Leaving Burkina

The festival ended last night, and early this morning I left...the city disappeared quickly into the red dust, which still covers my clothes and hair and nails and is lodged in my nose and throat. For the last four or five days I have had problems with my voice, which is a challenge given that I need to talk a lot. The workshop ended well with a presentation which I think was very successful--the participants certainly seemed proud and they have told me that they learned a lot. The friendships that I've made during this festival have affected me profoundly--when you spend so much time with people and have a passion in common it facilitates things. During the after party last night one of the workshop participants was asking me if there are regional community theater troupes in the US that travel around performing shows about social issues. I said, well, there are a few but not too many. Why is that? Being around hundreds of people who believe, as I do, that theater is a critical key to affecting personal and social change, I can't quite figure out why it's still on the margins in the US.

I'm now at the Accra airport trying to kill many many hours before my flight to Johannesberg...I'm too tired to try to figure how to store my luggage and go into Accra--it's big and polluted. So we'll see how many activities I can come up with in a 10 hour time span, yes, 10 hours. Thankfully I have nothing to do tomorrow but to start planning my workshops for Themba and sit by the pool. I feel like I'm back on the roller coaster--after arriving in Ouaga and feeling so lost, and then feeling so found, now I'm lost again and Joberg is a whole different story. But I am excited about my work there and hopeful that this part of the trip will yield as much discovery as the last.

Taking Tea

I have now learned the More word for white person and when I walk down the street its Nasara, Nasara...the little kids yell it out...some of them come up and take my hand...this weekend I stayed up late one night discussing politics and the reasons why I dont yet have a number of children with some friends...I am asked do you have children and when I reply no the next question is always but why?? I also attempted to explain the concept of Ms. to someone and the response was tu est vraiment une femme trop moderne...I visited the center of Ouaga on Sunday, going very slowly because it was probably 95 degrees, bought some beautiful fabric...the fabrics here are stunning...everywhere I see women in colorful prints with babies strapped to their backs. The fabric is also topical...the newest prints celebrate international womens day. Speaking of, I have seen some interesting plays about womens rights including one that featured chickens and ducks doing African dance, and the little Forum Theatre scene that we have created in the workshop, which is about a father that promises his 14 year old daughter to a rich businessman to whom he owes money for sacks of corn. There has been a lot of dispute about how much the father owes...the participants want to show how poor the father is so we arrived at about $20. I showed the participants how I joke a forum play, I know that this makes no sense to non theatre people but it involves very quick thinking and improvisation and I was terrified to do it in French but I think it worked...I hope that people are learning, I think they have gotten a lot from it. I certainly have. I saw another play produced by an organization in Togo who works with street children...the piece they created was an exceptional work of storytelling and physical theater. That, in my opinion, is truly theatre for development.

A couple of days ago I went to the artist's housing to have tea with two guys from a Nigerien--not to be confused with Nigerian--theatre company...it's a long process that includes swinging a basket/stove with wood charcoal around and pouring it again and again from great heights...the tea itself is strong and bitter, but I liked it which is apparently unusual for a blanche. As we drank the group grew to the point that some guys from Cote D'Ivoire pulled out their drums and a cultural exhange of song and dance commenced. I am learning to distinguish different styles of dance, all of which are absolutely amazing to watch. I tried a little bit and like a typical whitey I don't move my back very much, nor could I offer an engaging American song and dance.

The workshop finished yesterday and we did our presentation this evening. I think it went really well, and the participants felt good about it. We showed our scene and did some interventions, I was the joker along with Alfonse from Chad, who is a really smart guy and is catching on very quickly. Tomorrow the festival ends and Friday morning I head to Ghan

A few pictures...

Atelier Theatre Burkinabe and their forum theatre piece, including song and dance about the rules and form of Forum...

...and the local kids like it as well...

Also a photo of a play from Chad depicting the partition of Africa in 1945 by Europe using puppets and dividing up the continent as pieces of foam core...was a very effective way of doing it I thought. Several of the people in this company are in my workshop...more pics to come when I figure out the technology...

First three Days

There are many things that I love about the African people i have met so far. The first is that they sing a lot...there's always reason for a song, and the song is always participatory. Every morning we take a bus to the stadium where the workshops are held and there are drums being played, rhythms being created. This afternoon returning to the Atelier Theatre Burkinabe the song was about how we were all hungry but waiting for the last stragglers to get on the bus. Then it was about the group of people from Chad who were late. Then it was about the possible lunch menus. We kicked off the workshops on Tuesday with a huge circle in the parking lot, once again singing. The other thing is that people greet you everywhere, regardless if they know you or not. The Burkinabe handshake consists of at least five gestures. I was sitting alone late last night trying to finish dinner (which is primarily a grain like rice or couscous, sauce, cooked vegetables, and either a fish head or shish kebabs--not much to write home about but I have not gotten sick--that's a plus) and two men walked by me and said Bon Apetit. You just don't walk by someone without a smile or greeting. I see lack of development and poverty, but I do not see sadness or despair. What I do see is pride--pride of nationality, pride of tribe, sense of self and community. I know that life is much more difficult in the villages, and it would be good for me to see that, but here in Ouaga this is what I observe.

My workshop co-facilitator is Jean-Guillaume, the director's brother, one of many. The workshop participants come from Niger, Chad, Burkina, Cote D'Ivoire, the US and Canada. Many things have surprised me--the fact that I have been able to lead the workshop in French first, now I know I have a language that I will never loose...I wouldnt be here without it so I am grateful. The other thing is that theater has the power to bring us together in a profound way. I feel like crying after each workshop, I am so moved. We create scenes together, we discuss social issues, and this sounds silly but it's incredible to realize that we fight the same fights across social class, culture and nationality. Me from the richest nation on earth trying to explain why there are poor people in the US--the response is, ça n'a aucune sense. Several days ago I saw a Forum Theatre piece about GMOs--the decision to plant GMO crops or not divides a family, audience members intervene, a farmer from rural Burkina explains to the audience why its critical to not poison the earth with these crops and become a slave to Multinational corporations. They know better--I wish more people in the US understood that...the Forum Theater pieces are presented free for the public, and the public comes...crowds of children, women with baskets of fruit on their heads, hundreds every night. ATB itself is a complex with two theater spaces, an open air restaurant and bar, and we all eat, drink, watch plays, and hang out there.

I have left my crappy hotel for a simpler, cheaper place, but people I know are there and it's clean...I still woke up in the middle of the night however because now Im next to a mosque and according to them the sunrise call to prayer is at 4:30 am.

Guillaume has been very helpful and has showed me so much--I met his 76 year old mother who only speaks Moré, sitting on the porch with her friend, I met his friend who have an open air art gallery and his friend who makes carvings and recycled sculpture. He told me about Tomas Sankara, the Burkinabe Che Guevara, we discussed how all true revolutionaries eventually get killed. Guillaume also helped expedite the process of getting my visa, which would have taken a lot more time if I hadnt bribed the immigration officers. I witnessed a French girl try to pick hers up--the officer told her to come back Sunday, and she protested that she was leaving Saturday--the officer repeated, you come back Sunday and the girl started to cry and then her mother jumped in and started yelling...at a cafe afterwards Guillaume and I talked about this situation--how it doesn't really work to piss off immigration officers, especially if you are not in your own country and especially if it is a former French colony and you are faced with an African who now holds the power in this situation.

Enfin, bon. I cant post pictures yet because I can't find an internet cafe (here they call them a Cyber) with a computer with a USB port but I will do my best in the coming days. More to come...

Theater in Ouaga

Ghana is humid and steaming hot, in Burkina there is dust. Lots of it, so much that as we landed I couldn't see the ground. Hills of sand, scrubby bushes, clusters of brick houses...the streets are mostly fine red dust that goes everywhere and the wind blows all the time. The thing is, I've never seen anything quite like it...scooters and bicycles, donkeys, and lots of people. And the people are probably the nicest I've ever met travelling.

The Festival of Theater in Development is a huge affair...groups from all over West Africa, some from France, I've already met people from Chad, Niger, and many from Burkina. The workshop that I'm teaching is probably the most rewarding I've ever taught. More specifics later...

How I got to Ouagadougou

...so my plans to travel from Ghana changed completely. I got to the airport and my flight had already left. So I changed my plans because that is what one does. I satyed in Accra for two nights instead of one and stayed at Coco Beach, which was stunning...I got there early in the morning and the beach was filled with boys kicking soccer balls, women carrying food on their heads, people jogging, and huge wooden fishing boats. I took a walk on the beach and met a Ghanaian man, Bernard, who taught me how to play owere, which is like a game I had as a child...he let me win. I forgot how easily one meets people when in a different environment. That night Bernard and his friend and I went out in Osu, which is the happening part of Accra, and talked about politics, music, just about everything...on the ride back to the airport the next morning I saw extreme contrasts, people living in makeshift houses, goats and chickens in the street, and then huge mansions closer to town. I crossed paths with Bush at the airport, there were mixed reactions to him coming...Tuesday I bought a ticket directly to Ouagadougou, no problems, paid in cash.

Passing Through Continents

Everything is very neat and clean at Schipol Airport--it's even quiet, those innovative Dutch have probably have engineered some way to ensure that the buildings feel calm. I have an appreciation for that sense of order, which I'm sure I won't encounter as much when I reach Africa...it's strange to pass through Europe, only see it from the windows, in a few hours it'll be behind me as well. That's when I cross out of what I know.

More Information about Burkina...

Check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkina_Faso

Where in the world is Burkina Faso?

I have to admit that I didn't know either until I started researching theater companies in Africa...for years I have been going onto the International Theatre of the Oppressed "Yellow Pages", (www.theatreoftheoppressed.org/en/index.php?nodeID=2) which is a listing of groups all over the world who use interactive theater techniques to address social issues. I believe to my core that theater is elemental, that it holds the power for us to realize our potential as human beings. And I've wanted to experience firsthand people in communities and cultures different from my own who hold the same beliefs. So now is my time to do that in a continent I've never had the opportunity to travel to.

On Saturday I'm leaving San Francisco to travel to Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, for the International Festival for Theater in Development, hosted by Atelier Theatre Burkinabe. More on this to follow in a few days...