Under the Acacias - a blog about the Fulani of Burkina Faso: November 2006 Archives

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November 29, 2006

No Comment

I was recently the victim of a sudden attack of comment spam.

Few of my blog posts are sparkling enough to get more than one or two comments (thank you both!). So, when I saw that one of my posts had 40 comments, I suspected it was probably not an animated discussion of my observations about giant tortoises.

Sure enough, some spammer had filled my comment box with links meant to tempt you to look for cheap viagra or photos of bikini-clad ladies.

Having such poor internet access here in Gorom, I was forced to ask my long-suffering colleague, Steve, to delete the unwanted comments for me (thanks Steve!). I have also taken the precaution of closing comments for the time being to stop this happening again…

You’re Looking Old!
Keith in rice field 2003.jpg Keith at home 2006.jpg

This was another unwanted comment, made twice by different people in the last few days here in Burkina. Apparently, my beard is significantly whiter than when I was here a couple of years ago. The comment was probably meant as a compliment, and might have been joined by the other unwanted compliment: “You’re looking fat!”

You can make up your own mind from these photos of me from 2003 in the rice field, and this week in Gorom. Maybe on this occasion it is just as well the comment section is closed…

Kind and encouraging comments however can still be sent by email or SMS…

Posted by Keith at 07:22 PM

November 17, 2006

Giant Tortoises and one Fulani View of Marriage

Meet Maxwell, the giant tortoise that lives at Steve’s compound.

Steve has been getting a bit fed up with him. Not only does he continually escape from his enclosure by knocking the wall over, but he has started biting, and even charging his captors, ramming their shins with his hard shell.

We were discussing the fact that, with Steve’s forthcoming marriage, he was wanting to get rid of Maxwell, the irritating tortoise. The following conversation ensues, started by Aminata, a Fulani woman:

Aminata: Women are also irritating!
Keith: Oh? Which is more irritating, a giant tortoise or a woman?
A: They are as irritating as each other!
K: Are all women irritating? Even you?
A: Of course! A woman is like a deep hole – no matter how much you put into it, it never fills up. Even if you provide for the woman for many years, the day you don’t have enough for her, you’d better watch out!
K: So, is it better for a man not to marry…?
A: Hah! Even a chair is of more worth than an unmarried man!

The three unmarried men in the yard look bemused…

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina djibo tortoise women men marriage

Posted by Keith at 07:58 PM

November 14, 2006

Getting sorted...

Home sweet home
Work on our yard in Gorom is apparently making progress. These photos were from a couple of weeks ago before I went to Niamey.

This photo shows the yard looking towards the north. The house I am staying in is on the far left, half-hidden under the acacia tree... The house on the right is where Seydou and Monique and family live. And in the middle is Seydou’s trusty steed, the Yamaha DT 125, which I first bought for my ministry in 1991, and which Seydou is still using.

This photo, looking towards the south, shows the work starting on the new house we are building. Pastor Moumouni is hoping to move in here once it is finished. This photo was taken on Sat 28 Oct. Seydou is using his donkey cart to fetch water for the construction.

This photo was taken 6 days later on the 3 Nov. Work has continued since then, and apparently now they are ready to put the roof on.

Mobile again
I hope to head up to Djibo tomorrow with Steve and a young Aussie called Carl, and then across to Gorom on Saturday. We will – if we get the paperwork finished – be travelling in a vehicle I have just bought with the generous help of friends in the UK. I hope to be travelling a lot to visit the pastors in the region over the coming months, so this will be a great help – no more waiting hours at the side of the road for a lift with urinating goats, no more balancing precariously on top of swaying millet trucks….