Among the words that are very important to my family, my culture and me, there is the word “Burkindi”. By definition, it means the quality of being honest, diligent, having humility, generosity, and dignity. In other words, it is the art of being irreproachable. This word derived from the name of my country “Burkina Faso”, a landlocked country in Ouest Africa. The term “Burkina Faso” is in Moore language (spoken by more than fifty percent of my county’s population), means the country of honest men. Over there people tend to put a lot of importance in how we should live and treat each other sometimes to the point where they can break the law just pretending to achieve that.
I can remember back in high school, my friends and I were getting out of school after class. It was during the “dry season”, a lot of wind and very sunny, with the usual routine. A couple of students running to the parking lot, some to their after class sessions. I was rushing to one of my friends who used to give me a ride home. I then saw a lot of people running towards the exit of the school and other people very agitated. I couldn’t talk to anyone as everybody was rushing to see what was happening. I was mostly scared and surprised because this does not happen very often. But, by pure curiosity I went ahead and followed a couple of students out, to check for myself. When I got closer I found out that a group of people had caught a guy stealing in a store. People take this extremely seriously and sometimes people caught stealing can be seriously hurt or sometimes even killed if the police don’t show up quickly. In this situation, I admit there is nothing to be proud of, but some people are just too determined in having everybody just the same, nice, honest, generous, and they are ready to cross lines to reach that goal. While many people were calling the police, some people were saying that they should teach that thief the lesson, the hard way. Like beat him up, throw him in the mud and humiliate him. To some people, this is the only way he will remember to never steal again, and for some other people including myself, using such behaviors to teach lessons is just bad for upcoming generations. In addition, it is illegal and does not depict the image “Burkinabes” pretend to represent. Luckily, the police showed up on time and the man was arrested. People in my country are very strict and culture wise, we try very hard to be as perfect as possible.
Burkindi was widely used by one of my country’s leaders, Thomas Sankara. He was betrayed by one of own close and childhood friend Blaise Compaore who later on took over and became president. In almost all speeches Thomas Sankara gave throughout his presidency, he mentioned about being strong, honest and generous towards others and defined all of this with one word “Burkindi”. He furthermore mentioned that Burkindi should be the biggest wealth in poor countries. Of course, that does not prevent some people from being whatever they were meant to be. So no matter how strict the rules are, will still notice some conspiracy among leaders and also some social misconduct.
In addition to mutual respect, that our worthy president encouraged his compatriots to have one another, he also wanted us to adopt principles that will reflect our dignity for a better future. The word Burkindi also encourages Burkinabés (inhabitants of Burklina Faso) to adopt other morals and behaviors among which I can quote the total respect towards older people. In fact, while greeting older people, it is more respectful to kneel. But of course, that tends to fade out as time goes. The more we are getting modernized, the more traditional values we are more likely to forget about.
One more person, who also praised the word Burkindi and spread its usage among our culture, is Norbert Zongo, a Burkinabé investigative journalist who worked for a news company “L’independent”. He was one of those who fought for the country’s development and perpetuating the values of our cultures, customs, social behaviors, cultural events, and education. However, as everywhere in the world, some people just can’t be like others and will do what we are all fighting hard to prevent. He was also known for his integrity and desire to put some light in every shaded spot. His hard work paid off as he was able to expose some conspiracy, impunity, and extortion within the government of Burkina Faso. That conspiracy was related to President Blaise Compaoré. His Newspaper investigated the murder of a driver who had worked for the brother of the president Blaise Compaore. He was close to proving that the driver was tortured and killed by people close to the president and was assassinated. After his murder, regarding all he did throughout his career, his oeuvre must be kept alive and what he fought for, “Burkindi”, praised.
Many other brave men have helped to preserve and perpetuate our cultural values in many ways, but for those two individuals who lost their lives in the struggle, they will be widely honored and “Burkindi” will also be more important to us Burkinabes. Furthermore, Burkindi keeps us unified, as we will be aiming the same goal, which is the expansion of our culture and customs. It also reminds us of our most praised leader because every time we say Burkinadi, that’s what comes directly in mind. Considering how hard we care about our cultures and customs, it is important for Burkinabes, to know every single aspect of it and contribute in perpetuating good manners and respect to people who fought for our country most important wealth. What Thomas Sankara and Norbert Zongo did for our country had a very big impact in the population and the sayings “Burkindi”, no matter what will be kept in their mind forever because it represents everything about Burkinabes.
