I’m Glad I Went to Burkina Faso to See My Son Josh

My son, Josh in the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso. I’m glad that I went there to be with him for one week in July 2006— to share a bit of this life enriching experience he had.

He had it rough—got so dried out that he got kidney stones, so hot he slept outside under a millet straw “roof.”   But he was teaching math to 90 kids per class: it was the first generation in which girls could go to high school.  There’s a lot of meaning in that.

He was living in a “compound” with 6 single male teachers. They all roughed it out together: figuring how to get water and how to eat.   They were fun to listen to discussing the topic of their ideal wife!  They had a good touch of the arrogance and misconceptions of young men. There’s a lot of community in living like that.

There was a touch of grace in the people.  I remember a villager bringing small chicken for his to eat and the young boy who hauled water from the well with Josh’s Peace Corps bicycle. 

Burkina Faso sits at the edge of the Sahara desert.   To get to the Sahara, we got there in a rented pick up with no key.

On the way back we stopped at camel market.   I’ve gotten to admire the resiliency of those who ride camels!

The Sahara Desert is an awesome, wonderful thing.

Me At the Edge of the Sahara Desert

It was neat to see Josh try to contribute some of himself, a bit of his heart, to the community he lived in.    Trying to grow little trees against the forces of the goats and the drought was one such impulse.