Day by Day

This blog is a recap of my daily entries into it – so it may be very messy.


Monday June 7th: office staff is in Bobo so I decided to work from home – as few emails and some reading on how to facilitate Participation. I also started working on Issouf’s business project as we may partner in a business if it is “sustainable” – so far there is still a lot of information he needs to gather. Even if nothing materialises it will have been a good exercise for him to actually build a business plan.

Today I asked Issouf if he was happy and he said “yes” – that he was happy to be alive and healthy and capable, that he accepts the way it is for him. He hopes it will be better financially but that is not what will make him happy. He says that somebody “conscious” who accepts his place in life and is happy with himself cannot not be happy – so yes he is Happy – he is proud of who he is and how he has always provided for his wife and kid, does not chase after other women and does not have a second office, has well assumed his responsibilities towards his mother, is a good worker and an honest person.

Electricity cut again today for about 3 hours from 15h to 18h – but it is only 103F and no ventilator or air con ....

Started a puzzle today – it’s actually quite soothing and I can see myself investing quite a few hours into it and disconnecting from everything else. That’s the problem here – too much time to think.

Tuesday June 8th: Finished puzzle – could not work since no electricity and computer died from overheating so I finished the puzzle and the picture I had to base it on was about 2cm²

A scorcher of a day with no ventilator or air conditioning – 103F outside (in the shade and as I mentioned several times there is no shade) and probably 110F inside. Honestly I just do not know what to do with myself when it is so hot because a hot shower does not cool you down.

As Issouf and I are preparing his business plan he gave me a lesson on how taxes are managed here.

1) It seems that business taxes are not a function of revenues but on a very simple evaluation of what your shop looks like and then they assess you.

2) The assessment is of course negotiable and if you pay cash to the agent then you get a rebate of about 20%-25%.

3) Tax agents do their rounds twice a year (June & December) and when they do the word gets spread around quickly because it is only when you get caught that you can get assessed and even the rebated price is still too high for most of them. One way of not getting assessed (and therefore no taxes to pay) is to close your shop for a couple of days as the agent is doing his rounds in your neck of the woods. If he cannot see the shop he cannot assess.

4) You do not need to register a business here – you only need to register if you want to do business with the government. You just set up shop and if things go badly you just close up shop – within a day you can be in business or out of business.

Wednesday June 9th

Today did a little bit of work – mostly read on work related stuff – nothing very exciting.

Samiratou (Issouf’s daughter) finally went to the doctor and she has quite a few prescriptions to take – so hopefully she is on her way to felling healthier. Now why did it take Issouf so long to go see a modern medicine doctor? Because as I was giving him shit for not doing so he was getting another pressure from his mother to go the good old traditional way i.e. some charlatan selling herbs that cure all things. So he was in a bind and eventually after trying Traditional he went for Modern telling his mother that I was harassing him to do so. So it seems it is a matter of belief – they do not really trust modern medicine since they consider the hospital as a death sentence (at at times it is i.e. dying from haemorrhoids) and that doctors are not really competent – traditional medicine has been around forever and they trust it and if you die it is simply because it was God’s will. It is also a matter of money since modern medicine costs a lot more than traditional. So the infantile (kids under 5) death rate is very high here in Burkina Faso because of ignorance and/or lack of money.

Thursday June 10th

Issouf invited me to his place to see the final product of his labour – a new house for him and his family with an enclosed courtyard which is now totally fenced in and a gate – total privacy and intimacy for a family with approx. 12 people sharing space. He was so happy and proud to show me – even offered me a bite to eat (small plate thank you) which was actually quite good.

They are one happy extended family now.

From this

To this

During the evening, trying to find something to keep me entertained, I played Party Poker – yes yes Party Poker – I must be getting desperate.

Issouf went to also visit his future father in law with his Porte-Parole – to make his wedding date official and all went well. Now that he has a house of his own he can get married.

Friday June 11th

What a boring day burning CDs for work and reading The Economist.
Some days I want to quit more than others – this is one of them. I think that my particular problem is that I have not been able to put my teeth into anything here yet – a little bit here a little bit there (feeling at times like a “bouche trou”) but nothing that I feel that I am involved with and committed too. Maybe I am just to task oriented – action and result driven. Hopefully I will find something interesting real soon because me and boredom are not a good mix. I know I have to change my attitude and be more patient and celebrate the little victories – it’s just that they are so little I cannot see them... I probably need another pair of glasses.

That was my week – hopefully I will write something more interesting next time.