Still alive and kicking in northern Burkina! I see in Holland the weather forecast is 3 degrees, sunny and snow! Well; it’s a little different here: the sun is not shining: it is BURNING! Temperature still keeps rising. I have problems sleeping, because even during the night it is 35 degrees now. I have a fan in my room; but this does not seem to help anymore. And when I want to take a cold shower; even the water seems warm now. Working during the day is even worse!!! So I get up at 6, like everyone else: while the sun is not yet high in the sky. Between 10 and 16 it is best not to ‘travel’ long distances on a motorbike, or to go outside at all! Between 12 and 15 it is lunch time: people eat their lunch (lots of rice!) and have a nap. (I am still not fed up with the rice and I am actually learning how to cook Burkinabe dishes now!)
I have visited Nimpouya and Risci a few more times the past week for interviews and observations. Today I had a follow-up interview with the director of the Regional Office of the Ministry for Water and Agriculture in Ouahigouya which was very interesting. Something very interesting for my research has come up exactly in ‘my field’ region of research! The ministry is constructing a dam in the region; but one whole village needs to move: because when the dam is finished; the village will get flooded in the rainy season. Of course these people do not want to leave their homes, and although the government has arranged an alternative solution they do not for pay everything, so people need to pay themselves as well. However; this dam brings a lot of opportunities for the population: it means more water for everyone, possibilities for irrigation and therefore more agriculture, as well as more drinking water for the cattle of the pastoralists in the region. However; the village contains a holy mosque; which of course they can not take with them. Interesting stuff for anthropologists! I am going to visit the site and the village to interview the people there as well. It seems that everyone already knew about this for months, and even while everybody knows that I am doing research on WATER resources in rural areas, no one had gotten the idea to tell me about it, even my one interpreter! So I keep wondering; Why? And: are there more things that I still not know that might be essential for my research??! Africans have a very difficult way of communicating!
A few more interviews are planned the coming weeks, for example with ONEA; the national water association and the head of the department of Tangaye – where Nimpouya and Risci are based, as well as the village that gets flooded by the dam: Bossomnooré.
After all that, my research will be nearly finished! I really hope to have collected enough information and that my research gives a complete picture of the rural life in northern Burkina Faso, especially focussed on water resources.
I find the local language Mooré still difficult; but my French has improved pretty much. The director of the regional office of the ministry is interested in my report; but I doubt whether he will be able to read it; because it is in English!
Tomorrow it is the National Day for Women in Burkina Faso: the women do not work. And the men go to the market to buy groceries and they actually are about to prepare diner! This is a great exception in traditional African culture, where the men NEVER cook! There are parties; ceremonies and special things organised for women all over the country. Should be pretty interesting…
I have tried to check my emails on hotmail and gmail; but again the system does not work properly and I haven’t been able to read any messages since 25 Feb!
That’s all for now. Béogo!
