Tuesday, April 30
May. 1st, 2024 12:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
In a way, the light snow we got. We need moisture.
The whole thing with my nephew and my brother/his wife persisted in causing me anxiety, so I'm glad my brother called me back (I tried yesterday).
We had a very good talk about my nephew L, who I know has always been a difficult person. I know that as a kid, they had a lot of trouble getting him to do ordinary things, as he was oppositional, I know that they worked with counselors to try to help him with his issues and with school.
I let my brother know that L has been posting some very harsh things on Facebook, and he was aware of this, but there's not much he can do.
My brother says that the issues L is having right now seem to be that L is trying to make it in the adult world (he's 20, I think) and not able to deal with it. So, he's blaming his parents for "not doing more for him", even though they've gone to great lengths to try and help him. They paid his way through two years of college for a "Broadcast Media" certificate, have given him a vehicle, and have been supportive as far as I can see.
They can't do much to help him with not succeeding at a job, or with his lack of maturity among his peers, or other interpersonal skills. They would have helped him with that too, if they could.
Dragging his parents on Facebook and saying fairly bluntly that they emotionally and physically abused him seems pretty unfair.
I can tell that my brother is just tired. We haven't talked much about his challenges raising L, so there's a lot I don't know about their relationship, but my brother says that he and his wife are worn out and traumatized by being parents to this difficult person. I believe it.
At this point, I see nothing in my brother that would suggest that he or his wife abused L. My brother was not upset or defensive in any way when I brought up the topic, and never seemed evasive. Just tired, like this is a scenario that likely played out over and over again, only this time my nephew is playing it out on the internet.
This is just a sad situation. I feel like my nephew is likely either neurodivergent or mentally ill, maybe both, and even though he's been evaluated and had help, it's not enough, and for lack of maturity, he's lashing out at my brother and his wife.
I am glad that I had this conversation with my brother, and I think I understand things a bit better. I'm so sad for all of them.
I went to see River, and everything was a bit wet and sloppy, so I worked in the indoor again.
He did okay, was a bit better in terms of his breathing, though still not easily motivated.
We worked on the pylons again (in a basic barrel formation) and he was making good turns.
My Sweetie showed up for a while, and he helped me work on the mounted Spanish Walk. River picked that up fairly well, so that's something new we can work on.
We chatted a bit with R about us maybe making a round pen at home; she had some good input on size and such. We chatted with the person having a lesson, too, as she was getting ready.
We came home and we watched more "Boardwalk Empire".
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in Africa with about 24 million people.
"The largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso is the Mossi people, who settled the area in the 11th and 13th centuries. They established powerful kingdoms such as the Ouagadougou, Tenkodogo, and Yatenga. In 1896, it was colonized by the French as part of French West Africa; in 1958, Upper Volta became a self-governing colony within the French Community. In 1960, it gained full independence with Maurice Yaméogo as president. Since it gained its independence, the country has been subject to instability, droughts, famines and corruption. There have also been various coups, in 1966, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, and twice in 2022 (January and September). There were also unsuccessful coup attempts in 1989, 2015, and 2023."
"Thomas Sankara came to power following a successful coup in 1983. As president, Sankara embarked on a series of ambitious socioeconomic reforms which included a nationwide literacy campaign, land redistribution to peasants, vaccinations for over 2 million children, railway and road construction, equalized access to education, and the outlawing of female genital mutilation, forced marriages, and polygamy. He served as the country's president until 1987 when he was deposed and assassinated in a coup led by Blaise Compaoré, who became president and ruled the country until his removal on 31 October 2014."
If that gives you some context, this doesn't sound like a "nice" country. It is very undeveloped, there is a lot of Islamic terrorism (63% Muslim population),
"The constitution of 2 June 1991 established a semi-presidential government ( a president and prime minister plus cabinet): its parliament could be dissolved by the President of the Republic, who was to be elected for a term of seven years. In 2000, the constitution was amended to reduce the presidential term to five years and set term limits to two, preventing successive re-election. The amendment took effect during the 2005 elections."
Not very good for human rights. There have been many incidents of government sanctioned violence against journalists or political activists, mass graves, and many civilians caught in the crossfire between the government and Jihad extremists.
The landscape is overall fairly flat, and is mainly savannah grasslands that are a transitional zone to the Sahara Desert in the North. The Volta river (that branches into the Red Volta, the Black Volta and the White Volta) is an important body of water, and there is also part of the Niger River.
Though they do farm (sorghum, millet, peanuts, rice, maize, cotton), this not particularly wet climate (with great fluctuations between flooding and drought) as well as severe locust infestations lead to periods of food insecurity. The life expectancy is about 60. Yikes.
Lots of the wildlife associated with Africa, like elephants, hippos, lions, buffalo, and hyenas.
There are natural resources like gold, limestone, phosphate, manganese, and salt.
Not even much for tourism, due to the political instability (read: brutal murdering of people).
So, the country struggles with some fairly basic things, like access to drinking water, food security, health care, and internal strife.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkina_Faso#See_also
On a positive note, there is the absolutely incredible village of Tiebele with its traditional painted clay houses.
https://youtu.be/5f7hYfhkJyM?si=KH3_toKPEgU_VL-0
https://youtu.be/ZyATtCBNLDk?si=D_wT9PdsBpACDkEN
In a way, the light snow we got. We need moisture.
The whole thing with my nephew and my brother/his wife persisted in causing me anxiety, so I'm glad my brother called me back (I tried yesterday).
We had a very good talk about my nephew L, who I know has always been a difficult person. I know that as a kid, they had a lot of trouble getting him to do ordinary things, as he was oppositional, I know that they worked with counselors to try to help him with his issues and with school.
I let my brother know that L has been posting some very harsh things on Facebook, and he was aware of this, but there's not much he can do.
My brother says that the issues L is having right now seem to be that L is trying to make it in the adult world (he's 20, I think) and not able to deal with it. So, he's blaming his parents for "not doing more for him", even though they've gone to great lengths to try and help him. They paid his way through two years of college for a "Broadcast Media" certificate, have given him a vehicle, and have been supportive as far as I can see.
They can't do much to help him with not succeeding at a job, or with his lack of maturity among his peers, or other interpersonal skills. They would have helped him with that too, if they could.
Dragging his parents on Facebook and saying fairly bluntly that they emotionally and physically abused him seems pretty unfair.
I can tell that my brother is just tired. We haven't talked much about his challenges raising L, so there's a lot I don't know about their relationship, but my brother says that he and his wife are worn out and traumatized by being parents to this difficult person. I believe it.
At this point, I see nothing in my brother that would suggest that he or his wife abused L. My brother was not upset or defensive in any way when I brought up the topic, and never seemed evasive. Just tired, like this is a scenario that likely played out over and over again, only this time my nephew is playing it out on the internet.
This is just a sad situation. I feel like my nephew is likely either neurodivergent or mentally ill, maybe both, and even though he's been evaluated and had help, it's not enough, and for lack of maturity, he's lashing out at my brother and his wife.
I am glad that I had this conversation with my brother, and I think I understand things a bit better. I'm so sad for all of them.
I went to see River, and everything was a bit wet and sloppy, so I worked in the indoor again.
He did okay, was a bit better in terms of his breathing, though still not easily motivated.
We worked on the pylons again (in a basic barrel formation) and he was making good turns.
My Sweetie showed up for a while, and he helped me work on the mounted Spanish Walk. River picked that up fairly well, so that's something new we can work on.
We chatted a bit with R about us maybe making a round pen at home; she had some good input on size and such. We chatted with the person having a lesson, too, as she was getting ready.
We came home and we watched more "Boardwalk Empire".
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in Africa with about 24 million people.
"The largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso is the Mossi people, who settled the area in the 11th and 13th centuries. They established powerful kingdoms such as the Ouagadougou, Tenkodogo, and Yatenga. In 1896, it was colonized by the French as part of French West Africa; in 1958, Upper Volta became a self-governing colony within the French Community. In 1960, it gained full independence with Maurice Yaméogo as president. Since it gained its independence, the country has been subject to instability, droughts, famines and corruption. There have also been various coups, in 1966, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, and twice in 2022 (January and September). There were also unsuccessful coup attempts in 1989, 2015, and 2023."
"Thomas Sankara came to power following a successful coup in 1983. As president, Sankara embarked on a series of ambitious socioeconomic reforms which included a nationwide literacy campaign, land redistribution to peasants, vaccinations for over 2 million children, railway and road construction, equalized access to education, and the outlawing of female genital mutilation, forced marriages, and polygamy. He served as the country's president until 1987 when he was deposed and assassinated in a coup led by Blaise Compaoré, who became president and ruled the country until his removal on 31 October 2014."
If that gives you some context, this doesn't sound like a "nice" country. It is very undeveloped, there is a lot of Islamic terrorism (63% Muslim population),
"The constitution of 2 June 1991 established a semi-presidential government ( a president and prime minister plus cabinet): its parliament could be dissolved by the President of the Republic, who was to be elected for a term of seven years. In 2000, the constitution was amended to reduce the presidential term to five years and set term limits to two, preventing successive re-election. The amendment took effect during the 2005 elections."
Not very good for human rights. There have been many incidents of government sanctioned violence against journalists or political activists, mass graves, and many civilians caught in the crossfire between the government and Jihad extremists.
The landscape is overall fairly flat, and is mainly savannah grasslands that are a transitional zone to the Sahara Desert in the North. The Volta river (that branches into the Red Volta, the Black Volta and the White Volta) is an important body of water, and there is also part of the Niger River.
Though they do farm (sorghum, millet, peanuts, rice, maize, cotton), this not particularly wet climate (with great fluctuations between flooding and drought) as well as severe locust infestations lead to periods of food insecurity. The life expectancy is about 60. Yikes.
Lots of the wildlife associated with Africa, like elephants, hippos, lions, buffalo, and hyenas.
There are natural resources like gold, limestone, phosphate, manganese, and salt.
Not even much for tourism, due to the political instability (read: brutal murdering of people).
So, the country struggles with some fairly basic things, like access to drinking water, food security, health care, and internal strife.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkina_Faso#See_also
On a positive note, there is the absolutely incredible village of Tiebele with its traditional painted clay houses.
https://youtu.be/5f7hYfhkJyM?si=KH3_toKPEgU_VL-0
https://youtu.be/ZyATtCBNLDk?si=D_wT9PdsBpACDkEN
