Tough Day

Today I had my first…not bad, but difficult day.

We had tech training in the morning. Aside from learning about the Burkinabe education system, we were given some of the educational statistics. The most sobering: for the 2007-2008 school year, the Burkinabe government is projecting a 1700-teacher deficit. 1700 teachers. And here we are, 17 of us. Are we really going to change anything? We’re barely a drop in the bucket. Nothing. I know, I know. We mean something to that one kid, or even two kids, or with a little luck a whole classroom. But really, am I just wasting my time here? 1700 teachers: how is that even possible?

After class this evening I played soccer with my brothers and their friends. I started to put on my shoes- brand new Nikes with bleach clean white Nike socks- and immediately felt awkward. The boys stared at me as I realized that they were going to play in the same 350Fcfa (0.75 US dollars) sandals that they wear around the courtyard and in which they bucket bath. There’s at least a patch of grass, right? Nope. The soccer field is more of a very large, five- or six-way intersection. The terrain is the same as everywhere else: red clay dirt, gravel, rocks, and garbage. Most of the larger pieces of debris had been pushed off the field due to many seasons of games. Garbage piles burn on the “sidelines”. Half-naked children play near the fires, barefoot and running through it all. I look towards the horizon and the setting sun. If I close my eyes and listen to the laughter, the teenagers playing their game, just as they play it in San Francisco, Boston, Madrid, and London, I can almost pretend I’m at home. But this is Africa, and I’m playing soccer in one of the poorest countries in the world. Somehow the worlds of the rich- cars drive through the field- and the poor- garbage burns on the sidelines- collide and coexist here. And everyone is happy. And the sun sets over the African Sahel.

I’m not sure how I feel right now. It is hard to hear and see evidence of people needing so much without feeling bad for them. Yet their lives aren’t all that bad. They have food, water, and family; and they enjoy life without all the modern American conveniences. So I guess I feel good. I’ll do what I can here, give it my best, and that’s all I can say. At the end of the day I’ll play soccer.