We are now a week into our journey and it feels like a month already. To digest all these impressions we experience in such a short time is sometimes quite difficult.
Today we are leaving the red zone. While preparing our journey, i checked the different home pages of the swiss, french, british and german governments and marked all the areas with some sort of danger like hijacking, civil unrest, robbery, etc. Red. The first countries we just passed were all deeply red! But after doing some further research, we decided to stay in the big cities and when doing some tours just with people we get recommended by others who know them. This way we actually always felt safe.
Elsbeth tells me on the phone that she received a call yesterday from some people from timbuktu telling her what a good man her husband is. She didn‘t have a clue who they are or what they wanted; especially when they told her that they will go home tomorrow through the desert taking 6 days with 11 camels. Well – they were my new tuareg friends i bought some jewelry from and gave some pencils as a present.
Temperature at 09.15h take-off time is already 38 degrees in mopti but it does not really feel so hot. Take-off procedures are no problem (as usual so far) and we really would like to thank the ladies at jet aviation for doing a fantastic job. Everything with the overflight permissions, ground handling such as fuel, transfers, hotels etc. Works like a swiss clockwork. Il y a pas de probleme – merci bien!! And we are looking forward to the cooler temperatures at around 35 degrees in ouga.
Ground handling is again very smooth in ougadougou and since rainer insists (quite) firmly, we go to the top hotel; and i have to admit: it is really good!! After lunch we meet the people of kickstart, a project that is supported by the frey charitable foundation. Mr. Alassane maiga, directeur adjoint mali-burkina faso, gives us an interesting presentation of the venture.
Kickstart produces irrigation pump that make watering the fields for farmers much easier. Instead of pulling the water up in a basket from a well, carrying it out into the field and distributing it there, the idea is to provide the framers with a cheap, light and robust irrigation pump that brings the water directly to the field. The pump has enough power to bring up the water 14 meters vertically and 200 meters horizontally. They are sold under the brand name money maker since it should help the farmers to increase their crops and make them more money. The costs for a pump is around chf 100.– and they are distributed through a network of dealers. The buyers have to come up with their own money either through cash, through micro credit institutes oder other organization. The project so far is very successful and results for the farmers are very encouraging. The pump is a simple construction, produced with high quality standards in china and easy to maintain. This was confirmed to us by the farmer using it for over a year now. He used an motor pump before and figuring in costs for fuel, oil and repairs, it just did not make sense anymore.
To see such a project live in the field is very impressive. Upon our arrival we are surrounded by many people and we can see ourselves how the lives of these people can be improved with little money (by our standards). Not only makes it live better for them but it also stops them to leave their villages and emigrate to the big cities where they most of the time end up in slums. For more information please check www.kickstart.org.
Today it was 38 degrees again and we are again dripping. The shower in the modern hotel bathroom is very appreciated! But it was worth the hardship and sweat; another impressive day on our transafrica 2010!
Burkina faso is also another poor but very stable country in west africa. Besides visiting the city with its cools sounding name, we wanted to see an aide project with irrigation pumps live in the field.
