Peace Corps elves . . . always out there, always magically efficient. OK, so I spent a lovely week in Dakar, Senegal for a few medical tests. Life in Pô, however,went on without me, as it always has and always will. So let's look at some of our recent projects in the village of Pô.

I take little credit for most of my projects. In Pô, I have the motivated Burkinabé to thank for their resourcefulness and dedication to community development. Though, I must say, even the most driven residents of Pô can not take credit for one big accomplishment: Dori is a mommy!

I've been away from Pô for a week now, and Dori's five pups probably have their eyes open. Dori is an excellent mom. Martin and the children know not to touch the puppies lest Dori become over zealous in her protection of the little brood. Being the full sister of Rex-the-brindled-tigery-dog, I'm hopeful that some of Dori's pups will have Rex's magnificent (and unusual-for-Burkina) brindle coat. White is also a treat to see on a Burkinabé dog; and as you see, Dori's pups have inherited her lovely white markings, including some special white-collar colorings. Good work, Dori. And yes, she declined the bed sheet that I donated for her maternity ward. Elizabeth tucked her nicely into what used to be the chicken coop.

We finished the Our World mural at GaMoWigna. The mural not only reflects the wide range of educational activities performed by GaMoWigna throughout the Nahouri Province, it also provides an ongoing reminder to Pô's residents of the importance of health, environmental protection, and education. Here you see Pô's residents practicing good agro-forestry techniques, including use of composting methods instead of chemical fertilizers. At the last minute I found my remaining chalk board paint and we updated a section of the mural depicting educational sessions so that the image may change depending on what's on the menu for the week at GaMoWigna. A little colored chalk and the image can be revised daily . . . or even hourly.

This image shows GaMoWigna getting ready for its tree tour formation in early June. How handy it will be to use a chalk board to illustrate, step-by-step, how to plant a tree? Planting a tree may seem like a no-brainer; but in a world filled with evil tree-eating goats, it is anything but! Wonder whether Pat Muller has any tips on training goats?

So in case you need a bit more clarification, the central image is on chalk board paint and can be changed for any occasion . . . from discussions on maternal and child health issues to tofu-making. See how utterly fascinated the participants are?! That will never change, regardless of the topic illustrated on the chalk board.

And speaking of tofu-making, our second tofu-making session was held in Ténado a couple of weeks ago. Seven women attended from the areas west of Ouagadougou. It was quite a trek for me, Yaya, his wife Sadia, and baby Kenza. I got to sleep on the ground for a week and felt like a real-live Peace Corps volunteer. Why, I even pooped in a hole. TMI?

Anyway, the women were enthused, but the real test of any educational process in Burkina is sustainability. Reports from PCVs in that area indicate that the women are making tofu and selling-out each day. I'd say it was a success, despite a few hiccups along the way.

We have another tofu formation planned in Pô in the upcoming weeks. All is arranged and I must admit that Sadia can do this without me. I love that! I hate that!

Sadia is the queen of tofu. I've worked myself right out of a job, just as the Peace Corps intended. One day soon the time will come for me to leave Burkina and my village; yet whether or not I'm present, the little world of Pô will not stand still. Why, even in this image Sadia seems to have worked herself out of a job. Elibye is tossing cubes of tofu in their marinade while Awa watches and Sadia supervises. Looks as if very little supervision is needed at this point. And now seven more villages in Burkina Faso have access to very low cost protein in their diets. Mission accomplished.

I should be back in Pô early next week. Although most of the work on the egg farm is complete, we still want to begin fish farming before rainy season begins in earnest.

Thanks to some very generous donors, we have a new well in the northern section of Pô; and that will be key to a successful fish-farming endeavor.

I've also got funding for a boutique for the young women of Pô; and I'm very hopeful that I'll finish that project sometime in the next two weeks. The plan is for the Maison de la Femme to offer low-cost maternal and child health products at their boutique, at below market cost, and make up for those loss-leader products with sales of their beautifully woven and dyed cloth, neem creme, liquid soap, and other fun home-crafted products. Yaya is on stand-by for my arrival in Pô to begin and finish the boutique project, which should take less than a week. Will it happen as planned? If there's a village in Burkina Faso where the impossible can and does happen, it's little Pô . . . but we can only speculate.