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January 31, 2008
Pierre and Asetu
Meet Pierre and Asetu and family. They have been with us in our yard for a few weeks now, and we are really pleased to have them here. Pierre is from the Gourma tribe, and his wife is Mossi, but they both speak good Fulfulde. Pierre is a qualified pastor, and had a church south of here. But his passion is evangelism, and he feels called to work among the Fulani, so moved up to join us in Gorom-Gorom.
Left: Back row: Asetu, holding Deborah, Lanssala, Berta, Pierre
Front row: Naomi, Denise, Samuel.
Right: Olivia with Pierre’s camels, Obil (1Chron 27:30) and Eliezer (Gen 15:2)
Pierre told me recently that several months ago, his daughter Berta had a dream in which she saw that the family were going to move from the village where they were living. “But”, she said, “I will move first, followed by mum, and dad will only come later.” It was several weeks later that their leaders asked them to think about moving to Gorom-Gorom. And it happened exactly as Berta saw it.
We believe that God has brought the family here at this time to join us in his work. Please pray for Pierre and family as they continue to settle in, and as we seek to work together for God's purposes.
Thank you.
January 23, 2008
The onward march of technology
It has finally happened: I now have internet access from my mud hut!
Yes, I am posting this from home. We still can’t get running water, but we now have electricity and a phone line in our yard. I must confess I was in two minds about it, having lived 15 years without either. But with the growth in my work, and the development of our yard as a ministry centre, my “woodless construction” mud hut has become “mission HQ”. The need to be more in contact with people around the world has made communication a priority. So, my computer, printer, and phone are now – somewhat sadly – part of my life in Gorom-Gorom.
We got plugged into the town electricity supply just before Christmas. They came to install the phone yesterday. It connects wirelessly with the phone tower on the other side of town, and for this it needs its own power, supplied by a small solar panel that charges its own battery. So, even if the town electricity fails, I should still be good for a few hours of email, as long as my computer battery lasts.
All of which makes me wonder whether it might be time to leave Gorom-Gorom, and move somewhere a bit more remote…
Tags: africa burkina burkina faso telephone gorom-gorom technology internet communication
January 18, 2008
Food and Water Supplies in Lila
This is Lila, one of the Fulani villages where we want to drill a well. Pastor Samuel has an open invitation to teach the gospel there, and it is the village we spent the night with the team from Hatteras Island.
About 700+ people get their water at these hand-dug water-holes, the same wells that are used to water hundreds of cows, sheep, and goats.
The same village has these unusual grain stores, built from stone, with mud "cement" to hold the stones together.
A couple of Fulani girls at the wells:
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina wells grain store sahel water
January 17, 2008
"The poor and needy search for water..."
"...I the Lord will answer them..." (Is 41:17)
I am just back from a flying 4-day trip looking at possible well-drilling sites in half a dozen villages around Gorom-Gorom. I was accompanied by Chuck from Friends in Action, a Christian well-drilling ministry working in Burkina Faso, and Steve, from my home church Glenwood, in Cardiff.
As you can imagine, water is a major need in the sahel, and there were many more villages than we could possibly help. So, we were focusing on villages with major needs, where pastors in the area are already working. We visited about six villages, all in real need of good protected water supplies.
Deou was perhaps the most striking need. The town used to have springs flowing years ago, but over the last few years, the pumps in half the town have dried up. People end up walking up to 14km in hot season to find water.
We took apart one of the broken pumps, pulling out the pipes, and checking the underground water levels and flow capacity. Locals came to help us, and others sat by watching. We announced that the following morning we would be pumping out water to check the flow, and told the women to come with their water jugs, which they did by the dozen. An opportunity not to be missed – normally having to walk miles to find water, and then wait ages before your time to pump physically to get it, here was water free and at no effort! Steve’s best efforts to distribute God’s gift fairly were thwarted by the scrum that developed as each person sought and fought for their turn. It was mostly good-natured though, and brought many laughs for all involved.
We hope to be able to return later in the year to drill six wells in these villages, and put pumps there. We are trying to find money for this. Each well/pump will cost about £3000. In addition, we saw many pumps in need of repair, and we would like to help get them working again. If you would like to help finance these, please send money via World Horizons, with a covering letter saying the gift is for wells via the Burkina Faso Sahel Account.
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina wells pumps oudalan sahel well-drilling water
Whatever Happened to Keith...? Jan 2008
Continue reading "Whatever Happened to Keith...? Jan 2008"
January 16, 2008
Gorom-Gorom Camel Festival
"Where is everyone…?"
I was back in town and trying to track people down to sort out a programme for our well-drilling research, and to pursue our request for a phone line, and various other needs. Strangely all the offices were shut, and the town was quiet. Finally someone told me:
“Everyone’s gone to the camel racing”
Of course.
Friday was Gorom-Gorom’s annual “Festicham” festival, with camel racing and horse racing, and exhibitions of local craft and culture. We arrived late, during the second heats of camel races. The whole town seemed to be there, along with a couple of government ministers, accompanying police guards, and a bunch of Italians who apparently finance the whole thing. Dust filled the air, kicked up by hundreds of hooves of various sizes, and thousands of feet.
A few photos...
Who knows, next year, maybe Pierre and I can enter on his camels, Obil and Eliezer...
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina gorom gorom-gorom horse racing sahel camel camels race festicham tuareg tamacheq camel race
January 09, 2008
Gando school
One of my projects for the coming year is - with the help of my home church in Cardiff - to help fulfil the vision of Pastor Daniel, of the church in Gorom-Gorom, to build a Christian primary school in the town.
We have been looking at alternative designs for building a school that would be more student-friendly, aesthetic, and environmentally positive than the cement-brick “ovens” in which classes are often 
held. So, on Saturday, I took Pastor Daniel down to Gando, a village near Tenkodogo, to look at the Gando school. The school, designed and built by Francis Kéré (right), won the 2004 Aga Khan prize for architecture. We wanted to see if we could rifle any good ideas.
It was about 200km each way, so we left at 6am to give us time to have a good look, and get back before sunset. It turned out that Kéré, born in Gando, but now living in Germany, had come back to the village for the holidays, and had not yet returned. He kindly offered to give us the guided tour. Kéré is very modest about his achievements, emphasising that the whole exercise has been an experiment, and that by building in phases, he is trying different approaches and learning as he goes. He has been very helpful as we think about how we might proceed in Gorom-Gorom.
Phase 1 (2001)
This is the prize-winning building, seen above. Almost all materials and work is local - mostly earth and rock, both in ready supply. The walls are made from pressed mud bricks, with a measure of cement mixed in, using the brick press. The bricks are resistant, but need to be protected from the rain - in this case by the suspended tin roof.
Two adjoining classrooms had different floors – one cement, one dammed earth. The dammed earth seemed visibly to be resisting better. The ceiling of the classrooms was made by lying bricks on top of rows of metal bars, providing insulation and allowing air flow. The tin sheet roof is suspended over the brick ceiling by a metal frame, protecting the building from rain, and allowing air flow. Kéré says that they have not had any problems with the wind, even during very high winds that knocked down trees.
There are inter-class spaces, themselves classroom-sized, and could be eventually bricked in if necessary to form extra classes. However, they are freely used by children for their own study, and offer a place of shelter outside. Kéré has been experimenting with window designs that cut down on dust, and that can be opened fully (as shutters) to allow more air flow at other times.
