From Dedougou to Tenado

As the sun set on Saturday evening in the capital city of the Boucle du Mouhoun, riders and host alike enjoy the expanding shade and running-water shower. This brief relaxation time is crucial in order to have enough umphhh for the evening activity, an HIV/AIDS animation/discussion with a local group of youths, aged 15-18. The gathering is in large part due to the efforts of Mr. Dovell’s youth counterpart, Jean-Baptiste and his work with the Coordination des Volontairs de Dedougou. The PCVs are accompanied by 14 Burkinabe youth and an interactive discussion touches on the methods of contraction and prevention for the virus. One youth in particular is quite lively in the discussion, sporting a sleeveless yellow jersey and known amongst his peers as “le captain”, he is only rarely interrupted by the occasional water sachet, slice of bread or banana being passed his way.

As the 90 minute discussion concludes, riders eagerly make their way over to the adjacent cafe where grilled chicken (still sorta warm) and freshly diced vegetables await. After an hour or two of good eating and plenty of (thankfully) Gadhafi-free conversation, we all make our way to bed which include mattresses, litpicos (woven cot) and blow-up thermarests. The inside sleepers have a good nights’ sleep as fans happily breeze upon them while those in the outside camp have, well…chickens, goats, bug-hut zippers, a dog, the latrine door and Sarah’s 2am bug-hut set-up to deal with. On the bright side, there’s always tomorrow night.

The morning gets off to a slow start as still damp (but clean at least!!) laundry and misplaced items are accounted for, but finally off and running…err, uh, biking we are at 6:25. The sun is hardly noticeable on the 51km morning ride to Tcheriba as everyone is too intune to their rhythm and mechanics thanks to the smooth dirt road which will be paved over in the next couple of months. One spot on the journey stands out as riders pass through high red walls of excavated clay which is immediately followed by an 8 degree gradient downhill, the biggest of the day.



As we pull into Tcheriba, seemingly two-at-a-time a distance about 1km apart or so, we are warmly received by a throng of Burkinabe both young and old and one American (old). Rachida proceeds to escort us to a nice little setting under some trees where Volunteers and public-sector workers in Tcheriba share some stories about volunteerism as children look on and play marbles under the guilded shade.


Before heading to lunch we prepare for the evening ride by drying out still-damp laundry, filling the water buckets and listening to Lauren proudly dig at her toenails…” "All clean!”

Following the delicious grilled chicken we hit the road at 1:15pm for the 56 km ride to Tenado. The ride is grueling in many respects. For one, Rachida’s tire pops almost instantly. Two, the noonday sun permeates through the skin, boiling the sweat right out of the pores. Three, everyone is listening to their ipods so Daniel has no one to listen to his sarcastic puns. Four, we pass through a nice little road-side marche that is selling “dolo-to-go” and it’d be nice, but not cardio-logically responsible, to stop. Last and most importantly, the road is a nightmare with potholes coupled right up next to one another for kilometers on end. But in the end, with the fine encouragement from Abraham our driver and the evening sun fading into the trees, all riders arrive safe and sound in Tenado to a rousing ovation with streets lined 2 and 3 deep. In tandem with the 3 dozen or so mandatory but worthwhile handshakes, the reception makes us all feel quite welcome to Tenado.