but to claim that
I’ve adopted these cultural norms would be lying. I understand them and I’ve learned how to
deal with them on a daily basis. Which I
consider to be a pretty huge accomplishment considering American and Burkinabe
culture almost always fall on opposite sides of the “culture spectrum.”
I
would never frame my experience in Burkina Faso as negative. It has not been a 3 month party filled study
abroad trip to Barcelona, but it has been an extremely formative experience in
my life. I’ve never had so much time to
figure out exactly what I enjoy and prefer.
I’ve never had so much time to dedicate to reading, listening to music,
and watching movies. I’ve become
moderately fluent in French and developed excellent non-verbal communication
skills. I’ve learned more about
sustainable development than any grad school program could ever teach me
(although I’m still probably going to grad school). I’ve made lifelong friends and strengthened
my ties with friends and family back home (seriously I love you guys).
Which
brings me to the new name of my blog, “Ça Va Aller.” It literally means, “It’s going to go,” but
also, “Life goes on,” when used in a philosophical sense and “You only live
once” when used before making a particularly sketchy decision from which there
is no alternative. It’s a lingual
manifestation of the fatalistic attitude that is prevalent in Burkina culture. Which makes sense because it would be
impossible to live here if you didn’t adopt this mentality at least 50% of the
time you spend here, although I recommend 90% of the time for emotional
sanity.
In
America, if something is goes wrong or something breaks, society’s response is,
“Fix it,” or “Figure it out.” In
Burkina, society’s response is “ça va aller.”
From a work perspective, that attitude makes it extremely difficult to
accomplish anything sustainable here, especially if there are unforeseen
obstacles. However, that attitude also
makes it possible stay sane in a country where, more often than not, things
don’t go as planned.
That
attitude has allowed me to rework my definition of “success” and realize that
just living in Burkina for 27 months is a huge accomplishment. Getting a new debit card after getting my
wallet stolen in July (a five month process) is a huge accomplishment. Being
able to buy things at the local market in local language (however bad) is a
huge accomplishment. Completing a
project (however small) with a Burkinabe counterpart is a huge accomplishment.
Surviving in a culture where almost no one speaks passable English and even
fewer people have ever been to the United States is a huge accomplishment.
Do
I still get frustrated here on a daily basis? Yes. Do I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot here
from a work perspective? No. But do I
regret coming to Burkina Faso to serve in the Peace Corps? Would I rather have
spent that time in the states? Not for a second. I am proud of my small successes here. And the rest, well, ça va aller.
