Expert: Jonathon D. Colman - 7/5/2002

Question
Can you profile a typical citizen of Burkina Faso, including ethnic/religious background, employment, housing, neighbors and relationship with them, as well as diet and hobbies.  Any additional information that you can offer as mentioned in your expertise listing will be greatly appreciated!
Sincerely,
Cindy

Answer
Hello, Cindy,
I lived in the north-central area of Burkina (near Kaya and Dori) for a year and a half and traveled through the south (and lived in Bobo-Dioulasso for 3 months).  So: I can give you an idea of the people I met, but to profile the average or typical citizen is beyond my ability!

The Burkinabe are generally very warm, friendly, and extremely generous people of strong wills and morals.  They tend to hold friendships, familial bonds, and religious observances (whether Animist, Muslim, or Christian) quite strongly.
Most village men are subsistence farmers, growing millet, corn, beans, and groundnuts during the rainy season (approx. May - August) and -- if they have access to a river or small lake -- selected fruits during the rest of the year.  They keep a large amount for themselves and extended family and sell the rest through the market system.

Most village women use a trade/skill to earn supplemental income.  This could be as a hairdresser for ceremonies, holidays, or other special events.  It could be as a cook in the market (bean balls, rice and sauce, omlette sandwiches, etc. are all popular).  It could also be certain kinds of more skilled trades, such as soap-making.

Most villagers in my region (north-central) live in mud huts with thatch roofs.  Usually a grouping of huts is enclosed by a mud-brick wall so as to be a courtyard.  Government functionaries (nurses, teachers, etc.) tend to live in blocky concrete homes with drop sealings and corrugated tin roofs.  Some homes are a mixture of these two maint ypes of materials.

A typical villager diet is made up of To (pronouned like a "toe" on your foot), which is a very thick millet flour paste eaten with a leaf sauce.  This can be supplemented by brochettes (shish-ka-bobs) of meat from the market, chicken or groundhen eggs, and rice.  Nescafe instant coffee, Laughing Cow cheese, and warm cokes and beers are universal... I could even buy them in my tiny little village.

As for hobbies, children tend to hunt birds and small animals with slingshots, as well as swim in any nearby lakes or streams (if they exist).  Women put in a full day's work before the sun comes up and spend most of their day taking care of children, cooking, preparing water and meals for the family, and tending animals... many of these tasks are passed onto children as soon as possible.  Many women travel to the market in groups, looking for bargains and enjoying each other's company (and gossiping).  Men tend to like to hang out at the bar, discuss business with the local bus depot employees, or play "mini-foot" (foozball).  Every now and then, some local entrpreneur will bring a TV, VCR, and car battery up from the city and entertain the entire village with a movie -- just 50 CFA to be admitted!

Does this information help you?  I hope this is what you're looking for.  A good source of information is the Lonely Planet Guide to West Africa... it was like my Bible while I was over there.  If you want to know more about the language that I spoke in my village, please see my Moore Primer @ http://www.glc.org/jcolman/primer/

Please let me know if you need more information.  Thanks for your question, Cindy!
--jdc
 jonathon d. colman
 burkinaboy@yahoo.com