UKC

Be honest.

How many of you had ever heard of Burkina Faso or could have shown where it was on a World Map before the current shoot out with terrorists?

In reply to Trangia:

I could.

In reply to Trangia:

Me too... capital called Ouagadougou.... how cool is that for a name?

In reply to Trangia:

I've heard of it, and I think it's somewhere in Africa but couldn't pick it out on a map.

In reply to Trangia:

Back at school, the geography teacher once said "50p for anyone who can name the capital of Upper Volta" and was amazed when I correctly answered Ouagadougou! My favourite book as a kid was an Atlas, but in this case I knew the answer because of a joke in a Not the nine o'clock news book.

In reply to Trangia:
For sure I could!

But then I used to live nearby in Mauritania and have travelled in Mali

In reply to Trangia:

I could, we did a case study on it in GCSE geography.

In reply to Trangia:

I wrote a report on American counter terrorism operations in the Sahel a few years ago. Burkina Faso was only mentioned in passing (mainly Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Algeria), but it does mean I at least know where it is! (And it does have the coolest capital city name in the world)

It used to be called Upper Volta which in security circles was made famous by someone (can't remember who) referring to the USSR as "Upper Volta with rockets" as the USSR teetered.

In reply to Trangia:

Me also. There was a weird African coup d'etat there last year.

D

In reply to Trangia:

I'm not on Facebook but my girlfriend is. I haven't seen too many people changing their profile pictures to the Balian (sp.), German, Turkish flag (and many more countries and their nations who have experienced or lost people through terrorism) as they did for the victims of Paris.

I do wonder how people work sometimes.

Maybe 23 people losing their lives isn't enough for people to be "upset" and change their profile picture.

In reply to Trangia:

I'm moving to Ghana in a few months. Burkino Faso is just next door. Cause for concern. Easy to blend in on the streets of London and not make yourself a target. Not so easy in Africa.

In reply to Trangia:
In reply to greylag:

This is a reflection prompted by these posts, not in any way a criticism of those who posted them:

I worked as a consultant for one of the UN Agencies in Burkina Faso on a rural livelihoods support project, around 2002 to 2004. I stayed in Ouagadougou a few times on the way to and from our field sites. The Hotel Splendid looks familiar - I might even have stayed in it. I have memories of a dusty and non-descript but culturally vibrant city ( The Pan African Festival du Cinema was on during one of my visits) and fun nights out with my Burkinabe co-workers. So to me, this attack is as sad and shocking as an attack on Paris.

Though I'm sure everyone here feels sympathy for the victims and anger and despair that these things continue to happen, it makes sense to me that we were collectively much more deeply shocked by Paris. It's a lot closer to home, more of us have been there and we are more likely to have friends who live there. Also, Paris is symbolic to the world and our way of life in a way that Ouagadougou is not. It is not that Parisian lives matter more - we are just more strongly affected by things that connect to our own lived experiences and social networks. How human of us!

I think I'd also have to check a map before pointing confidently at Burkina Faso.

Eddie

In reply to EddieA:

Nice post, thanks.

In reply to EddieA:

Exactly right but how very human of us not to be affected by something we're not connected to.

In reply to greylag:


Yes it's completely natural and not wrong in any way. Strange how people call you out on this subject quite often - especially on facebook.

Really annoys me. No one ever has a go at me when I don't go to the funeral of the neighbour 9 doors down the road who I've never spoken to in 7 years.

Wally

In reply to Trangia:

If people followed the African Nations Cup then they might have been curious where BF was, given their surprise appearance in the final in 2013 (lost 0-1 to Nigeria), plus they have been previous hosts.

Also Chelsea have played a BF player in the Champions League and Premiership.

So the problem is probably not enough interest in football, as Albert Camus (nearly) had it:

"what I know most surely about geography and the duty of man I owe to football"

In reply to Trangia:

I spent two weeks there back in 2012, a week in Bobo Dioulasso and a week in the capital, Ouagadougou.

In reply to Trangia:

Yes and Yes - another atlas nerd here

In reply to Trangia:
I'm going to have a look at a map and see if Burkina Faso is where I think it is! I'll report back.

More or less, I suspect with a blank map I would have a good chance of mixing up Burkina Faso with Benin or Togo.

In reply to Trangia:

Be honest, there's thousands of places you haven't heard of or could place on a map. Many of them will remain that way for you.

In reply to Trangia:



South of Croydon, just along the A23 after Chipstead?

In reply to The New NickB:



Without looking BF is the blob shaped one inland, Togo and Benin thin ones on the coast? Is that right?

Getting all thin ones right would be tough.

In reply to MG:


Yes, BF is landlocked, although I wasn't sure of that until I looked. I knew it was next to Ivory Coast.

In reply to David Martin:

I wouldn't worry to much about living in Ghana...I've been here in Accra 6 years and its very safe. In many aspects I'd say safer than many (most?) European cities. It is a concern having such stuff happening relatively close by but I suspect you'd be more likely to suffer a terrorist attack in London than Ghana....

In reply to Rob Oram:

Agreed. Its a long commute from Mali to Accra, let alone Ouagadougou. The bigger concern is keeping the fridge cooled with the power outages.

Hopefully the north of the country continues to be calm though. Religious relations seem good but it would be a shame for somewhere so relatively stable to become embroiled.

In reply to Trangia:

Used to be called Upper Volta, changed to Burkina Faso in 1984. Studied it for the regional element of my Geography A level as part of West Africa.

In reply to Trangia:

Yep. Could show it on a map and name its capital no problem.

In reply to Trangia:

Yes, I could. A few years ago I learnt all the African countries, their capitals and where they are on the map. I.m not sure if I could remember them all now, but I can remember Burkina Faso!

In reply to David Martin:

The good news is the power outages seem to be improving...almost no outages since returning after Christmas. Bad news is it costs a lot more due to lovely price increases....