Life in Loumbila

Genuine question: how do you make suncream soak in when you’re among the top 10 sweatiest things in West Africa? Answers on a postcard.

We’ve been back in Loumbila for a week now, getting to know the place and trying to work out what we’re meant to be doing. I’ll see if the internet will cope with uploading some photos. Firstly, for your entertainment, here’s a picture of me scoring an own goal at table football:

That’s Dramane at the back (remember, bravest man in Burkina Faso). He’s doing an admirable job of dealing with this tired, hormonal and occasionally tearful English girl he’s been left with, and regularly clears up the misunderstandings I cause with my slightly substandard French. I will learn, quickly!

The project we’re supporting, AML, is well-established in Loumbila, and provides professional support and literacy classes to local farmers. There’s an element of sexual health education, as well as community IT and English classes. We have a lot of work to get on with, but we need to wait for next weekend for the volunteers to arrive. In the meantime we’ve been vaguely planning while watching the world go by. It’s a hard life.

In reality though we’re itching to start work. Really, there are only so many times you can watch About a Boy before it become a cross-cultural fact that Hugh Grant is a dick. And I’m pretty sure if I go on any more exploratory cycle rides I’ll actually melt. Fingers crossed the volunteers arrive full of ideas and ready to go. And if any of them are reading this: please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you!

À bientôt!