Entry #2
December 19, 2005
Greetings, all!
I hope you are all doing well and are enjoying the holiday
season. I have been in Orodara this past weekend working on my computer, and
I decided to write to you from here. I am hoping that I can easily copy the
text of this letter into a Yahoo message when I go to Bobo on Thursday.
I wrote a long letter at the end of November which I imagine
you all may see sometime in January (Entry #3). I burned
it on a disk with some photographs of Orodara and The Village, and one of the
Americans here going to Paris to spend Christmas with his wife is going to mail
it to the States for me when he gets to Paris. The one CD I did send from here
was very expensive to send, so I am hoping that it is less expensive to send
CDs from Paris.
We’ll see. The letter I wrote in November describes where I am living in Orodara
and The Village and adds a few comments about the photographs that will be sent
with it. So, I will wait for you all to receive that letter and those images.
But, I did want to write to let you know that I am doing well.
I realized this morning that I must be adjusting to life
here when it was seventy eight degrees Fahrenheit, and I was wondering whether
or not I should wear my fleece because it felt a little chilly. I hope it is
true that I am acclimating (although I am still a New Englander and am sure
I could easily adjust to snow). December and January are supposed to be the
cool, comfortable months here.
I like
my research setup quite a bit and am very excited about the things I am seeing
and learning. I still worry sometimes that I will never get the information
I need to write my dissertation, but I am talking to people and learning things.
So, I guess I will just have to wait until I finish my fieldwork to see if I
can actually write my dissertation. Dahaba often reminds me that it is good
to be patient when talking with people, especially elders.
I think
Dahaba and I work very well together, and I am hopeful that we will continue
to do so. When I am staying in The Village, we go to meetings together and he
translates for me. We also discuss many of the things I am seeing and learning,
and he helps me understand the world around me. Every two weeks or so I come
to Orodara where there is electricity so that I can recharge the batteries for
my various electronic things, download files (i.e., from my digital camera,
which I love, despite being a die-hard slide person), and type all my notes
into my computer. I also can use my mobile phone in Orodara and have been able
to talk with my family from here. However, this schedule is going to be disrupted
for the next few weeks because I have to go to Bobo to meet a professor of mine
who will be there for a few days and then I have to go to Ouagadougou to renew my visa. I am hoping to
stick to that schedule once I return to Orodara and The Village in the middle
of January.
The biggest events in The Village and neighboring villages
probably revolve around the cotton harvests. I have been learning a lot about
the local production of cotton and a bit about some of the larger politics of
its production and trade. People have been building huge piles of harvested
cotton in markets dedicated to the sale of cotton. Sofitex, a company that I
think is controlled by private interests, the French, and the government of
Burkina Faso,
has already come to many of the markets to weigh the cotton. After they weigh
the cotton, they send trucks to collect it and bring it to Bobo, where it is
weighed again. Sofitex also judges the quality of the cotton, and I think the
price paid for it is based on weight and quality. The farmers are then paid
in Bobo for their harvests; however, they usually have to reimburse Sofitex
for the chemicals they bought on credit earlier in the year in order to cultivate
the cotton (a crop that I have been told is easily destroyed by pests). Some
families end up owing more to Sofitex than they have been able to cultivate.
Other families seem to still earn quite a bit of cash by local standards.
If the trucks do not
come to pick up the cotton, people start to worry about the crop. Loose cows
may eat it, it may catch on fire since it is the dry season and fires easily
spread, or the wind may blow it away. The cotton piles in The Village were there
for several weeks after Sofitex came to weigh them. People were very happy when
a big truck arrived this past Thursday. Kids were running in the cotton, playing
as they also helped roll the cotton into the truck.
This year’s harvest has been quite good for many people,
I think. Unfortunately the price Sofitex is paying farmers for their cotton
has declined, so people are not going to make as much money as they would have
last year. However, this year there will be two cotton markets – the one that
just passed and another one in a few weeks to collect the remaining cotton.
The money people earn from the sale of cotton constitutes the majority of people’s
annual income.
I have also noted that people are quite industrious, though,
and most people sell something from their homes. We’ll often go to someone’s
house in the evening when they have returned from the fields to buy rice, sugar,
kerosene, candy, etc., and I have been amazed to see the many projects in which
people around me are engaged. I am either more attuned to this dynamic than
I was in northern Ghana or it is much more prevalent.
I also think that the farmers here have more cash because of the sale of cotton.
I am not sure there was such a big cash crop when I was in northern Ghana, although
I never really did understand when and where the peanut farmers sold their crops
or how much money they made from those sales.
On Sunday, 11 December, I went to the fields where one association
was harvesting cotton, and I worked with them for a little while. The people
in the association were able to work much more quickly than I was (in part because
I always try to watch for snakes), but I enjoyed working in the fields. I liked
the sensation of pulling the ripe cotton off the plant. I probably should have
spent more time working in the fields.
Once people
are finished with the harvests sometime in January, I am told there will be
a number of parties. In February, March, and April, people will work on their
houses and take care of the things that have not been able to do since they
started working in the fields at the beginning of the last rainy season. I should
be able to spend more time talking with people during this period because they
will not have to spend such long days in the fields. The rains should help break
what I am told is sweltering heat in April or May, and people will start preparing
the fields and planting then.
(I am a bit worried about the heat. As much as I am very
pleased with my living arrangements in The Village, I have a big concern: there
is not much air circulation. So, it can be very stifling inside my house, even
now when it is relatively cool. I cannot imagine how stuffy it will feel later
in the year when it the air is hot and still. Before the rains start and the
humidity builds, the air becomes very thick. I have been trying to think of
some low-cost solutions, but I am not sure there are any. I think the best thing
for me to do would be to add a second roof to the house so that my rooms do
not become ovens.)
I could
ramble on and on, but I guess I will end the description of my first few weeks
working in The Village here. However, there are three additional things:
(1) Several people have told me that mail they have sent
to me in Orodara has been returned to them. I am not sure why it has been returned.
I will ask questions here to see if I can understand the problem. I am thinking
that maybe mail is not being sent to more rural areas, such as Orodara, at least
not packages. I will also see if I can find an address in Bobo. But, if something
is/has been returned to you, and you would still like to send it to me, you
can send it to Ouagadougou
if you do so before the beginning of January. I should receive it when I am
there from 2 January through 11 January. You can also try resending it to Orodara,
but that might not work. Hopefully in the next few days I will also have an
address in Bobo, and I will send that to you.
(2) After Chris sent you all an e-mail with my possibly
defunct address in Orodara, I received several e-mails either addressed to him
or asking me if he reads the e-mails in my Yahoo.fr account. He does not read
the e-mails in that account. He does sometimes send e-mails to my “friends”
list because Yahoo will not allow me to send an e-mail to you and then reply
to e-mails in my inbox because I exceed some quota of e-mails that one can send
from a Yahoo account in an hour. So, please feel free to continue writing to
me at the Yahoo.fr account and be assured that Chris is not reading those messages.
Chris does look at the e-mails in my UCLA and Hotmail accounts because it is
impossible for me to maintain those accounts while I am here. And, I actually
almost never use my gmail account.
(3) Since I will be in Bobo and Ouaga for the next few weeks,
I will have access to e-mail (and my phone) if you want to write (or call).
I will be in Bobo from 22 December through 27 December. I will then return to
The Village for a few days but will be in Ouagadougou from 2 January through 11 January.
I look forward to hearing any news that you want to send my way.
All best for the holiday season and 2006,
Susan
I think
Dahaba and I work very well together, and I am hopeful that we will continue
to do so. When I am staying in The Village, we go to meetings together and he
translates for me. We also discuss many of the things I am seeing and learning,
and he helps me understand the world around me. Every two weeks or so I come
to Orodara where there is electricity so that I can recharge the batteries for
my various electronic things, download files (i.e., from my digital camera,
which I love, despite being a die-hard slide person), and type all my notes
into my computer. I also can use my mobile phone in Orodara and have been able
to talk with my family from here. However, this schedule is going to be disrupted
for the next few weeks because I have to go to Bobo to meet a professor of mine
who will be there for a few days and then I have to go to Ouagadougou to renew my visa. I am hoping to
stick to that schedule once I return to Orodara and The Village in the middle
of January.
The biggest events in The Village and neighboring villages
probably revolve around the cotton harvests. I have been learning a lot about
the local production of cotton and a bit about some of the larger politics of
its production and trade. People have been building huge piles of harvested
cotton in markets dedicated to the sale of cotton. Sofitex, a company that I
think is controlled by private interests, the French, and the government of
Burkina Faso,
has already come to many of the markets to weigh the cotton. After they weigh
the cotton, they send trucks to collect it and bring it to Bobo, where it is
weighed again. Sofitex also judges the quality of the cotton, and I think the
price paid for it is based on weight and quality. The farmers are then paid
in Bobo for their harvests; however, they usually have to reimburse Sofitex
for the chemicals they bought on credit earlier in the year in order to cultivate
the cotton (a crop that I have been told is easily destroyed by pests). Some
families end up owing more to Sofitex than they have been able to cultivate.
Other families seem to still earn quite a bit of cash by local standards.
If the trucks do not
come to pick up the cotton, people start to worry about the crop. Loose cows
may eat it, it may catch on fire since it is the dry season and fires easily
spread, or the wind may blow it away. The cotton piles in The Village were there
for several weeks after Sofitex came to weigh them. People were very happy when
a big truck arrived this past Thursday. Kids were running in the cotton, playing
as they also helped roll the cotton into the truck.
This year’s harvest has been quite good for many people,
I think. Unfortunately the price Sofitex is paying farmers for their cotton
has declined, so people are not going to make as much money as they would have
last year. However, this year there will be two cotton markets – the one that
just passed and another one in a few weeks to collect the remaining cotton.
The money people earn from the sale of cotton constitutes the majority of people’s
annual income.
I have also noted that people are quite industrious, though,
and most people sell something from their homes. We’ll often go to someone’s
house in the evening when they have returned from the fields to buy rice, sugar,
kerosene, candy, etc., and I have been amazed to see the many projects in which
people around me are engaged. I am either more attuned to this dynamic than
I was in northern Ghana or it is much more prevalent.
I also think that the farmers here have more cash because of the sale of cotton.
I am not sure there was such a big cash crop when I was in northern Ghana, although
I never really did understand when and where the peanut farmers sold their crops
or how much money they made from those sales.
On Sunday, 11 December, I went to the fields where one association
was harvesting cotton, and I worked with them for a little while. The people
in the association were able to work much more quickly than I was (in part because
I always try to watch for snakes), but I enjoyed working in the fields. I liked
the sensation of pulling the ripe cotton off the plant. I probably should have
spent more time working in the fields.
Once people
are finished with the harvests sometime in January, I am told there will be
a number of parties. In February, March, and April, people will work on their
houses and take care of the things that have not been able to do since they
started working in the fields at the beginning of the last rainy season. I should
be able to spend more time talking with people during this period because they
will not have to spend such long days in the fields. The rains should help break
what I am told is sweltering heat in April or May, and people will start preparing
the fields and planting then.
(I am a bit worried about the heat. As much as I am very
pleased with my living arrangements in The Village, I have a big concern: there
is not much air circulation. So, it can be very stifling inside my house, even
now when it is relatively cool. I cannot imagine how stuffy it will feel later
in the year when it the air is hot and still. Before the rains start and the
humidity builds, the air becomes very thick. I have been trying to think of
some low-cost solutions, but I am not sure there are any. I think the best thing
for me to do would be to add a second roof to the house so that my rooms do
not become ovens.)
I could
ramble on and on, but I guess I will end the description of my first few weeks
working in The Village here. However, there are three additional things:
(1) Several people have told me that mail they have sent
to me in Orodara has been returned to them. I am not sure why it has been returned.
I will ask questions here to see if I can understand the problem. I am thinking
that maybe mail is not being sent to more rural areas, such as Orodara, at least
not packages. I will also see if I can find an address in Bobo. But, if something
is/has been returned to you, and you would still like to send it to me, you
can send it to Ouagadougou
if you do so before the beginning of January. I should receive it when I am
there from 2 January through 11 January. You can also try resending it to Orodara,
but that might not work. Hopefully in the next few days I will also have an
address in Bobo, and I will send that to you.
(2) After Chris sent you all an e-mail with my possibly
defunct address in Orodara, I received several e-mails either addressed to him
or asking me if he reads the e-mails in my Yahoo.fr account. He does not read
the e-mails in that account. He does sometimes send e-mails to my “friends”
list because Yahoo will not allow me to send an e-mail to you and then reply
to e-mails in my inbox because I exceed some quota of e-mails that one can send
from a Yahoo account in an hour. So, please feel free to continue writing to
me at the Yahoo.fr account and be assured that Chris is not reading those messages.
Chris does look at the e-mails in my UCLA and Hotmail accounts because it is
impossible for me to maintain those accounts while I am here. And, I actually
almost never use my gmail account.
(3) Since I will be in Bobo and Ouaga for the next few weeks,
I will have access to e-mail (and my phone) if you want to write (or call).
I will be in Bobo from 22 December through 27 December. I will then return to
The Village for a few days but will be in Ouagadougou from 2 January through 11 January.
I look forward to hearing any news that you want to send my way.
All best for the holiday season and 2006,
Susan