TOMS Shoes...you've heard of them, right?

In one week we will be back in Burkina Faso and one of the things that we will jump back into is the distribution of TOMS Shoes to thousands of children.

We have partnered with TOMS Shoes for a year now and I think now is a good time to reflect on this past year and what this partnership means.

A year ago we were just getting started. We had some basic ideas of how we were going to tackle giving shoes and where we planned to give them. We have really learned so much in this past year. We learned how many distributions we would need to hold each week to give all of the shoes that were sent to us before the next shipment arrived. We learned how to handle 2000 children at a time excited to receive shoes. We learned how many volunteers we would need for any given number of children expected to show up. We learned how many shoes to bring so that we had enough, but not too many. We learned that the children of Burkina will stand for hours out in the sun and wait patiently without cutting in front of someone else or pushing and shoving. We learned that there are some pretty big feet in Burkina. We learned that there are some pretty damaged feet in Burkina. We learned that the children didn't want to dirty their new shoes so they didn't put them on right away. We learned that children in Burkina never get tired of chasing a balloon or trying to catch bubbles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

And we learned a lot about TOMS Shoes. They really do give hundreds of thousands of shoes to kids in need. They continue to support the communities so that children will receive shoes every 6 months and not just one time. They encourage the education of health and hygiene during distributions. The shoes they send are sturdy, quality shoes. They provide every tool necessary to help facilitate these distributions. They help offset the costs for their partners and don't want giving shoes to be a burden, but an enhancement to the work their partners are already doing. They encourage hiring temporary help at distributions which give some income to local people. We have been able to hire people with disabilities who would otherwise not find work or worth, to help with distributions.

And really, it's about the healthy feet and smiles. It's been a good year partnering with TOMS!!

Thinking of Our Home

Well, our time in the U.S. is halfway through and I am starting to have dreams of home. Home is Burkina now and there is much there we are missing. Our thoughts are of many things. The children at the orphanage and the tests that they are taking, are the toddlers learning something new, did I miss a milestone with one of the babies, how is our dog doing without us, did our TOMS shoe delivery arrive, what visitors have I missed, is everything green now with all the rain, how are the chickens, guinea hens and rabbits? Yes, I have even been thinking of the rabbits! Are any of them pregnant? How many babies might there be when we get back?

This Friday we travel from Hollywood, Florida to St. Louis, Missouri. We will make a stop in North Florida and then Georgia on the way and expect to arrive in St. Louis Sunday night or Monday morning. This will be the first time we have seen our daughters Delaney and Haley in a year! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have them in my arms again. Delaney is graduating high school and we could not be prouder of her.

We have four more weeks of cherished time with family and friends and then we make that long journey back home. I wonder what else will be popping into my head in these upcoming weeks.

What happens when an animal is stolen in Africa?

If you have visited Burkina Faso or have seen pictures then you have probably wondered..."with all those animals running around in the street, how do people know which ones are theirs and how would they notice if someone stole one of their animals?"

This week we got an inside look at animal theft and how it is handled. Barto, one of our beloved boys at the orphanage came to us saying that he needed a picture of his father's donkey. Someone had stolen their donkey and they knew who had it, but needed proof that it was theirs. Many people have visited Barto's fathers home in the village and, as luck would have it, many pictures have been taken with the donkey.

All week long Barto and his father went back and forth to the Gendarme (military police). After the first time he brought pictures, they said that they wanted more pictures. We sent a few emails out and received more pictures. This alone is very interesting because #1: out in the bush who has a camera? and #2: if someone in the bush had a camera, who would use it to take a picture of their donkey? We really felt that Barto had a fighting chance of proving that the donkey was his father's. There were distinguishing marks on the donkey that were clearly in the pictures.

All of this was not enough. Its seems that they called in the donkey's mother and a veterinarian to determine if this donkey was in fact the mother of Barto's donkey. When I heard this I figured that things must be pretty slow for the Gendarme if they are going to perform a paternity test on a donkey. Barto told us that they looked in the mouth of the maternal donkey and were able to determine how old she was and how many children that she had. Then they looked in the mouth of the stolen donkey and came to the conclusion that they could not prove that the donkey was theirs. Hmmm.

Today, Barto came to us saying that although he knows the truth, he is going to end fighting with the Gendarme, and he is at peace. There is a saying here..."WAWA". It means West Africa Wins Again.

There is another often used expression in French..."Ca va aller". It translates literally "it's going to go", but it means "everything is going to be alright". He doesn't know it yet, but Barto will be getting a new donkey.

How to Make a Box Drum - Africa Style!

 

Drums are very poplar instruments used throughout Burkina. There are a variety of different styles of drums, but in the village church you will always find someone playing the box drum. With a box drum you play by sitting on the drum and using your hands and feet.

 

We recently made a box drum at the orphanage that was to be transported back to the U.S. Of course I documented this so that if anyone wanted to make their own they could follow these simple steps.

 

1. Make a wooden frame about 20 inches square.

 

 

2. Inspect your animal skin that has been soaking for at least 24 hours in water for imperfections. This is donkey skin and we were told it is the best to use for the box drum.

 

3. Find an old bicycle tire and trim off the sides.

 

 4. Place the animal sin over the wooden frame and trim off the excess. The skin should come down at least 8 inches over the side of the frame.

 

 5. With at least 4 people helping, stretch the skin tightly over the frame (hair side facing out) and nail the tire rubber in place to secure the skin.

 

 6. Now you can trim the skin so it is just below the rubber.

 

 7. The drum needs to sit in the sun for one day before you can shave the fur from the skin.

 

 8. When it has had several days to dry, you can start making sweet music.

 

IMPORTANT TIP: If you are wishing to transport a box drum on an aircraft, don't try to do it if your drum has had only one day to dry. The smell is pretty strong and will alert the dogs at airport security and they will confiscate your drum!