Picture of the week
August 2006
2008: January February March April May
2007: January February March April May June July August September October November December
Gameboys
2006/Week 35
Valentin (left) and Séverin (right) are two boys who prowl around in the Burkinese bush. When they do not have to go to school or help their parents, they go out hunting for lizards and small birds armed with their catapults. The catch is to be grilled and eaten. It is not quite the same as playing with a gameboy, but at least it is real.
Cotton in full bloom
2006/Week 34
No, cotton is not coming from factories but from farmers' fields. The long white fibres of the cotton seeds are being transformed to threads and fabrics. Cotton is very important for Burkina Faso. The 'white gold' is responsible for more than half of the export revenues. This increases the vulnerability of the Burkinese economy and the dependancy of fluctuating world market prices. The competition is ruthless: how can a small Burkinese peasant not be undercut by subsidised American cotton producers?
Praying inside a sugar bread
2006/Week 33
we spent our ten days of holidays travelling through the humid and green south of the country. The grand mosque of Bobo Dioulasso on this picture is a mud construction in Sudanese style. The wooden spars that jut out from the walls support ladders and planks used during the annual repairs to the mud-render. This work used to take place at the end of every rainy season. But the folks of Bobo don't worry about it anymore: nowadays, a regularly repainted cement layer prevents the rains from pouring down the mud.
Two buckets of water
2006/Week 32
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The people of the small village Dougouri do not have any water source nearby. Hence fetching water is a hard and time consuming task, mostly for women. On the picture, you see the well that they are digging. It is already 30 meter deep but no still no sign of water. The Dougourese don't give up and continue digging courageously... |
2008: January February March April May
2007: January February March April May June July August September October November December