Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is not a famous poet. Burkina Faso is not a brilliant scientist either. Burkina Faso is definitely not an ancient philosopher.

Burkina Faso is a country in West Africa. The UN recently ranked it as the third poorest nation in the world. Burkina Faso has an estimated life expectancy at birth of slightly under 50 years of age. The median age of its inhabitants is under 17. Despite the economic hardships that are not foreign to the residents of this impoverished country, they have showed amazing resilience that can teach most of us a lesson in perseverance.

Only half of the population has access to clean water and experts claim that soap-washed hands can decrease diarrhea-like diseases by 40%. As such, many women and children in Burkina Faso have started sorting through toxic refuse from nearby factories, often protected (if at all) by just dish gloves and rain boots, looking for potash. Potash is a potassium salt, which the women and children boil in oil drums and mould the product into soap balls to be sold on the streets.

There are many time when I can whine and think that a situation is impossible to overcome. I can only shame myself when I think of the women and children of Burkina Faso. Through their resilience, creativity and determination, they have made the best of their situation. I am nowhere near their situation so I have no right to whine.

I can only tell myself to keep on pushing, keep sifting through the toxic waste, and create something good out of a rotten situation.