An Analysis of 5 Common Jobs in Burkina Requiring No Education (in order from worst to best according to the humble opinion of the author)

Brick maker – These men wait until it is dry season and then chop and carve mud/dirt bricks out of the ground. They work all day long in the hot sun (and dry season also happens to be hot season!) chopping away at rocks with machetes. To top it all off, I don’t think bricks cost that much so all they get from this torturous work is back problems and heat stroke. *And most of them also cultivate during rainy season!
Summary: Loads of manual labor in the sun, little payoff

Farmer – Most people are farmers, even if they have another side job. As soon as rainy season begins, they set out to their field to plant their crops of corn, sorghum, millet, cotton, peanuts, or rice (usually some combination of these). In my village, some people have to walk to fields as far as 13 km away and sleep there during the height of things instead of trekking back and forth every day. However, in many other villages, the fields are planted all around the houses and village. In villages like this, one has to know where things are because you can not see houses or stores amidst the tall stalks of millet. Anyways, farmers work in their fields continuously through rainy season. My village was deserted from June until October (with some people working in fields as late as December). All of these crops are cultivated by hand so it is a very tedious and time consuming process.
Most crops like corn, millet, and sorghum, and rice are stored in storehouses and eaten throughout the year. Some might be sold but a large portion is eaten by the people who grow them. Other crops like cotton are sold, I assume to the Burkina Faso cotton company, Sofitex.
Summary: Lots of manual labor in the sun but you get food and a little money, so that’s a plus

Boutique/small shop owner – These people sit in their small, usually claustrophobically packed shack of a store selling random things all day long. Many people, especially if it’s mainly the woman of the family who holds down the fort, even cook meals next to their boutique.
Summary: Minimal manual labor, spending all day in the shade. The downfall of this job (according to the opinion of yours truly) is that you are in the same spot all day every day.

Marché lady – These women spend their days in the marché selling produce. Usually, all the ladies clumped together are selling basically the same products – tomatoes, onions, eggplants, etc. How do you pick who to buy from? I don’t know how Burkinabe do it, I just walk around awkwardly inspecting the produce of everyone in search of the prettiest looking veggies.
Summary: Similar to a boutique owner, these people have very minimal manual labor involved in their job and spend the day in the shade. The upside, though, is that even though they stay in the same spot all day, they are surrounded by their friends and get to chatter and gossip all day long.

Bush Taxi driver/loader/money taker – These people drive and ride back and forth between two destinations, picking up and dropping off passengers along the way. The loader (who is also sometimes the money taker) throws any baggage or bicycles or anything else you can imagine travelling with (goats and chickens, for example) on top of the old creaky van and ties it there. Sometimes if the van is full, they ride on top with the bags et al. I think driver and money taker are pretty self-explanatory.
Summary: you get to drive around on the open road all day, constantly meeting and talking with new people, and feeling the wind on your face. Overall, I’d say a pretty sweet gig. I wouldn’t mind doing it, that’s for sure.

Misunderstandings and Renewed Hope

A few times throughout our service, someone from the Peace Corps office in Ouaga comes to visit our humble sites. Last week, one of the staff came to visit my site. He inspected my house, finding lots of mouse holes and places where scorpions apparently like hiding (I have only seen one scorpion in my time here but he said they were the perfect scorpion hiding places). I didn’t have a gate; there is no shade-providing hangar in my yard.
Then we went to the CSPS where we had a meeting with my two counterparts. I expected it to be more of a formality than anything because here, people always like to be “informed” of things and greeted especially when someone comes from out of town. I also expected them to be given a little grief into helping me bully the carpenter into getting my gate and hangar made (did I mention I ordered them over 6 months ago, stop by at least once a week to ask about their progress, and they STILL hadn’t been made?). However, it turned into an awkward situation where my counterparts were yelled at for not working enough with me. Being an American, I do NOT like yelling but here yelling is how you get things done. While the yelling was uncomfortable, ultimately I think it was a good thing. Misunderstandings between my counterparts and I were brought to light and now I can work to fix them.
Another thing I realized after this visit was that I had been feeling a little defeated by Burkina and development work in general. I didn’t know I was feeling this way until suddenly, with some misunderstandings cleared and a spark in the form of chastisement was lit under my counterparts, I didn’t feel that way anymore. Suddenly, I’m feeling very enthusiastic and optimistic about my last 10 months here and the work I hope to accomplish.
And I’ll try to keep you posted on these endeavors as they happen
Peace out!