« Stranger than fiction | Main | Arrival in Carcassonne »

September 18, 2007

Their mine isn't theirs

I posted something the other day about the Tuareg grievance in Niger. There are big uranium mines on 'their' land, but they feel they are not reaping the rewards of it.

Well, it seems that Keith Smith is dealing with a very similar issues in the north of Burkina Faso:

"I go over to Essakane occasionally, about 40km from Gorom-Gorom, to visit the pastor there. It is one of those bizarre and disturbing paradoxes: the least developed region of the 4th poorest country in the world – and there is a rich deposit of gold there. The question is whether that gold will bring any joy or blessing to the region. Or whether – as so often in such cases – it will only be a cause of grief, conflict, degradation and immorality."

You can read the whole post here; it's well worth it.

And on a lighter note, here is a little poem which I wrote way back in 2003 about the gold mine in Monde So, near Djibo.

Posted by sahelsteve at September 18, 2007 03:27 PM