True Things: Ask an African: What's your most prized possession?

Dearest readers. I'm glad you wander to my page from time to time, and I apologize for not having finished this segment yet. With a summer of non-stop camp life, a week of packing, and a semester of grad school, I didn't have much time for deep breathing nonetheless consistent blogging. To be fair, I have warned you it may take a while.

So now, here it is, the long-awaited second and final question of the “Ask an African” series.

“What is your most prized possession?”

When I received this question, I couldn't wait to get started. The idea of possessions, in general, is a completely different concept in Burkina Faso than what I have known. While the Western world approaches things as either belonging to someone or not, most communal societies have a more loose definition of possession.

If a neighbor and friend has a bike and I need to get across town, I may just “borrow” it even without asking. If I have a pomegranate tree and my househelper's daughter would like a snack, she will pick one for herself and the rest that are on the tree . . . even if I didn't think they were ripe yet. If you say you like my necklace, I should give it to you as any good African would. That's the Burkinabè way.

So, when I polled my English students about their favorite possession after class, I was intrigued by their answers. First of all, it took a while to understand the term “possession.” I realized I had never learned the term in the local language, and I now doubt that a single term exists. Language tends to reveal what is important to a culture.

“What is your favorite . . . eh . . . thing-that-is-yours?”

The first student looked around the room, sat, and thought for a while. He couldn't come up with anything, so we skipped him for another student who had an answer.

“I know!” the next student said. “My pen!”

--- (me) “Ok. . . Hmm. So, why is that?”

“...because I can write with it! It helps me do school work. It's a very nice pen.” (stands to show off pen)

Needless to say, I thought that maybe they had misunderstood. After all, this is a grown man. Surly he has some item he cherished more than his pen. I explained the question again in French. He still stuck with the pen. So, now, back to the first student again.

“My favorite possession is my bike. It helps me get around so I can work and see my friends.”

This was a little more satisfactory to me. After all, it probably was the most expensive thing that he owned and a very useful thing at that. I moved on to the next student.

Sahellian tea and cell phones

“My favorite possession is my cell phone. Without it, I cannot contact my family all over and friends in the village!”

A concurring chorus of clicks resounded. That's the Burkinabè way of “amen”ing what was just said. Everyone following him agreed that their phone was their most prized possession.

The student who had chosen his pen, however, stuck to his guns.

It was a nice pen, after all.

Burkinabè and their possessions: