Basic Information

The Peace Corps is a U.S. government ran volunteer program designed, in part, to deliver assistance to developing countries in the form of education, community development and water sanitation services.  I will be a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in Burkina Faso, a country just south of the Sahara Desert and inland from the Ivory Coast in Africa.  My job will be Math education to children at a high school age.  While I will spend around 10-20 hours in the classroom every week, I will also serve as a resource to the community in order to develop extracurricular activities for boys and girls in order to further promote education.  Apart from my job, I will likely be living in a small village alongside the average Burkinabe person, with a similar income to theirs.  Integrating with the community will be important in my success as a teacher and community leader.

I am leaving from Dallas, TX on June 4th for Philadelphia, where I will have a quick orientation.  There will be a group of fresh PCV's, I'm not sure if they all are going to Burkina or if there will be a larger collection of countries present.  On June 5th we will board a bus for NY, leaving early in the morning of the 6th from JFK airport.  There will be a quick leg stretching stop in Brussels, Belgium, followed by the second flight to the capitol of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou (roughly pronounced Wah-gah-doo-goo).  There I will begin a 3 month training while living with a host family.  The training will focus on language, both French for the formal classes and any of the dozens of local languages that exist in the villages.  It is here that they (PC) will decide where I fit in best, assigning me to a specific village.  The next 3 months will be more focused at the school in which I will teach, developing lesson plans and working with local teachers and the like.  then the next 21 months will be me and my new friends.  I will get a vacation day or two every month if I am not mistaken.

That's the gist of it.  Future posts will be more geared to any adventures I might get into or interesting experiences.  I'm very open to answering any questions while I am in Burkina, so feel free to message me about anything.  The catch is, don't expect a response for maybe a month because that is about how often I am expecting to have internet access.  Thanks for reading!

Barry

My departure itinerary.

6/4/12 - Fly to Philadelphia for orientation
6/5/12 - Bus to NY for departure flight
6/6/12 - Arrive in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso for training (3 months)