tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38709496461952933112012-01-24T18:04:26.371-08:00Kathrine Lassen in Ouagadougou. Follow my adventure in Burkina Faso where I'll be working as a UNV Gender specialist for 2 years.Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.comBlogger301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-64107475115370179662009-05-18T09:10:00.000-07:002009-05-18T09:29:07.742-07:00

Jeg har været i gemmerne. Utallige mennesker har opfordret mig til at skrive om mine mange oplevelser i Afrika, men den seneste motivation var da en veninde sms'ede, at nu havde hun en artikel i Weekend Avisen. Jeg skyndte mig ind på biblioteket og læste den og tænkte: det er sku sejt!! Kognitiv kapitalisme handlede den om - så blev man så klog:-)Jeg fandt derefter flere gamle artikler frem fra

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-76941957146042804092009-03-25T02:59:00.000-07:002009-03-25T03:27:29.899-07:00

Its amacing how a crazy, stressful, panic-like lifestyle, such as the one I had in Ouaga, offers much more imput for writing. Gosia, thank you for reminding me that even the orderly, peaceful og and down to earth circumstances of living in Denmark can be interesting for others to read about.I've started reading 'Dagbladet Information' every day. Its a great way to start the day and even up north

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-70578171192221670692009-01-26T01:11:00.000-08:002009-01-27T09:07:05.248-08:00

Someone reminded me that I haven't updated my block since July last year. Well, life has been turned upside down since then and I've had a lot on my mind. I got back to Denmark at the end of July to get a check up on the nasty malaria that I struggled with for a month plus in Burkina Faso. A few days after arrival to Denmark, I got hospitalized with severe stomach pain. The same day my appendix

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-4973500926796610302008-07-11T02:41:00.001-07:002008-07-11T03:02:01.916-07:00

The banana palm and papaya tree that I plantet. Unbelievable how fast they grow.

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-33331192203695110562008-07-07T01:22:00.001-07:002008-07-07T01:25:38.667-07:00

An enormous amount of (well meant?) advice was given to me while ill - some of it entertaining, some of it surprising, but most of all confusing…………..Various people’s comments in random order followed by my thoughts;Nurse: Perhaps you should just stop the malaria treatment now if it makes you feel bad(Not such a good idea if you want to actually get rid of the disease)Doctor: Drink lots of juice

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-75006451954593225362008-07-02T08:54:00.000-07:002008-07-02T09:19:16.199-07:00

An old fellow student sent me a quote the other day from an opening phrase of a book that she is reading. This was her reply to my complaining about the state of Africa:"I have experienced the coming of an African rain. It comes with force, the rivers get full, water covers the fields. When the flooding is over, there is just a dry bank of a river. This is how I see our work. We have worked,

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-63231149157655641722008-06-22T09:28:00.000-07:002008-06-22T09:59:17.497-07:00

I'm sitting on the veranda of my friends' house and the rain has started after a very hot and heavy afternoon. It cools me down as I'm spending my 3rd week being ill with bronkitis followed by a strong malaria that has forced me into a second round of treatment, which I pray will now send the last parasites to hell. This has left me with plenty of time to probe questions regarding my choices in

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-85812700580707631472008-06-06T10:42:00.000-07:002008-06-06T10:44:02.025-07:00

It is no secret that RECIF has been struggling for a while and that we are under an enormous amount of stress to find funding for project activities and to be able to pay salaries to our permanent staff members, not to mention rental of office, electricity bills (in a country with the highest electricity cost worldwide), etc. Unfortunately, big international donors tend to concentrate their

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-56961084624077141272008-05-13T03:57:00.000-07:002008-05-13T04:08:27.610-07:00

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-85349053231218692782008-05-13T03:49:00.000-07:002008-05-13T03:53:05.670-07:00

One month of holiday in Denmark has passed and I’m back in Burkina with 40 degrees plus. It was quite amazing that I got back at all, because standing in Billund airport at 4 in the morning, they announced that my flight to Paris was cancelled. Hmmm, sort of reminded me of going from Ouaga to Denmark, where they announced that my flight had left 3 hours earlier. Okay so I’m not the luckiest

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-20911688145493091492008-03-13T04:58:00.000-07:002008-03-13T05:00:20.497-07:00

I cannot neglect it much longer – the fact that I am here to work!! I have been in Burkina for 8 and half months and it seems that slowly I am able to focus more and more on work. As I have already explained 100 times, I am working for an umbrella organisation RECIF that deals with gender, communication, training, advocacy and research. RECIF is having a real down period unfortunately and the

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-49070144056732305552008-03-11T06:04:00.000-07:002008-03-11T06:09:27.370-07:00

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-80582498248015876422008-03-06T03:00:00.000-08:002008-03-06T03:23:20.630-08:00

Demonstrations in Ouaga!!The recent food price increases have made people mobilize and take to the streets in an outcry of desperation. They rebel against government taxies which allegedly have led to these increases, claim some, while others are convinced that the suppliers themselves increase prices for their own benefit. Whatever the truth might be, it would be good to see the

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-28255621053612106072008-02-25T01:57:00.000-08:002008-02-25T02:33:55.403-08:00

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-24011465342648975012008-02-15T02:09:00.000-08:002008-02-15T02:11:27.858-08:00

There has been something different about this week. I’ve had a felling that there is actually some sort of routine present in my life. Well I needed a break after lasts weeks struggle. I remember waking up last Saturday feeling exhausted and homesick. For some reason I had misunderstood my contract and thought that my home leave to visit Denmark would be paid. But no that’s on my own account. At

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-91836503357460106642008-01-17T09:26:00.000-08:002008-01-17T09:28:34.199-08:00

Anne left the other day and the house feels very empty and big at the moment!! She spent 2 months here so I really got used to having her around. It was great, though extremely problematic towards the end. That wasn’t Anne’s fault of course but some classic African horror stories happening all at the same time. With the risk of seeming negative, I give a quick résumé of some of the worst

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-72234665592352157592008-01-09T04:20:00.000-08:002008-01-09T04:29:28.661-08:00

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-70824664461755837262008-01-09T04:06:00.000-08:002008-01-09T04:19:25.279-08:00

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-8012933909646309742008-01-09T02:35:00.000-08:002008-01-09T02:38:17.372-08:00

SahelWe (Anne and I) are now back in Ouaga and I started work this week:-/ We had an amazing 3 week holiday starting in Ghana. Ghana was really laid back and we didn’t do much besides the beach and poolside.The dessert (Sahel) up north in Burkina was our second destination. We got picked up one morning by Allan who works for the Danish Embassy and his Scottish friend Glen, and off we went. By

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-90305869893166269892007-12-03T08:26:00.000-08:002007-12-03T08:33:57.980-08:00

Strong scenes from a play showing different forms of violence made against women. Here a father has killed his daughter by accident, as she resisted a forced marriage.

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-28349552380931531282007-11-21T09:28:00.000-08:002007-11-21T09:40:52.095-08:00

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-14830250995574734652007-11-21T09:16:00.000-08:002007-11-21T09:26:47.115-08:00

Voila mes petit chats Nikolai et Malte, qui sont trés active!!

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-31162811428489600002007-10-19T09:10:00.001-07:002007-10-19T09:23:10.362-07:00

Trying to express my admiration for Makeba in French!!

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-20005305037019490822007-10-19T08:55:00.001-07:002007-10-19T09:09:22.293-07:00

Meriam live

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-12971247679113792102007-10-15T09:03:00.000-07:002007-10-15T09:08:37.811-07:00

It has been a while since I’ve last updated my blog. Today seems perfect as the internet server is down throughout the whole of Burkina Faso, it seems.Tomorrow is the end of the Ramadan and there’s a big feast. It’s an important event here – a bit like Christmas Eve in the western part of the world!! On this occasion, Miriam Makeba, one of South Africa’s biggest artists has decided to throw a

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-1763601378966390212007-09-12T10:35:00.000-07:002007-10-10T10:26:58.039-07:00

Its almost time to return home. I'm wondering whether I'll have water tonight. Most of the time its not a problem, but the past week there've been quite a few watersupply cuts such as yesterday eve....I didn't know you could get that desperate for a shower. But you do get desperat after a long day of sweating and handling the fumes of trafic, etc. I stopped by a French guys house today to have a

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-84810318530466804982007-09-07T10:05:00.000-07:002007-09-07T10:26:15.772-07:00

This is our lovely entrence to RECIF. It's friday eve and another week has past. As usual my house has been crowded with all sorts of people and workers. I'm sort of hoping it will come to an end after a couple of months. To give you an example. Today there has been the maid, a carpenter, a man to fiks a watertap outside, my guards, a gartener, a tv man to fiks the antenna and finally Allassan

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-65459204244777061462007-08-28T05:07:00.000-07:002007-08-28T05:08:12.681-07:00

Bonjours toutsTime for an update!! Short version again as time is sparse here.- I moved into my house and have 1 madress only. The furniture is not yet ready!!- Had to change the keys again, as they were low quality and I was either stuck in the house or not able to enter.- Hired a maid yesterday who will do the cleaning, laundry and cooking. She started this morning. Hope she's good!!- Have 2

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-70160986452576604672007-08-22T05:06:00.000-07:002007-08-22T05:10:01.428-07:00

Its Saturday morning and raining cats and dogs in Ouaga. I feel exhausted to be honest!! I can’t remember the last time I’ve had even 5 min. to relax. Everything is overwhelming and very different from the Africa I know so well. The good news is that I’ve found a house already. Its old and need a lot of repairs, but the thought of getting my own space soon (I hope) makes me happy. It all depends

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3870949646195293311.post-13754484122462363992007-05-12T04:53:00.000-07:002007-05-12T05:31:27.963-07:00

Finally I'll be returning to Africa - West Africa this time, which is a part of the continent that I've never visited. From what I hear I won't be disappointed. During highschool I was really jealous of this guy Soeren Kjeldsen who wanted to turn his hobby golf into his career. I remember thinking that kind of determination must provide a strong sense of inner peace. At the same time, I had no

Kathrine Lassenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10380964897507769389noreply@blogger.com3