Ouaga- Day 2 (HFM Installation)

    Today, our second day in Ouaga, started with breakfast and team devotions. We discussed the spiritual disciplines of prayer, meditation, and fasting, which we’ll be practicing in the rest of our devotional times. We then set about doing different projects around the guest house.

    My project is a water filtration system, and our goal was to install one in the guest house to replace the existing system. We installed a Hollow Fiber Membrane filter, which is  a 0.1 micron filter that can be used indefinitely when washed periodically. We brought all the parts of the system with us from Messiah College.  I was glad to see the whole thing assembled, as it was my responsibility to order all the parts, make sure they fit together, and make sure they made it here. We got it mounted to the wall without too much difficulty, after running to the corner hardware store to get some supplies.  After testing the system, it still needs some adjustments, which Matt Walsh offered to work on tomorrow while the teams spends some time with the locals.

    We also got to eat dinner with John Tandamba, a local pastor who invited us to his house for a meal of chicken (feet included), rice, plantains, and watermelon. 

Adventures in Ouaga

After a delicious breakfast of omelettes and a church service at a local missionary church, we ate a lunch of rice and sauce at an area restaurant. We relaxed for the rest of the day in order to catch up on lost sleep from the journey here. For dinner, we broke up into groups of 2 or 3 and were given 40,000 CFA (approximately $80) a direction and a map and told to buy a small list of groceries. Most stores here have enough change to break the 10000 CFA notes, but many in Mahadagha will not. So one of the rules was to come back with all bills smaller than 5000 CFA, which would necessitate going to a different store for each item. Since no one on our team knew french, this proved to be quite the experience. 

My group consisted of Lindsey, Matt, and myself (Zach). We walked for a while and found a more upscale restaurant, then sat down to eat. The menu was mostly in French, so it was anyone's guess as to what we would end up with. I ordered something with a long name starting with steak, which just turned out to be steak with butter on top, and I think some sort of garlic flavor. Lindsey ended up ordering veal cordon bleu, and Matt, who more or less knew what he was getting, got Au Gratin potatoes with fish in it. We ordered a side of fries and green beans as well. 

After our meal, we headed to the stores for our groceries. We ended up buying the following:

-1000 CFA phone card ($2)

-4 Bananas (350 CFA) ($0.70)

-A bag of popcorn kernels (900 CFA) ($1.80)

-3 Ice Cream Bars (350 CFA) ($0.70)

-Jar of Jam (2200 CFA) ($4.40)

The smaller stores, which we tried to go to, were mostly a counter with things on the shelf behind them, were the most difficult, as we would walk in say what we wanted (most likely grossly mispronounced), and then listen to this stream of rapid French and not have a clue what they said. After much pointing and gesturing, we would manage to get a hold of the item we wanted and then pay for it. There were mixed reactions when presented with the larger bills. One store didn't have the change or didn't want to give out the change. Another lady selling the bananas was shocked to see the 5000 CFA note and had to dig around to find adequate change. I'm pretty sure we didn't get back the right amount but that's okay. 

All in all, it was a rather exciting experience to see the differences in something as simple as buying groceries. There is no "Giant," no one stop shop. Getting all of the necessities for even a simple meal could require multiple stops. The people were quite helpful, and generally pleasant. 

Tomorrow we will be installing an HFM filter at the SIM center and exploring Ouaga a little bit more. Stay tuned for more updates!

-Zach

Introduction to Bridging Therapy

My name is Cortney Steele and I am a Pre-Physical Therapy student at Messiah. The project I am involved in with the Collaboratory is called Bridging Therapy. This project was created by Jo Dickson and Dena Steiner and aims to evaluate and study the effectiveness of the physical therapy rehabilitation program of the Center for the Advancement of the Handicapped in Mahadaga, Burkina Faso. Since many people with disabilities in sub-Saharan West African communities are often neglected, abused, and left to fend for themselves physical therapy and other common treatments are neither available to them, nor known about by friends and relatives. One of the project’s goals is to educate and reach out to the community. Over the last few months we have developed a techniques manual. The manual and other resources were assembled in hopes to enable the expansion of current rural PT programs or the commencement of a rehabilitation program to a health clinic. During my time in Mahadaga I hope to receive feedback on the manual and other resources. Also, I plan to look into what further resources our project could provide for the physical therapists of Mahadaga such as test score sheets, goal sheets, and other necessary structural resources. I’m very excited to travel to Mahdaga to learn and serve the people in the community.

-Cortney

We've Made It!

Hello from Ouagadougou!

We arrived with all of our team members and all of our luggage safe and sound in Burkina this evening. We are so grateful that all of our prayers regarding this first leg of travel have been answered. We had no issues getting through customs with all of our supplies and luggage! After a wonderful home cooked meal here at the guest house we're getting settled in and are all ready for a good nights sleep on a real bed!

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support! We appreciate it much more than we could ever express.

Good night!
Kate (and the rest of the team)

Packing

We arrived back on campus on January second. We spent most of the next day packing and finishing up some last-minute preparations. Today we are leaving campus around noon and driving to Dulles airport in Washington D.C. From there we will fly to Brussels, Belgium and then catch another flight to Ouagadougou from there. We would appreciate your prayers for safe travel for us and our equipment.

Garden Water Access Project

The Garden Water Access Project, or GWAP for short, has the goal of providing cheap water access to families for year round irrigation.The project's client is Serving In Missions (SIM), which is stationed in Burkina Faso. During this trip, Lindsey and I will be working with Matt Walsh, the local long-term missionary to ensure that our work is providing them with a pump and well drilling rig that suits their needs.

One goal of the trip is to observe the pumps currently in use in Mahadagha. These pumps were designed by another long term local missionary and Messiah alum Brendon Earl, and utilize India Mk II pump parts. This pump has advantages in that the pump parts are pre-manufactured and readily available, but has some other downsides that we will be investigating.

Additionally, we will be observing well drilling crews and their equipment to get a better understanding of the tools and process of drilling a well. This information will then be used to supplement our well drilling rig designs.

The main goal of this trip is simply to experience the culture of pump-based water access to better understand its unique needs and conditions. So much of our work is based on accounts and conjecture, so the firsthand experience and the ability to ask relevant questions is extremely valuable.

Stay posted for updates and pictures of this project's progress!

-Zach

Mobility Tricycle Project- Jared

      My name is Jared Landis and I am a mechanical engineering student at Messiah. The project I have been working on with the Collaboratory is a part of the Mobility Tricycle Project. This project works on developing an all-terrain wheelchair that can be built using mostly supplies and tools available in Burkina Faso and other third world countries. What I have been working with specifically has to do with the drive components of the electric tricycle design. The current design contains some gearing components between the motor and the chain which drives the tricycle, and we have seen premature wear in these components that eventually causes the tricycle to become immobile. This semester, two other students and I designed and manufactured two designs that modify the current system by changing bearing types and bearing supports. This January, we will install these designs on two different tricycles and hope to see a longer lasting system.
Along with that, Seth and I will be documenting the dimensions of the tricycles that have been built in Burkina to verify that they are the same as what we have at the college. We will also be taking an inventory of what tools are being used in Burkina Faso, including certain fixtures and jigs that we have provided for them which are made specifically for building these tricycles.
With all the work that we put into these designs this semester, it is my hope that the designs we install during this trip will make the gear components in the tricycle last much longer than the old design and that we will be able to further develop a design to lower costs and eventually become a long-term solution. I am also exited to enter a culture very different from what I have been exposed to my whole life, learning more about the world and God’s people as a whole.

-Jared