Bike a thon(BAT)

So the BAT was a success in the regards we went to villages talked with a bunch of people and had a good time. Of course, not everything went as planned, but we did it and a lot of volunteers also got trained in doing BAT in their own villages. I had a few run-ins with the local health committee, mostly because, the men on the committee became totally lazy(assholes, ahem, excuse my french) and didn't participate. Which put me in a lurch, but the two women on the committee showed up in shining colors and just impressed the hell of my volunteer friends, like I knew they would.
The way it worked, I met my volunteer buddies in Ouaga on Sunday, and I trained them how to AIDS sensibilizations. This particular group hadn't recieved the training in our pre-service training(long story as to why). The next day, Monday, we traveled to my village and got prepared for the next day. Tuesday, the volunteers met with their local animateurs/team for their village. This time the volunteers trained the local animateurs on the themes of AIDS I wanted to convey. That lasted about 3 hours and then we were done for the day. Each day I tried to make only half-days due to the extreme heat.
Wednesday, all the teams headed out to the villages, by bike or moto, and "stopped AIDS". I stayed in village(lazily) preparing for their return and make changes for the following days program due to lack of committe members helping.(Sorry minor bitch, they became my bane) After the teams came back we chilled and enjoyed each others company and made steak and egg sandwiches for dinner. Thanks to some fancy cooking by some of the other volunteers. Yum! We then went out to the local bar where I coordinated to have a little dance party for all the BAT participants and such. We danced to American and Burkinabe music and had a great time with everyone. We went home early and just crashed from such a buzy day.
Thursday, we headed instead to the market, where as it was Market Day in To, and set up smaller, but more, teams around the market and did spontaneous presentations. Sounds difficult, but the animateurs and volunteers did a fabulous job, of which I'm just incredibly proud. The Market day in To is very buzy and big. I placed, two person teams in spots around the market,(using our whiteness to gather a crowd, it worked) and started talking and giving information. Some had it harder than others, but overall the experience for all the participants was excelllent.
We finished at 11AM and then headed back to my house where I organized a taxi bush to come pick us up and take all the volunteers back to Ouaga, cause a few had some pressing matters to attend to in their own village.
I'm pretty stoked by the whole thing, but my next activity will be traveling a bit around my village, surveying the surrounding area for possible volunteer placements. Hopefully, by this time next year, I'll have some neighbors. :-) I'm spending EAster in Ouaga, I need a little break from village after some of the frustations I had with the health committee, but everything else is good otherwise. Hopefully, I'll be talking to some of you tomorrow. Happy Easter!
Take care
L