Burkina Bound: Adventures in the Peace Corps: The Amazing Race in Burkina

Contact Me

I now have a new permanent mailing address. You can send me letters or packages (either would be fantastic) to the following address for the next two years:

Erik Durant
Corps de la Paix
Ouahigouya 01
01 B.P. 392
Burkina Faso
West Africa

For detailed instructions and tips for mailing me letters and packages, click on "Sending Me Mail" under the "Important Posts" tab below or simply click here. If you can't send me any mail, that's totally fine as well. I also appreciate emails (ecdura at gmail dot com) and posts on my blog, of course.

I also have a cell phone. Imagine that! To call me, I believe you dial 001 226 75 52 50 58. I don't know how much it costs you so check into that. I know it can be really expensive. I can also receive texts (cheaper for you) if you want to do that.

Timeline

01/12/08: Submitted online application to the Peace Corps
01/12/08: Submitted Health Status Review form online
01/17/08: Contacted by my recruiter for an interview
01/31/08: Interview with my recruiter
02/15/08: Officially nominated for a health-extension program in Sub-Saharan Africa departing in November
02/21/08: Received PC medical kit in the mail
03/05/08: Eye exam
03/06/08: Dental exam
03/25/08: Medical exam
04/03/08: Mailed completed medical kit
04/10/08: PC recieved my medical kit
04/25/08: Received medical clearance
08/01/08: Received dental clearance
08/22/08: Received my official invitation to Burkina Faso as a Community Health Development Worker, leaving for staging on October 12, 2008

Saturday, September 13, 2008

The Amazing Race in Burkina

I was bored last night and stumbled upon a couple videos from The Amazing Race 12 when they traveled to Burkina. This first video (8:37) shows the "Roadblock" where competitors had to milk camels in order to receive their next clue. Hopefully, this is not part of my daily routine:

This other video (1:38) focuses on the "goth" couple in the race and their reflections to Burkina Faso and the Burkinabe (the people of BF). Enjoy:

If you go to YouTube, you can see the entire episode, broken into 5 chunks. Just search for "Amazing Race 12 Episode 3." The next next episode is from BF as well, but I can't find it on YouTube in full.

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Glossary

Some useful Peace Corps abbreviations and terms :
· Assignment: The location and job the volunteer is placed in
· APCD: Associate Peace Corps Director. A host-country national in charge of that region's program
· CD: Country Director. The one in charge of the volunteers in that country
· COS: Close of Service. The end of a volunteer's service
· Country Desk: The department representing regional countries, at Peace Corps headquarters in Washington D.C.
· ET: Early Termination. Leaving, for whatever reason, before COS
· Homestay: Part of training where the volunteer lives with a member of the community (the owners of the house are often referred to as "family," i.e. mother, brother, etc.)
· Host Country: The country where the volunteer is serving
· IOS: Interruption of Service. When local, political, or environmental conditions require the entire program to be pulled from an area
· IST: In-Service Training. A secondary training event that happens mid-service
· LCF: Language and Cross-Cultural Facilitator. Trainers responsible for language and culture sections during PST.
· Medevac: Medically Evacuate. To return a volunteer to the States for medical treatment, usually because they have an injury/illness that is untreatable in-country
· Medical Separation: When a volunteer cannot complete service due to a medical problem
· OMS: Office of Medical Services
· PC: Peace Corps
· PCMO: Peace Corps Medical Officer. The nurse or doctor in charge of all that country's volunteers
· PCT: Peace Corps Trainee. Volunteer's title during training and before becoming an official volunteer
· PCV: Peace Corps Volunteer
· PST: Pre-Service Training. The training program, usually 3 months long, that teaches volunteers language, cross-cultural sensitivity, and job skills before they begin their official service
· RPCV: Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
· Site: The location where the volunteer lives and works for 2 years
· Staging: The first day of training, held in the U.S., before flying out to the host country
· Swearing-In: The ceremony that accompanies transition from PCT to PCV

Burkina Bound: Adventures in the Peace Corps

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Saturday, September 13, 2008

The Amazing Race in Burkina

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