Burkina Faso 2008

Burkina Faso trip 2008

Burkina Faso is not a name that would ring a bell, it is a small country in West Africa, it is a country without any natural resources and ranks as the third poorest country in the world.
 Terry Munnelly had lived and worked in West Africa since 1998, as part of the work he did during this time was to raise the funds through help from the Church in Castlebar to sink a well in the village of Firgindi in northern Burkina Faso. In the past the people of the village had to travel 10km to get fresh water.

 In this trip of 2008 the funds were made available to sink another well through the generosity of the Irish Church, this well will be located in the capital city of Ouagadoyou in the middle of the country on a site of three hectares with over 2000 eucalyptus trees. The team for 2008 consisted of five people from Emmanuel Community Church Dundalk, Paul from Greystones Community Church and Paul’s brother Stephen from Buffalo, New York.
 After arriving in Ouga the team headed north to Djibo in a region known as Sake which is on the edge of the Sahara Desert. The journey north had to be taken in a rented 4x4 vehicle due to the poor condition of the roads outside the city, the journey time north was about 5 hours with 10 people and luggage crammed into a Toyota Landcruiser, despite the heat and cramped conditions the humour of the team was excellent as we were entertained by Samuel (our interpreter) singing. We reached the “Ban Berger” bible college, this was the place where Terry had taught in and supported in the past, he has a very good relationship with the Principal.
This was the teams home for the next five days, the college is very rundown and the Emmanuel Community church Dundalk had raised the finance to wire the whole College accommodation for light,  electricity grid had only been extended there recently, they also raised the funds to provide paint for all three classrooms in the College and the church .Ciaran is a qualified electrician and his expertise was priceless on this trip, Peter and Terry worked together as a team to install the wiring and fittings for the lights in the student family dorms. The rest of the team, Anne, Eddie, Ola, Paul and Stephen worked at painting the classrooms and Church.
The team was there during the rainy season, though it remained dry and very hot for the time the team was there. There is no running water in the College, washing was done from a bucket using half of a plastic water bottle to scoop the water out to pour over your body, and toileting was not what you would be used to at home. These things make you appreciate all the creature comforts we take for granted.
Most of the evenings were spent in the camp belonging to a Tuareg clan. Mohammed the leader of the clan knows Terry very well and has a great relationship with him, Mohammed greeted the group and offered them the best of hospitality,  the Tuareg’s shared a brew of Tuareg tea and even slaughtered a goat (before our eyes) in our honour. These Tuaregs have been displaced from Mali because of ongoing civil unrest and have so little in regards to daily comforts, living in tents and mud huts and getting their drinking water from stagnant pools. The need for water is great as they try to cultivate and provide for their camels.
The team has returned to Ireland with the aim to raise enough money to supply and pump for clean and safe water.
By Eddie McGeown & Terry Munnelly.