Gorom-Gorom
Gorom-Gorom brings together a fascinating mix of the Muslim Fulani, Tamacheq, and Songhai peoples and cultures, particularly in evident at the colourful and vibrant market. It is a typically sahelian area, hot and dry, with a predominantly rural population struggling to subsist in a changing world of desertification and marginalisation.
Gorom-Gorom Town and Area
Gorom-Gorom is the capital town of the province of Oudalan, the most north-eastern province in Burkina Faso, bordering both Mali and Niger, and has a population of about 12000. Originally settled by Songhai, the name means: "Sit down, we are going to sit down."
It is the civic, religious, and economic focus for the province, with the governmental stuctures as well as the market and mosques.
Although parts of the town are built in cement, most people build the cheaper mud-brick houses, while the traditional mat huts of the Fulani and Tamacheq are also to be seen. This, with the sandy streets of the town and the colourful market reflect the traditional local cultures, but there are also schools, petrol station, post-office and a hospital in town. In the last 15 years, the town has acquired both running water and electricity, and a new market was built in 2005.
Gorom-Gorom is very much a sahel town, in a province dotted with scrubby acacia trees and the occasional baobab. It has the hottest, driest climate of Burkina, with hot season temperatures approaching 50C (122F). The first sand dunes of the encroaching desert are just a camel ride away. In June, with the approaching rainy season, occasional sand storms roll across the landscape, blocking out the sun. In the photo, my neighbour is filling in the holes in the mud roof of his house, in anticipation of the much-needed rain.
When the rains do come, they bring their own problems. In 2006, the town suffered floods in which half the town lost their homes. The town often gets cut off in rainy season, as the dirt road gets washed away. The road from Ouagadougou was laid with tarmac in 2006 as far as Dori, leaving just the last - and worst - 56km untreated and vulnerable to erosion with heavy rains.
The Peoples of Gorom-Gorom
The Fulani There are of course the Fulani. As in most villages across the sahel, the men are mostly found down at the cattle market, buying, selling, herding, or just watching the cattle. While debates about price go on, they crouch in the dust, or stand one-legged eyeing the animals that are their life. Fulani women, dressed often in the typical blue cloth of the Gaoob'e Fulani that dominate this region, and with silver in their hair, are in the main market. They may be selling mats they have made, buying food for the family, or just meeting up to chat with family and friends.
The Tamacheq - the light skinned Tuareg (the "blue men of the desert") and the Bella, the ex-slaves of the Tuareg nobles. There are many Bella, but not many Tuareg here. The Bella have adopted the turbans, robes, swords, camels, and language (Tamacheq) of their old masters' culture. Like the Fulani, the Tuareg's loss of their slaves has left them often ill-equipped for survival, whereas the hard-working ex-slaves are often now much better off.
The Songhai. Related to the Djerma people of Niger, this is about as far from the River Niger as the Songhai get. The name Gorom-Gorom comes from the Songhai name, meaning "sit down, we're going to sit down." The name goes back apparently to two brothers who, tired from travelling first stopped here. And one said to the other.... The Songhai have a less strict attachment to Islam than the Fulani or Tamacheq, and have many animistic practices in the surrounding, mostly more eastern areas.
Also in the market you will find Mossi from Ouagadougou, Maalleebe from Mali, Hausa from Niger, Hasania Arabs from Mauritania, Yoruba traders from Nigeria, and the occasional backpacking tubaaku, who has read his "Guide to West Africa", and come up on the bus from the capital the day before. If he has the time and inclination, he will barter a price with the local tourist guides for a camel trip to the sand dunes of Menegou, or a bush-taxi ride to the more spectacular ones 60km away at Oursi.
Gorom-Gorom Market
Gorom-Gorom market is a major market in the region, and people come from miles around to meet there each Thursday. People arrive by bush taxi, by camel, by donkey, by bicycle, or on foot. The animal market also draws locals with their cows, sheep, goats, and camels to sell. Buyers also come from far afield, including cattle traders who come from as far away as Ghana.
At Gorom market, you can buy cloth of many colours and designs, and take it to one of the many tailors there, who will make you an outfit for a reasonable price.
Among the stalls are a colourful variety of goods. There are stalls selling traditional crafts and locally-made jewllery. There is the traditional "pharmacy" with animal skins and bones being sold alongside various roots and shoots and powders. And there are vegetable stalls, with whatever happens to be in season brought up from the capital Ouagadougou
Then there is the cola-nut seller - cola nuts are a local stimulant, chewed by almost everyone, as attested to by the rotton teeth and red gums among many older people. At the butchers, you can buy a slab - or a few morsels, depending on your wealth - of goat, sheep, beef, or camel, according to what has been killed that morning.
