I know. I never post on Saturdays. Usually Saturdays are busy with travel to Hillsdale and dance classes all day.
However, this is a very unusual Saturday.
To begin with we were supposed to get ANOTHER storm. After 2 days of being on a weather advisory, it was canceled saying the snow and mess would be through the middle of Ohio and Indiana. Then last night we were put back on a hazardous outlook.
Well we woke up to really rotten winds, but little snow. Thank God because we just can’t take anymore. However, just as I began to call our dancers I started to get calls from west of Ann Arbor and east of Hillsdale. I guess they were getting the storm after all. Then while paying for Matt and I’s lunch today the sales clerk informed us that Toledo got 15 inches of snow.
So I guess we can put up with one day of 40 mile an hour winds and really cold wind chills.
Now the real reason we canceled classes was because Merry’s flight to Florida to get on her cruise ship was not event free and this morning Ouagadougou was in demonstration or riot mode again. I just really felt that with everything going on we needed to be close to home today. Besides that when it is this cold, the dance studio in Hillsdale never does warm up properly. And we are very, very unusually cold for March. I would tell you exactly what our temp is, but the internet is temporarily down. Due to the high winds I am sure. Update: 21* at 4:30pm. I told you we were cold.
Well, as of 3:00pm today Merry is safely on her ship. They flew out of Flint just fine. However, this nasty storm was across the whole length of the US and so they were grounded in Atlanta for several hours. Eventually they were able to fly late last night and did get to their motel. Maybe a little bleary eyed, but they made it. This morning they took a bus from the motel to the cruise dock. Temps were pleasant and sunny from all reports. I am so grateful for cell phones.
As of 9:00am Michigan time and 2:00pm Ouagadougou time things appeared to be pretty quiet. I talked with Rakieta first and she was busy with her sewing work and picking out some clothes brought back to her from Israel. I asked if they were Israeli clothes or American clothes and she told me they were American so I am not sure on the story, but the gist is that western clothes were brought in via Israel.
She told me that the talk was that the problems in her country were due to the Burkina Ambassadors in the US. I told her “No, the problem was a lot bigger than that.” Next I talked to my American friend who is living near Grandma and the girls. She explained that their neighborhood was very quiet. She had been very concerned because the jail was only a few blocks away, but all was quiet when we talked.
Ouagadougou has had intermittent problems with electricity for the last 2 weeks and today all land telephone lines were non functioning. Cell phones were coming in fine. (Did I already mention how grateful I am for cell phones?) No one seems to know if this is a coincidence or not.
After listening to everyone’s point of view and reading many articles, I think I understand what is going on. By the way, thanks to all the blog posts. Things are getting easier and the world wide web is working. This time around there are several pages on the subject. Last year when the first trouble started, there was virtually no information.
Ok, here is my not so professional summary:
A year ago at Christmas, there was civil unrest. At the time all I could get was that someone accidentally let off a gun and it caused problems between the police and the military. They apologized to one another and things were all better.
Well, it seems things are a little more complicated than that. In 1998, a man named Norbert Zongo and several other people were killed. At the time he was reporting on corruption in the government and towards the people. It is widely believed that he was murdered by the president's brother. The only person ever charged in the murders-there were several-was pardoned. While it is over and done with, the people have not forgotten . In fact, the demonstrations in December of 2006 stem from the government's refusal to allow the people to hold a public day in memory of Zongo's death, which had been happening in years prior.
In the meantime, the government, decided that it wanted the “gift” money being given to customs agents by the merchants to make sure that they were getting their goods quickly and smoothly.
Now anyone who understands W. African culture understands that you give small gifts as tokens of generosity and it is the polite thing to do. For example, when I go I will give candy to Rakieta’s siblings and a small gift to each wife of her father and on and on. I need to take several things just for that purpose. It doesn’t have to be expensive just thoughtful. The same custom applies to greetings. You need to ask about all the people in the family and be willing to take the time to listen if there are problems that need to be talked about.
Anyway, the government decided that the gift money should go to the government. So they raised taxes very quietly and they were enforcing the taxes pretty heavily. That caused a lot of ruckus and discord and messed up a very good system albeit different than the way westerners handle things. Now the merchants were forced to drive up prices in order to pay their bills.
Well, the average Burkanabe just can’t carry those prices on their backs. Incomes are very low there. They are 2nd from the bottom with the GNP. They keep swapping off with Niger for the lowest place, but lets face it, they have no standard of living. Therefore $3.50 for a liter of cooking oil is just out of the question. Couple that with the silly inconveniences like no electricity or water for days on end and it makes people really, really grouchy.
Needless to say, opposition parties are being formed and demonstrations are being planned. In reaction to the demonstrations, the riot police came out and made a big presence and then pandemonium broke loose. Many people were arrested during the one on BoBo-Dioulasso and then in Ouagadougou. One of the people arrested was Thibault Nana, a guy who was originally part of the current government cabinet but became an opponent for many reasons but especially for the disappearance and his feelings of lack of justice over the Zongo situation. He was arrested too during the mayhem last week and now rumors are afloat that human rights are being violated. There were around 200 people arrested over all this. Because of the human rights messiness, it has now peaked the interest of press worldwide.
Is this the end of things? I doubt it. The current president came into power through a bloody coup so his whole presidency is not exactly legitimate in the way westerners understand elections. The entire region does have little bursts of crankiness periodically and Burkina has been very stable for many years, BUT things have reached a boiling point. You can’t constantly raise the standard of living for certain people at the expense of the little guy , leave infrastructure in shambles, refuse to get basic things like hospitals, water and electricity under control , have a large portion of the populace without even basic food, build luxury after luxury for your little elite community and not expect to eventually have a meltdown.
In addition, even in a place like Burkina, cell phones and internet have become common place So information and communication is now available to everyone rich or poor, educated or not.
Like the situation with the illustrious Mayor Kilpatrick here in Detroit, me thinks the party is over in Burkina. I just hope things can be resolved in a peaceful way and real justice does prevail. These sweet, gentle people have worked and toiled and deserve the right to human dignity and decent living conditions.
For more info on this visit: www.freedomhouse.org Then look for Burkina Faso. Sorry my link abilities are not yet competent.
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