This past week Jillian came to my three classes to do moringa sensibilizations with my students. The moringa tree is so important here in Burkina because its powder contains a crapload of nutrients—Vitamin A, C, calcium, protein, etc. Since malnutrition, especially in children, is a huge concern in Africa, moringa serves as an important supplement to the peoples’ diet. During certain months it’s difficult to find any vegetables at all, and meat is expensive. So it’s difficult to stay healthy when you have neither the means nor the resources. But moringa combines a lot of the essential nutrients a body needs into a powder.
At the CSPS (hospital) in Bouroum-Bouroum, women mix moringa powder into porridge and give it to infants to help them gain weight. Jillian told me she once saw a little girl at the CSPS who weighed about 12 pounds at the one-year mark. No bueno. But after about a month of eating bouille containing moringa, the girl had gained another two pounds.
During our sensibilization, we gave students moringa seeds and showed/told them how to plant and maintain them. You can even buy a moringa tree in its adolescent stage in BrBr for 100 CFA, which is about 25 cents. They require very little water—a good thing considering how close we are to the Sahel—and the rainy season is almost upon us. The only obstacle with moringa is making sure those blasted goats don’t eat them. Earlier last year goats ate my papaya tree, but I won’t let them take my mango tree!
Good stuff, moringa.
Jillian and I had a girls’ night on Thursday. A little surprised? Yep, me too. But I had a great time and Jillian made dinner at my house—a place where food is never prepared. She made spaghetti and garlic bread. We listened to Lucky Dube, shaved our legs (quite a lot of work for me), and painted our nails. We even had honey/sugar facial masks, though we had to remove about 10 or 15 bugs out of the honey (BrBr is known for its honey and yams) before we could use it. Pictures are posted.
In about a month the new Secondary Education stage is arriving in Burkina. If you’re wondering what you should bring, I can tell you that a solar charger is probably one of the best things I have here. That and peanut butter. Unless you’re going to teach IT, there’s a very good chance that you won’t have electricity at your site. And if you’re anything like me then you need to listen to music every day. My Solio Magnesium charges both my iPod and phone, and it’s simply magnificent.
Next week, exams. The week after, grades. The week after that, no more l’école. As I said before, life is beautiful.
Happy Mother’s Day, Mamita and Shelly! And Grandma, Nana and Aunt Mary!
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