What is your name?Beth
What is your current age or age range?
Most Burkinabé have only a vague idea of their age. But I have to admit that, unlike most people here, I do actually have a birth certificate.
What country are you native to?
I was born in Lincoln, Nebraska. But as I had absolutely no interest in college football, I had to leave as soon as possible. But then things got complicated: I moved to Chicago- where I eventually met my future spouse. We moved to Switzerland and our first daughter was born in Geneva. Then we moved to France....and four years later moved to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. We have been here for almost nine years now, so it sort of feels like home, at this point.
What area of BurkinaFaso do you current live (Providence, City, general area etc.)
We are living in the largest city in Burkina: Ouagadougou. Our home is in the Zone du Bois- an older neighbor that holds a mix of expat and local families. Most of the roads are not paved and there are plenty of chickens and goats roaming around.
What other countries did you consider? Why didn't you choose those?
My husband was intially offered a position in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. We turned it down, which was a good thing, as a vicious civil war broke out there almost immediately afterwards! Burkina has experienced some political unrest over the last decade. But it is really a relatively stable country.
Was it difficult to get the documents you needed to live and/or work there? (residency and/or working permit)
It is quite easy to get a visa to come here-just send your passport to the Burkina Embassy in Washington DC, or get one at the airport here when you arrive! It doesn't cost much. There is lots of work in the informal sector here- teaching English and such and you certainly don't need a work permit for that. But if you do stumble onto a good job with an NGO or some other organisation that requires a work permit, they will help you get one. It is not terribly difficult. One interesting point is that it is relativly simple to get Burkinabé citizenship. After you have lived here four or five years, it is an option. Taxes are quite cheap here and it really is something to consider if you want to buy a house and really settle in.
What are your favorite activities that are available?
As for fun in Burkina- aound Ouaga there is lots to do. Horseriding is a popular option. There are no less than THREE good riding clubs in Ouaga. Our favorite is the "Oasis du Cheval". It is the only club owned by a local, rather than an expat. You can have riding lessons, go for a trail ride around the countryside or even go on a camping trip. These trips are great fun and highly recommended!! There are lots of pools around Ouaga. The big hotels each have one and you can swim for a fee. Some houses even have pools. One good pool is at the American Recreation Center. It's a club run by the US Embassy in the center of town. There is tennis, a small gym, a video club and a good restaurant. Another great option for fun here is to take lessons. You can learn to play the djembé, make a bogolan (mud cloth), do batik, play the flute, draw, paint, play tennis....there are lots of private instructors available. Travelling outside the city, you can see sacred croccodiles at several place, go on safari and see tons (ha!) of elephants at the Nazinga Ranch near Po, visit the intricately painted mud huts Tiebele and see the hippos in Lake Tengrela. One of my favorite trips is up to the big market at Gorom Gorom and then beyond into the desert to the campground of Gandefabou. You can sleep in a Tuareg hut and do a camel trek. It's lovely- really peaceful. Another high point of being here is the annual Winyé mask festival. It takes place near Boromo each February and is really quite amazing. There you will see dancers wearing the huge red, black and white Gourounsi-style masks. It is quite spectacular and you can take pictures.
Do you think it is crucial to know the language in BurkinaFaso, or can you get by with a handheld translation dictionary for a while?
Absolutely vital!! Before we came to Africa, I spent four years living in Switzerland and five living in France, so I had French mastered pretty well. It made the transition SO much easier for me. I see people arrive here and struggle to learn French as they adapt to a very different lifestyle. It seems very difficult. And even worse are the ones that don't even make the effort and just stay in their expat comfort zone, never venturing beyond their Embassy and the International School. The Burkinabé are lovely people and to know them, you HAVE to speak the language: at minimum French and even better if you also speak Mooré, the language of the dominant ethnic group of the central plateau. The latter is, obviously, difficult to learn before you come, so I recommend getting a solid backgroud in French before coming and then taking Moré lessons as soon as you arrive. You can quickly learn all the greetings that are so imprtant to smooth social functioning here. I have found that the Burkinabé are delighted when they find that I speak some Mooré. They expect all white people to speak French, but they are pleased and astonished by those who make the effort to learn their language. The Burkinabé are very gentle, polite people that set a great store by social niceties. If you want to get to know "real" Burkinabé (as opposed to con-artists and various undesirables) you need to: 1.) Speak French decently. 2.) Know at least a few polite phrases in Mooré (It's not hard. "Laafi Beemé" means " How are you?" and "I am fine" depending on inflection. Just those two words can really help break the ice
Was medical insurance difficult to get before you went or after you first arrived?
It is very important to get the best medical coverage you can afford before you come. I cannot stress this enough, particularly if you are arriving with children and/or expect to be pregnant while you are here! Medical care here is beyond bad, even in the capital city. An accident or illness that would be serious but not fatal in Europe or the USA can easily kill you here, due to the lack of medical facilities. So, make sure you have excellent medical evacuation coverage as part of your package. This kind of insurance is not hard to get in the USA or Europe, but it can be expensive.
How do you earn your living in BurkinaFaso?
When we arrived, my husband had his dream job waiting for him and I had four disoriented children to manage. The initial adjustment was hard and I was very glad that I didn't have to work outside the home and bring back money. It was a lot of work getting the house up and running smoothly. If you have children, it's best if one of the parents can devote at least a few months to getting the homelife organized. It can be very hard if both parents immediately have to start working. Yes, there are nannies and cooks available quite cheaply here. But you will all need some time to adjust to each other and few locals speak English. So if you haven't come equipped with French, you will have a hard time at first. After living here a year, I knew I had to do something useful to the people here. Burkina is a desperately poor country, consistantly near the very bottom of any quality of life lists that the UNDP puts out. Daily life here puts you in a face to face position here with people that are dying of malnutrition, HIV, malaria and hosts of other preventable problems. You either roll up the car windows and stare straight ahead, or you do something to help. As my husband has been a consultant on hundreds of development projects, I had a very good grip on the problems with aid in developing countries. I decided not to look for a job in an NGO as I I felt it would be more frustrationg than doing nothing....all that money wasted on big trucks, air-conditioned offices and huge salaries. I looked for volunteer work in hospitals and orphanages. I found that there are huge opportunities to make a difference as a volunteer in small, grassroots organisations. They are desperate for people to help at all levels- you can take care of orphaned babies, fundraise, translate documents, run errands..... I worked for a while at an orphanage, then began my own project! With a friend who is a pediatric nurse, I set up a nutrition program for malnourished children. And with mothers of the children involved in this project, I set up a second project, "Papiers du Sahel". It is a group of 19 women that make recycled paper. It has been running for five years now. The income from this project allows them to feed their children and send them to school. I don't make a cent off the project, but it means a lot to me. It has allowed me to bond with women that have lives vastly different from mine. They helped me learn some Mooré as they told me about the intricacies of Burkinabé family life, both good and bad. I have learned a lot about polygamy, forced marriages, and domestic violence. If you are interested by the project, have a look at our site: www.papiersdusahel.org
Did you buy a new home or did you decide to rent?
What is the average cost for housing in your area?
Housing exists at all prices and levels. you can rent a small room for the equivalent of about 6 dollars a month or a luxury mansion for 3000 dollars a month. Unfortunately, houses that meet the needs of the average expat family are very much in demand and rents are relatively high. We pay 800 dollars a month for our home. It has three normal-sized bedrooms and three miniscule ones (if you put a double bed in, you can't walk around). It is about thirty years old, the roof leaks and the electrical system has a habit of bursting into flame. There is a small pool for the children and a large garden. We are lucky to have it- all my expat friends are jealous of the "good deal" we have going. Our rent has not been raised since we came nine years ago. These days, people are paying that price for houses that are much smaller- only three bedroom and no pool. Another thing to note is that the kitchens in Burkinabé houses are very bad. In general, they are tiny and miserably uncomfortable, even in huge mansions. This is because the designers assume that only your local staff will be using it. So, if you really love cooking, plan on doing major renovations in the kitchen. Most landlords will let you do these kind of improvements, but will not reimbourse you for them. You can, of course, live much more modestly, but if you want running water, electricity and tile floors rather than bare cement, prices are pretty high. There are lots of NGOs, the World Bank, the European Union, etc., all of them competing for housing for their personel and this has driven up the prices steadily.
List some things that are more expensive in BurkinaFaso
Just a few are: diapers, toys, books, ready-made clothes, shoes, laundry powder, shampoo, rent, running water, electricity, cars.....you see the direction I am going with this? Practically everything that an expat wants or needs is very costly.
List some things that are less expensive in BurkinaFaso
Locally made and grown things are very inexpensive here: millet, corn, cabbages, goats, handwoven cloth..... The only way to live cheaply here is to go completely local- no imported goods, no air-con, no grass in the garden. If you come here planning to live a "typical" expat life, just know that it is probably going to cost more than youb think. Yes, the locals live on less than a dollar a day, for the most part, but they live in mud-brick huts (yes, even in the cities) and eat very simply. Anything beyond that costs an astronomical amount.
How do you feel about the local people? Are they friendly?
You MUST learn French before you come (or at least upon arrival) - otherwise you will miss out the best thing about Burkina: the kind-hearted and friendly people! The extreme povery of this country (176 out of 177 countries in the last HD index of the UNDP) does not prevent the average Burkinabé from being open towards strangers. If you come with a spirit of adventure and some language skills, you will meet lots of great people! You have to watch out for the occasional con artist, but that's true of anywhere.
What are the good or bad things about living in BurkinaFaso?
The best thing about living here is the fact that my four children are well insulated from the consumerist, television-based culture that seems to dominate in the developed countries. Here we have no TV, no malls, no junkfood. The concept of name brands doesn't exist for them. It's hard to expalin, but my kids are very naive and very sophisticaed at the same time. They are just as happy in $10 tennis shoes as in Addias (or whatever) trainers....But they see hunger, poverty and ill-health on a daily basis and they know that we ALL have to work to stop these things. The worst thing about being here is the health risks. Meningitis , typhoid and cholera are not uncommon, along with a host of other diseases. Malaria is rampant and can easily kill you. HIV/AIDS is 30% among the disadvantaged people I work with in the city.
Do you think you will stay in BurkinaFaso, or it is not suitable for the long run?
Our plan is to move to France in 2008! We have been in Burkina for nearly nine years now and it's time to go. There are several reasons that it doesn't make sense to stay. For example, my four children will soon all be in high school and need a better academic level than is offered here. Also, the dust and pollution here are severe. I have developed asthma and allergies that make life pretty miserable (healthwise) for me most of the time here. Most importantly: one of our children has a heart condition. It has been VERY stressful dealing with the situation here. The medical care is just not acceptable. Burkina is NOT the place for you if you have health issues. Just last month a young US expat in our neighborhood died suddenly... and I know many, many people (both expat and Burkinabé) that have died here from preventable causes.
Please enter the name of your Blog
BurkinaMom's Life in Africa
Please the url of your Blog
BurkinaMom's Life in Africa
