Burkina Faso .....

You know I just like saying Burkina Faso. It is like the song from the Lion King "Hakuna Matata". It's catchy. When I tell people we are going to Burkina Faso in September they always ask, "Where is that? I've never heard of it." Well, let me share with you a little about Burkina Faso from a web site. In the next couple of weeks as we open up on-line registration for our missionary women there and in surrounding countries I will ask them to share some things with us about being there. Burkina Faso is slightly larger than Colorado, Burkina Faso, formerly known as Upper Volta, is a landlocked country in West Africa. Its neighbors are Cote d'lvoire, Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, and Ghana. The country consists of extensive plains, low hills, high savannas, and a desert area in the north.

According to ACEI  http://academicexchange.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/20-facts-about-burkina-faso/    

1. Capital of Burkina Faso is Ouagadougou. Written as “Wogodogo” in the Mòoré dialect, it literally means “You are welcome here at home with us”.
2. It is located south of the Sahara Desert.
3. It was formerly known as Upper Volta, and adopted its current name after it gained its independence from France August 5, 1960.
4. The official language is French, since Burkina Faso was colonized by France. Other languages spoken include Mòoré, Gourma, Fulfulde, Dioula, Tamasheq.
5. Nationality: Burkinabe.
6. Burkina Faso has a population of 16.3 million.
7. The Mossi is the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso.
8. Want to speak a little Mòoré? “Yam Kibaré?” (How are you?) And your response: “Laafi Bala, La Yamba?” (I am fine and you?)
9. Gold is Burkina Faso’s main export, followed by cotton and animal products. Burkina Faso is Africa’s largest producer of cotton. In 2010, almost 80% of the cotton planted in Burkina Faso was grown from genetically modified seeds. Burkina is second only to South Africa as Africa’s largest producer of biotech crops (100% of it cotton), and had the world’s second-fastest growing acreage of biotech crops after Australia. The Monsanto Company remains a major partner in this endeavor. (Source: U.S. Department of Statehttp://www.state.gov/outofdate/bgn/burkinafaso/201466.htm)
10. Limited Brands/Victoria’s Secret is looking to expand the quantity, and improve the quality and value, of organic cotton it has imported from Burkina since 2009 (currently only 1% of the market), as well as to improve significantly the livelihoods of the primarily women farmers. (This is interesting, given the information noted in #9.)
11. Most food in Burkina Faso comes with sauce. Staple foods are sorghum, millet, rice, maize, peanuts, potatoes, bean, yams and okra.
12. About 80% of the population relies on subsistence agriculture.
13. Popular sports in Burkina Faso are: soccer, handball, cycling, basketball and boxing.
14. Burkina Faso is home to 60 different ethnic groups, each with their own variety of folk music.
15. Burkina Faso is a leader in African art and culture and hosts the largest craft market in Africa.
16. The Bobo, one of the ethnic groups in Burkina Faso make large butterfly masks, painted in stripes of red, white and black, which are used to invoke the deity Do in fertility ceremonies. The Mossi are known for their antelope masks. The Lobi carve wood.
17. 60% of the population is Muslim, while 19% is Catholic, 15% are Animists, and 5% are Protestants.
18. Burkina Faso is prone to severe droughts. Burkina Faso suffered droughts in the early 1970s and the early 1980s.
19. The school week runs from Monday through Saturday. Schooling is in theory free and compulsory until the age of 16. According to UNICEF, only 81% of students reach the 5th grade.
20. The University of Ouagadougou founded in 1974, was the country’s first institution of higher education. The Polytechnic University in Bobo-Diolasso was opened in 1995. The University of Koudougou was founded in 2005, replacing the former “Ecole Normal Superieur de Koudougou.”

So, hope that gives you a little insight. Please go to the web and read all about Burkina Faso by just typing in the name. In the meantime please pray as the team goes to work in preparations for the trip. We have a couple of spaces still open if you believe God is directing you to be on board with us. Email me at vickie@purejoyinternational.org. Also, it is time to start giving to help sponsor the women that will be attending this retreat. It takes $500 to sponsor a missionary woman to attend for 4 days, 3 nights free of charge to her. Please consider giving towards the sponsorship of these ladies because it is worth every penny to see them restored back to the relationship with God, husband (if married), family, ministry, etc. If you can't sponsor a missionary please give. Remember God's word tells us in so many ways, “the least will be the most". Give what you can and He makes the difference! Amen!

Love you all,

His,

Vickie