Cooking Burkina Style

This is a Burkanabe (pronounced Burkina bay) kitchen. All Burkina people have something resembling this even if they are fortunate enough to have a stove also. This is the preferred method of cooking. From what I can tell, cooking is a ritual that is taken very seriously. While the food is not plentiful by American standards, it is flavorful and being a good cook is something all the women are very proud of.
This is Lucienne standing in front. She is from the Fada tribe and lives with Grandma or Mame. She keeps the house very clean and is very proud of her job. She can speak some English so even the public schools are getting English taught. In fact I think the poorer schools are doing every bit as good of a job as some of the more expensive schools. She can tribal dance better than anyone else and is part of the choir at the Catholic church. She attends the tribal Mass. I would have loved to have gone but it was just too early for me. 6:00am Anyway, she is a very loved part of the family. I am sure she gets a wage, but just as importantly she is getting opportunity by living in Ouagadougou.
The other lady is Mame Salle. She is a lady who lives down the street who came to help that day. It was Mother's Day in Burkina and my first day there. So she came to help cook. The food was delicious.