Due to slavery, Burkina Faso is one of the poorest places on the planet. The majority of the population is stripped and undergoes the stress of inflation, the continuous increase in costs for basic necessities. I will discuss and explain in a sincere manner, the effects of the high cost of living felt by the Burkinabe in their everyday lives.

Our family, like a great number of others in the region, are underdeveloped. This is visible on many levels. Since we are directly affected by inflation, living conditions are unstable. There is no guarantee that we will have something to eat each day. Even two meals a day are not assured. The food shortage is so evident that you can read it on the faces of the Burkinabe and in their skeletal bodies. They are very skinny. In addition, we cannot eat well because of the insufficient quality and quantity of our poor monotonous meals.

Without doubt, this is a direct consequence of the inflation of prices for basic necessity items such as food. Rice, oil and various condiments are increasingly inaccessible for those of us with low incomes. We eat two times a day, never forgetting to share the little we have with other “COCOS” (those with empty stomachs) in the Christian spirit of charity and solidarity. (Remember that the Mossi, the upright man, is not only known for his hospitality to foreigners, but also for his solidarity to others. These two words are legendary). Most days, we find ourselves in front of the kiosk in the morning drinking black coffee with a little sugar to resist and forget about our hunger. The coffee allows us to not feel hungry the entire day, however, you must admit this will have consequences on our health.

Our misery does not end with food. We equally know the problems with health, employment, housing, and education here. There are many in this area that still do not have access to drinking water. This is the case with my parents who are located a long way from a spring. Also, school age children cannot all attend school or be educated because their parents do not have the sufficient means. In the United States, we can have three or four jobs, but here we have difficulty finding one, no matter what it is. The youth gather unemployed around a pot of tea.

It is difficult to meet other needs in addition because of unemployment. Personal and some of the most elementary needs remain unsatisfied. Without money, the absence of a means of transportation limits my classes and confines me to the house because is in an isolated area without access to buses and tarred roads. Therefore, it is impossible to be at the internet café to browse.

Concerning needs, they are also impacted by misery. The community of Burkinabes only has one preoccupation, futbol, However, the youth have little interest in it. We practice on rocky terrain and play barefoot. However, there is a game that adapts well to our situation. It is the game of Ware. In this game, two people can find shade under a tree or hanger and they dig twelve holes, a pair of six holes in a straight line side by side. They put four pieces (rocks/marbles/pebbles/small balls) in each hole. The first player takes on set of four pieces from any of the holes on his side and distributes one into each hole following it. Every time he lands in a hole with pebbles/pieces he must pick them all up and keep distributing. He can continue until his last piece is put into an empty hole. Then it is the next person’s turn. Every time you create a hole with four pieces you can pick up those pieces as long as they are on your side of the board. If it is on the other person’s side, it is for them. The only time you can pick up four pieces from a whole you created on the other person’s side is if that group of four pieces was created with the last piece/pebble in your hand. The person who collects the second to last group of four gets to collect the remaining pebbles. At the end of the game, each person counts how many groups of four they have. The one with the most groups of four wins the game.

There are many other problems experienced here, which are unfamiliar to you, concerning marriages with dowry, funerals, and generational conflicts, just to name a few.

To conclude, it is important to note that the misery here is the source of many social problems such as juvenile delinquency, prostitution, alcoholism, drugs etc. Our situation is becoming more lamentable, but despite the financial and political constraints, we are looking for a remedy and happiness in communing with God and with foreign brothers such as you Americans.

- Lazare Dakoure (Burkina Faso)

*translated by Debbie First-Quao (Mali)