Culture

Now that I've been here for about 3 weeks, I feel like I'm starting to settle in. I used to feel self-conscious when walking down the streets or going into the market because everyone used looked at me because I was a foreigner, but now it doesn't bother me as much. But there's a few things about the culture that are still a bit difficult for me.

For the past 2 weeks, a young man has been coming on the weekends to ask for work. He's 20 and from Mali. On the first Saturday that I moved into my house, he knocked on my door and we started to talk. He told me that he came to Burkina to try to find a job as a guard, but he didn't succeed. He was asking for any work he could do around the house, but I had to tell him that I didn't need anyone because I had just moved in and already had someone to work for me. But I did offer to give him some food instead, and he accepted. Then, he started to talk about how sick he was and how he couldn't afford medicine. I told him that I wouldn't give him money because I didn't know what he was going to do with it. Eventually, he told me that all he needed was 500 CFA (about $1 CAD) for a medicine prescription, because he could get medicine almost for free at a Christian clinic. So I said "OK, I'll give you 500 CFA, but you have to return and show me the prescription". A couple days later, I found the prescription in my door. So I thought to myself that he might actually be legit. The next Sunday, he came again and asked me if I had received the prescription, and then he proceeded to show me the medication that he received from the clinic. He then asked for work again, but I had to tell him that I still didn't have any work for him to do around the house. Then he started to tell me how he was trying to go back to Mali to go back to his family, but that he needed money for the bus back. Again, I told him that I wouldn't give him the money b/c I didn't know what he was going to do with it, but I did offer him some more food and he accepted. The next day, as I was leaving to go to work at 7am, he showed up at my door with another guy. He said that his friend was leaving to go towards Mali that day, and if I could give him 5,000 CFA, it would pay for his transportation costs. At this point, I was getting really skeptical about his whole situation. After about 20 mins of talking, I eventually told him that I would give him 1,000 CFA for gas, and that if the other guy was really his friend, he would take him along. After that, he kept talking and trying to convince me to give him more, but I was starting to get frustrated because I felt like he was just trying to get as much money from me as he could (even though in reality it's really not that much). So after that, I told him that that was the only time I would give him money, and I wished him a good trip and that was it. I guess I'm still half-expecting him to show up at my door this weekend, but we'll see what happens. It's tough because you want to help, but you don't want to get "had" either (b/c that happens a lot here).

Another thing that bothers me is how when people see me (or other foreigners), they immediately see dollar signs. So if I need to get my bike repaired, it'll cost me more money to repair it. Or if I go to the market to buy vegetables, I don't come out with as much as someone else would for the same amount of money. It's not a big difference, and in the end I know I'm helping them out a little bit more so I don't mind as much, but it's just the principle of it all. So it's a bit annoying, but I know it's just a part of life here in Africa that I will have to get used to.