From one village to the next

In the build up to our awareness raising sessions, the team conducted research on different topics that were to be presented in the villages on the following Tuesday. Madame Ouedraogo, a presenter for AVO, visited us at the office, to advise on how to approach sensitive topics such as FGM and hygiene in the villages. Madame Ouedraogo did this by showing us pictures that illustrated examples of bad and good hygiene.

When we arrived we were greeted by a large group of 45 local men and women awaiting our arrival. We organised ourselves into our groups and took it in turns to deliver each of our presentations. As the Brits were unable to communicate in Moore (local language), the Burkinabés took the lead. Working with Madame Ouedraogo, the Burkinabés delivered a well informed and engaging speech, making the rest of the team very proud. The Brits relished the opportunity to take part by learning some basic phrases which were used to describe the aforementioned pictures. These phrases were met with appreciation and many good natured chuckles.

All You Need To Know In Mooré to Survive in Burkina

Gnon ya somma! - It is good!

Gnon ka somma ye! - It is not good!

We were luckily enough to be able to collaborate with the Taiwanese Medical Mission who gave an awareness raising session on dental hygiene. At the end of this session, the mission gave out toothbrushes. The women and men were all enthusiastic and pledged to use them in order to make their teeth as beautiful those presented to them on the posters.

At the end of the sessions, we thanked the people and they returned the favour with a local dance, called ‘Salou’. The women strut in their ‘pagne de Saint Valentin’ in honour of the International holiday, Valentine’s Day.

The most important thing is that the women understood the hygiene rules. One of them said that she now understood the importance of not washing hands in the same bowl when in a group and that it is better to use a kettle and soap to wash hands separately.

High on the success from the first village, the presentation to 48 women and men in the second village called Sabou Goughin was performed with ease and received well. It was really refreshing to see a local woman keen to tell us the needs of the village, giving us a better insight of how we could help them. This was crucial as it allowed us to alter our plan, making it more effective and putting us in a better position to create sustainable development.

Upon reflection, our experience working directly with AVO’s members in the villages, has given us the momentum to prepare us for future activities.

By Keira, Pri and Isabella