Why Burkina Faso?

I decide to go to Burkina Faso because I knew the difficulties that people had and I want to help them. So I write an email to an organisation and I tell my situation, they accepted me I fly to Burkina. In the plane I asked to me the benefit that would have. The best thing is the solidarity and the social experience and in my case that was true these are the two most important things.

First impressions

When I arrived to the capital city of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou I found a difficult situation. Burkina Faso is very different to Uruguay because there people are very poor compare with people in Uruguay. I have this first impression in the plane when we overfly the city, I can see dirt roads and precarious houses. The center of the city is a chaos, there are a lot of people in motorcycle and bicycle and there are not many cars because the gasoil is very expensive. There are a lot of people selling different kinds of things in the street, definitely is another reality than in Uruguay. 

Itinerary

A)  In the capital city of Burkina Faso I worked in a school for little children. Here I teach Spanish and teach to write and read in French because a lot of people here only know speak French. I was 5 month here and it was a great experience because I gain experience and I develop team working-capabilities.

B)   In Bobo Dioulasso I worked 5 months with disabled children, it was a moving experience. The first month it was very difficult work with these children because I haven’t any experience but teachers here taught to me how to deal with them and all was right.

.

C)   Sanga is a rural community for about 600 inhabitants, my idea here was look how is the life outside the cities. Here I worked in the cotton fields

     for two months, I helped people to build houses and a new school for the community because here people don’t have a place to learn to write and read.  

My experience

When I arrived to the school in Ouagadougou I found a precarious house 

where children study different languages. My work there was teach Spanish, teach to write and read French, no to speak because the national language of Burkina Faso is French. I was here to lend a hand to this people and to make a positive difference. I can saw how children were thankful to me and to my work. I think in this year I gain a lot of experience and I develop interpersonal skills. The best thing happened to me a Sunday when I was walking in the streets of a food market I ask to a greengrocer “what he think about the situation of the country”. The answer was a surprise because he said people is accustomed of this lifestyle and they can’t compare with anything. I think live a year in another culture open my mind and it made me more solidarity and tolerant. I remember the smell of the street, it is very different than in Uruguay, it is very hot and you saw always a dust in the air because the city have dirty streets.