thanks, Blaise!!

I'm in Ouaga (again), for another meeting/training session, and there's not a lot to tell about my life this month. But something noteworthy is happening in Bagre: the president of Burkina, Blaise Compaore, is coming to my village! There's a youth conference there this week, with something like fifteen thousand "jeunes" coming to check out the eco-tourism center, the fish farm, the rice irrigation system, etc, and have sessions on agro-business. They'll be staying at every single public facility in the region, including my school, so no classes this week.

And Bagre has gone Insane. A helicopter flew over my house the other day. (This is in an area where there aren't even jet trails in the sky, because there are no airplanes.) There have been trucks constantly driving by, dozens every day. They've repaired the road, shipped in dirt to fill the potholes, electrified the final building at the lycee, installed power fixtures and run wires at my school (they're using a generator for this week, then maybe next year we'll get permanent electricity), and. The most exciting thing of all. This isn't completely certain- as I'm not there, I don't know. But I think I'm getting... a water faucet outside my courtyard.

This does not seem like an exciting thing. I'm aware of that. And it's not in my house, or even in my courtyard. But what I usually have to do is bike half a kilometer to the nearest pump, fill a bidon (water jug) with water, then attach it to my bike and bring it back to my house. Which isn't the most inconvenient thing in the world, but since it's the only way to get all of the water I use it makes me hate to do laundry, or water my garden, or wash my dishes. So if I get a robinet (water faucet) just outside my courtyard, I'm going to be just about the happiest kid in the world. Or, I guess, the kids in my neighborhood who have to get all the water for their families every day will be the happiest kids in the world. But I will be happy. It looked like they had started digging the trench for the pipes before I left, so I'm hopeful. I vow that if I have easier access to water I will wash my dishes at least once a week.