My Burkina Journal: On hold

Cerma Translation

It was a happy day for SIL when a huge truck pulled up to the center filled with cartons of the Cerma translation to the New Testament, newly printed. As the truck was too big to make it through the entrance, three small pick-up trucks belonging to SIL staff were used to transport them inside. This translation represents some 30 years of work of both SIL staff and native speaking Cerma translators analyzing the language, developing the alphabet, along with many years of translating, consulting, and revising to get a readable and culturally meaningful version of the scriptures into the Cerma language. There are some 63,100 Cerma speakers, mostly located in the extreme southwest portion of the country, on the way to the Côte d’Ivoire. There will be a dedication celebration on April 14 in Banfora, and I hope to be able to both catch the ceremony and do some additional sightseeing of the surrounding area.

On the way we will be going through Burkina Faso’s second largest city, Bobo-Dioulasso, known for its fantastic-looking Neo-Moorish train station, and the Grande Mosquée, which is built out of mud-bricks and studded with hundreds of wooden struts, sticking strangely out of a white edifice. Although built at the end of the 19^th century, it actually looks very modern from photos. And then near Banfora, there are supposed to be some unusual rock formations and spectacular waterfalls. . .

Sad, painful news

Those words were written before my accident over two weeks ago. Today, I sadly have to say that I had to return to Maryland with Stuart on April 1. I had received an electrical shock when I pulled a plug out of an ancient transformer and fell on my hip. I initially thought was some serious nerve pain (sciatica?) down my left leg with severely contracted abductor muscle pain in the groin. For a week I stayed with the director and his wife, the latter being a nurse, and it was thought that since there appeared to be no obvious swelling, the chance of breakage was slight. I was unable to walk unaided (I’d been using a walker), and although improvement was incremental, but not significant, I decided to see a Swiss doctor who made house calls. (I was told that in my condition the emergency room in the hospital would not be a good experience.)

It was decided that I would get much better medical care and physical therapy treatment in the US, and was certainly no use to SIL staff there in my condition, had I remained in Burkina. Fortunately I had travel insurance for medical evacuation and, at the doctor's recommendation, was flown business class (definitely the way to go!) back to Dulles. As I required an escort, the company paid for Stuart to travel with me, business class as well. I don't think he was completely happy having to change his Air France ticket for Brussels Airlines/United, until he heard about the upgrade!

I stayed with his mother, Jean Showalter, next to Leisure World, my first night back, and was taken to Emergency at the Shady Grove Adventist Hospital the following morning. To my shock, I learned that I had a hip ball fracture requiring a partial hip replacement! I had the operation the following day, and I have been at Shady Grove for several days now due to abnormally low blood pressure and an explicable lingering fever. I started physical therapy yesterday and hope to to go to their acute care rehab hospital next week where I anticipate a week of intensive 3/hr day therapy (hopefully while heavily medicated!). Jean Showalter, Stuart’s mother, has offered use of a spare room in her apartment in Leisure World, after my discharge, while I am recuperating. This will put me two miles from my two dear long-haired dachsies, which I would enjoy seeing again. Since I live in a townhouse with its many stairs, staying at my own place is not an immediate option.

Well, so much for more exploring of Burkina for the moment. I bought the book, Burkina Faso Today (Les Editions du Jaguar), which is full of absolutely gorgeous photos. (The French have a reputation for their artful photography). I am terribly disappointed that I have been unable to finish what I had set out to do, however. I have done an assessment, though, and now know some of the primary needs of the library, and I would like to return early next year (when it is cooler!) if it can be worked out, and I'm on my feet again!

Below are some pictures of Ouagadougou—the aspiring Ouaga, the diplomatic Ouaga, and the forever-under-construction Ouaga. This is a land of amazing contrasts and contradictions, and some pretty amusing photos.