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| Only Martine and Bintou remain |
According to Wikipedia, "The Moro-Naba Ceremony takes place every Friday around 07:00 in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. Mossi leaders travel to the compound of the Moro-Naba
chief. They are seated by rank for the Moro-Naba's appearance. The
Moro-Naba wears red and appears with a horse as if prepared for war. A cannon fires, the most senior chiefs pledge allegience, and the Moro-Naba leaves before reappearing in white, as if making peace. Doolo, the traditional beer, and kola nut drinks are distributed, after which the Moro-Naba holds court. The ceremony is said to represent the Moro-Naba's ministers dissuading him from going to war."
The short 15-minute ceremony is based on a historical event, but there is more than one legend as to the exact nature of the event, perhaps due to the reliance on oral history. Unfortunately no photos are allowed, so I have no photos of the ramshackle Mohgo-Naabi palace, or the ceremony. I had to content myself with a shot of a portion of the crowd as they gathered there, and even that was taken surreptitiously, as I felt conspicuous enough there in a sea of black faces. Crowd control monitors walked by regularly with wooden clubs to make sure that we didn't step beyond the designated boundaries.
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| Two groups of children from private schools, in green and pink |
Additional information on the Mossi Kingdom and the Mogho-Naaba can be found here:
http://www.laaf.me/en/west-africa/kingdoms-and-empires/mossi-kingdoms.php
That afternoon was the open house at the library, which was a major success. Paul Solomiac, head of SIL's Academic Affairs here at Ouaga invited many of his linguist friends, and one of the professors in the linguistics department at the University of Ouagadougou invited his whole class. There were also six participants from a multimedia applications class that Fina was teaching, so it was well attended. I gave a brief tour of the facility and showed them the new software.
Unfortunately it seems I did something wrong when I uploaded this video and the sound isn't working. . . If you use Facebook, you can click on the link above.
Here's another Facebook link:
SIL Library Tour segment 6
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| Demonstrating the new library software |
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and then the library visitors at the open house tried it for themselves
It was a very successful event, so my stay has ended on a high note.
Friday evening I was transported to a completely different continent. This time I was taken to dinner for my birthday at a lovely Turkish restaurant that has opened in the last year--possibly the nicest in Ouaga. Basically dining outdoors around a swimming pool, with the kitchen visible through a wall of glass, we enjoyed some of the best-prepared Turkish food I've ever eaten. In addition, the waiters were some of the most trained that I've experienced here, even wearing white gloves. Hookahs were in use, and there was a fantastic assortment at the entrance. The only negative was the lack of alcohol as the owners are Muslim.
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| Sofra Ouaga Turkish Restaurant |
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| A variety of hookahs available at the entrance |
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| The hookah in use |
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| Appetizers on the house |
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| Something called the beyti |
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| Turkish coffee |
*P.S. For the French language speakers, here's the link (below) to the write-up by FAVL's Donkoui on our visit to Simon Nacoulma's Library last week.
http://www.favl.org/blog/archives/2014/03/visite-du-centre-communautaire-changer-la-vienazemse.html
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