Gold

Burkina has few natural (underground) resources.

Some people say that's why the economy of the country hasn't developed much yet. Others say however that's why the people are very friendly and kind and there is no war or really huge conflicts in the country...

In fact, in the Human Development Report (HDR) 2009 published by UNDP this year, Burkina is ranked in 177th out of 182 countries for the Human Development Index (HDI). (although last year, it was at 176th out of 177...)

※Some people criticize the calculation standards or credibility of original data.

But recently there is a subject that many people talk about in Burkina.

Natural resources in underground

Especially that one that you can get when you win a competition.

"Gold"

It seems like the South West region of burkina is the place to find it.

I was curious about it.

So I went to see it with friends.

About 2 hours from Bobo, the second half way was very bad. I hit my head so many times on the ceilings of 4WD car...

Finally when we arrived, there were many houses roughly constructed and covered with corn or cement bags on the side.

From there, we had to walk to get to the site.

The mine owner led us.

He was telling me that it was far and I would get really tired...

Yes, it was...

It was really far.

Besides, the mine was on the hill.

At noon, under the too strong sun with unpleasant humidity...

It took about 1h... (I believed so although in reality it took maybe only 30-40min...)

On the hill, there were about 20 young guys covered with sand looking at (down) us.

Carring heavy rock bags,

Getting into the mine hole,

Some were cooking beans for lunch.

I had somehow a scary image of the site and the people.

But they were nice.

A friend once got into one of holes.

They let us take photos too.

Here the site is very small so all work is by hand.

They take out huge pieces of rock from the ground,

Then crash them in small pieces.

If there are some potential parts, they break them in smaller pieces.

Wash with water.

Yep, I saw it, some small pieces like sand of gold.

But I was too excited and forgot to take the photo...

I wonder where the gold from here goes...

This reminds me of the film "Blood Diamond".

I wonder also how much these guys (miners) gain compared to the price of the gold at a jewelry shop in some country.

Dream of fortune.

The life is not so easy to gain.

A suiss friend who lives in Bobo is film director and he made this year a documentary about people's life in a gold mine in Burkina.

It is very well done. I loved it.

"Ceux de la colline / The hillside crowd"

Facebook site :

http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=ceux+de+la+colline&init=quick#/pages/Ceux-de-la-colline-The-hillside-crowd/101301976835?ref=search&sid=698510560.577719320..1

It has been winning many prizes in worldwide film festivals.