Today I officially accepted my invitation to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in the West African country of Burkina Faso. I will depart for training this coming May.I will attend three months of training in Ougagougou, the capital city. In training I will learn cross-cultural skills, improve my French and learn a local trade language, as well as receive technical training in agriculture and health maintenance. My job title will be an agricultural and environmental adviser. In this position, I will be expected to partner with local community leaders and/or development organizations to facilitate the adoption of more effective and sustainable agricultural practices.
In the past week or so I have experienced a range of emotions about this next step, including fear, excitement, doubt, and exhilaration. In accepting this assignment to live and work in a rural African community, I will be truly living a dream that began years ago. (I can still remember Mr Lahue handing me a Peace Corps application after one of our geography classes.) Finally the theories and concepts I have studied in the past four years will be translated into hands-on, grassroots development work. My term of service will test my ability to adapt and stretch, change and grow in a new and foreign setting.
Now I have less than four months to better prepare myself by reading as much as I can on sub-Saharan agriculture, West African history and Burkinabé culture as well as work on improving my very rusty French. I hope to maintain this blog as a journal of my experiences during my 27 month assignment. And so begins the adventure!
