Under the Baobab
They gather in the shade of a baobab, about 20 men and women of all ages, some with babies on their laps. They are here to learn how to read Siamou, their mother-tongue. Moussa, the teacher, guides them through a series of pronunciations and leads them into words that eventually create a story about a man and a woman who are caring for their sheep.
The sentence structure and progression reminds me of the “Dick and Jane” stories that I learned to read with, but the activities in this reading material directly connect with life in Orodara. The subject matter creates immediate interest among the students and they are eager to learn.
Lillian Nicolson, a Mennonite Church Canada Witness worker to Burkina Faso has spent a number of years studying the tonal nature of Siamou and creating orthography for it. She developed the lesson books the teacher is using.
In this particular “classroom”, the process isn’t easy, for a number of reasons. The students have never read before in any language and the concept of symbols on a page to represent the world around them is a new one. Some students are distracted from their studies by their babies, whom they carry on their backs, or by their other young children, who play in the background and creep nearer, presumably to get closer to the small group of foreigners, a handful of participants in the Burkina Faso Learning Tour, who have come to watch the class.
In addition, there is a wedding celebration less than 100 meters away. Drums, a balaphone, a xylophone constructed from gourds and carefully carved wood slats, and the sounds of laughter and happy voices almost drown out the teacher’s voice.
It isn’t easy to learn, but they come.
