In the News
Burkina has made the news- Washington Post, Front page. Not only that but the WOMEN of Burkina made the U.S. news. Shit is getting worse, finally Burkinabe women are worthy of a news story. The article (I encourage you to read it, click the link) is mainly highlighting the realities of the WORLD food crisis. It was interesting to read, having observed this culture for a couple months. First- Burkinabe eat with their hands- rich or poor. Why this bothered me, I do not know. I wanted to clarify that culture should not be confused with poverty (or visa versa). A western journalist, through their culture lens, and limited knowledge on the subject, can understandable misrepresent observations. But this article, based on my limited insight, is pretty accurate. Prices are doubling, tripling in this country, where unemployment is 77%. One of my language teachers told us that rice went from 12.50 for 50kg to 20.00, Gas was at 550 is now 1350 and 100kg of corn is 15.00 when it used to be available for 10.00. This is drastic. Especially since work is not available. Parents are pressured to “realize” the value of educating their children- which is NOT cheap. But my host brother who after this year will have been educated for TWICE as long as his older cousin, will be in the exact same position- unemployment. The young men/older boys are hanging in the villages helping in the fields because there is no work in the cities, which means less money for the entire family. Not only is this a problem for the obvious reasons but where is the argument for education? If the uneducated child is going to be in the same position as the semi-educated child (FYI- the majority of village children only complete the eventually of a 10th grade education), why spend the money? Hmm, reasonable question. Any thoughts?
August 27th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
There may be one child that you might educate and inspire that may grow up and do something to make an incredible change in our world. Keep the faith in education, the human race and yourself.