So I've been slack in keeping up with my blog so far. But today starts the day I do better with it.
Heres some background info:
Mahadaga is a small town in southeastern Burkina Faso. Its not on google maps.... I mean Santa Rosa, Ecuador is even on google maps... But its about and hour - hour and half drive (depending on the size of the puddles in the road) south of Diapaga and that is on the map. In total, its is about an 8-9 hr drive from Ouaga. Mahadaga is where I will spend most of my time in Burkina; the SIM station here is where many Messiah teams have come over the past 10-15 years to install solar panels, implement battery powered handicapped trikes, teach math, and many other things.
Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso. Most people call it Ouaga. I flew into here and spent my first two weeks at SIM Burkina's main station in Ouaga.
The Johnsons - Dale, Florence, Caleb (4 years old) and Joel (2 years old) live here at the station in Mahadaga. Dale and Flo graduated from Messiah about 10 yrs ago and have been here for 3 yrs (short of a 6 mo furlough last spring). Dale is one of the engineers I will be working for/with.
The Walshes - Matt, Julie, Mia, Thomas, Tessa, and Stephanie also live here on the station in Mahadaga. Also graduates of Messiah. I will be working more closely with Matt once he and the family return in a couple weeks from a much-deserved vacation in Ghana. Matt is the ideas/development engineer, and Dale is the administrative engineer.. but those titles don't fit cause they regularly overlap and help each other out to keep things running.
The Handicap Center - Most of the work here at the SIM station in Mahadaga is centered around the center for the handicapped. Consultations are given (onsite and home calls), prosthetics/braces and handicap trikes are made, crafts and other skills are taught, a school for the blind and a school for the deaf are lead, along with many other things.Francoise is a lovely French lady who has been working here with the handicap center for a long time. She along with many Burkinabe and other expatriates come and gone have put much work into the handicapped center.
Liz Barr - At some point during his first 3 years here, Dale was handed the role of Director of the handicapped center. Not exactly what he was expecting; but a role that needed to be filled. He soon learned what a mess the administrative/accounting system of the center was. Not only could he not keep up on his own, it needed some major overhaul. That is when they /summoned Liz. A friend of the Johnsons from home, Liz graduated as a business major from Messiah a few years ago. She is here for a year to help overhaul the administrative/accounting process.
Blogs - Liz and the Johnsons both have blogs. I don't mean this as a cop out, but if you feel the need for an update and I don't have one, they may have more info =). Or they may include juicy details I forget to throw in... for example, I emailed my parents a short description of our drive and they replied - so we read Liz's blog... you didn't mention you hit a bicyclist?!?!?!?
The Johnsons' - johnson.ergatai.com
Liz's - themahadagaroad.wordpress.com (yes I kinda stole my blog name from her)
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