Journeyman

I’m in Burkina Faso, in West Africa, visiting some Bible translation projects with Eddie Arthur, the boss of Wycliffe Bible Translators in the UK. We’ve just come back, today, from a trip to the south west of the country visiting five translation projects that are in progress. If you’d like to know a bit more about what is going on here it’s worth stopping by Eddie’s blog and reading what he has to say about the encouragements and challenges that the translators face.

For me, though, this trip is a bit of a new experience. For all my travelling, this is my first stop anywhere on the African continent and everything is new. I guess, for anyone my age, our view of Africa has been clouded by the images of the Ethiopian famine in the 1980’s. What we expect is starving children and swarms of flies. While it would be wrong to suggest that life isn’t tough in Burkina Faso, it would be equally wrong to paint it with the same brush as that of famine and drought. We’re in the middle of the dry season right now, but there is water and people are able to grow food.

On the road trip we passed many communities where ‘cottage garden’ schemes were producing some crops and piles of cotton waiting for collection. There were also plenty of roadside stalls selling onions, carrots and peanuts… Eddie’s suggestion is that if you stop in the right place you can quite easily get everything you’d need for a decent stew.

The two lane, main road, we travelled along runs from Ouagadougou to Bobo-Dioulasso (the country’s second city) and it regularly used by trucks, coaches and cars, as well as motos, push bikes, donkeys with carts and children on their way to school. Most of the vehicles aren’t roadworthy and thanks to their age, and damage from the road, most chassis are twisted making longer vehicles to look like they are driving sideways as much as forwards. The road itself is sealed and pretty good in places. The patches that weren’t so good left pot-holes big enough to house a family plus a few close relatives. There were lots of signs of vehicles that had come to grief through not spotting one of these in time. It’s a miracle that there wasn’t more carnage.

Motos are interesting. Basically they are small scooters, 80 or 100cc, which you don’t need formal training or a licence to ride, it’s the standard way to get around. The popular alternative is the push bike, which seems to have caught on everywhere.

The pictures will come when I get home. Internet connection has been frustrating and my computer is starting to show its age, so I’m borrowing Eddie’s laptop while he relaxes with a good book.

This time of year seems to be perfect for a visit. The days are hot, well above 30C, but the nights are cool and there is a pretty good breeze. There isn’t the plague of flies and mosquitoes that I expected and I’ve yet to run across an insect that looks capable of doing me damage. The food’s been quite good too. Last night we were eating chicken cooked outside on a grill, there’s been lots of bread and fresh fruit, cleaned in bleach first, but then most stuff has to get the bleach treatment at some point.

I’ll save some of the interesting stories for when I get back.