Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso November 4-28, 2011

November 24


We drove about an hour out of town to visit Clark Lundgren's farm. He is originally from Vancouver and has been living here since 1954. He is a very intelligent man and talked about how Burkina has doubled its population every 20 years and shared some of the challenges about how Burkina will support itself in times of famine as a result of drought, especially as the population continues to grow. He has participated in many great ideas on wildlife farming and conservation and how to help the local people to develop farming businesses to support their families. We toured his farm and saw assorted wildlife including snakes, wart hogs, monkeys, antelope and an ostrich.

Clark Lundgren

Wart hog

Reg wearing a snake

Deborah joined us for the trip to Mahadaga and the tour at Clark's farm. She is on a short term mission from Switzerland. We really enjoyed getting to know her.

Deborah wearing a snake

The team with David, Marianne and Deborah

Baobob tree near the farm

Huge trunk

When we came back we were blessed with a lunch from Daniel and his wife. Daniels works with David at the SIM office, is a pastor and also a personal friend to David. It was very kind of them to take the time to provide us lunch.

Daniel, his wife and David

Later I did a couple more haircuts for some of the ladies at the compound. Then we went back to the outdoor market to pick up the African drums that members of the team ordered the week before. We practiced our bartering skills and purchased a couple more items. Braeden has become our bartering expert and has got some amazing deals.

Braeden bartering

For supper this evening the Beogo family brought us a meal for the second time. This time 24 of them attended and wanted to take the opportunity to say goodbye and to give thanks for the contribution made by the Ruten family to the Beogo Foundation. They also honoured us by giving each one of us a scarf. The fabric has been recognized as a trademark of Burkina Faso for many years. It was a very special gift. We finished the evening celebrating by singing songs together.

Burkina scarf