2020 Travel the World - Week 24

I started a Travel the World Series last year. (It should be noted that I did a similar thing in 2018, only it was the 50 states.) For 50 weeks in 2019, I visited a different country (virtually) and shared facts about that country. I then selected one tidbit of information about that week's country as inspiration for a card. Fifty weeks; fifty countries... BUT there are 195 countries in the world so that was just a little over 25% of them. Of course I couldn't stop, so this year I'm continuing with fifty more countries, one per week.

This week's country is...

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa. It shares a border with Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south and Ivory Coast to the southwest.

The terrain in Burkina Faso is mostly flat, leading to undulating plains and hills in the west and southwest

Burkina Faso enjoys a tropical climate, with warm, dry winters and hot, wet summers.

The name Burkina Faso actually means Land of Honest People.

French is the official language in Burkina Faso, but there are many other dialects spoken, as well.

Burkina Faso was formerly known as Upper Volta, and adopted its current name after it gained its independence from France August 5, 1960.

It is located south of the Sahara Desert.

Burkina Faso is home to 60 different ethnic groups, each with their own variety of folk music.

The Bobo, one of the ethnic groups in Burkina Faso make large butterfly masks, painted in stripes of red, white and black which are used to invoke the deity Do in fertility ceremonies. The Mossi are known for their antelope masks. The Lobi carve wood.

The school week runs from Monday through Saturday. Schooling is in theory free and compulsory until the age of 16. According to UNICEF, only 81% of students reach the 5th grade.

The University of Ouagadougou founded in 1974, 2as the country's first institution of higher education. 

Ouagadougou, the administrative capital and the seat of government, is a modern city where several companies have their headquarters. 

Rural areas in Burkina Faso have very little electricity.

About 80% of the population of Burkina Faso is engaged in subsistence farming and cotton is the main cash crop. During the summer months between June to September, many of the villages are deserted as people head to the fields to farm.

Alongside cotton, the main agricultural exports are sesame seeds, beans and their delicious mangoes. There are so many mango trees in Burkina Faso that lots of the fruit goes to waste and the country is looking at ways to preserve the mangoes.

Burkina Faso has four national parks.

Gold is Burkina Faso’s main export, followed by cotton and animal products. Burkina Faso is Africa’s largest producer of cotton. 

Most food in Burkina Faso comes with sauce. Staple foods are sorghum, millet, rice, maize, peanuts, potatoes, bean, yams and okra.

They grow peanuts, cotton, shea nuts and sesame and rear livestock in Burkina Faso.

Popular sports in Burkina Faso are: soccer, handball, cycling, basketball and boxing.

I decided to let this Burkina Faso fact be the inspiration for this week's card... It is home to the largest elephant population in West Africa.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Stamp Sets: Inky Antics Bazooples #2 and Taylored Expressions Hippo Birthday stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Ink (for blending): Ranger Broken China Distress Oxide 

Papers: Accent Opaque 120# White, Recollections Black and SU Blush Blossom CS

Dies/Punches: Gina Marie Geometric Double Frame Die, Gina Marie Wonky Stitched Rectangle Die, and SU Circle Punches

Embellishments: American Crafts Ribbon and Cloud 9 Rain Drops