This morning, I bought a couple of newspapers, hoping to find some good coverage of yesterday's student protests. The stories I found were very sketchy- not much better than what I blogged here yesterday. So, I still don't know the real cause behind what happened.
The only new info I have is that the CRS riot police were NOT just shooting into the air to disperse the crowds. In fact, they shoot at the legs and feet of the students. Several are hospitalized with terrible injuries, two in critical condition.

The University grounds were completely quiet today. All classes were shut down.

After a morning running errands, I turned toward the Avenue Charles de Gaulles at about 11am only to find it blocked by riot police. And just a few blocks down, clouds of tear gas obscured the road.
Something was going on. Something not good.
When I pulled into my driveway about five minutes later, I got a text message on my cell phone. It was from the French Embassy, warning of gun fire near the University. The University which is about seven blocks from our house.
And yes, as I got out of the car, I did hear funny popping noises.
For about an hour there were spurts of gun fire. At a couple of points it got very, very loud and close. My neighbour Tony, who ventured out (brave Aussie lad) in his truck, said that the Avenue Babanguida (about four blocks away) was blocked off and the police line had reached that far.


I sat outside our gate on a log with Rasmané, our guardian, listening to the guns. We shook our heads in bafflement.
"I guess they're shooting in the air to break up the crowds?" I ventured as round after round went off.
"They wouldn't actually shoot the students, would they?"


I'd heard that the students might protest today. Beside their usual grievances of huge class sizes and irregular course hours, they have a new reason to gripe. The Burkina government that never has money to hire enough professors suddenly found the cash to establish a PSU unit. That's Police Speciale des Universités. That news was like pouring kerosine on a fire, I'm afraid. But I don't have any definite news. Nothing has been reported on the radio or TV as of yet.
And as far as I can tell, I am the first to publish this news on the internet.


Things seem calm now. It's 3 pm and there hasn't been any gunfire since about 12:30 or so.


After I got home at 11, the French Embassy then called with a warning. Nothing from the US Embassy, which is par for the course. For all the blah, blah, blah about Keeping Our Citizens Safe , the US doesn't acually do much. At all. I'm a warden for the Embassy. All they have to do is call me and I phone my list of 30 or so families and warn them of possible danger: Stay out of the University area. There is rioting and gunfire.


There are all kinds of Americans living overseas. Here in Ouaga, they are mostly do-gooders, in the best sense of the word. They are missionaries trying to help people out of poverty, NGO workers doing all sorts of aid work and the every-present Peace Corps. I really feel like the State Department could step up their commitment instead of ignoring this population every time there is violence threatening.
Since I moved here in 1999, there have been several bad incidents here in Burkina. And the US Embassy always drops the ball IMO. For example, during the police/army conflict of 2006, I had to call the Embassy to get the go-ahead to warn people. And it was not a false alarm. That night stray gun fire hit houses and killed civilians.
And today once again, the Embassy looked out for their own personel, but couldn't be bothered to at least set the Warden system in motion.
Yes, they do send out emails. But the chances of someone checking their email -especially here in Ouaga, are pretty slim. This situation merited phoning everyone to make sure the word got out and no one would inadvertantly wander into danger.


I have no other real news about what happened this morning. I'll post again if anything comes to light. And please write to me if you see anything in the international press or on the internet.

The strike has turned into a gentle respite from the pressures of daily life. Lots of folks are home from work, but there are still enough small shops and stands open that you can find pretty much everything you need. The streets are not clogged with traffic and everything is very quiet, but not creepily so.
Nice.
But I do hope that measures will be taken by the government to help their citizens face the current economic crisis. Just because the people aren't burning down the President's palace out in Ouaga 2000 doesn't mean they don't need or deserve help. JMHO, of course.


I am keeping busy with some friends visiting from France. Two guys from our home village in the Haute Savoie have been here doing a school-aid project and a training session with a bronze-maker. They've been running around Burkina for two weeks, travelling, exploring and making lumpy bronze things. Happily, they realize that their bronzes are NOT going to count as gifts for the womenfolk left back home in France, so I've had the guys out souvenir shopping for the last two days. They seem to have found what they wanted, which is good, as they leave tonight on the 3am Royal Air Morocco flight. Better them than me. The only place I want to go at 3am is bed. Luckily, they can check in at midnight, so I'll drive them over to the airport about that time tonight.
Never a dull moment around here.


I did get a comment on the blog today asking about wearing capri pants in Burkina. I'll go ahead and respond/pontificate here, as it's more comfy than over in the cramped "comments" window:

I think that capri pants and pants in general are perfectly ok for women to wear here. But I recommend that you wear them with a tunic/long shirt. The idea is to cover the bun/haunch area. Covered to mid-thigh is good. Dressed like that, you don't risk offending any of the more traditional-type people that you might want to interact with.


Now, when you arrive in Ouaga, you will occasionally see young women wearing tight pants and no tunic-type cover-up. Bear in mind that the elite Burkinabé are used to western dress. And lots of expats have no desire to fit in with the locals, so wear whatever they would wear back in France.
Also, Burkinabé protitutes dress this way.
So, if you are working with middle to lower class Burkinabé, it's much better not to set off these negative connotations of great wealth, out-of-touch foreigness or prostitution.


Certainly once you are out of Ouaga, you will have MUCH better contact with the villagers if you wear the tunic/pant combo, or even better a longish skirt. Or best of all, a pagne. It will cost you about 5 dollars and be SO worth it. I can't tell you the amount of positive contact I have with Burkinabe people, just by wearing this basic element of local dress. So think about it.

But if your job is really active or you just hate skirts, the capris will work out fine, if they are done right.


Now what you should REALLY do, everyone, is check out the latest post by Valentine. She riffs on art class and displays some of her latest work, which is FABULOUS!
I'm just saying.

The Ouaga Rumour Mill turned away like mad yesterday, but I didn’t want to post without getting some solid details.
So, here's what I learned this morning from journalist Ramata Soré this morning: Burkina is gearing up for a two-day general strike.

The peaceful demonstration I saw Friday morning near the university was actually a student strike.
At that same moment a big group of the main Burkinabe workers' unions was meeting with the national government, bringing six demands to the table- measures aimed at dealing with the dramatic cost of living increases in Burkina over the last few months .
Out of six demands, only one was met- the one dealing with the minimal prices/quantities of water and electricity for the poorest households. ( if you consume below a certain threshold, you pay at a much lower rate than households that consume a greater amount) All other demands- such as a 25% increase in salaries and pensions for many workers- were not met.
They are meeting again today, but if at least two more of the demands aren’t met, they plan general strikes for Tuesday and Wednesday.

More news: this morning, three of our household workers came to me for salary advances. They said that stocks of corn and millet are running very low in the city and they want to stock up with a few sacks each. I knew that rice was a problem, as there is already a global shortage and prices recently have reached record highs. But extremely low stocks of millet and corn in Burkina in early April is definitely a very bad sign.

I am no expert on the subject, but I’m guessing that many of the farmers are holding on to more of their grain, rather than selling it for cash. Having a granary full of food for your family has to be better than just having money which buys less and less food every day.

Me? I’m going to the grocery store to stock up. Just in case.

Then I’ll be over at Papiers du Sahel. I’ll work on making greeting cards and probably chat with the women about what they think of the latest developments.

As I tried to go into the center of Ouaga this morning, I came across hundreds of protesters near the University. They seemed peaceful, but had all of the big Blvd Charles de G. (the major East-West axis in our section of the city) blocked. I turned back and went in on a more roundabout route.
Everything seemed calm in the town center and no one seemed to know what was happening over by the University.
I went to the bank and then went to mail a small box at the post office. At the regular window, they wanted over $60 US to send a 3.5 pound package to London!
So, I went around back to where the large parcels are sent out. It seems to be completely separate from the main office and the prices were certainly better. They asked for a little over $20 dollars. (This reminds me: while I have always had good experiences at the post office here, some people don't. I just heard from a friend whose family sent her a birthday card while she lived here in Ouaga. Her parents just got the card returned to them- THREE years later! The address was ONE digit off- instead of PO box 34001, they'd written 34007. ANd that was enough to get it lost for three years and then sent back to the USA. Crazy!)

I went on to Marina Market, the biggest supermarket in all of Burkina. Don't be impressed- it's not all that big. And while the shelves seem a little less empty than over at their competition, The Scimas, there is still little variety. No cream, sour cream, or anything like that.
I also noticed that they'd put out a bunch of canned okra! I'm guessing that's something that has been languishing in the back storeroom for months (if not years) and they finally trotted it out to help fill the thinning shelves. And I bet the person that ordered it in the first place got in big trouble! Maybe we don't have many things here in Burkina, but fresh okra is cheap and plentiful. I'm guessing that the canned version, being very expensive, is going to be a very tough sell.
Shopping done (no canned okra for me, thanks), I headed back home. Near the US Embassy, I had to pull over at let a truckload of CRS agents zoom past me. They were in full riot gear, heading toward the University.
I wisely turned south and took the long way home. I would have liked to know what was going on, but I am under strict instructions from my mom to be careful. Srsly.
I tried to catch some news on the radio- which is possible, but unlikely. However, my radio chose this morning to go haywire.
So, when I got home, I asked my household helpers if they knew anything. They'd been listening to the local radio all morning and they'd heard nothing. Not a word.
But it did seem to be very low key. Maybe there's not much to report. On the other hand, why were the riot police rushing to the scene all hot and bothered?

I'll post again if I find out anything interesting, if I have time. I am sort of in full crisis management mode. For the last three years, Alexa has taken the same two heart medications. I have always bought them at the same pharmacy- one near our house. They have to order them for us, as they aren't that common here. So, every month I buy a box of each and then they order again. It was a good system... until now. When I went in last night to get a new box of Flecaine, they didn't have any. They had forgotten to re-order it! No other place in the whole country has any and it will take 6 days for some to arrive.

Why yes, I am the World's Worst Mother. Thank you for asking.
And yes, I DO feel stupid for not having a reserve box hidden away.

So, I am looking at how to fix this and Al's doctor is also trying to help.
That's my day so far.

I guess being a Published Author hasn't transformed my life into one of ease and glamour.
Rats.

Protest-free day in Ouaga.
Except for me- I'm protesting because the power is down again.

There is very bad news about the Oasis du Cheval riding club, but I don't have the heart to write about it tonight. It is very, very sad.

I picked up the phone early this morning to call a friend on the north side of Zogona, to ask if they had electricity or not. I figured that would be a good indicator of whether or not we'd keep ours in the afternoon. The line was dead. I shouted across the garden wall and asked our neighbor if his phone was working. No phone for them either.
I thought that maybe the protests had begun and the lines had been cut as a result. Luckily, I have a cell phone and was able to call around to other friends. I found out that 1. Everyone seemed to have electrical current 2. the city was quite calm and 3. the phones were out all over the Zogona/Zone du Bois area for some unknown reason.

So far, so good. The phone came back on at about 2pm. It's now 3pm and the power is still on! I've been out driving around a bit and everything seems very calm, at least on the east side of town. The University is quiet, as is the area near the French Embassy.

It looks like International Women's Day is going to be celebrated with the scheduled bike race and NOT by another wave of protests and violence, which is good!

But I certainly support the release of Thibault Nana who has been accused of "sedition" by the Burkinabé government. I hope he doesn't end up like Moussa Kaka, in jail for months with no end in sight.

The power was only off from 3pm to 8pm today. We aren't sure if the Part arrived from Germany, or we are just suddenly being accorded a little more electricity per day, but it's great!

Tomorrow is International Women's Day- a big deal here in Ouaga- but festivities might well be overshadowed by the following: The politician Thibault Nana was arrested for his involvement in the protests in Ouaga recently against rising prices. An "unauthorized" demonstration is now being planned by a group called "La Coordination de Jeune pour la Liberation de Nana Thibaut". (The Young People's Effort for the Liberation of Thibault Nana). They are going to demonstrate tomorrow (Saturday, March 8) and demand the release of Nana Thibaut.
The CRS anti-riot police will be everywhere in Ouagadougou- but rather than prevent rioting, they may well escalate things.
My info is coming from both the Ouaga Rumour Mill and a Warden Bulletin from the US Embassy, so this seems like it's really for real.
And here's an interesting point to ponder: The bulletin advises that we all avoid travel and stay out of the center of town. But the MACO (the Ouaga prison) is just a few blocks from our house. I imagine that Nana is being held there. Does that mean our neighborhood will be in the protest/vandalism zone? Hard to say.

The Very Last and Final Episode of
My Extremely Long Story About How We Visted a Winyé Earth Priest, Sacrificed Chickens, Saw Lots of Bats and Gave Away Some Cookies.

Within a few minutes, the ceremony at the Shrine of the Elephant Hunt was complete. The girls and I got out of there with what might well be described as relief.

It was over! We made it! I had the girls stand in front of the door to the hut and took a photo. (It’s the pic I posted yesterday. Now you know why Mal doesn’t look like her usual cheerful self in it. )

So, there I was standing by the door, putting the camera away and wondering why the guys weren’t coming outside. And JP says “Come back in! We had to give the gifts now at the Earth Shrine.”

There was NO WAY I was making the girls go back in, but I figured I could manage a final effort. I sent the girls to go sit in the shade and I walked back into the hut. Not surprisingly, I was confronted AGAIN by a mass of bats, this time moving out of the Earth Shrine and back to their usual home in the Shrine of the Elephant Hunt.

I waited for the traffic to die down and then made my way to the back room. There ceremony was very simple and quickly done.

Now, all we had to do was make a few social visits around the village, eat lunch and then leave. It was only about one o’clock and it was very possible that this day could actually stay on schedule!

We needed to go greet various friends/informants of JP. Not like we needed the company. There was plenty to be had in the compound of the Earth Priest, believe me. When we had arrived, it had been a quiet place, but soon after we had arrived various folks began dropping by to say “Naa Fo”. And there were the kids. Very quickly, there were about 20 of them, all staring fixedly at the twins and A. It was a bit sad, as there were many school-aged children. They all had parents that either could not afford or did not want to send them to school. And because they didn’t go to school none of them spoke French- and the girls with us spoke no Mooré. So, communication was very difficult.

After a bit, Mallory got the big bag of cookies out of the truck. I’d brought them from Ouagadougou as a sort of “ice-breaker”. And they were certainly a big hit. The girls handed out treats to each child and there was lots of smiling both sides.

After that, JP announced that we could start our round of visits. The village is quite scattered and the whole area mostly devoid of any shade or ground cover. So, it was very, very hot and very, very dusty as we crossed the village. And we were not passing through unremarked. As we walked, we collected a train of village children.

By the time arrived at our destination, we had over 80 kids in our retinue. The adults sat and drank the inevitable gourds of millet beer and the girls distributed the rest of the cookies. (See picture posted above. We can see that Mallory likes sharing cookies far more than visiting mystical bat chambers. Can’t blame her, really)

We visited a bit and then trekked back towards the Earth Priest’s compound. On the way, we stopped and visited the compound of the Griots. They are the traditional musician/praise singer caste. If I have to be reincarnated as a Burkinabé village woman (seems unlikely, but stick with me here) I fervently hope that it is as a Griot lady. They are the only village women in Burkina that seem to really have any fun. The minute we came into their compound, the women poured out of the interior of a nearby hut, laughing and joking. And soon the singing began, with impromptu and apparently very funny lyrics describing our visit. In a manner rarely seen in Burkina, the men were definitely in the background and it was a group of jolly, loud, fun women center stage, welcoming the guests.

Soon, we were back at the Earth Priest’s compound. It was 2 pm now and I was getting worried again about the deadline. If we weren’t in the truck and heading back by 3 pm, we’d have to stay overnight in Boromo. And that would NOT have been a good thing. But there was no imaginable way to leave before the meal was served an eaten.

But within a few minutes, we were ushered into a small hut to the right. You have to eat, but you don’t eat together. The Winyé are not big on communal meals. Guests don’t eat with hosts. Even in daily life, men don’t eat with the women and children, but are served first in a hut reserved for them alone.

So, Isseuf, JP, the girls and I were in our little hut, sitting on tiny wooden benches. Burkianbé benches are typically very, very low- intended to keep your rear end out of the dirt, but not by much of a margin. But as they don’t have tables, it makes sense. The communal bowls are placed on the floor and everyone digs in. We had a huge serving platter of millet tô (sticky dumplings) and a pan full of chicken parts and sauce. We ate with our fingers, in keeping with good Burkinabé non-table manners. Our twin daughters and A are quite good at this style of eating, as they all grew up eating local foods sitting on the kitchen floor with household helpers. For the less habituated, it’s hard to do without dripping sauce down your arm or onto the floor.

Soon, the meal was over. We thanked our host and hostess many times and slowly began the process of “asking for the road”.

Finally, amazingly, our visit to the village of Nanou was at an end. By three o’clock we were getting back into the truck.

With Isseuf translating for her, the Earth Priest’s wife jokingly asked if she could come along with me, as we gotten to be friendly, despite the language barrier.

I put my arm across her shoulders and asked Isseuf to say that she was coming with me to Ouaga for a nice rest and that the Earth Priest would have to do his own cooking and laundry for a while. We all had a laugh ( though actually I was more than half serious and if she shows up at my house, she’s than welcome. )

The trip back was uneventful, except for Mallory making me swear that I would never take her there again. Ever. I guess she’s not going to grow up to be an anthropologist like her dad.

Anyway, that’s it.

Really.

No more about our trip to Nanou. On to other things, which there are plenty of, believe me. Burkina is bracing for some more demonstrations against the rising cost of living here (or “la vie chere” as they call it) The US Embassy just sent out a warning that action is expected today in the town of Koudougou, not far from Ouaga. CRS Riot police are being sent out from the capitol to control any unruly mobs that arise.

Less serious, but more annoying: yesterday the electricity was cut almost all day. As the weather is getting hotter, it was not that fun trying to manage with not even a fan. Plus, I was worried about the food in the refrigerator. I was envisioning my kilos and kilos of strawberries half-unthawed and ruined.
The power finally came on again about midnight. Hope today goes better!

There are huge crocodiles in the middle of Ouagadougou. Big ones, loose in the park, that can eat your dog or your toddler. And you thought riots and meningitis were all we had to worry about!

Yesterday afternoon, Mallory asked (demanded forcefully until our ears bled) that we all go take her beloved pet, Aslan the Wonder Goat, for a walk at the park.
He hesitated to get in the back of the station wagon and had to be shoved in. He never knows if he's going to the park for nice walkies or to the vet to get huge needles jabbed into him. But when we got to the park, he hopped out very nicely and trotted alongside Mallory happily.

In the middle of the park is a marsh. I'd vaguely heard that there were crocodiles, but I never thought about it much.
I'd never seen one, but then, I'd never looked.

This time, we saw them.
As we passed the marsh, a woman called us over- "That crocodile just ate a hawk!"
We saw the croc in question. He was smallish, by local standards-about five feet long, laying on a rock. And one you spotted him, it was easier to spot all the others lounging around.
The woman went on "I was here yesterday and some white people had small children splashing in the edges of the water. I don't think they knew there were crocodiles!"
Probably not.

Besides crocs, we also have soldiers, lots of soldiers. There's still a huge military presence throughout the city, at least there was as of last night. We went out to dinner- a belated outing in honor of the twins' 10th birthday. We hadn't dared to go out on Thursday -the actual day of their birthday and of the unrest. (The two events were unrelated. I think.) See? I am reasonably cautious.

We went to a chinese restaurant with five kids stuffed into the station wagon, singing every song from High School Musical. (Who needs a radio?) Almost every corner in town seemed to have a group of five or six (or more!) soldiers standing guard.

I asked JP "Is the government really expecting more trouble?"

His take on it is that they know it's coming- it's just a matter of when.

I am off to visit an orphanage now. I will doubtless have much to post on the topic.
Also- mustn't forget that the Earth Shrine story still isn't done.
I REALLY need a less eventful life!

For excellent insight into the sitatuation here in Ouaga these day, please read this from a very good journalist living here in Ouaga ( just two blocks away from me, actually).
His is a serious blog, where you will learn useful stuff and not have to read about how he got headlice or hear him sing the praises of hot glue guns.

Enjoy.

Everything over at Papiers was fine. The women told me that when reports that demonstrations had started reached the Village Artisanale, the guards had shut the gates to the complex. No one was allowed in or out until the evening. The management was avoiding any risk of damage to the 52 craft stands and all the other infrastructure they have built up over the years. The Papiers women said it had been ok for them- they'd already been shopping for their rice and vegetables early in the morning, so they made paper all day and had a meal together.


As for what went on elsewhere- here's what I've gathered from talking to people and reading a few different newspapers:
The morning started out calm. But there was definitely a military/police presence in the city. Troops were guarding many gas stations, banks and public buildings.

Many people had stayed home from work that day. Most shops were closed, as were most schools. But this latter information was not well- publicised. I had read it in the newspapers, but the message did not seem get out to most families. Many children showed up at school, only to find locked doors. I saw dramatic evidence of this that morning at the Ecole du Plateau- a really big public school near our house. At 7am, there was a crowd of well over 100 uniformed students left milling around the gates. I thought that was quite a bad sign. High-school boys are very suceptible to getting drwn into these protests, because it seems so exciting. How many of them never went back home, but went on to join in the vandalism?


The CRS riot police were also patroling the city, heavily armed. The Observateur says it like this: "These patrols, meant to secure the safety of people and goods and to prevent any vandalism, produced the opposite effect. The presence of these men in combat gear seems to have incited people to protest"

By 9:30, people had started burning piles of tires and trash out in the streets near the Rood Woko market. The usual way of getting these fires going is for the demonstrators to grab people trying to pass by on motor scooters. They are forced to watch as their gas tanks are emptied onto the barricades. The vehicle is usually returned, as long as the person hasn't protested too much about their "donation" to the cause.


At the same time, things started up in the Patte d'Oie neighborhood, near Ouaga 2000. When I write "things" I mean: destroying traffic lights, tearing down billboards ( especially the fancy electronic ones), burning tires and trash in the streets, blocking the roads and throwing rocks at vehicles that try to pass by. When you get down to it, it's not all that horrible. Yes, stoplights are expensive to fix, but at least they aren't trying to harm anyone. Most of thsi very minor vandalism is done by students- young men mainly.

Soon after, the northern neighborhoods like Tampouey and Dapoya errupted into similar bouts of mild vandalism. Some of the demonstrators were as young as 10 years old. In fact, the news accounts and the accounts of my friends all say the same thing: the protests here were unusual because there were many very young children involved.
The police arrived and made a show of force. The demonstrators threw stones. The police replied with tear gas. Cecile (our cook) says it was terrible.- the CRS in trucks, chasing down the people (many of them children!) as they fled the gas. The worst thing was that the huge clouds of gas affected even the people who stayed home, closed up in their courtyards.


It seems that this very violent reaction (approved by the mayor of Ouagadougou, who was on the scene) set off a much more violent chain of protest- The parking lots of two government offices were immediately attacked and many vehicles destroyed. Some bank builings and other office buildings were attacked. Lots of other cars and small stands were targeted.

In Nogr Massom (not far from where we live), the local mayor quickly brought out his own "security forces". While trying to "control" the mobs, one of the mayor's friends stabbed a young man. (He is intensive care right now) This completely set off the mob that went on to destroy some businesses known to be owned by Mayor Sawadogo. The mob even went to take revenge upon the daughter of the man that stabbed the protester. She was spared by the intervention of her neighbor, a Protestant minister.


SO, the protest against the high cost of living quickly turned into a protest of other things as well- such as shows of excessive force by the government and the attitude of the elites toward the average person.

That's as much as I know about it.
Today has been quite calm. As I drove through town today, I saw the black marks of the fires all over the streets and a few broken windows. The broken traffic signals were more of a problem. Traffic in Ouaga, already bad, just got a lot worse.
There's a huge military presence in the city - near the Moro Naaba's palace, I counted at least 60 stationed there. Truckloads of riot police are cruising around.
But I imagine that the weekend will be quite calm. I hope.
Still no email. Sorry.

Ouaga is recovering today. As I drove into the center of the city this morning at 7am, I saw soldiers and CRS agents (riot police) stationed at many intersections. The newspaper vendors were more busy than usual, too. Everyone that can read is eagerly searching for news, as so little was available yesterday. I managed to get a hold of three different ones. The headdline of the Observateur Paalga reads: "Business Dead, City Hot".
But most of my information this morning is coming from our driver(Mahama) and our cook, Cecile. They both live in the neighborhood of Tanghin (23). Along with the Patte d'Oie (15) at the opposite end of the city, it was among the hardest hit areas.

I need to get over to the Paper project now, so this is just a quick update to tell you all that we (and all our friends and helpers) are fine.

Also, there are still problems with the internet here. I couldn't get on at all yesterday afternoon and evening. And I still haven't been able to access my email. So, sorry about any messages I'm not answering. If it's urgent, it will reach me best through the "comments" on this blog.

In my next post (this afternoon, I hope) I'll write about yesterday's events from the point of view of Mahama and Cecile, who were in the midst of it all.

I was just finishing up typing my blog entry for the day about half and hour ago. It started out “The day of protest and demonstrations here in Ouaga has begun quietly, for most of the city”

I was interrupted by a call from our driver, Mahama, who we’d given the afternoon off. He told us that the protest here is Ouaga was heating up and that no one should try to go out. JP should definitely not try to get back to his office at the IRD.

Though things are calm here in the Zone du Bois where we live, the city is erupting into violence in the north, center and south. Mahama told us that one person has been killed.

I went into the kitchen to listen to the the local Mooré radio station with Fanta. We heard local grassroots activist Thibault Nana exhorting everyone to come out and join in the protests. In particular, the target is the ultra-rich neighbourhood called Ouaga 2000. It’s where the people that held last weekend’s chic birthday party live. President Campaoré lives there, too, in a mind-bogglingly sumptuous palace (Yes, I have been inside as a guest. I was his daughter’s sunday school teacher. True story).

The government had tried to head off major trouble by announcing yesterday afternoon that import taxes on certain staple goods would be lifted for the next three months. This was pretty tricky on their part. I think they counted on the fact that most Burkinabé people (who don’t have much education) would misinterpret their announcement. Maybe I’m being unfair- but I’m not so sure.

As an experiment, I asked some of our household workers about what they had heard on the radio. They told me that the government was lifting import taxes and that within three months, prices would all be back to normal.

Ummmm….no.

I have read the press accounts in three different newspapers this morning and they all say the same thing: The import taxes will be annulled for three months, starting today. Prices might not go down immediately, as merchants sell older stock that they already paid tax on. But within a short period, prices ‘should’ come down. (NB: How this would happen was not made clear. They just seem to trust that all the merchants will lower their prices to pre-tax enforcement levels. We may equally imagine that some of them will lower their prices just a smidgen, so that prices are somewhat more palatable to the public, but they make larger profits than ever, thanks to the abolished taxes.)

When the grace period is over, the idea is that import tax will be reinstated. And I don’t think they have much choice. Bretton Woods institutions frown deeply and get crabby when governments fail to collect taxes.

Anyway, all the government could have hoped to do was gain a small breathing space- this was no real long-term fix.

But the government plan for peace and order was defeated because- guess what? It looks like Thibault Nana (and probably lots of other smart folks) know how to read. Foiled again, Blaise and fat cat pals! Nana and others no doubt listened to the radio, read the newspapers and immediately realized that the Burkinabé people were being thrown a bone. An insultingly tiny rotten bone.

When I woke up this morning, I didn’t know what to expect. I ventured into town twice (Curiosity hasn’t killed this cat. Not yet, anyway!) and found most of the shops and stands closed. Most of the larger gas stations were open, but heavily guarded by soldiers. At the Total station alone, I counted 10.

As we drove down the road, I noticed that visibility was quite bad . You could only see a few blocks ahead because the air was so hazy. It turns out it was mostly smoke from burning tires over in sectors 10 and 11 to the north of the city center. Friends tell me that the protests there started early this morning in these areas, also known as Hamdalaye and Ouidi . People living in those neighbourhoods couldn’t get out and go to work and people needing to pass through them were trapped as well.

Still no internet at home, so I have once again ventured into the city center to post the latest news, which is there is lots of and check emails. Yes, I was finally just now able to get at my messages, but I still can’t send any.

Here’s the lastest:

While Ouaga has escaped any violent protests this week, other towns in Burkina have not been so lucky, as I explained yesterday. Bobo and Ouahiagouya exploded on Wednesday and one death has been reported, along with lots of damage throughout the town. Even today most people there are staying hoem and many businesses are closed- that’s the word from Mahama’s nephew that lives there, anyway.

Yesterday afternoon brought reports that protests and rioting had begun in Banfora. It’s a moderately sized city in the far west of the county. Kind of charming. The sugar industry is based there and it’s also near many tourist attractions, so it’s quite an important place here. I don’t have any specific news yet about how much damage has been done .

Many people here believe that this is not the end of the troubles, by any means. Until the government forces vendors to adhere to the price controls already in place and adds controls on other necessities, protests will spread. Rumors and printed flyers are multiplying. Yes, the protest factions are actually organised, to a degree. Ouagadougou’s protest demonstration is “officially” scheduled for Feb 28. But the rumors are more diffuse- The protest here could be on Monday, Thursday, Friday, or all three, if folks are really enraged.

This in mind, I went to the grocery store to stock up on supplies. I found the center of town choked with soldiers, Russian-made machine guns slung across their backs or carried for more convenient access. Looks like the government wants to discourage any ideas of a protest here in the capital.
I quickly did my shopping and headed over here to the cybercafé to post this. Then I’ll grab the kids at school and get them back to our calm, soldier-free neighbourhood.

With all the unrest around here, I listen to the radio more often. Reports of the rioting of the past two days even made it onto RFI (Radio France International) It's the French national news station- similar to NPR in the USA. Eldest Daughter calls it “RFB” -Radio France Boredom.

I am out of time. And I doubt I’ll be able to post on the weekend. Saturday we are having the twins’ birthday party, so I’ll probably be busy all day.

I think the « worst » is over. Not that I’ve been miserable the last week or so. Far from it. I’ve been very busy, but it’s been fun, in a strange, tiring way. My days since I last blogged have mostly been filled up by work at the VAO. I’ve been working there nearly every day from 8 until 3. Then I rush home to do all the computer stuff for the project: print labels and bills and keep up with the emails. My own computer stuff ( most notably: the writing of blog entries) kind of fell by the wayside. Actually, some people find it’s amazing that I blog at all. When I casually mentioned to friends in the USA that I have a dial-up connection here at home, they found it oddly quaint. “Wow, Beth!” they exclaimed. “We did not know you were Amish, shunning all modern conveniences. Do you card wool in your spare time?”
I admit that it does take about five minutes to open a single web page, but on the upside, it does give me lots of time to read while I wait.

There were also extra singing rehearsals in the evenings, not to mention the hoemwork to supervise and the dinner to get on the table.
I did take last Wednesday off from the VAO, though. The French Embassy closed the kids’ school, as it was the anniversary of the murder of Norbert Zongo and they feared demonstrations in the center of town. I remember when we arrived here in 1999, that December 13 was the one year anniversary of the event. It was chaos for weeks here- mobs were burning cars in the streets and public services, like water and electricity were cut off for days at a time. By New Years’ Day I was ready to leave the country, or at least to buy a gas-powered generator. Things calmed down by the summer, but heated up again the following December. The government here has learned to be cautious. Their first line of defence is to start the University holiday before the 13th.- that way the students are dispersed back to their home villages and protests are less likely to start. It seems to have worked, things were very quiet this year- just a few, rather quiet gatherings.
I used my free Wednesday with the kids to make Christmas cookies with them and a few of their friends. We also went to pick up two new family member: baby guinea pigs. Mallory’s is called “Bubbles” and Alexa’s “Patches”, aka “Albert”. They squeak a lot, as guinea pigs are prone to do. Their arrival has brought lots of opportunities for me to gross-out the kids with stories of how I was constantly served those small, noisy creatures as a main course at meals when I worked in Peru years ago. Not that I ate any, mind you.
What else? There was Christmas carolling at the US Ambassador’s residence on Friday night. Later that night, my small (only 8 people!!) choral group gave a small concert for family and friends.
Yesterday, our church held an early “Noël” mass, as so many members travel during the holidays. Then we went out to diner at the Verdoyant with friends.
I am fighting off a dreadful cold since about one week. I think I am loosing, as it is segueing into an uncomfortable cough.
Today, I am NOT working at the VAO!! I got down the box of Christmas dress-up close and the kids and their friends put on a very entertaining re-enactment of the Nativity. My camera conked out at the beginning, so I only have one, not very good, picture that Blogger won't even let me publish. Sorry. At least there was no fight over who got to be Mary, as might happen in other households. Luckily, Mallory always wants to be the animal in any pretend play the kids do. If there’s no animal in the story, they add one for Mallory. (Recently overheard: “And the secret agents have a rabbit, ok Mal? And she has x-ray vision and can bite people!” ) So, Mallory latched right onto the coveted donkey role. She sported unusually small ears. Maybe a result of that genetic engineering that we are always hearing about?
The nativity play went pretty well until Valentine, dressed as a shepherd, ran off with the Christ Child in her arms, yelling “And THEN Baby Jesus was kidnapped by an ambitious, unscrupulous shepherd who wanted to get his hands on the treasure of the Three Kings! Hand over the Myrrh or the baby gets it!!” Screaming bloody murder, the Angel, Joseph, Mary, King and the Donkey chased the Evil Shepherd into my office where I was TRYING to write this. No wonder I never get anything done.
That’s it. I need to go make chocolate mint pinwheel cookies and get ready for another church service this afternoon. We’re going to the Christmas worship being held by several missionary families. The kids aren’t too pleased to go to church again this weekend, but I promised them that the music and snacks will be excellent, so they are going without too much protest.