Deou

Deou is a small market town in the Burkina Faso sahel area, about 60km north-west of Gorom-Gorom. It sits on a flat plain surrounded by fascinating rocky outcrops. It is a strongly Muslim town populated mostly by Fulani and Mossi.

The town has a problem with a lack of water. Apparently there used to be a spring there, but it dried up several years ago, and now many of the town's pumps are dry. In the hot season, people can wait hours to get their turn, and tempers fray. The market is every Saturday, with people coming up from Djibo as well as Gorom-Gorom to buy cattle or sell grain. The majority of people are Muslims, but there is a small church pastored by Samuel.
Roads to Deou are difficult coming up from the south through Oursi or Tasmakat. To the north is a large grassland, heading up to the Malian border. Few people live in this area, apart from some Fulani herders wandering with their cattle. There are apparently still some wild animals such as antelope, wild pigs, aardvarks, and the occasional elephant wandering around the area. In the surrounding hills around Deou are some hyenas which occasionally come and take the sheep or goats of the pastor and his neighbours.

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