We are alive!

Hello dear friends and family. A LOT has happened since our last post on the blog site. Unfortunately, we all took our turn feeling sick so I didn't have the opportunity to update it. Then we went into Dedougou and had no access to wifi, so once again my apologies. That being said, we are all feeling excellent now and we made it Dedougou with the ambulance! Our number one mission has been completed!

The whole visit to Dedougou seems like a distance memory looking back at it now, but the warm welcomes and gratitude we received we shall remember forever. The community put together a ceremony in honor of our trip and mission with everyone from hospital patients, to the mayor in attendance. Everyone was completely overwhelmed with joy and even finding words to put sentences together was difficult. It was a beautiful day.

Besides having a wonderful ceremony we had the opportunity to visit Hassimi's dearest friends and family members before heading back to Ouagadougou. Each house we visited had its own African charm and welcoming, but something they all had in common were the sincere thank yous from the people. Thank you for being here, thank you for helping, thank you for caring.

I sit here today writing from the airport in Paris wondering how the time could go so fast…but then again, it always does. This trip has taught us about a country, about people, and about ourselves.

I hope to be seeing Africa again someday and share many more experiences with many more people.

Thank you for reading and supporting us until the very end. The endless support from our family, community, and friends made this all possible... and although you were not physically here with us your support pushed us along everyday.


Thank you!

Burkina Faso Travelers.

Day 5..? 6?

"You haven't truly lived until you've done something for someone whom can never repay you." 

This is the quote that was printed on our travelers shirts before leaving the states. We came to Africa with a purpose and a mission. To help as many people as we can.

That being said, today we found out that our supplies will not arrive until Sunday or Monday. Initially we were disappointed, but keeping our minds on that quote is helping us get by. It's not about when we are helping the people, it's the fact that we are helping them. Showing the people how much we care about them with or without supplies means the world to them. Something the people keep saying to us is how grateful they are that we left our homes and families to visit them and they pray for a safe return for us. We hear this with every place that we visit. The people in Africa are some of the most kind and grateful people I've ever met, and it's extraordinary to be able to give to people so deserving.

One person in particular we found extra deserving. It all started the other day when we went to lunch at a restaurant named La Foret. (Which means the forest. No we did not eat in a forest, the whole restaurant was set in a garden and we ate under a straw gazebo). As we sat eating our rice and steak kabobs (Yes, we ate the meat. It was delicious.) we started to ask our server a little bit about his life. It turns out that he has been living in Ouagadougou for a year, but is originally from Mali. He had to leave his country because a war broke out and it was no longer safe for him. Not only did he leave behind his whole family, but he also left behind the opportunity to finish his degree (He is studying accounting). We left the restaurant that day feeling a sense of remorse for the young man, and started to put together a plan for potentially helping him. He already works full time, and any extra money he has at the end of the month he sends back to his parents…so we thought that it would be much deserving if we could pay his tuition for two years to finish off his degree. He may not otherwise ever be able to save the money to pay for collage…to go to the University in Burkina, it costs $50 a year.

Tonight we retuned to the restaurant and told him our thoughts on helping him with schooling. As he sat listening to Hassimi explain the plan, the amount of tears welling up in his eyes was heartbreaking. He said that out of all the people he sees everyday, he has never experienced that kind of kindness. He even denied the money at first stating that he wouldn't be able to work full time and send money home if he went to school. But after Hassimi told him that his life and goals mattered too, he accepted our proposal.

That was the moment when that quote became reality for me, and for all of us. To see the sincere gratitude in a person's eye is the most rewarding feeling you can receive in life. We hope to help him and many others with our supplies, ambulance, and presence. We might not be able to change all of Africa, but Africa has changed all of us.

Much Love,

Burkina Faso Travelers.

Another day rolling by

Time is a very interesting thing here in Burkina. We've been here for four days now, and it is quite clear that the whole concept of time is very different from the one we are used to in the states. Something as simple as going to the ATM could be an hour long trip, or dinner which usually takes 2.5 hours. The hustle and bustle of sticking to the schedule and getting as many things done as possible, just doesn't happen that way here. The people take their time. They enjoy each moment, and no one's ever in a hurry. Who am I to say one way of life is better than the other, but if one thing is certain, Burkina has shown us how to be patient. This was also the case when trying to visit the orphanages. Their number changed, they moved locations, and the new number wasn't listed. So we patiently waited two days to get a hold of their number so we could visit, but at last we did.

Before going into details of the trip, I should mention that the term "orphan" is a little different here in Africa. They consider an orphan a child that was abandoned, but also a child whose parents don't have the means to support them, so they live at the orphanage and visit home once a year. It's almost like a boarding school for the children who have families, because once they reach a certain age (12 in this case) they go back to live with their families.

Going to the centers we weren't sure what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived. The first orphanage not only had a school system set up for the children, but they had their own farm, playground, farm life (cows, donkeys, and chickens). It was beautiful. Carefully being placed outside of the city lights, the center was in the country where it allowed more space for the kids to play and grow. We also learned that that specific orphanage has the number one schooling for orphans in the country. When it is time to take your exams to enter into middle school (Like the French system, all kids must pass a test to enter into the next level of education), they have a 100% success rate. Overall we were very impressed by the systems to aid the children that the orphanage offered.

The other orphanage was more in the city, but also tucked away from the traffic of people and cars. This one housed children from infancy to two years old. At first that doesn't seem like a long time, but that lady in charge informed us that the adoption rate was very good. Also, special needs children sometimes stay longer. We came a little late to that orphanage so there is not much to say, but tomorrow we will be back and I will update everyone!

NOW without further delay. The BIG BIG BIG NEWS of the day… The ambulance arrived to Ouagadougou! We were so excited for its arrival (in one piece) ! Now all we are waiting for are the supplies then it's off to Dedougou to deliver everything! With things being finalized we need prayers and good vibes being sent our way that the supplies arrive safely and promptly as well!

Thats all for now!

-Burkina Faso Travelers

Day 2

Salut! (Or as we say, Hi! in English)

Day number two.

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise and went down to our hotel's pool for our first African breakfast. As we sat pool side eating our chocolate bread and sipping or orange lemon juice, we started our day joyfully chatting about the day's itinerary.

After breakfast, we drove around Ouagadougou a bit and witnessed the city first hand. From street vendors, to flea markets Africa is full of life and very different from the small town we've traveled from.   Today we had the opportunity to meet a friend of Hassimi's, Awa. She happens to also be the artist who allowed us to sell her c.d. to fundraise money to ship the ambulance. She, along with everyone we've met so far, is very nice and welcoming.

We made our way to an art market today that was truly amazing. We witnessed first hand the beauty and skill it takes to create things like drums, scarves, sculptures, and jewelry. It is easy to go to the store and buy a scarf, but not very often do you think of the person who thread the cotton together to create that scarf for you. The time and dedication that these artist put into their work is incredible. We had the opportunity to play a traditional Africa drum today, and as we were playing we watched the men carve the wood base, stretch the cow hid, and tie the strings together to create a drum. Africa takes craftsmanship to a new level, and all of us were in absolute awe as we watched each piece of art come together.

After the art market, it started to rain. The sewer system in Burkina Faso isn't quite as functional as in the US, so we watched as vendors scurried to pack up their items before the rain swept it away. Being that the ground is clay and not dirt, the rain soon become a river flooding the streets. Not one local flinched for a second, but us travelers couldn't even imagine how they function everyday in the rainy season (May-September) with flash floods. They even laughed watching us take pictures of what was happening.

Through the rain we made our way to a restaurant for lunch. The waitress came up to us and explained that they didn't have menus but we could order rice, chicken, fish, or french fries. We ordered the chicken. After waiting what seemed a long time, as asked the waitress where our food was and she explained that they ran out of chicken so someone had to go buy chicken for them to cook. That action to me, was very impressive. I would never imagine someone buying a chicken for the sake of keeping a customer. Although we ended up waiting for about two hours, the thought of helping a local business keep its doors open kept us all patient.

Later tonight we went to a local music restaurant a block from our hotel. The musicians had to cancel their show because of the ran, but as soon as we walked in they stood up and welcomed us with open-hearts. They immediately started playing traditional African music for us and it wasn't long until we were all up and dancing to the beat.

We have only been here for two days, but Africa already has all of us wanting to see and learn more. Tomorrow is another adventure and we can't wait to share our experiences with you all!

Thank you for reading and caring!

Burkina Faso Travelers

We Made it! 

Hello and Bonjour everyone! Today we finally arrived (safely) in Burkina Faso! We haven't gotten to see much of the city of Ouagadougou yet, but what we have seen has been incredible. Flying into Africa we saw the vast Sahara Desert, traditional clay huts, and rivers that were colored brown. Everything is new and exciting and almost too much to take in all at once. Being in a place that has so much culture and tradition is overwhelming in all the best ways, and I know we all are thankful to be able to experience this journey.

As of today, we have made a few minor changes with the delivery of the supplies and the ambulance. The port took longer than expected to process the paper work, but after many confusing hours, the ambulance is en route to Ouagadougou and the supplies will be following it shortly! So everything will make its journey to the city, medical centers, and orphanages…just a few days later. This is a huge relief because one of the obstacles we worried most about when we shipped the supplies and ambulance was delivering it safely from Ghana to Burkina Faso.

Our time zone has now changed three times in the last three days, but we have settled with a time difference of 5 hours ahead of Wisconsin. Also, since leaving Chicago we have flown about 17 hours (Chicago to Paris, Paris to Burkina Faso). That being said, I'll have to wish you all well and goodnight.

 Please continue to support and follow our mission as we make our journey through West Africa!

Lots of Love! 

Burkina Faso Travelers

All our bags are packed and we're ready to go… 

Today is the day we finally depart for our journey across the world! We will head out of O'hare International Airport today for Paris! After two days in Paris, we will depart for Ouagadougou Bukina Faso where we will meet Hassimi and the ambulance! This day has been on everyone's minds for the past few months and we are just so excited it has finally arrived. 

I know many people have been concerned about the Ebola outbreak happening in Western Africa, but as of today it continues to not be a threat in the places we will be traveling to. That being said, we are educated and aware of the virus and will proceed cautiously into Africa! 

Please wish us safe travels and a beautiful trip! I will try to update the blog as much as I can each day, but WIFI will be very limited. 

As always, endless thank yous to the people who have supported and rooted for us throughout this journey. 

WE DID IT! 

We have finally shipped the ambulance AND all of the supplies! It has been an adventure and struggle to get to this point, and on behalf of everyone traveling we'd like to say THANK YOU to everyone who has contributed to our cause. 

The total box count was 120. 120 boxes is over double our original goal of fifty boxes. None of that could have been possible without the countless donations and generosity from friends, family, and community members. 

Whether it was emotional or financial support, without the help of many many people we could not make this dream a reality. Now we just have to make sure everything makes it into Ghana safely! 

One really cool perk that comes with the company shipping the ambulance is that we can actually track it from day to day to see where it is! You can too if you click on the link below! 

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/details/ships/9126297/vessel:HONOR

Have a great day, and one more THANK YOU !! 

The Fundraisers Continue!

BIG NEWS!

June 11th from 5-8 pm we are hosting a fundraiser at the Culvers in Whitewater. All you have to do to support us is simply show up and order some food! Great food, great company, and we will even be doing pictures with the ambulance! Please tell all your friends and come on down! Everyday we are getting closer and closer to our mission and we are continuously thinking, planning, and executing as much as we can to make sure that ambulance is ready by the shipping date! 

Another BIG sorting day!

As we continually strive forward, Sunday June 1st was another HUGE sorting day for the group. We managed to finish sorting the boxes of medical supplies, soaps, and educational supplies. The total of boxes comes to around 100! This is an amazing number considering we started with 50 boxes. 

Everyday we get closer and closer to changing the lives of many in Burkina Faso. Please know that we are continuously grateful for our all of our supporters. This trip would not be made possible without the help of many many people. 

Always Moving Forward

Inventory Day

Only three short hours after we returned home from the SWIS Optimist District Conference we busily started to sort through hundreds of medical supplies, school supplies, gardening tools, AV equipment, and general hygiene products. So far, we have sorted and taken inventory of 59 bins, and have about 15 more to go! Seeing this incredible progress is proof of how many people care and support the service-learning project for Burkina Faso--and for that we thank you.  

An extended thank you to our friends who came out today to help us with the sorting process. Thank you Stephen, Dawn, and Ann.

Also, we encourage you to check out some of the images and smiling faces of our supporters and participants in the photos section of this BLOG.  Thank you!

Hassimi, Kayla, and Mika sorting soaps and shampoos.

The supplies in holding!

Stephen sorting AV equipment.

Angie, Ann, and Dawn sorting medical supplies.

SWIS Optimist District Meeting

We are so very grateful to have been given the opportunity to present today at the SWIS Optimist District Meeting at the Abbey in Fontana. Thanks to our fellow Optimist supporters, we were able to raise $610.50 today!  This is an amazing amount that exceeded our expectations, and we are looking forward to continuing on our fundraising path until we reach our goal of $6,000 in the next couple of months.

Endless thank you's to everyone who has supported our efforts with our service learning trip to Burkina Faso.

Here are a few pictures from the conference today:

                                   (From left to right) Angie,
                                   Mary, Kayla, Mika,
                                   Dawn and Hassimi:

                                   

                                                   (From left to right) Kim, Mika, Mary, Kayla, and Hassimi

A note to our supporters

As we continue preparing for Trivia Night we wanted to share a very important update with all our generous supporters.  In the best interest for those we will be serving in Burkina Faso, we have decided to postpone the trip until August 2014.  All of the money raised will be donated to the people of Burkina Faso during our visit this August.  The trip has been a very ambitious undertaking - not only with fundraising but also with the variety and magnitude of service projects we have planed.  We are very excited to continue to plan these projects and fundraisers over the course of the next year.  We look forward to sharing our journey with you and working together to provide the best possible service to those in need.

We look forward to seeing many of you at Trivia Night.  Questions, concerns, or fundraising ideas can be shared with Kim Adams at adamsk@uww.edu.

Thank you all again for your generous support and optimism as we continue to plan this trip. 

Trivia Night!

As part of our fundraising efforts, the UW - W Student Optimist Club is hosting a Trivia Night fundraiser. This Old Main Ballroom, at the James R. Connor University Center at UW-Whitewater. The evening will consist of ten rounds of trivia, ten questions each, on a wide-range of topics. In each round, the questions will be read aloud, after which teams will be given five minutes to work together to figure out the answers. At the end of each round, answer sheets will be collected and tabulated. The top three teams with the most answers correct at the end of the night will receive a cash prize. Also at the event will be a silent auction, with a wide range of items donated by local businesses and dedicated community members.

Trivia Night will be held on Saturday, October 26 at 7:00pm in the Old Main Ballroom in the James R. Connor University Center at UW-Whitewater.

The cost to attend is $80 per team, with an eight person per team maximum. 

Download your team registration form today.

Download a copy of the flier. 

Join us for an evening of challenging trivia, hundreds of laughs, and a great time. Hope to see you there!

Thank you to our Silent Auction Donors

We would like to say thank you to the following donors who contributed to our silent auction during the jazz concert last weekend.  We truly appreciate your support!  Through your generous donations we were able to raise $600!

• Gooseberries
• Noodles and Company
• UW-Whitewater Athletics
• Angie Alesci and Kim Adams
• Mary Sue and Time Reutebuch
• River Vallery kitchens
• Famous Dave's
• The Journey Tribute
• Flora Villa
• Staller Vineyard Winery
• Grand Geneva
• Winchester True Value
• Black Sheep
• Basics
• CynDee Sentieri
• Mark McPhail

Thank you again to all who attended the event and all how contributed to making it a success.  As a reminder, Trivia Night will be on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 7:00pm in the Old Main Ballroom at the James R. Connor University Center.  The entry fee is $80 and teams consist of up to 8 participants.  Contact optimist@uww.edu with any questions.  Stay tuned for more information!

Concert and Silent Auction

We have a very exciting announcement!

On September 21, 2013 at 7:00 PM Dean Mark McPhail, along with the College of Arts and Commuication, is hosting a FREE to the public concert at the Light Recital Hall in the Center of the Arts on the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus.

There are two very talented guitarists scheduled to entertain this evening.  The opening artist is Nima Salami and the featured artist is John Moulder. 100% of the money raised at this event will benefit our efforts in Burkina Faso.  There will be a silent auction with items such as an overnight stay at the Grand Geneva in Lake Geneva, a private wine tasting for eight at the Staller Winery, dinner for two at the Black Sheep restaurant in Whitewater, as well as many other gift certificates and products.  There will be other opportunities this evening to support our efforts, too.

We hope that you're able to join us in this exciting concert and silent auction!

Traveler Spotlight

Mark McPhail - Dean College of Arts & Communication, will be traveling with the group for the first week of our journey.

Mark is assisting the group in many ways and we're very thankful for his support.  One of the opportunities we have to collaborate will be a silent auction before and during a concert on the UW-Whitewater campus.  Items that will be up for auction include donations from Whitewater community businesses and Dean McPhail's artwork.  Stay tuned for more information regarding this exciting event.

A visit from the Broadhead Optimist Club

This past week we had the exciting opportunity to meet up with the Broadhead Optimist Club.  We are extremely grateful that they arranged for a local hardware store to donate some garden supplies! They also delivered bags of seeds for the community garden, and soaps and shampoos for us to donate to communities in Burkina Faso.

We have been told by teachers in the communities that we're visiting that the children are creating lists for us in their classes!  Students in Dedougou are creating lists of seeds and other items needed to build the community garden as one of their assignments.  The gardening tools donated by the Broadhead Club will help create sustainable food so these children have enough to eat while they're attending school.

We are so grateful for the support from surrounding Optimist Clubs.  This is a tremendous undertaking and we could not do it without the help and support of our families, community members, and surrounding Optimist Clubs.

If you'd like to make a donation, please contact Kim Adams at adamsk@uww.edu.

August Shirt

We can't believe how quickly August has gone!  January will be here in no time!  We are very excited to meet with another optimist club tomorrow to get some gardening supplies and take photos with the ambulance.  We are so grateful for the help and support of all of you! We only have a few weeks until we retire this amazing shirt, designed by one of our travelers!  Get one before they're gone!

Exciting meetings with artist Eric Lee

Our group has been very fortunate to work with artist Eric Lee.  Eric has a very unique approach to his artwork.  His artist statement says, "My approach to painting reflects my philosophy about aesthetics in general... that the key to what "works"... and by the same token doesn't work for me, lies in the transitions. The effective juxtaposition of what may seem to be conflicting or incompatible colors, may lie in the way they blend... how one handles the segue."

Eric has graciously donated gorgeous artwork in order to help us raise money for the trip. Last week some of the travelers were able to visit his studio and see some of the amazing artwork Eric creates.

We were also excited to host Eric in Wisconsin to further discuss the trip.  Eric's artwork will be auctioned very soon!  Please check back for updates!

Sending an Ambulance to a Country in Need

Hassimi Traore has purchased an ambulance for his home town of Dedougou, Burkina Faso.  In order to deliver that ambulance this January, we are setting out to raise an additional $5,000.  This price includes the stocking and shipping of the ambulance.  Help us help Hassimi deliver this ambulance!






To make a donation, please send a check made out to the Optimist International Foundation to Kim Adams (Trip Coordinator).

Kim Adams
UC 250
800 W. Main St.
Whitewater, WI 53190.

All donations are tax deductible.  Feel free to contact Kim with any questions or for more information.