Month: January 2021

Games Children Play in Faraba Deux

Here are some of the different ways I found children playing today in Faraba.  These kids entertain themselves for hours and hours with their own inventions, games and toys.  They are a joy to watch!

This game is called Bi. It’s a marble game where you draw a triangle in the dirt and each person puts a marble in the triangle. Then you stand behind a line 10-12 feet away and throw a marble (like bocce ball) to get as close to the marbles in the triangle as you can. From the place your marble lands, you take turns trying to knock the marbles in the triangle out of the triangle. If you knock one out, or “eat” a marble, you keep it. The one with the most marbles at the end wins. This is a really popular game with the young boys!

Here’s a slingshot in the making:

These tree-climbing kids were like monkeys.  They were going after some small little citrus-type fruits, which they’d pop into their mouths after plucking them from the branches.

Children also help by tending the animals in the village.

Of course dirt is always a part of play here in Africa.

Here’s a little girl with her pink baby doll, like mother like daughter.

Balls are usually homemade.  This one was made from strips of a sweater.

Here’s a card game going on.

Women Cooking in Faraba Deux

Today in Faraba I watched women preparing food for their families.  Corn is the main staple here, cooked into a paste called To.  To is served with a green sauce made from dried leaves, herbs and seasonings.

This woman is cleaning her corn.

The ground corn is then cooked over a fire in a pot of boiling water.

 

This mom is making the green sauce to serve with the To.

And here are friends and family enjoying their meal together.

Things drying.  Not sure what.

These are the mortar and pestles that the women use to pound the corn, millet and shea.

Kitchen tools and utensils.

Rice drying in the sun.

Cooking some mutton.

Lunch time!

This woman is working on peanuts.

Healthy Village #2 Training in Faraba Deux

This is a one-room school built by the Ouelessebougou Alliance in the 1990s.  It’s no longer used as a school here–the children walk to a neighboring village school–but it still serves as a meeting place.  Today we held our Healthy Village Training here.

The leaders in the village, including the chief, gathered for this anticipated lesson.  In their first Healthy Village Training last year, they made a plan for changes they wanted to see in their village to make it a healthier place.  These changes were drawn on a village map they created. 

The Alliance has helped them work on their goals and today we talked about the next things that need to be done to continue this improvement.  They were excited and so were we!

They set measurable goals in several areas of things they will work on in the next year.  In addition to continuing with the general cleaning, sweeping and burning the trash, they want to move latrines farther from their homes.

In the future they’d also love to have a village garden and a maternity clinic and their own school.

You can see the date this school was constructed on the beam.

At the end of the training, lunch was brought in.  We provided the ingredients for this meal and women in the village prepared it.



A Visit to a Hamlet Called Faraba Deux

We had a fantastic day.  We traveled about an hour west of Ouelessebougou, on a bumpy dirt road to a small hamlet called Faraba Deux.  The Ouelessebougou Alliance did some work here in the 1990s and in the last year, we’ve partnered with LDS Charities to dig a pump well for the villagers here.  Today we came to do a “Healthy Village Training” this morning and some Days for Girls work this afternoon before celebrating the new well with the villagers.  We had a fantastic day.

This small village was wonderful. The people, in anticipation of our arrival, had cleaned every inch of ground and swept with their little home-made whisk brooms. You could see the sweeping patterns in the dirt everywhere we went. They’d burned piles of trash and weeds. It was beautiful! And they were all excited for our visit and greeted us warmly. They let us wander through the village and greet the families. We saw the well and walked through many of the family compounds. There were no walls or barriers between the families. They were happy and kind.

Here are a few pictures of my wander through the village this morning:

You can really see how the dirt was swept in this picture:

Roasting and shelling shea nuts to make shea butter:

A battery and a light bulb:

A proud mother!

Back to Mali and a Visit to Ouelessebougou!

We first started coming to Ouelessebougou in 2010 with humanitarian expeditions.  We’ve been involved with the Ouelessebougou Alliance in Salt Lake and Mali for all these many years, enjoying trips to Mali most years.  When we come we stay at the Alliance compound in Ouelessebougou.

This morning we left Abidjan and returned to Bamako, then drove straight (by taxi) south 2 hours to Ouelessebougou to our home away from home.  We love being in Ouelessebougou.  We met our visiting Alliance friends there and settled in for a couple of days.

Anounou, Teningnini and Djiba are our Malian staff here.  We also reunited with some of our translators and our friends– Judy Hut,  Carl Dempsey, and Dick and Roger Loomis.

Visiting the Deux Plateau Sister’s Apartment

After church we took the Sisters back to their apartment.  What a great place this is!  They gave us the grand tour.

Soeur Guei is a master tie maker.  She is hoping to go to her mission in London some day.  Here are the ties she’s working on.

What lovely Sisters and what dear friends.  They make me wish I were a young Sister again so I could live here with them!

The Deux Plateau Ward Primary

What a treat today to attend Primary in the 2 Plateau Ward!  These children are amazing and beautiful and I loved being with them!  There were 17 children here today, happily engaged in singing and learning with their good leaders.  It was a joy to watch.

These beautiful women are the counselors and secretary in the Primary Presidency.

These 4 beautiful girls were baptized this week and confirmed today in Sacrament Meeting.  They are bright and beautiful.

Lesson time.  Today we learned about the First Vision.

I love being with the children.  They are a bright and sure future for the Saints of Abidjan.

Here are a few fun video clips:

Visiting the Deux Plateau Ward in Abidjan

Today we got to attend church with the Deux Plateau Ward here in Abidjan where two of our outstanding STL Sisters are serving.  We had a fantastic morning and loved being with these good Saints.

These 4 beauties were confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today!

This is the YSA Sunday School class.  There are lots of returned missionaries in this ward.

Here is the adult Sunday School class:

Our fabulous Sister Training Leaders:

Overflow area outside of the chapel:

The baptismal font:

The Relief Society Presidency:

The young women:

The young single adults:

The wonderful Bishop:

The Primary Presidency:

Visiting with an investigator:

The Relief Society President:

After the meetings John and I got to help teach the investigators who came today.  That was so fun–a wonderful way to end our Sunday services.

Zone Conference in Grand Bassam

Today we enjoyed a Zone Conference in Grand Bassam.  It was great to be with these stellar missionaries.

These are our new Assistants, Elder Dombeti and Elder Houele.

Outside the Grand Bassam Stake Center today a big soccer tournament was being held.  The young men used the parking lot for their field.  There were dozens of boys and teams having a great time!