Here are some sounds and videos from the burkina faso trip. Sounds are all mp3 files, the videos are all less than 30 sec. and are Quicktime movie format (most are around 10mb, so be prepared for a long wait if you have a modem connection).
The first time I was in Burkina Faso I came with two rastafarians named Rocky and Plass, and they invited me to stay with their friend Aminu in Ouagadougou. Aminu provides a courtyard where orphans can stay and have _some_ food, they find a little work here and there to cover the rest of their needs. This group is called Neecre, and when I was there another friend (Luc Kabre) was helping the younger boys form a perfomance group. I had my minidisc so I made a demo CD for them, I didn't do a good job with recording levels (the drums are much louder than the vocals) but it gives you an idea of their playing, which is pretty impressive for kids age 13-16.
The first track was the intro on the CD, before we recorded each track it was always quite an effort to get them organized and you can hear Luc and the boys arguing about how the rhythm goes:
Wend Goundi Intro
The second track is a rap take, they are really into the cassettes they get from france: Wend Goundi RAP
I was sick for a few days when I was in Laho and spent a lot of time sleeping, listening to people outside the hut. One night it rained and the bugs outside the hut were super loud. Here is a shorter sample:
Laho insects
I took the above insect sample from a longer track (15 min) where at the start you hear Soumaila and his brothers talking in the hut nextdoor before going to sleep. Also, donkey and dogs:
Laho bedtime
In a traditional marriage, the village gri-gri man organizes dancers to tour through the village and then perform for the newly weds, and in return the families are supposed to provide drink for the dancers (millet beer) and let them partake in the festivities. I took this video as the dancers were approaching the courtyard where the party was starting:
Marriage Dancers
To get to and from Soumaila's village (~80km from Bobo-Dioulasso) we took turns driving his father's 50cc Peugot scooter. This video was taken on one of the larger parts of the road about 10km from Soumaila's village. It gives you an idea of the countryside around the village.
On back of the Scooter
Here is a video I took in the village of Lena (about 15km from my friend Soumaila's village Laho) - the first time I met up with Kodjo and was showing him my camera:
Meeting with Kodjo in Lena
Kodjo and I were in one of the traditional bars in Saffalo one night and I tried to take a video however it was dusk and there was not enough light for the camera. Anyway, it gives you an idea what a bar is like there at night, too bad the mic in my camera is not very good.
Saffalo Cabaret
About 15 min. from the university (by bicycle) there was a stream where the nearby village got their water, did their washing and the kids swam. Seeing as it was so hot it was a pretty nice place to go after a day at school, even though everyone thought it was pretty funny that some white guy was in the village swimming.
Village swimming pool