Thursday, March 31, 2011

Civil Unrest in Burkina--

The recent reports out of Burkina are:

  • Military in FadaN'Gourma have shot a rocket into the local courthouse and blocked the city off with tanks.

  • Simon Campaoré, mayor of Ouagadougou, was attacked by military and his home was ransacked. Simon Campaoré is considered third to rule in Burkina (behind the President and the Prime Minister)

  • Blaise Campaoré, President of Burkina Faso, is scheduled to meet with the military tomorrow (Thursday) as he calls for calm. It appears his calls have been ignored. It is suggested Blaise is "between the devil and the deep blue sea" (entre le marteau et l'enclume). This dilemma is rooted in the balance between justice and the desires of the military.

  • The University of Ouagadougou reopened today. The atmosphere appears be calm.



Here in Yako, things are calm. The children went back to school on Monday of this week. They were out of school for 5 weeks due to the unrest. The government has extended the school year and the standardized testing dates by 2 weeks to allow the students a little time to catch up.

Marshal Law was established last night throughout Burkina. This means that no one is to be on the streets from 9 PM until 6 AM.

We were out last night and were returning home at 8:50 and everyone whether on foot, moto, or bike was scurrying to get off the streets by 9.

4 comments:

Brittany said...

Thanks for posting to let us know all is well in Yako!
Praying for peace. Much love.

Sara said...

We are praying, Ruth, for your safety and for peace in Burkina. God has a plan.

Lisa and Ben said...

Hi Ruth, My name is Lisa, I'm a Canadian living in Ouagadougou. I hope things weren't too stresful out at Yako. It was a little tense here in Ouaga.

I would be interested in hearing about your work at the Orphanage in Yako. Our company is interested in providing support to a school or agency near any of our sites, and we have a site located at Kalsaka mine. I'm trying to figure out how you can best contact me without posting my phone number etc on a public blog (I'm busy enough!). Does the orphanage have a contact?

You can see my blog at
LisaBenAfrica.blogspot.com and comment there to reply if you want. Until I think of something else! Cheers.

Anonymous said...

www.sheltering-wings.org