Monday 21 August 2017

Putting the 'forest' into 'Reforestation'


Situé environ 12 km à la sortie Est de Koudougou, Doulou est une ferme d’AVO. C’était notre deuxième sortie à Doulou et nous étions motivés. Nous partîmes à vélo avec de l’eau dans les gourdes malgré quelques difficultés rencontrées, le mauvais état de la route, les secousses et la chaleur mais nous avons gardé le moral haut et un meilleur esprit d’équipe.

Ce jour trois volontaires étaient malades, le début était difficile, sous un soleil ardent nous nous désaltérions á chaque fois que nous pouvions. Cela nous a permis de nous surpasser, après avoir pédalé environ 45 minutes, nous arrivions á Doulou. Le sentiment de parcourir une immense distance était achevé.

Notre tâche était de reboiser le champ de Doulou avec les pépinières. La vente des produits de ces plantes permettra à AVO d’améliorer plus précisément les conditions de vie et l’éducation des veuves et des orphelins. L’objectif premier d’AVO et ICS étant d’impacter dans la continuité, il est important que les volontaires mettent en pratiques un plan de continuité. Ces plantes sont aussi excellentes comme source de nutrition en protéine, vitamine B6 et E et acide amine et aussi pendant la grossesse. Malgré la température et les contraires de temps qui étaient les barrières qui causent le ralentissement de travaux, nous étions animés d’une grande volonté de mener cette action de développement. D’une manière générale, Doulou bénéficie de terres fertiles et la ferme de AVO ne fait pas exception. Cependant, travailler la terre peut etre difficle et nous avons apporté notre aide en mettant en terre 50 anacardiers.

Novices, nous étions venus dans un grand esprit positif. Aidé par le fermier du champ, nous avons creusé des trous espacés de 10 mètres. Le travail a été fait avec beaucoup de soin car les plantes étaient très petites et fragile.  Nous avons fini le travail avant le temps de déjeuner. Le retour était difficile à cause de la fatigue, le ventre creux, nous étions regroupés pour revenir. Cependant nous nous sommes arrêtés pour une pause dans un atelier de peinture que nous avons admiré et encouragé ses travaux.

De retour à AVO, nous étions animés d’un sentiment de grande satisfaction car notre but de la journée a été atteint.  Cette expérience nous a permis de comprendre combien les travaux champêtres sont pénibles pour les personnes qui exercent ce métier  dans les zones rurales.



Doulou is the AVO owned farm 12km outside of Koudougou, where AVO produces crops and animal produce to sell for profit. This was our second trip to Doulou, and twice as exciting! There’s something about riding our bicycles on the bumpy (ok, pot-holey), windy, orange tinted backstreets of Burkina Faso that is very exhilarating. Maybe it’s the cliché wind in our hair or the tough workout and humid heat drenching us in our own sweat (a bucket shower's worth), but for many of us it has been the best part of volunteering so far and boosts morale for the whole team.

With three volunteers down due to illness, the cycle there was no easier than the first time. You cannot hide from the heat of the African sun- how much water can we fit in our baskets? For those that don’t regularly do exercise it was increasingly tough, combined with the bicycles breaking down at any time they feel like (I guess they’re tired too?) it makes a worthy challenge. We got there in 45minutes, and we had never been so delighted to see the sign to Doulou (que, cheesy sign pic). The feeling of achievement is immense!


Our task at hand was to help the farmers at Doulou reforest the land with cashew plants. These plants will eventually grow into cashew trees, producing cashew nuts which will provide a sustainable income for AVO to further improve the livelihoods and education of widowed women and orphaned children. Sustainability is a primary goal of AVO and ICS; it’s important that the volunteers implement structures, ideas and projects which can continue after we have left. Cashew nuts are also an excellent source of nutrition, containing: protein, fibre, vitamins b6 and E, folic acid (essential during pregnancy), and good fats. Doulou has a lot of fertile land and the farm at Doulou is no exception, however working all of that land can be difficult which is where the volunteers come in, with our help we were able to plant 50 cashew trees.

We arrived in great spirits (exercise euphoria, dehydration, or delirium, who knows?) and were greeted by many farmers to show us how it’s done. We were given a wheelbarrow of cashew plants, and measured out 10 metres between each plant (these trees get BIG). The farmers are so skilled; they’ve been doing this work since they were very young so they flawlessly dig holes all day in the scorching heat. Despite the heat, all the volunteers had a go and were practically fighting over who could plant next. We finished the work around lunchtime, feeling like the robin hood of plants, giving the team a great boost. We were ravenous for some food, but first the 12km home was needed. This was difficult; two bikes had flat tires and proved that hanger is real. Some of us swapped bikes for those who were struggling and soldiered on home (now that’s teamwork!). On our way, we spontaneously passed a painter who was very keen for us to see his artwork; tired, hungry and knackered we were initially hesitant. However, seeing his paintings was the pick me up we needed after such a long day and we all bought some beautiful pieces, wishing we had brought more money for more.

We got back to the AVO office feeling very pleased with our day’s work and got an insight into how hard farm work is for the people who do this every day to make a living.


 


















Words by Saffron
French translation by Rony
Photographs by Saffron, Aisseta and Rubaiyath

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