Hey everyone! Just for opening. I too was devastated by the Hawks' lose. But we'll be back. In other news I'm getting my first chance to update my blog and I saw there was a huge spike in hits on my page about a day after the terrorist attacks in Ouagadougou and I'm assuming there is a connection there, even though my old man always told me never assume, because it makes you an ass.
Well I would like to assure everyone that I am perfectly safe, news of the attacks reached my that same night while I was safely a long way away in my village and since the attacks the Bureau of Peace Corps staff members have been working very closely with the US Embassy and Burkina Government to ensure both our and all westerners' safety whilst here in Burkina Faso. For a bit of the history leading up to these attacks feel free to shoot me an email (rkennedy12345@gmail.com) where I have a more in depth write up on the lead up and activities in the region surrounding these attacks, but for those readers who are swinging by simply to confirm my continued existence I shall leave out the majority of those nitty gritty details from this post. But in general the attacks did come as a shock to me and many of my fellow colleagues in the country. Up until now we had weathered violent public protests that ousted a President/Dictator of 27 years as well as an attempted military coup the subsequent year and never did we really fear for our safety. These events were unfortunate and I would never wish them on any country, but the Burkinabe attitude towards westerners, especially Americans, has never been anything but welcoming. Even after the uprising and the coup moving around the city never felt any different despite the charred remnants of buildings and cars because we all knew that during all of these events Westerners had never been targeted, we had never been implicated, and the population dealt with the issues internally. About a month before the attacks our Bureau enacted a travel restriction on Ouaga, nothing terribly strict, but the city was now open only for work related trips and we had to get permission directly from the Country Director. In addition to this we were advised to avoid locations where Westerners often frequented and avoid going out in groups larger than five people. All while respecting the city-wide curfew of 1AM-5AM. We thought this a strange policy because as I mentioned, we had never been targeted. At least not in that sense. Sure we were more likely to get robbed than a host country national, but there are methods to reduce that likelihood with which we were all well practiced. So why now? Well that answer was soon to become clear.
About a month later on the evening of the 15th a group of men attacked the Hotel Splendid, a hotel popular among UN staff workers and Western Aid workers. During the attacks 29 people died including 3 attackers and I'm sure you have read the rest through BBC or some other news outlet. The attacks were claimed by Al Queda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM) which sheds light on the source of the attacks. Mali has struggled with terrorist attacks and security issues and this attack appears to have been carried out by this group coming from Mali across the Burkina-Mali boarder in the north. The northern part of Burkina has long since been deemed a "no-travel zone" by the Embassy and is a situation that they continue to monitor closely. In addition to this the Peace Corps has always added a larger buffer region to this no-travel zone preferring to take a more conservative approach. With the information gathered that I am allowed to know this attack appears to be an isolated incident and the Burkinabe government has done an excellent job in raising security around the country. The Peace Corps continues to operate as close to as normal as possible whilst working with much higher restrictions on travel to Ouaga and a continued monitoring of the situation. I am just returning from a formation conducted in the south of Burkina on the transformation of soy into its various products with two women from my village and I was very happy when I heard the news that this training would be continuing as planned. During this trip I also got a glimpse of what life in Burkina is going to be like for the foreseeable future. During the ride down our vehicles were stopped around 14 times at various checkpoints by either national police or military and often times I was the only member of the vehicle asked to present ID, a result no doubt due to the targeting of Westerners in this attack as well as the description of the attackers as appearing "White or arab". On my way back to site before stopping at our Bureau to get some essential work done my Taxi was forced to drive along the road behind the hotel where the attacks occurred and while it wasn't the first burnt out building that I have seen here it felt a lot different. I have always been a bit of a spectacle around this country due to my white skin, but now it feels a little different when I am in Ouaga. People look at you a little differently. Looking at the building knowing that these attacks were formulated specifically against people who looked like me felt weird. Uncomfortable. But then the moment was gone. We drove on. I went to my Bureau. Stayed indoors and finished my work. And now I am about to go get onto a bush taxi that will take me to what often feels like a different world and just as often feels like home.
I write all this not to worry those at home. You shouldn't be worried. Unless you are worried about the horrifying paucity of burritos in my life. I write this because yes, life is different now. After events like this it would be pretty hard for life not to change its shape. But I am still safe. I am still working very hard. And I am still planning to finish out my service in Burkina Faso if that is something that I will be permitted to do. The Peace Corps does a great job of keeping us safe so go out and enjoy all that amazing snow that I keep hearing about and enjoy the kick off to what should shape up to be a pretty amazing year.
With my limited access to Ouaga I will do my best to continue to post semi-regular updates on my blog (not that I have ever managed to do that) as well as keep you up to date on the progress on my various projects with which I pass my time at site.
