That is the name of the country I will be living in for the next 2 years. Burkina Faso.
I'm guessing you've never heard of it.
That's ok- I had never heard of the country either, until the day I received my invitation to join the Peace Corps and ran to the world map hanging on my wall to find the country I would be serving in. You may not want to do all of the research I've done on the country since then, so here are some quick facts: It is a land-locked, French-speaking, West African country located just above Ghana. According to the U.S. State Department, "Burkina Faso remains one of the world’s poorest countries, ranking 161 out of 169 countries in the 2010 UNDP Human Development Index, with a per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of $580." (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2834.htm). Peace Corps volunteers in Burkina Faso focus on sustainable agriculture, health development, education, and girls' and women's empowerment. I will be leaving for my service on October 9th and spending two months near the capital, Ouagadougou (pronounced Wa-gah-doo-goo!) for my language/job training, and then I will be assigned a city/town/village to spend my next two years! As soon as I figure out my location and specific duties, I will make sure to update everyone on here so you can keep track of me/mail me goodies.
For now, here is a youtube video that one of my fellow volunteers in Burkina made about his everyday life in the Peace Corps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSu0_bMiRWY&feature=relmfu
