On to another country and it continues to amaze me how fast that we humans can adapt to a new life and new surroundings. It’s been more than two months now that I have been on the go, flying all Africa and I’ve been able to see some really fascinating, beautiful, unpleasant and chaotic things. You name it, I’ve probably seen it.
But no matter what you’ve seen in the past, no matter what spoiled, rotten lifestyle you’ve lived beforehand, pretty soon, people and faces all become the same to you: human. Within a few days, you start to get the hang of the newest culture and your body and mind begin to fit right in. You begin to identify the differences and commonalities in each place: similar traditions, different lifestyles, similar climate, different geography, more or less organized than the last place, clean or chaotic looking, etc.
Here in Burkina-Faso (which was renamed in 1984 and roughly translates to ‘men of integrity’ or ‘land of honest people’). I’ve met some great very warm and wonderful people who are known as Burkinabe.
It looks like there has been some progress here as far as infrastructure (nature, parks, monuments, buildings, restaurants, etc), though not too much within the government. Blaise Compaore has been the sitting President for the past 23 years. I also see that there isn’t much work here. Many locals tell me that they are used to going to Cote d’Ivoire or Ghana to work seasonally (though recently there has been some tension with Cote d’Ivoire).
It’s hard to learn a lot about a country though, when you are moving at the speed of sound. So the easiest way for me to learn about each culture is through conversations with the local taxi drivers. From them, I learn all sorts of things from them about their country, culture, lifestyles, traditions, etc. They are my University. I even pay tuition with all of the fares that they charge me.
Here, my new taxi-driver friend is Mr. Issaka Zoungaana. He is calm, friendly, down to earth and readily admits that he has no education and has never really been to school. Still, he is a nice person who is trying hard to make ends meet for him and his family and it makes me happy to help him gain some money. Despite not being very comfortable all day in his car, it was kind of funny that it was as squeaky and creaky as my friend’s car in Senegal.
Though this country has already recognized our independence, I am making a stop here anyway. I have found on my travels that just visiting and expressing thanks to these countries is very beneficial. This has been confirmed to me many times so far, since people will recognize me and stop me on the road, to start talking to me about our country Kosovo, usually at border checkpoints and with officials at the airport. When I meet with the media and local officials, they are always grateful to hear from us and about our appreciation for their country and it usually ends up with more local talk being generated us. It’s an indirect way of lobbying to these countries that are often closely connected. Especially here in West Africa, many people have family members in surrounding countries, are married to someone from another country and often cross borders to work in a neighboring country. So these stops really help to build relations and get our name out there.
The media people were absolutely amazing here. They really appreciated the fact that the people of Kosovo respect them and have a place in our hearts for their country. Mr. Issa Bebane, an excellent writer who is an apprentice at the newspaper L’Observateur, wrote a two page article that his boss agreed to publish. My great friends at the Sidwaya newspaper were excellent. Mr. Gabriel Sama not only interviewed me and wrote a one page article, he was kind enough to introduce me to the entire office staff of Sidwaya and give me a tour of their facilities. His bosses, Mr. Ibrahiman Sakande and Mr. Rabankhi Abou-Bakar Zida, were very humble gentlemen who were happy to authorize the article. My other friend, Ms. Dembele Francoise at Le Pays newspaper also wrote a good article (authorized by her boss Mr. Mahorou Kanazoe) and the television station, Canal 3 also did an in-depth interview. Thank you to Mr. Mahamadi Ouedraogo for his time and attention and his boss Mr. Soulama H. Innocent who authorized that one.
Finally, thank you to the radio stations here, which are very popular due to the historical importance of the oral tradition. Ms. Salamata Lankoande with RTB (Radiodiffusion Television du Burkina) was awesome and very professional, with both European and Burkina values. She usually lives in Germany and has been doing work down here for the past four months. Thanks to her boss, Mr. Arsene Evariste Kabore who authorized the interview. Mr. Francois Yesso with Pulsar Radio 94.8 gave me almost one whole hour of radio talk live on his station with all of his great working team there.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs here were very appreciative of Kosova’s people and took comfort in knowing that we have lots of respect for them. I was able to meet with several of the Ministry’s personnel, including the Minister’s secretary. However, it was a very somber meeting since they were all sad to have started a new year after just losing the Minister’s wife, who passed away on the first of January.
Lastly, I would like to recognize the friendly staff at the hotel Bellevue. They were very respectful and appreciative and showed a great sense of customer service. They were great examples of the sense of compassion that I’ve experienced in this country. It would be my joy to come and visit the people of this wonderful country again. They are very open and willing to talk to you and don’t hesitate to make you feel at home and comfortable in their country.
