2010.07.04: Peace Corps Volunteer "7736 Kilometers" writes: We were locked down in a secure place in Ouahigouya for the night… without any of our things
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
Burkina Faso:
Peace Corps Burkina Faso :
Peace Corps Burkina Faso: Newest Stories:
2010.07.07: Peace Corps Volunteers evacuated from north Burkina Faso after terror warning :
2010.07.04: Peace Corps Volunteer "7736 Kilometers" writes: We were locked down in a secure place in Ouahigouya for the night… without any of our things
Peace Corps Volunteer "7736 Kilometers" writes: We were locked down in a secure place in Ouahigouya for the night… without any of our things
We left straight from training so the most useful (… or useless) thing I had with me was my French Dictionary and a bottle of sunscreen. Damn. So for the next four days I (nor none of the other stagiares) had deodorant, soap, or a toothbrush. It was a long … and smelly 3 hour bus ride to the capital. The Peace Corps drivers were supposed to go around to all of our houses to collect our belongings. I hoped all my things would make it to me, but was prepared for nothing to make it. I'm happy to announce that all my things made it! I am now living safely and comfortably in a hotel in Ouagadougou for an unknown amount of time. They say that we will continue our training here this week, which looks hopeful for the stagiares. The Peace Corps/Burkina Faso staff and Country Director are highly qualified and competant. They are devoted to our safety and I feel secure in placing my security in their hands. This threat only affects a small region of Burkina Faso, which, obviously, is off limits to all Peace Corps volunteers. I'm hoping this will only be a small bump in the road, and we will be able to continue training as scheduled.
Peace Corps Volunteer "7736 Kilometers" writes: We were locked down in a secure place in Ouahigouya for the night… without any of our things
Sunday, July 4, 2010
An All Too Familiar Situation…
Training in Ouahigouya was going along pretty well. We were in the process of peer teaching and learning French. I was supposed to begin my local language training, Jula, this week. Then… I found myself in an all too familiar situation.
We (all the stagiares) were called to a community meeting, which normally would not be alarming, but in this case, they started off taking roll… of all 100 people. Then, the Safety & Security Officer of Peace Corps/Burkina Faso walked in and said he had an important announcement. I knew nothing good was coming. They announced that a warden message from the state department was issued for Burkina. You can read the message below:
U.S. Embassy Ouagadougou issued the following Warden Message on June 7:
The U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou is issuing this Warden Message to update U.S. citizens resident in Burkina Faso on the security situation in northern Burkina Faso. This is a further update to the information relayed on June 5, 2010.
The U.S. Embassy has information that Al Qa'ida in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) plans to kidnap an unspecified group of U.S. citizens working on a humanitarian project in a village located in northeastern Burkina Faso near the Mali-Niger-Burkina Faso borders. In addition, the U.S. Embassy has declared the area north of the road stretching from Djibo to Dori off limits to official government travelers unless prior authorization for such travel is expressly given. U.S. citizens are strongly urged to avoid travel to this region.
They continued on to say that we would be evacuated from Ouahigouya to the capital, Ouagadougou immediately. EVACUATED?!?!?!? Again?? Yes! I know! This is a little too much for me (and Ali & Zach, the other Guinea evacuee's who are with me here) to handle. We all started crying. This says a lot considering that all three of us went through this once before and never cried. It sucks.
We were locked down in a secure place in Ouahigouya for the night… without any of our things. We left straight from training so the most useful (… or useless) thing I had with me was my French Dictionary and a bottle of sunscreen. Damn. So for the next four days I (nor none of the other stagiares) had deodorant, soap, or a toothbrush. It was a long … and smelly 3 hour bus ride to the capital. The Peace Corps drivers were supposed to go around to all of our houses to collect our belongings. I hoped all my things would make it to me, but was prepared for nothing to make it. I'm happy to announce that all my things made it!
I am now living safely and comfortably in a hotel in Ouagadougou for an unknown amount of time. They say that we will continue our training here this week, which looks hopeful for the stagiares. The Peace Corps/Burkina Faso staff and Country Director are highly qualified and competant. They are devoted to our safety and I feel secure in placing my security in their hands. This threat only affects a small region of Burkina Faso, which, obviously, is off limits to all Peace Corps volunteers. I'm hoping this will only be a small bump in the road, and we will be able to continue training as scheduled.
On a brighter note… the staff is throwing us a 4th of July party tomorrow! There will be swimming, hamburgers and cake… a real American holiday hahah. I am looking forward to this!
In other news, this whole situation, obviously, reminded me of Guinea. So, I would like to announce that they, peacefully, held their primary presidential elections yesterday. There were 2 front runners chosen and the main elections are scheduled for a month from now. Hopefully these continue without any problems… inshallah.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: July, 2010; Peace Corps Burkina Faso; Directory of Burkina Faso RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Burkina Faso RPCVs; Blogs - Burkina Faso; Safety and Security of Volunteers; Evacuation
When this story was posted in July 2010, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Memo to Incoming Director Williams PCOL has asked five prominent RPCVs and Staff to write a memo on the most important issues facing the Peace Corps today. Issues raised include the independence of the Peace Corps, political appointments at the agency, revitalizing the five-year rule, lowering the ET rate, empowering volunteers, removing financial barriers to service, increasing the agency's budget, reducing costs, and making the Peace Corps bureaucracy more efficient and responsive. Latest: Greetings from Director Williams |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: Personal Web Site
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Burkina Faso; Blogs - Burkina Faso; Safety; Evacuation
PCOL45747
34