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March 23, 2009
Concrete Shell
As I reported in my last blog post, Amadou the mason and his army of bricklayers have been hard at work, resulting in this excellent concrete shell.
Lots of people have been passing by and admiring our concrete shell and saying 'Oooh what's that going to be?'
'It's going to be a recording studio,' we tell them. 'We're going to make lots of radio programmes about light and life and love and other things beginning with l.'
What we don't tell them is that we're out of cash and can't build any more.
Here's what remains for us to do:
1) Put a roof on
Reason: to protect studio equipment from the rain
Cost: £1200
2) Put in doors and windows
Reason: to enhance security
Cost: £650
3) Put in electrical installations
Reason: to enable correct functioning of CD decks and mixers
Cost: £250
4) Paint
Reason: pour le plaisir des yeux
Cost: £200
5) Sound-proof the studio
Reason: shhh...
Cost: £300
If you would like to contribute towards any of the above, then please write to me sahelsteve [at] ntlworld [dot] com
If you would like to see the concrete shell from some different angles, please visit the Djibo Recording Studio Construction Facebook Album.
Thank you.
Posted by sahelsteve at 06:08 PM
March 20, 2009
Radio project 2009 update
Here is a long overdue update on the radio project, for those who have followed its tortuous progress over the last few years.
1)We have started broadcasting two programmes a week on the new(ish) FM radio station in Djibo.
a) The first is on Tuesday nights and is a series in Fulfulde called 'Laawol Dartingol' (The Way of Righteousness). Each programme is pre-recorded and consists of twenty minutes of Bible study and ten minutes of music / folk story. It's a very slow-burning series, because it spends more than a year on foundational Old Testament stuff, things that Islam and Christianity have in common. Only then will it start to examine the life and teaching of Iisaa Al Masiihu (Jesus Christ).
b) the second is on Sunday nights and consists of rather more overt Christian teaching, this time in the Moré language (majority language of the Christian community here).
2)We have started construction of a recording studio to house all the radio equipment that we already have. Note that we are no longer planning to transmit from this studio – it will be a base for recording and editing programmes (mostly in Fulfulde) for transmission on other stations, including the Djibo one. The concrete shell is built, but we currently don't have enough money to put a roof on! If you would like to donate to this, please drop me a line at sahelsteve [at] ntlworld [dot] com
Posted by sahelsteve at 01:17 PM
Hacking Timbuktu available for pre-order
Hacking Timbuktu is due out in early September but you can pre-order it now if you want to.
Posted by sahelsteve at 12:44 PM
March 08, 2009
This and that
Sorry I haven't blogged for a long time. We've been on the road for almost a month - Horse Festival in Barani followed by a missionary conference in Bobo Dioulasso.
Today is March 8 and it's a really interesting day for at least three reasons:
Firstly, it is Jour des Femmes (Women's Day) here in Burkina Faso. This is celebrated all over the country in many and various ways – women's football matches and suchlike. The oft-repeated line is that men do all the cooking on this day, but I have yet to find a home in Burkina where this actually happens.
Secondly, Le Clezio is in town. He's the French writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature last year. He's speaking in Ouaga on Tuesday night, but we're travelling that day so not sure whether we'll be able to attend. Kind of inspiring just knowing he's here, though.
Thirdly, today is the start of Read an E-book Week. You can't write without first being an avid reader, and you can't be an avid reader without access to books, and this has been my single greatest problem since setting out on my writing journey. Amazon does deliver to Burkina Faso but it takes a long time and shipping fees are exorbitant. So getting a Sony Reader has been a great help to me. I would recommend it to any traveller or ex-pat who enjoys reading and finds it hard to get hold of books.