Echoes of Africa: Lara’s Seven Years in Burkina Faso

We are sitting in a café in Brussels, drinking a hot green tea and treating ourselves with some biscuits. There’s classical music in the background. Lara today will share with us stories about her stays in Burkina Faso, Africa, for 1 month each year for 7 years.

Hi Lara, can you introduce yourself?

Hi, yes of course! I’m Lara, I live in Brussels with my family of 3 children, my husband and a little dog. I’m Italian and I’ve lived here since I was a child. I work in the European Commission for the program European Solidarity Corps. I spent an important part of my life in Burkina Faso with my husband and today I’m really happy to tell you about my experience.

Thank you so much Lara for this opportunity! Where did you stay during your trips to Burkina Faso?

I was welcomed in a healthcare center for malnourished children’s, Centre Oasis J.B.

Did you find many aspects of life there different than Europe?

Yes, many aspects of life are obviously different. I learned a lot about African culture. Sometimes, I had the feeing that people cared more about people than about material goods. When a person was sick or had financial problems, everyone would help them whit love and material support, even if they couldn’t really afford it. Every problem was quite a big problem there, but people were also ready to enjoy life without complaining. And facing challenges with positivity. That is something I really learned and worked on during my stays there.

Can you tell us of a situation you lived there that had an impact on you?

I was at health care centre for malnourished centre, and once it happened that a child died when we were there. I accompanied the mother to her villages for the funeral. I was shocked about the situation and I found it horrible. But people there seemed to be used to it and explained that it happened quite often. I’m not saying that they weren’t sad or hurt but simply saw such events as a part of life. People also had big problems but always talked about them as here in Europe we could be talking about something trivial such as a partner cheating or an argument with a friend.

Did you find other things that here in Europe would have been odd and that there in Africa were just normal?

Yes, for example, the polygamy. I had the opportunity to have a long talk whit the wife of a village chief. He would marry more than a woman at once because he had social pressure to take care of more than one woman, due the fact that he was rich. Because he could afford it, he had to. That wasn’t the shocking thing for me, however I couldn’t believe what I heard when the woman told me enthusiastically that her husband was about to marry her own sister! She was so happy because she would live whit her sister and spend more time together.

Did you find a big difference in the price and value of the economical goods there?

Burkina Faso, at the time, was the fourth poorest country in the world. Consequently, the prices were very low. And they changed depending on who they were selling to! Being a tourist or just a white person would mean having the price doubled. Local people would pay less in a market than tourist. That’s why I used to go with some local friends to get better prices.

How did you used to spend your days there?

I used to stay in the center, and support the nurse with the children, providing food and medication. And I helped giving some children’s medical prevention classes offered to mothers by the centre.
Are you still in contact with some of the people you met there?

I’m still in contact with the family responsible for the center. The daughter, who was 10 years old when I met her, moved to Brussels to study with me at university. She studied medicine and now she is my family doctor.  I am very proud of her.

Would you go again?

Yes, my dream is to go there with my kids and to introduce them to my African family. Unfortunately, in this moment the situation is not very safe because of terrorism but I guess it will soon be accessible again.

That’s great! Thank you for your time Lara. I learned many things today.

You are welcome, it was a pleasure.

Enya Piermarocchi / S4IT / EEB1 Uccle