Talking to Risnata

April 13^th

Another exciting and busy day in village! I bought paint for the mural at the little hardware store near my house, helped Sali take out her weave with what appeared to be a small ice-pick and a very thin and dull razor blade, ate a delicious butter/garlic salt/fresh basil sandwich (where do these ideas come from?), and had a nice long conversation with Risnata, the woman I buy peanut butter from in the marche. Her husband keeps giving her STIs (they both seem to get treated once or twice a year according to her health notebook) but he refused to come visit the CSPS after her last visit so she's refusing to sleep with him until he and his two girlfriends get treated. Honestly, it seems like her only option at this point, and I was proud of her conviction even as I worried about what kind of reactions he would have if this went on for too long. With 2 girls on the side I hardly think he should be complaining, but I'm not a Burkinabe husband with a wife who has her own income and a much higher level of education. For her the biggest motivation is this pregnancy – she's miscarried many times, most likely because of the near-constant infections, and this would only be her 3^rd live birth. It's a hard situation all around, but I was really glad she was willing to talk to me about it and let me see into her life a little more.