images

'Les Cascades', swimming pool near Banfora

'Les domes de Fabedougou', Rock formations near Banfora

a nutshell after shopping

In a nutshell, the events of last days:

• on thursday evening, the presidential guard started an uproar, firing at the presidency, the president leaving the capital for a short while (well, leaving is a mild term) - the uproar would have been started because of allowances not being paid out in time.
• the uproar expanded to other military barracks, heavy looting reported in the centre of the city. Some houses of big military chiefs (as well as some mayors) have been burned down.
• friday, the mutiny continued - less heavy then before, while mutineers harassed people, stole cars from citizens (mostly jeeps). In the evening the president sent the government back home, sacked the current commanders in chief of the army, and appointed new ones. He also paid out the presidential guard. 
• during the night, the presidential guard and police have started to patrol in the city to establish some peace and quiet.
• saturday, all shops and fuel stations remain closed. There's no more mutiny on the streets. I still could get hold of some fish, brochettes and potatoes for a bbq tonight. There are remains of burned down and trashed vehicles.
• shopkeepers from the central market seem to have set fire to the office of the CDP (the ruling party) in the centre of the city - they are clearly fed up with the situation.

Still, we're ok here. No worries - Belgium has one more thing in common with Burkina Faso now: no government.

Next update is really going to be bout work!

The supermarket where we used to do some of our shopping.
Looted during the night and set to fire afterwards. 

on curfews, work and weekends

3 Topics this time. Here we go.

Since sunday, the curfew has been denounced. Meaning: we're allowed again to go out for binge-drinking after 19 o'clock - not that I felt a urgent need to. Anyway, it's also a sign that things are getting back to normal! In all honesty, my last post on security wasn't truly honest. Last week, we've still spent a couple of nights listening to gun fire (well, ok, if I'm really honest now: I tend to listen about 5 minutes, before falling asleep again), but after a reconciliation session between the president of Burkina Faso and a quite high number of officers and soldiers from the army, there has been quite a change as they seem again to spend their nights inside their barracks. No more gun fire at night - which is still better. 

Anyway, to make sure we had at least a weekend in quietness & peace, we went onto the motorbike to Koubri, famous for it's nuns, yoghourt and an 'auberge'. The nuns and yoghourt are bound together, as the former produce the latter, and for sure: they do that very well. We stayed with the nuns (well, at their hotellerie) for the first night. The auberge (called Bouginvilliers) was another interesting place - Belinda found her favorite spot at the ponton next to the barrage, while I went for a ride with the bike. I truly had a great time exploring the country side - such a difference with the city I'm living in now. And I loved talking to people, just sitting outside together, as if there was no tomorrow and no yesterday. One remark though: the landmarks of high voltage power lines, rising up higher than any building - and yet, it is so strange to realize that none of the villages is connected in any way with them. There're just there, standing still, a mere sign of a world which is developed. But they bring nothing to these people. 

somewhere near Koubri

Not that there's a bridging line with the last topic: work. But still, for some who may doubt: that's taking most of my time here. After the first weeks which went quite slowly, I get involved a lot more now. There's a tremendous job lying ahead of me, on both the level of organizational development as ICT. Every day I learn, and get a better idea of what's needed to move forward. Still, my ideas are in an embryonic state - and I'm trying not to act wiser as I am. Will write further in detail on that in the second half of this month - in Dutch on the blog of my partner Daidalos (click here) and on this site.