Burkina Faso is a small country in West Africa. At 274,200 sq. km, it is about the size of the state of Colorado.

With a population of about 16.3 million people, Burkina has a Sahelian climate with pronounced wet and dry seasons. Burkina Faso is an ethnically integrated, secular state. Officially, there are 63 ethnic groups in the country.

Burkina Faso is also a country of culture, and because of the diversity of ethnic groups, many cultural practices are observed. One of the most important and widespread customs in Burkina Faso is Rakiire (cross-ethnic joking).

According to Alain Joseph, research director at the Societies Sciences Institute of Ouagadougou, two types of Rakiire should be considered. The first type of Rakiire is the family joking relationship.

This kind of Rakiire exists within the same family between grandson and grandmother, granddaughter and grandfather, husband and junior sister-in-law, and nephews/nieces and aunts.

The second type of Rakiire is the cross-ethnic joking relationship. In this case, two or more ethnic groups decide freely to make an agreement that includes a nonaggression pact and mutual support.

But what is Rakiire?

Rakiire consists of two people within the same big family or two different ethnic groups telling jokes that are often very sour and border on insolence. For instance, a grandson will say to his grandmother,

“Are you still alive, Grandmother? When are you dying?”

The grandmother will answer:

“Naughty boy, I will survive you.”

In the case of Rakiire between two ethnic groups, two people who meet can talk to each other as follows:

First person:

“Hello, how is your good-for-nothing father doing?”

Second person:

“Hi! My father is well. How about your wreck of father?”

These hard words are not meant to harm or despise, but to express membership of community.

Rakiire is a thousand-year-old custom. No one can say when exactly it started; however, cross-ethnic joking is considered a dynamic, evolutionary practice.

Rakiire within a big family evolves as marital relations are formed and children are brought into the world. Rakiire insults never lead to a brawl.

When a person starts “insulting” the parents of someone else, he can only insult the father. The mother is not insulted because generally she is from another ethnic group. The purpose of these joke “insults” is to allow people to have fun and remember the pact of nonaggression and assistance that exists between their ethnic groups.

In his book Alliances and Cross-ethnic Joking in Burkina Faso, Alain Joseph speaks about the role Rakiire plays with those who practice it. Both children and adults learn how to have a culture of tolerance and accept others just as they are. Thus, various social groups learn how to live together.

Rakiire makes it possible to remember that the person in front of you is not your enemy, but someone with whom you can maintain a nonaggressive relationship, whatever the situation.

In case of conflict, it is possible to actually use Rakiire to defuse the conflict. In fact, Rakiire can be connected with the freedom of speech. One is free to voice what he thinks without being worried. Author Joseph explains,

“One plays the symbolic war so as not to wage real war.”

Rakiire is practiced most often in rural environments. In the modern society of Burkina Faso, Rakiire is known only in a very superficial way. It is very often seen like folklore, a means to let off steam and get away with it. Few people in big cities fully practice Rakiire.

The ignorance of Rakiire in the cities means that when an unspecified crisis is declared, it is necessary to resort to other methods to address the crisis. Those who believe in Rakiire can rely on the values of tolerance and the nonaggressiveness of Rakiire to avoid revenge or reprisals and maintain social cohesion.

Some Rakiire relationships were born after bloody conflicts as a way of saying “never again.”

Rakiire is also found among Christians. Just as in society as a whole, it is seen as the cement of fraternity and friendship between people. Obviously, Christians in the church do not allow themselves to be as virulent when exchanging opinions. They are more kind and exchange only decent, but funny jokes.

For example, a Gourmantché person (Gourmantché people live in the eastern part of the country) who arrives at a church for the first time and introduces himself will quickly will become friends with a Yadsés person (from the northern part of the country) in the church.

There is even an organization in the country called Association Burkinabe pour la Promotion de la Parenté à Plaisanterie, which means Association for the Promotion of Cross-Ethnic Joking in Burkina. This association has organized three cross-ethnic joking days in Ouagadougou, where many activities related to traditions and ethnic customs are demonstrated.

The organization aims at promoting Rakiire in cities so that it can bring peace between individuals and among ethnic groups.

While Rakiire cannot be used to resolve all crises in society, it has its place in the culture of Burkina Faso.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

The Colombian Christmas spirit begins when grandmas join in the kitchen to begin preparing all the delicious traditional plates and desserts for the holiday season.

One of the most popular dishes is buñuelos, originally from Jewish and Arabian culture. It came to Latin America during the Spanish colonization. These are cheese fritters made of cornstarch, butter and cheese. To prepare them, knead all the ingredients together and then form small balls. They are often served with natilla, a sweet dessert made out of milk, butter, panela, cinnamon, and lots of love.

The result is a milky jelly that can be eaten with berries, sauce or milk candy. At Christmas adults and kids love preparing this recipe and sharing it.

Another popular dish in Colombia is tamales. They are made of corn, wrapped in plaintain leaves, and boiled, although they vary according to the region.

For example, peanuts are used in the Cauca region, while tamales prepared in the Eastern valley used to have turtle meat. Some of them also have rice, peas, eggs, carrots, bacon and chicken.

While grandmothers cook, the rest of the family begins decorating the house, the streets, and the whole neighborhood. They decorate Christmas trees and the most important thing, the empty cradle where they place Baby Jesus on Dec. 24. The streets are normally decorated with plastic colorful flags and lights. On the streets, they do colorful drawings.

Many of the small houses are also carefully decorated. The government decorates streets, parks and buildings, and promotes contests to award the best block, home, neighborhood and mall, so everyone is encouraged to follow this custom.

Officially, Christmas begins on Dec. 7 when Colombian people celebrate Candle Day, an important festivity in which kids and adults join at night to light candles in the streets and windows. Offices and homes are decorated with lanterns and candles that welcome the holiday season. They are accompanied by fireworks.

The origin of this celebration was in 1854 when Pope Pius IX defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. In anticipation of this event, people started lighting candles. This Catholic tradition continues to be important in Colombia. The image of the Virgin Mary and the Baby Jesus are important figures, rather than Santa Claus.

On Dec. 16 the novenas begin, a special moment of the day in which families, friends and neighbors join to pray on nine successive days, commemorating the birth of Jesus. The last is the evening of Dec. 24, when everyone remembers that Jesus came to earth. These traditions are still celebrated and help people to keep in mind the real meaning of Christmas. During these special celebrations people sing Christmas carols, and read Bible verses, among other activities.

One of the funniest traditions are the aguinaldos, which are games that adults and children play, like Tres Pies. Each player tries to put one foot in the middle of the feet of the other players without being noticed. Another funny game is Si y No, in which you are not able to say one of those two words.

On Christmas night, families share special dinners, depending on which region of Colombia they are in. Some eat turkey, lechona (pork filled with rice and peas), among other typical dishes. They also give everyone the presents that the Baby Jesus brought.

Finally on Dec. 28 in Colombia, we celebrate the Innocent Days, a date full of fun and jokes because people use to do jests, like giving others fake food, inventing stories, and so on. On TV channels, they transmit the funny mistakes people do, and even newspapers create funny news. These are some of the important celebrations and customs people do in Colombia to celebrate Jesus’ birthday.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Do you think this way? What traditions have you started in your own home to cultivate an understanding of what the poor go through in the developing world? We’re just starting out, and I know we can get more consistent, but here’s a glimpse of what we do:

• I made an 8-by-10 print of this picture taken by Tonny Tunya. It’s in our dining room. Occasionally, we pause to see whatever we’re facing through the bright eyes of these children whose playground is a garbage dump in Indonesia. At best, our conversations are speculative. But there’s truth in these talks, too. And our perspective is refined bit by bit.



• When we sit down for a meal and make the effort to think about Karen, our sponsored child in the Philippines, and her family, our gratitude to God for the food in front of us grows deeper.
• We’re moving in the direction of connecting each one of our kids to a different sponsored child. They’ll get to minister and be ministered to through sharing words of hope, art and prayers. Who knows? Maybe our kids will be some of the few of their generation to have a true pen pal.
• I’m memorizing verses about children and the poor and my son is helping me. I hope that these scriptures sink in for him, too, and that seeing his dad take the time to do this would inspire him.

I’m sure there are many other ways to teach children about poverty through day-to-day life. I’ve heard of kids initiating fund raisers and families who rethink gift-giving at Christmas. Some of these families have even gone on one of Compassion’s sponsor tours to see it all with their own eyes.

Would you take a few moments to share your traditions? It’s OK if you don’t do them 100 percent of the time. None of us do. But we want to. And it’d be great to learn from others. The kids need it. Ours and theirs.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates