Two interviews with juveniles at the Maison d’Arrêt et de Correction de Ouagadougou (MACO), 2021
The interviews carried out with juveniles were particularly revealing in terms of learning about the conditions of detention and the experience of delinquency of the young people incarcerated in the Juvenile Detention Center of the Maison d’Arrêt et de Correction de Ouagadougou (MACO). Their testimony offers an authentic and sincere perspective of the realities of prison life for juveniles, thus enabling a deeper understanding of the challenges which they have to confront.
The transcriptions of the interviews in Mooré were done by two volunteer associates, trained in written Mooré. Although their efforts are laudable, there remain certain imperfections because of their limited level of training. Nevertheless, these transcriptions offer a precious perception of the discourse of the interviewees and valorise their use of their mother tongue.
The English translation was done by Michael Paul, based on the French translation done by the author.
Juvenile incarcerated at the MACO: MIM7
Age: 17
Sex: Male
Educational level: High School
Marital status: Bachelor
Prison status: Convicted (12 months of incarceration)
Offence charged: burglary of mobile phones
Place of arrest: Ouagadougou
Place: MACO/Burkina Faso
Duration of interview: 32 minutes
Date: March 2021
Interview carried out by the author.
Data
Permanent identifier: https://doi.org/10.34847/NKL.D17D1I63.
Download English translation (ODT, 16 Kb; PDF, 164 Kb), transcription in Mooré (ODT, 22 Kb; PDF, 138 Kb).
English translation
Interviewer: What brought you here? I mean can you tell me about the reasons for your arrest?
Juvenile: I went and stole in a shop selling telephones in the neighbourhood […]. I went one night and burgled the shop. I took 34 Android phones and a computer. It was at the time of the Corona virus (lockdown). I’m a schoolboy and I didn’t have any classes. I was at high school in Lycée class Seconde C (10th Grade) […]. I didn’t have any work [anything to do] so wanting to get some money pushed me to steal. I went and did what I shouldn’t and I got caught (arrested).
Interviewer: Can you explain how that happened, what you did to take the phones [in the shop]?
Juvenile: I was a boarder at the high school. We were given leave during the epidemic. So the school let us out to go home. I was with some friends at […] so I went to my friend’s house at […]. They too, they’re mates [who stole things in the neighbourhood]. […]. They showed me their way, how they live [mode of operation for the thefts and organisation in the street]. And often, it’s them who go out burgling then they bring back [they bring back the loot to share it out]. I went to a telecoms shop in the evening to buy earphones. I took the opportunity to look at the makes of telephone, how are things are laid out. And the video surveillance cameras [How the surveillance cameras were set up in the shop] and then I looked at everything [all the different things so I could come back]. […] I went on my own I didn’t need them [fellow delinquents]. When I got there in the evening, I climbed onto the roof of the shop which was made of corrugated iron. Then I made a hole and got in [inside the shop] and collected the phones and then I got out. The surveillance cameras there couldn’t see me [he had carefully planned his theft]. It was by tracing it that the police arrested me. The police arrested someone who paid me for a phone. He shopped me [told the police]. That’s how the police traced the phone to me to arrest me. When I took the phones in the shop, I left the packaging from the phones there. The police used the serial numbers [on the packaging] to trace them. The police came to the neighbourhood […] and they ran into someone who knew me. He brought them to me and they arrested me. It’s the first time I’ve been to the MACO.
Interviewer: How did your arrest go and your arrival here at the MACO?
Juvenile: The arrest, it was in the neighbourhood where the police came. They handcuffed me and they told me they needed me at the central police station. When I had first came to the neighbourhood, […] the people in then neighbourhood didn’t know my name. It’s just my nickname they called me by […]. So they [the police] took my nickname. They came to the neighbourhood [the police were in plain clothes] to make their inquiries [investigations] about my real name. The police couldn’t find me. It’s a friend [fellow delinquent] who didn’t know [wasn’t aware that the Juvenile had burgled a shop] who said he knew the person they were looking for [who had that nickname] it’s him who gave them my real first name. The police came to find me where I was asleep [in our usual meeting place]. They made me come out and they took me to the police station.
I went to the police station to find the guy […] who bought the phone from me. They’d beaten him [hit him]. Me too I explained everything about how it’d happened [the burglary] then they sent me to the cells. And then they took me to appear before the magistrate (procureur) who listened to me and then I came here to the MACO. For my trial, the judges called me in 16 days later to the court I was tried and they gave me [6 months] [sentence requested by the magistrate (procureur)] and then they called me for the deliberations, but the plaintiff [the shop owner] didn’t come on time. So on the day of the hearing [deliberations] I got [12 months] without parole. The police managed to get the phones back except seven of them. But the plaintiff told me that if it was up to him there was no problem, because his business would still keep going. And so now I’ve been here that makes [8 months].
Interviewer: But once you were at the MACO, what were your impressions [first experience of detention]?
Juvenile: When I got here I was really sad. They way I’d been told about the MACO, that stopped me sleeping [at the beginning of his detention, this juvenile had difficulty sleeping]. They said they’re going to shave you with bottles [these are outside social perceptions of prison]. Well, in the end I said to myself that if there are people who are living here then that means I can too. When I arrived, I was put in the annex [special lockdown block near the detention building]. I did three weeks [lockdown] at the time it was the time of the COVID. You had to go to the annex [for the lockdown]. When I got to the Center [after lockdown], the way people talked [the outside social perceptions of the prison] it wasn’t like that. Besides, when I arrived in the annex [for lockdown] it was there that I understood it [people were exaggerating about the MACO]. I think that when you come in here [MACO] everyone had his cell. You don’t see anyone to talk to until your sentence is over and you get out. Whereas when you get here [MACO] they let you out into the corridors. In the cells you aren’t alone, you’ve got company and […] you can chat. […] When I came here [MACO] there, it’s something else [life isn’t what people outside make you think].
Interviewer: Now with the juveniles, what are the living conditions like?
Juvenile: Well with the juveniles the living conditions […] in reality, it’s difficult [the young detainee is hesitant]. But it’s us ourselves, you see. So I can’t say it’s difficult. It’s often misunderstandings [between juveniles], but with the seniors [the older detainees, the detainee juvenile master, and the workshop instructors] their advice is ok there. They can call you if they see your behaviour [bad behaviour] to tell you that here things aren’t like that […]. But some [juveniles] […] think that they’re better than the others. […] Often that means conflicts never end. It’s war, it’s fights, insults. And then […] for the juveniles the food you cook […] it’s not really […] good [quality of the meals] and that goes on [distribution of the prison meals] often you have to wait till two o’clock to get your food. If that [the prison meal] doesn’t arrive at two o’clock you have to have a visit [visits provide resources that some prisoners use to prepare the meals of their choice]. I’m in a group [the juveniles pool their resources in the groups to prepare their meals] in our group if you get something [food or other resources] you share it [pool] to eat some of it at lunchtime and the rest in the evening. Or in some groups you take the food [prison lunch] and in the evening [the members of the group] who have a visit prepare a meal and then they call you.
Interviewer: But you have visits, don’t you?
Juvenile: I have visits, since my parents aren’t there it’s my aunt who’s here [Ouagadougou] my parents are at [...] They [my parents] send me money […]. My aunt is disabled [motor impaired] that’s why she can’t come regularly. It’s every two weeks [that his aunt comes] […] when she comes, she sends me money. But often she sends me food. When I get money, I buy soap and condiments to cook with.
Interviewer: How are the leisure activities organised at the Center?
Juvenile: There are leisure activities. I’ll take football as an example. Everyone can’t have access to the pitch. So often there are rules and you don’t like that [selection of Juveniles for football], but you can’t say anything, you can’t contest it. Often as they write the list to go out to play football, it’s only the seniors [juveniles] who are in the habit of going out. It’s a juvenile who writes the list. So the list it’s the supervisor [juvenile who writes the list for football], but then supervisor he also gives that job to a juvenile. […] If you don’t collaborate [with the Juvenile in charge of writing the list] you can’t go out, so it’s like that. So again [for the] football where you play at the pitch [field] […] its barefoot that you play there too. Do you have a good time, ha!! It’s not easy. The pitch is bare, it’s cement, it’s a terrace. Just now in the Center they [administration] have sent table football tables, games of draughts and ludo. That too not everyone wants to go and play football, some want to play […] table football. Before there was the telly [in the dormitories], the telly is out of order. Since then they [the administration] haven’t fixed the telly yet. They [juveniles on workshop detail] say that TVs have been sent they’re with the juvenile master [in his cell]. The old juvenile master has left. The one who’s there now is new and so far he hasn’t done it [put it in]. […] Some games they [juveniles] aren’t interested in, it’s getting out of here [MACO].
Interviewer: Now I’m going to talk about the culture in there. As you said you’ve lived on the street. You know the street culture, does that exist in there [in the Center]?
Juvenile: In the Juvenile Detention Center, before there were activities that made it easier [the stay in prison]. The days go by and you don’t realise, but now in there it’s rubbish. Before they could take you out to go to the library to do something [reading or plastic arts]. Those who couldn’t do something [reading or plastic arts] they found something. But now there’s none of that. We’re [the juveniles] in the main yard like that. It’s not easy […] If you don’t like watching the telly and you’re available outside [or] you do sewing or carpentry, well that helps [makes it easier to adapt to detention] until you get out. Then for the juveniles there are too things you have to avoid doing. Often fighting [scenes of physical and verbal violences]. If you do that [fight] well there are people who’ll complain [detainees will complain to the juvenile master who’ll tell the chief warden]. Each time they take you to see the chief [chief warder] they hit you there. They can come in and hit everyone [the juveniles in the Center] if there’s a fight [scenes of violence] or if there’s theft [theft among juveniles].
Interviewer: But can you tell me about the language [slang]? In the Center can you communicate without the other juveniles being able to understand?
Juvenile: There’s that [slang in the Center] […] we [meaning his group] use slang to talk. We use backwards French [with words in local languages]. For instance, if I say “Hello,” that’s easy. [But], for example if I say “Frow man,” that means you “have to get out.” They are backwards words [from several languages]. [Yes] that exists here [in the Center]. I talk to some juveniles. That language, I talk it to some and they understand, others don’t understand. Yes you can understand that [slang] in the street. But you can go to school to understand French, but not understand that language (slang). If you spend a bit of time with the kids from the street [street kids who are not bakoroman] you understand clearly. These days we speak that […] it’s French but French mixed with other languages [expressions] Mooré [and] Dioula are in it. That way […] when they [juveniles] talk you can be next to them [but] maybe it’s you they’re talking about, but you don’t understand. You also understand the words [without knowing they’re insulting you].
Interviewer: But when you understand that [slang] and you come to the Juvenile Detention Center can that make life easier for you?
Juvenile: Yes it can help you. Me especially with the language [slang] I manage to make a lot of friends. I build relationships with the kids. Two to four days, we’re together […] there’s already the trust. But if you don’t understand, it’s difficult. […] Others [juveniles] don’t understand it’s true, but when you speak that [slang] it makes them want to. People [juveniles] gather around you, they like it.[…] if you have a lot of friends [in the Center] that makes things better for you compared to those who haven’t.
Interviewer: But is there any contact between the juveniles in the Center and the adults?
Juvenile: Well often we [juveniles] go out to the pitch, to the visiting room, go to walking areas [the juveniles can meet adults in these situations] often there are some [adult prisoners] on work details who come to sell things [sell bread and cakes in the juveniles centre].
Interviewer: the last point I want to talk about is your organisation inside. I know you have a yard leader (chef de cour), how do people [the juveniles who have power] manage their power?
Juvenile: Yes it’s true, but now the yard leader who’s there, I can’t say [anything] [later I learned that they were in the same group]. But for instance the cooks, the turnkeys, they are people who are often [dishonest] […]. The food [when it comes to sharing the prison meal] […] they close the door there. They put it on their plates [fill their plates] before they open the door [of the dormitories to share out the food]. The cooks [juveniles] too, when they’re doing [preparing] the food, the amount that’s been decided to give [for the preparation] […] often they [reduce the amount]. [When] they prepare the meal, they share and for them [the amounts served] are a lot so they can eat at lunchtime and in the evening. And the others [juveniles] go and eat [the small rations that they’ve been served and that will be finished] and in a few hours [in then evening] they will again [the other juveniles will have to] […] prepare it. You see it’s not interesting, but you can’t talk. And then to follow [put some order in the preparation of the prison meal for Juveniles] that’s difficult because it’s the juvenile master who deals with that. But he [juvenile master] he doesn’t have time, he goes out [the multiple displacements of the juvenile master to the various units of the MACO] and he doesn’t come back quickly. In fact […] he [juvenile master] has gone out and by the time he gets back [the juvenile cooks] have finished cooking.
Interviewer: But are there people who aren’t the chiefs but who are powerful and feared by the juveniles?
Juvenile: Yes (laughs) […] if they’re in a group [of powerful juveniles who are in the same group] and if you’re alone well you don’t have any choice [except to submit]. They’re there [in then Center] they come [they do the forcing among the other juveniles] […] if he [powerful and feared juvenile] does something you can’t contest it. He can cause trouble for you. He can take something that doesn’t belong to him. He can put something in your bag, then in a search they’ll find it [whatever he put in your bag]. If you don’t respect them ha!! You’ll have [you’re likely to have problems]. […] If you don’t smoke and you want to stop him from doing what he wants, he’ll cause problems for you.
Interviewer: Is there anything you want to share with me?
Juvenile: There’s something I wanted to say, it’s about the food. The cooks frankly they do things that aren’t right. The quantity [of food and condiments] they give us, it’s because they think it’ll be enough, that they [the administration] give [those quantities]. […] If you reduce it to cook it, it’s true that they [the juvenile cooks] have got some [personal food supplies], but despite that they always reduce the amount of food [intended for cooking the collective meal] and they [juveniles] who won’t have it what can they do? The reduce the amount [and] when they’re cooking again it’s them who’ll help themselves as they like whereas some [juveniles] have got empty plates. They [cooks] they are in the same group. The juvenile master is new, before when [it was the old Juvenile supervisor] if you mess around in the kitchen, he sent you back and brought out someone else. If he ever saw you kicking food he sent you back, but the new one only came less than two months ago. So when he gets more experienced, he’ll understand things.
Interviewer: Tell me about the collaboration between you and the security, how is it?
Juvenile: The people in charge [warders] there’s no problem. They treat us like little brothers. […] They give us advice, I went out to do sewing. But I stopped the sewing. For me, there are jobs there [trades] that I don’t like doing. I can’t do that [sewing] it upsets me.
Thank you very much.
Transcript in Mooré
Transcript by FARGA Nebnoma Basil, a master student in Sociology at the Joseph Ki-Zerbo University, Ouagadougou.
Sokre: ya boɛ wanɛ yãm ka?
Nɛda: mãm kówa portable doogo, ndik bãm piis tã (34) nɛ ordinateur la yii põsga bãg wakate tɩ kareng la kaeye la mãm da mãnda BPC logr roogo la tɔmb sɛ da kabe wã ya yɛ kɩt tɩ mãm tɩ zukɩ sɩ na paam ligdi bilfu, mã tɩ mãnam tib yõk mãm la mãm da be mogpere kareng doogo sɛ bónd tɩ consensus alpha.
Sokre: yãm toɛ gooma nɛ tõnd yãm sɛ mãn tótó nã kuk rooga bɩɩ?
Nɛda: mãm sɛ da be mogpere kareng doogõ wã b ra kisa vuusg lab pag rootaB basa tõndo tɩ mãm zoe keng m zoap rãm nɛngɛ dapoya la bãm mɛ ra yaa mãm wagd taase tɩb wɩlg mãm bãm sɛ mãnd tótó vɩɩya la b zuuda. la wakat fãn ya bãm kɛnd zuuda watɛTɩ zaab kãnga tɩ mãm keng kɔɔsa nengɛ nã tɩ ra tubkeldga la mãm pamɛ keel gues sɛ yaa bum la ninga b sɛ gudɩb teeda wãna wãna tótó la potable dãmba sɛ yaa toto la wakat kɛnga ra pa tɩlayi tɩ zoapa zɩndi ye mãm ye wã ra toɛya mɛ.Mãm tamɛ poog tola võre kɛ pɔgɛ wã tɩb te gusd ba pa tõgɛ yã mã ye.Mãm tõngɛ kɛ pɔgɛ wã wɔk potable dãmba. sã pa sodasã sɛ tõngɛ tusɔya fã wã la b sõ yaɔl tõg yõk maamã. La mãm da koosa portabla, mãm da basa wɔda roogõ wã, ya rɛ la sodaasã kelɛ tug yõk mãm nɛ mam mɩtnga yembre la tug m paam mãm, ya mãm pɩ pɩ mãm sɛ wat bãensa roogɛ.
Sokre: la yãm yõnkra yɩ wanã wanã tɔ tall yãmbu wanɛ bãensa roog ka?
Nɛda: bon yõkra yii […] ka la gudba wa ta yõk mãm la b sɛb mãm nusa basɛ yeel mãm tɩ mãm wa bãm zakɛ wa ti bãm rata mãm be a roodwok sodaasa zakɛ. La mam da ya sãn saka pugɛ mãm sɛ waka pa yiid kiuga nu ye kitam tub sɛ yõk mãnma nɛba ra pas mɩ mãm soondra ye . ya mãm yɔ yaa ndga bal nɛba ra miyã, b ra boonda mã ta pablo escobar ya yɛ la b rik gɩlg saka n na suke, mã zoa yembre m da mɩ mãm ad ya yɛ yaol n kõ mãm yuura ta wa ta mik tɩ mãm ra goin, tib yõk mam la mãm sɛ da ta bãensa roogo mãm mɩka mãm sɛ koos nɛ nɛd la nɩnga b sõ da yõnk yɛ pɩnda wa pagLa b sɛ suks mãm sa wãn b talla mãm kɛng nɛ bɔd nãab nɛngɛ tɩ tɛ mɛ kelg mãm la b wanɛ mãm baensa zak ka. La mãm jʋsga daare b boola mãm rasmã pii la yoobe logr kudga jʋse bud yiri kõ mãm kiuga yoob sɩbgre la rɛ ra mɩkam tɩ mãm taaba ra pa wa ye ya wilgra daar la b ̇ mãm kiuga yoobela kʋsa yeela mɛ tɩ sã yɛ yɩnga yell ka be ye yɛ koos mã nã kɛnã mɛ rɛ kɩt mõsã tɩ mãm be ka kiuga nɩɩ mõsa.
Sokre: la yãm sɛ ta ka wã yãm yãb yaa wãn to?
Nɛda: mãm sɛ da ta ka wã mãm da yẽes da mɛ bal mãm da wat ka wã tib gomd baensa roog nɛ bum la nɩnga ya wa ra nã pɛɛsa mãm nɛ bugteel peese ɩ mãm ra tags d tɩ neb wat ka rɛ kɩtam tɩ mãm mɛ toɛ kegam suuri, mã taaba wakate b ra nɩnga mã zaka yembr pʋga ra ya pʋʋsga bãg wakato sɛ zãg nɛba nɛ bãga loo ngre ya tɩlay tɩb kɛng nɛ fo be. Mãm da tags dam tɩ sã wat fo ra toɛyãm paam fo tab sõse wala nɛba sɛ da togs bum la nɩng la mãm sɛ ta wã yã bumba to.
Sokre: la kom bõnesa bãensa roog vɩɩm ya wãn toto?
Nɛda: ad yaa toogo baa nɛ tõnd mɛ nɛgɩn yaa toogo, ya zaba bal la nãnd tɩ yãm bãng taaba b sag n da nɛba fã zabr sɛ kõ zɩnd b sʋka tɩ wala b sã yã tɩ fo nãkɛdra pa lebd be bʋb toɛ bool n togse kɛr rɩk b mɛ wala bãm yɩɩda nɛba fãã ka. rɛ kit zaba pa sat ka ye.Ya zaba nẽ tʋya la bum fããsɛ toɛ le paase ya rɩɩba wẽgɛ kom bõnesa zɩɩgɛ wã rɩɩba pa lebd be ye, pa sõmã la leb kaõsdɛ tata wɩl luɩga (14h) sã pa wa wakat kãnga tɩ f kɛnga sukr roogɛ f toɛ tɩ paamã lɩgdɩ.Mãm be sul pʋga yãm sã deg woto yã nãgda taaba n welg bɩngɩ n dɩ buka yɩɩbu la fo sã kɛng sʋkr roogo wakat la nɩnga b boonda foo ti fo wa reege.
Sokre: la fo paam da guesg bɩɩ?
Nɛda: mãm paamda guesgo bal mãm barãmba ka yamb ye ya mãm pugdba wat n geet mãm ba mãm rʋgba be [...] mɩ kõt lɩgd tɩ wat mãm pugba nɛgɩn laa ya kʋmsa rɛ kɩta pa toẽ wa daar fã ye, ya rasmã yopoya yɩɩb fã la wata . Ya yẽ mẽng la mãm sõ dat n bool woto wã la sã wa fã a toẽ kõ mãm lɩgdi bɩ bum bɩɩs nã toẽ mãne rɩɩbo, la mã sã deg lɩgda mã raada tafãnda nẽ bum bɩ rɩtse la zɩnbɩɩsi
Sokre: la saka puga kẽdnɩ wala yãm wɩsg tum ya wãn toto?
Nɛda: ya balla tãõng bala la fo sã da pa tãʋdẽ fo panã kɛng ye bale b gʋls da sẽ na taʋba yuya, b kõta bɩbɩlfu ta guls yuya ya saka nɩ beda wata la nɩng tãʋde la rat yetɩ tãoba ya viugẽ la tɩndara ya sɩma leb paasdẽ ya nãsaala kitamẽ ti f sã pa gusɩ f pogda mɛ. Tõnd saka puga runda runda b wa nɩ baby, ludo, damier nɛba fã pa tõɛ tãʋ balla kɩnr wati wisda nɛ balanchoir la tele mẽ da be la tele wã sãma mɛ al sɛ kaʋse tib tall kɛng nẽ maitre mineur la maitre mineur kʋdra le kabe ye yaa sãn la sɛ wa wã. La wɩsg kẽr pa pak nẽb sãnda ka ye, ya pam yɩwã bala.
Sokre: mõsa d nã goma sɛ kẽdnɩ kudm pugẽ yãm yaol yɩ yɩnga waka wã nɩnga ka kudm tum be mẽ?
Nɛda: tõnd sak bili wã pɩnda tʋm ra be sɛ tumde da kɩti wakat nɩnga fo pa bãngd daara saab ye la mõnsa ya zalem. Pɩnda fo ra toẽ kẽnga seb roogẽ tʋ karãm bɩ f mãm buzɩnga la runda runda rẽ le kaye fo sã yɩ zak kasẽng wã pa nãna ye sã ya nɛ mãm fo sã pa toẽ bɩ f pa ges tele la yɩnga mɛ fo toẽ mãna sẽbo bi f mãn raada wãbo bal sõngda mɛ fo sã kẽnga kidg rãm nẽngẽ bi f gus zaba, bal fo sã mãnẽ wakat fã fo nã yã su sãng rãm sɛ nã mãne ti f kẽng nɛ fo naab rãm nɛngẽ. B toẽ kẽmẽ pãb nɛba fã wagdem la zabr pugẽ.
Sokre: togsɩ tõnd yãm goam bud toto yãm sɛ gomd nɛ tab nɛda to sɛ kõ bãng sɛ datɩ yelga?
Nɛda: rẽ bem tõnd gomda sãkãndre le b paas nẽ faren zaala la fo sã gomd rẽ mɩkame tɩ fo wʋmda farendeWala tond sã wa gomd ti Frow man wilg dam ti f yɩ yɩnga ya gom tula bee ka tɩ mãm gomd nẽ nẽb kids ka la kɩnr pa wʋmdye fo tõya mɛ mãn karenga la f pa wumd gom kãnga ye rɛnd tɩ fo tud viugɩn dãmba tõgẽ gom gomd kãnga ya nãnsa gʋm la yaa lẽbla tɩ yãm nã yã tɩ zul la mʋʋr gʋm fã beebenẽ fo toẽ kega yambẽ laf pa wumd ye.
Sokre: la nɩnga fo wumda gom kãnga ta toẽ faa fo gʋma bɩɩ?
Yaa sɩda toẽ sõnga fo mãm mẽnga nɛ gom kãnga mãm paamã zoap rãmb wusgo, koamba nɩ mãm pa toẽ mãn rasmã yɩɩbu pa yã taab ye tɩ tõnd kistab sɩd soamã la nẽb kɩnr pa wʋmdye la fo sã gomda nõmbamẽ b wata mẽ wa gubfo la fo sã tar zoap wusgo sõngda fo saõ sɩ pa tarba.
Sokre: la nɩnga mɩnɩm bee yãmba koala nẽ kasãmsa bɩɩ?
Nɛda: wakat nɩnga d yitame kɛng rasenpuigi wã tɩ gɩlm la rooga nõnre nẽb kɩnre watẽ kosd kokomãndãmba.
Sokre: gomẽ nẽ tõ yãmb taor soaba sẽ mãn toto nẽ naamã bale yã tara zurao soaba ka.?
Nɛda: sã ya nẽ ka yaa zaka nab ya bãm lab kõt kʋlbɩsa tɩ rɩrʋgba sã kabe ya bãmb dik d kʋlbiisa sag lasẽ wã, wakat nɩnga b yãk da rɩɩba wusgo selg ti waʋgẽ ti b sã dʋge bɩ bãm nẽngẽ ya wusgẽ yid nẽba fã mɩti pa sõama la?B rita wɩnd suka leb dɩ zaabre la fo sã datẽ pugba ya toog dɛ ya bibɩɩs nãb n get yel kãnga yẽ yita wusga nẽ sɩn na wa ti saamẽ.
Sokre: la nẽb be pa nãb la tar tõng bɩɩ?
Nɛda: n ye (laado) bale b sã be sul wã ti fo ya f yembre yam yãkr kaye nẽb be tɩb sã mãne bumbu fo pa toẽ tõdg ye b toẽ mãne fa yele.Bi b wa rik fo bumbu bi b leb dɩk bumb wẽgɩn wa sagl fo kórgɩn wã. Fo sã pa yud la fo ratẽ gidga ta ra manãn sɛ data a toẽ mãne fa yɛĺa.
Sokre: nɩnga fo tara bum fo sẽ date sõns nẽ mãm bɩɩ?
Mãm sẽ da rate ya rɩɩba sẽnɩn bale segdba mãnda sẽ pa segde rɩɩba sɛ kõnta ya sɛ nã seke la bãm sã wooge pa sõma ye ya sid tɩ b pa tar sɛ dɩt ye la yãm sã wooge sɛ pãna pam ba mãnda wãna? nẽb saar las ya zaala bãmba woode la b sã segle b le yãkdarɩnda.B be sula yebr nɛ tõnd nãnba yaʋlga sã pa rẽ naaba eric sɛ da be wã fo sã beg bala a yãkda fo la wãnẽ nɛda to, la naab kãnga ya sãna a sã kaʋse a nã bãnga mẽ.
Sokre: gomẽ nɛ tõnd yãm wʋmtab nɛ nãnãmsã?
Nɛda: tõnd nɛ bãensa rogudba yelbund kabe b rɩkda tõnd wa b yoap rãmba la b le sagad n tõndo mãm meng ra yɩti mãnda sẽẽba la mãm basãmẽ bale tumẽ be tɩ mãm pa toẽye m mãmsa mẽ pa tõngye.
Y bark wʋsgo.
Age: 17
Sex: Male
Educational level: High School
Marital status: Bachelor
Prison status: Convicted (12 months of incarceration)
Offence charged: burglary of mobile phones
Place of arrest: Ouagadougou
Place: MACO/Burkina Faso
Duration of interview: 32 minutes
Date: March 2021
Interview carried out by the author.
Data
Permanent identifier: https://doi.org/10.34847/NKL.D17D1I63.
Download English translation (ODT, 16 Kb; PDF, 164 Kb), transcription in Mooré (ODT, 22 Kb; PDF, 138 Kb).
Transcript by FARGA Nebnoma Basil, a master student in Sociology at the Joseph Ki-Zerbo University, Ouagadougou.
Juvenile incarcerated at the MACO: MIM10
Age of interviewee: 17
Sex: Male
Level of education: High School
Marital status: Bachelor
Prison situation: Convicted (8 months detention)
Offence accused of: Assault and battery
Place of arrest: Ouagadougou
Place: MACO/Burkina Faso
Duration of interview: 45 minutes
Date: March2021
Interview carried out by the author.
Data
Permanent ID: https://doi.org/10.34847/NKL.D17D1I63.
Download English translation (ODT, 15 KB; PDF, 147 KB), transcription in Mooré (ODT, 26 KB; PDF, 243 KB)
English translation
Interviewer: What are the reasons that brought you here to the MACO ?
Juvenile: It was a fight that brought me here. The guy I had a fight with, we live in the same neighbourhood at […]. The guy in question is older than me, he’s about 23. We were neighbours [in the neighbourhood], but our relationship wasn’t very solid. . […] One day […] he was playing ball [with his mates] and he and two of my friends turned up and asked to play […], but he refused. I called him […] when I greeted him and I said […] he began raging at me. I didn’t know if he’d just [maybe] had a fight with someone or not [it was his reaction]. He started insulting my parents. So we started a fight [fighting] and my two friends who were with me separated us. et And then he said the fight wasn’t over. He told me to be ready, because wherever he met me, he was going to beat me to death. Or it’s me that’ll beat him to death. Then the same night he ran into me. As he’d said he was going to kill me, I went back to get ready [he was carrying a knife].
I made a mistake because I didn’t tell someone too [in my family]. I went to buy a knife that I was carrying on me. So when he met me he began to hit me and I took out my knife too and I stabbed him haphazardly. He was wounded, people [around there] ran up to catch him […] [to separate us]. Our yard [family home] wasn’t far from the place where we had the fight. So my parents came running over. Then I ran [the juvenile ran away] to go to a friend’s house. Then I took my friend’s mobile phone to call home. They told me they’d taken the boy to the hospital. It was the next day that they [the family] took me to take me to the police station at […]. The boy was seriously injured, but he’s alive.
Interviewer: Tell me how you were brought here to the MACO ?
Juvenile: I got to the police station at night. I got there at around midnight, it was my brother who took me there […]. They handcuffed me and made me sit down. They [the police] asked me if I smoked cigarettes, I said no. And if I drank Nescafé, I said no because I drank a bit of Nescafé and ly parents realised and they told me to stop because it wasn’t good for children. […]. I was handcuffed until the next day. They [police] took out and put a notebook and a Bic [on a table]. They asked me how the fight happened. I explained and they took notes, then they put me in a cell. I explained and they took notes after they’d put me in the cell. […] In the evening my brother brought me some food. They took me out to eat and then put me back in the cell. Six days later they took me out and told me to wear my clothes. They took me to the law courts and it was in the evening that they brought us here after the judge had heard me.
Interviewer: Before you came here to the MACO, can you tell us about your days outside?
Juvenile: I was a schoolboy in Quatrième [8th grade]. This year, I should been in Troisième [9th grade]. If I got up I went to school, but during the holidays there is a yaar [local market] next to our yard [family home] that’s called […] I went there to help an old man who did sewing. When I found that the market [the old man’s sewing] was strange near us there was a pharmacy I had a friend who was there. I went to help at the car park [guarding the motorbikes]. […] at the beginning of the school year […] I went back to school. I was arrested during the holidays.
Interviewer: Could you tell me about your first impressions when you came into the yard at the MACO?
Juvenile: Well when I was outside and people talked about the MACO, really it wasn’t a game. Despite that, when I got here I really understood that it was no laughing matter. But it’s OK, because I can get hit outside, or killed […] the fact that I’ve come here, I know that, in however long I’ll get out of here. When I got here, my fellow detainees who’d been to court for the sentence came back and encouraged me. You only need courage here otherwise there’s nothing.
When I’d newly arrived at the MACO I was sad. But once in the Juveniles Detention Center I was welcomed like a stranger my fellow detainees gave me clothes and they told me to get washed. They gave me something to eat. After I sat down and we were chatting and they explained [how things worked here]. The first day [at the MACO] I was really discouraged. My parents came the next day to visit me, they told me not to be sad. That it was a problem that had happened [and] that I shouldn’t get discouraged and not think about it too much because that could cause other problems.
Interviewer: Tell me about your conditions of detention in the Juvenile Detention Center.
Juvenile: In the centre, it’s more or less OK. It’s just the food that we miss sometimes [insufficiency of the amount served to the Juveniles]. In the morning, sometimes they make porridge, but it’s not permanent. If they make porridge [in the morning] at lunchtime they cook [but] after the meal if it’s not the next day they don’t cook anymore. The showers, they built them out of concrete. But now they’re beginning to get dilapidated, if they could fix that. The beds, it’s OK, everyone has his own bed and his own sheets.
The main problem is the food because when they make the porridge sometimes there’s sugar and we can eat it. But some days, you’d think there isn’t even any sugar in the porridge. The juvenile master doesn’t allow enough sugar to be taken [food supplies and condiments are managed by the juvenile master]. The porridge it’s also that there’s too much rubbish in it. If you want to look before you eat it […] you can’t [there are worms]. […] I was a cook myself. It was only yesterday that [the juvenile master] started to give us a Maggi cube. Otherwise we cooked without a Maggi cube.
I left the kitchen to have a rest. Yes there are advantages I already know how the cooking is done. Me too I left it so the others could go to the kitchen to learn the way I’d learned. The Maggi [cube] there too they gave us the packet. But when it was finished, the juvenile master told us that he couldn’t care less. At we went on making it with water and salt. When the Maggi [cubes] were finished the juvenile master talked to the Action Sociale since it’s them who’re responsible for the juveniles. It’s them [the social service] who decide what’ll happen.
Interviewer: Given the difficulties about the food, how do you juveniles cope?
Juvenile: In fact, everyone is in his group. We make up groups and we get together to eat [the juveniles pool their resources]. There are some [juveniles] whose fathers and mothers come to visit them and bring them food. Others since they’ve been here [MACO] no one has come to visit them. But although they’ve had no visits, those who have visits contribute and then the whole group manages to eat. There is solidarity among us [in the Center].
Interviewer: Tell us about the visits you get here at the MACO
Juvenile: Yes my parents come and visit me every week. Every Saturday when they come we talk and they bring me food like beans, rice and also oil and Maggi cubes. Sometimes they cook at home and bring it to me. Sometimes they bring me money. But there are times when I tell them not to bother as there’s not much to pay for here. When I get money, I give it to the juvenile master to deposit it for me. If I want to pay for something, I go to get it with him. Yes the group if I want to buy tomatoes at the shop to cook we share it [pool] with the members of the group […]
Interviewer: Could you tell me about the relations [power relations] there are between you juveniles?
Juvenile: Yes, between us juveniles there’s friendship […]. Then there’s also the problem of fights and disagreement. The fights […] sometimes we can’t even explain them to someone (laughter). In fact some [Juveniles] even had a grudge between them long ago. For instance, when a new detainee comes in and we knew each other outside. […] I take him [the new detainee] in my group and we eat together. Then the other groups also want them to join them at the same time […] a grudge can start like that. If I’m enjoying myself at that moment, it’s a real fight there and then. Sometimes too it’s words, insults of our mothers, that also leads to fights.
And then people [juveniles] steal too. Someone stole my 700 F and my 300 F. Between us there isn’t any violence in any case if someone hits you, if you just report it to the juvenile master he goes and tells the unit chief and he’ll deal with you [punish]. In fact there were some koro [seniors] they are guys who were too violent against people [juveniles]. I saw them when I arrived. There are times when they could take off clothes and tell you to do everything you could for the clothes to be washed before the evening. Otherwise you’d have them to reckon with. But they’ve gone [they’ve been released] they got out on parole. It was them [like] the yard leader [were in their group]. If you don’t wash the clothes they beat you [at night in the dormitories].
Interviewer: Could you tell me about the apprenticeship, games and sporting activities in the Juvenile Detention Center?
Juvenile: Yes the apprenticeship workshops are there. The thing is there isn’t much in the yard. There is sewing and carpentry, the carpentry instructor is willing to take a lot of kids. Otherwise the sewing [instructor] there if you come even if you’re a senior if you don’t know how to sew, he won’t take you unless you [have done] […] some sewing already outside. He won’t take you for you to learn here. You have to know how to sew first. But with the carpenter there’s no problem. The sewing instructor it’s him who decided he works like that, he’s a […].
For the games […] we’ve got draughts, table football, ludo. These games have a lot of advantages because there are times when you think about life outside where you were free and meanwhile your head gets steamed up [depressed]. When you go out to play, it’s over and your ideas get sorted out. And then over there [games] there isn’t any violence you go up you go down, and so on. For sport [football] these two days the naba [sports instructors] didn’t come to take us out to play football. It’s more than two months that they came.
When you go out, to ask the officer in charge [head warder] in the evenings to do sport, he refuses. Saying that as long as the sports instructors aren’t there, he can’t give us permission to go out to play football. Apparently it’s because a lot of kids want to escape. But since I came in here, that idea never occurred to me. You know that in the meanwhile, there have been four kids who said things like they’re going to escape. After that they were taken to see the chief (chief warder). So since then that’ve stopped the sport sessions. Among the kids in question, two have gone and there are two left.
Interviewer: Could you tell me about your relations with the warders?
Juvenile: The nanamsé [warders] among them there are people who hit you and you’d never think they had kids at home […] Others are good people even if you do something wrong they call you to tell you, that you mustn’t do that again, that it’s not good. But there are nanamsé [warders] too who’ll whip with you with a rope.
Interviewer: Tell me how can one behave as a newcomer in the Center to get on well with you?
Juvenile: Well if you come down there and you’re new they call you [wongo]. […] even me when I first got here they [Juveniles] called me that. I hadn’t understood. It was later that I understood. In fact it’s just to say that you’re a stranger [new]. But me, I wanted to have a fight. But when I understood […] when you’re a newcomer in the Center they call you [wongo].
If you want that you and the Juveniles there get on, you have to be modest. You mustn’t act like you’re better than them. If they tell you to do something, you have to do it. If the Juvenile master sends you, you have to do it. If they say today it’s you who’s cleaning the house, you have to do it. If it’s you who’s sweeping [the yard] you do it and then there won’t be any problem. But if they tell you to sweep and you refuse, there! It’s that that often causes fights. In fact the cell is cleaned in turns. There is a schedule, for example on Monday we know who’s going to clean the cell and also who’s going to clean the yard. When you’re new, sometimes they even say [Juveniles] that they’re going to bugger you [if you refuse to sweep up]. But all that, that’s just to scare you, it’s just words [to frighten you]. But of you haven’t understood, you might start fights for nothing. But it’s just to scare you so that even if you get out of here [after release] so you’ll think about it and know that life here [in prison] isn’t easy!
Also the seniors [juveniles] here we call them the [guelwongo]. OK, it’s difficult to understand some words [expressions] here unless you’re a koro [senior] or a junior [fellow delinquent] who’s already been in here and then they explain how things work here. You know even the bakoroman [street kids] can’t understand some expressions here. In fact they [bakoroman] too have their way of talking [slang]. The way people talk here [Juvenile Detention Center] is different too. For there as long as you haven’t done time […] you can’t understand certain expressions. Unless someone’s who’s already done time here explains to you, how things are here. Particularly if you come here how they’ll talk to you and how they’ll behave to you. Apart from that you can’t understand the expressions [slang] used here. In fact if you are bakoroman and you come here in prison, even the juveniles don’t like your place [the bakoroman aren’t well looked on by the other Juveniles]. In fact here if you don’t have showers [this is the case for the bakoroman juveniles in the Center] people [other young offenders] will jeer at you. They may even te hit you though the bakoroman don’t get washed like that. Their way of life is different, they are dirty.
Interviewer: Have you got any last words to add or anything you want to tell me?
Juvenile: There’s the problem of cigarettes. They [the warders] prohibit them [cigarettes] in the Center. Because of that not even before [they drew our attention to the cigarette]. But even now the kids smoke cigarettes. Some told me that they can’t do without it because they started [according to our information, the interviewee also smoked cigarettes outside].
They [juveniles] cannot stop it here [stop smoking]. They even say that if they get up and don’t smoke a cigarette they don’t feel comfortable. They can’t work. If they get a cigarette, they can work well. Well since they’re minors, they shouldn’t smoke, but the juveniles make a lot of effort to smoke. They [the warders] tell them to wait until they get out to start smoking again. But even that [the fact of not smoking] means that there are fights since those [juveniles] who don’t earn enough to smoke are embittered [violent]. The price of a cigarette carton is 300 FCFA [whereas outside it’s 25 FCFA]. The warders and the juvenile master refuse to let people bring cigarettes in. People hide in the showers [in the dormitories] to smoke even the cigarette stubs left by the chiefs [warders] that they collect to smoke.
The chiefs too, those that are good people [understanding] they know that as smoking cigarettes has got into the blood [dependance] of the children and that they can’t give it up, they [warders] take their cigarette stubs and throw them away [so some juveniles can use them] and they whip you with a rope [a kind of complicity] or they counsel you. But other chiefs [warders who don’t play along with this kind of complicity] will take you up to the chief [head warder] they’ll drag you by the ear up to see the chief.
Transcript in Mooré
Transcript by OUEDRAOGO Ousmane, a school teacher and also a student in the third year of a degree course in Macroeconomics and Development Management at the Thomas Sankara University, Saaba.
A bibɛɛg goama lebgra yaa Ouedraogo Ousmane sěn ya lekoll kareng sǐngr kareng-saamba sěn leb-n ya karen-bi-bedr arzɛka koglgǎ kareng-dooga tǎab n soaba karenga zak-bedrǎ yʋʋr sɛn boond ti Thomas Sankara wǎ n maane.
Sokre: ya boě wa ne yǎmb ka?
Leokre: ya zabr yell n wa ne maam ka. Ned la nǐng ne maam sěn zab taaba rabee sakaye […]. Bi-bɩɩg lɑ nǐng ne mɑɑm sěn zab taaba ra yɩɩda maam. A ra tara yʋʋm pisi la a tǎabo. Tǒnd raya yakse la d nooma raka wʋsg ye. Dara ye a ra tǒoda balle tɩ maam ne mzoa ye ta nbǒos n nǎ tǎɔ ta ka sak ye. Maam ra boon da lam ta [...]. Maam sěn taan pʋʋsan ye [...] laa n sɩng zabr ne maam. M pa mi a yɩɩ ra zaba ne ned bɩ ya boě. Maam zoapa wa kě tǒnd suka, ta yell tɩ zabrǎ ka sa ye tɩ yěnda sěn sɛg maam zɩɩg la nǐig bala bɩ m rawle ti tǒnd na zaba taab ti neda ye ki. Ne yʋnga a yeka maam la sěn da yell ta na kʋʋ maama yɩnga m rawlam měnga n ra kěnda. La maam maama yǒsgre n ka gom ne ned ye. A sěn yekmaama a sɩnga maam pǎbre tɩ maam yiis sʋʋg n kǒsa yare. Neba yɩ tao-tao n wa kě tǒnd sʋka. Tǒnd zabra zɩɩg ra ka zǎr ne tǒnd zaka la maam roagdba sěn wʋm n wa ta wǎ maam zoam n tɩ be m zoa yembre zakě. Ne yěnda nugě-bǎng la m bool n sʋk ti b yell ta poglamě la vɩɩmě. Tɩ b talla lamě n kěg logtor yiri. Věkembeooga la b rɩk maam n kěng zǎdarm yir sěn be [...].
Sokre: yǎmb tǒe n goma ne tǒnd yǎmb tal wa kawa n yɩ to-to?
Leokre: Maam ta zǎdarm yir n wǎ yʋng midi la ya maam kěem sěn ya bǎmba tʋʋmd n taaga n tall maam n kěng be. Maam sěn ta wa b soga maam ne kěeně n sǐngi la b sok maam tɩ maam yǔuda tab wěnga bɩɩ tɩ m leok b tɩ ayo. B le soka maam n nanbǎng m sen rikda kaf-sabella tɩ m le yell b tɩ ayo. Bala m ra rikda bilf-bilf tɩ maam roagdba bǎng n kɩt tɩ maam base. B zɩnga maam ne kěeně wǎn tǎag beoga věegre. La b rɛgl sebr ne bika la b sok maam tɩ zabra sɩnga wǎn-wǎna. Maam togsdě tɩ b gʋlsdě. Yě logr poore b kěsa maam roog n wǎ. Rasma yoob loogr poore b yisa maam n kit tɩ m yɛɛlem fǔtǎ n tall maam n kěng bʋ-kaoodba zakě. B sěn kelg maama logr poore ne zaabrǎ la b tall maam n wa ka.
Sokre: Taor tɩ yǎmb ka wa ka yǎmb toě go ma ne tǒnd yǎmb berěer sěn ra ya to-to?
Leokre: maam ra ya karen-biig n ra baod BEPC yʋʋ sěn wate. M sǎra věeg beogo m ra rebda lekolle. La vʋʋsma wakato m ra zǎmsda fut sěebo a pʋsyaar, nin-kěema yembr nengě. Raaga sǎ ka sǒma m tɩ sǒgda m zoa yembr sěn maand montɛ gǔub zɩiga farmasi ye noore. Kareng sǎ le yiki t m le loog m lekolle la ya karenga vʋʋsma pʋg la b sěn yǒk maama.
Sokre: La yǎmb sěn ta waogdg bǎensa roog n ka wa yǎmb pipi yǎab yɩɩ boě?
Leokre: sǎ ya sɩda maam sěn ra be yɩnga n wʋmd tɩ b ra gomd rooga goama ra pa reem ye. La ne rěnda fǎa maam sěn ta ka wa m sɩd mikamě ti sɩd pa reem ye. La sǎwǎ maam yɩnga bala m se ra pa yɩnga b toě n pǎbm lamě ku. La m sěn be ka maam bǎens koamb taasǎ n kěng bʋʋdǎ n lebg n wa wǎ kengda maam pɛlga. Tɩ ka ya pɛlg kengre zǐiga bala sǎ pa rěnda bumb ka be ka ye. Maa bǎensa roog n wa taabǎ m sǔura ra sǎama m la maam bǎens koamtaasa beela maam sǎado. B kǒo m la futu la b kɩt tɩ maamso koom. La k kǒ m rɩɩbo mě. Rěnda loogr poore m tɩ zǐǐm tɩ d sǒsda. Tɩ b wilgd maam ka sěn ya to-to. Maam pipi ka taaba m sǔur tɩ ya yelle n wa la m ra tags wʋsg tɩ yǐ me toě wa ne yɛla taaba.
Sokre : gomě ne maam yǎmb koamb kɩdsa sak n wǎ vɩɩ naokěndre yaa wǎna?
Leokre: koamb kɩdsa sak n wǎ sǎwa bilfu. Ya ruba n paoogd tǒnd bala. Raar la ninga b maanda běer yibeogo.Wǐntoogo tɩ b sɛgle. La d sǎ rɩ wǐndga woto sǎ pa beoog yɛsa. Ko soodsa me sǎama m sěn pa b wa mange. Zǐ-gǎadga yěnda sǎwǎ m bala ned fǎa tara zǐ-gǎadga ne fugoabga. Tǒnd zug-loɛg kasnga fǎa ya ru ba. Běera b sěn maandǎ sɩkra wʋmbǎ ya daar-daare. Tɩ bala roog naaba ka sak d tɩ b ningd sɩkra wʋsg ye. Fo sǎ na ges běera rěgda f ka na tǒng n yǔ ye. Rɩɩba sɛglgě mě ro mǎnzǐ wa mii sa m tɩ b sɛgend ne koom la yamsem al tɩ roog naaba wa gom ne taor rǎmba tɩ b le bao n waně.
Sokre : la rɩɩba zug-loesǎ n waogǎ ya wǎn la yǎmb ne taaba maan d n na yɩ la boog yǎmb zug-loe sǎ?
Leokre : Sǎ ya rěnda wǎ ned fǎa be sul pogě tɩ d naag d taab n rɩtě. Roagd b sěn wat n get b rěmba n wat ne rɩɩba naagda m tɩ sěn ka paamd gesga fǎa rɩt sulla pʋga.
Sokre : gomě ne tǒnd b sěn wat n kaaged yǎmb bǎensa roog n ka wǎ?
Leokre : ya sɩda m roagdba wat n get a maam rasma yoboe fǎa. Sibr daar fǎa b wat n sǒsda ne maam la b zǎada rɩ kǎad wala mui, bɛnga kaam ne ro-mǎnzi. Wakat la ninga b sɛgenda mě n zǎ wa. Raar sǎdamě yaligd la kǒt maam tɩ mil yeelb tɩ b base bala bǒ daadma ka wʋg pʋgě ka ye. M saa wa rat bumb n da m regda ligda ne yěnda. N ye m rat n tɩ ra tamaat bitg n wa wa rog rɩib tɩ naag taab sull n wǎ n dibo.
Sokre: yǎmb toě goma ne tǒnd yǎmb kɩdsa ne taaba wʋmd n taara bɩɩ?
Leokre: Tǒnd kɩdsa ne taaba ya zood tǒk n taarn bebe. Zab mě nɩɩ bebe la a zab n toě togs ned ye. Neb kěer ra tara beem kʋdhaln kaose.Wa makre sǎan sǎ wa tɩ tǒnd ra mii taab yɩnga tɩ maam rega maam sulla tɩ tǒnd naaged taab n rɩt n tɩ sulla toa me ra rat ta naaged bǎmb me ya su-yikr ne taab la sěn sɩnga. Zaba naor wʋsg sɩngda woto. Raar la nɩɩng mě ya goam la ma-rǎmb tʋʋb n wat ne zaba. Sasa la niinga ya wagdem. B mii zuka maam koabg la pisnaase ne maam pis-yoobe. Tǒnd ne taaba zaba ya wʋsg ka. Kom-bɛd n rabe ka n ra modgd neba n maam d bǎmb sěn rate. B mii toě n piida b futǎ n yell tɩ fo modg tɩ ka la zabr bɩ futǎ peke tɩ sǎ pa rěnda fo na paama yell ne bǎmba. La b yiimě tɩ b paama soagm-měeg pʋsʋka. Bǎmb sʋka a yembr n da zak naaba.Fo sǎ pa pekdb futǎ b pǎbda foom.
Sokre: yǎmb toě goma ne tǒnd zǎmsg tʋʋm noě, tʋʋm noě n kěesd ligdi la yǐn-wisgra tʋʋm noě yǎmb sak n wǎt?
Leokre : N-ye tʋʋm noě wa beeka. Zǎmsga tʋʋm noě wa pa waog ye. Sěeb zǎmsg bebe, raad wǎab zǎmsg me n bebe. La sǎ pa raada wǎab zǐiga n rɩkd neb wʋsgo, sěeba zǐiga n wǎ yěnda ka rɩk d neb sěn ka mii sěeba baa bilf ye. Ya yěnda mě n yǎka yam n tʋmd woto. Ya tǒnd yǒ-gǔuda. Reema něngě, lido be be dama beemě n le paas baabi-futu. Reem bǎmba sǒgda wʋsgo bala wakat la nǐnga, fo sǎ tags yɩnga vɩɩma tɩ fo zuga wɩnge f sǎn tɩ be beeně fo yǐmda bilfu, yǐn-wɩsgra zǐng n wǎ zǎmsd ba kaos n waa me. Bala b sěn wa wǎ yɩɩda kiuuga yiibu. Tǒnd sǎ tɩ bǒos yǒgǔud-ba taor soaba n na tɩ tǎo balla a zǎgsdame tɩ sǎ ka zǎmsd-ba n wa sor ka toě n paamye. B yet a mě tɩ sǎnda rat n tunga be zoe. La baa daare a ka wat maam yam n wǎ ye. Koamba naas n da yell tɩ bǎmb rat n zoe me tɩ b tall b n kěng komaadǎ wa něngě. Yěnda yinga la b sěn bas yǐn-wɩsgra tʋʋm naora. Koamba naasa sʋka a yiib n yi la a yiib me n ket ka.
Sokre: Togs maam fo sǎ ya sǎana naokěndr bʋgo la fo toě n rɩk tɩ zǐnd n taara ne yǎmb yi nanamsǎ?
Leokre: ya sɩda fo sǎ na wa paalem b boonda foom tɩ waongo la rat n yella m bal tɩ fo na wa paalm. Baa maam sěn wa paalma b ra boonda maam tɩ waongo. Fo sǎ n rat tɩ fo ne koam kɩdsa wʋm taaba rěndam tɩ fo sik f memga.B sǎa n yeel tɩ fo maan bumbu bɩ fo maane. Koamb naaba sǎan yeel tɩ ya foom n pekd rooga bɩ f maane. Fo sǎn ka kɩs de yell ka nan zǐnd ye. Ya kɩɩsga n wat ne zabǎ. Gǎaga zing yěesd me n reesd taaba. Raar fǎa b miin ya ned la ninga n sɛgd n pɩɩg zakǎ. La fo sǎ ya sǎana b yeta me tɩ b na n pǎrga fo sɛɛga la ya gom zaala.
Sokre : gom nɛ tõnd sãne sõ toẽ kẽn bumb nɩnga tõng tɩ b saka?
Nɛda : fo sã wa paalem f bone da fo ta wongo sɛ datẽ yeel tɩ sãna la fo sã pa mɩ fo toẽ manã zabre bale mãm danã zaba mẽ la sã yɩ bulf bala fo sã bãnga bɩla fo basdam tɩ sa. Kɛɛr watamẽ dɩk mẽsã wa nɩng bɛda, sõmbam tɩ fo sã wa bɩf sɩkʋf mɩnga sã pa rẽ pa nã zems ye.
Tʋme be ti ya nɛd fãã nɛ wakate sã ta fo wakate fo nã mãnam bala, yɛla be ka tɩ sã pa fo taalla nɛd sẽ zɩnd ka fo pa nã tõng bang ye gʋm kɛɛr beem tib mãne fo sẽ kõ yɩ ka ti fo sã wa yiyɩnga bi fo ketɩ tags bumwɩns nɩng fo sɛ yã ka wa ye b boondam ti guelwongo a bãngr ya toogo.
Wala yɩng kʋmba b boondam tɩ bakoroman gʋmʋ be ka ti fo pas toẽ bãng ye zɩng fãng tara gomã fo sã pa mãne bãnga fo pa tõẽ wʋma bɩɩsi ye. Fa sãn ya bakoroman waka bɩbɩɩsa mɛng pa rat fo zɩng ye ya wala bãm vɩɩmã ya yook yɩnga tɩb wat ka. B ya rẽgdo b pa soode.
Sokre : yãm tara baasg koɛg bɩɩ?
Nɛda : ya taba bala la yeel la b zabda taba ka kɛɛr yeela mã ti bãm pa toẽ bas ye tɩ bale b sɩnga yɩnga yaʋl n wat ka. rẽ yɩnga pa ka la b nã wa basye. Pɛdb yetamẽ tɩ beoga sã vẽg tɩ bam pa pam taba b pa toẽ tumye. B yɛtbam ti b bas yɩ yaʋl sɩng yuubu, sõ pa pamdẽ yuuda rãm la zabdba.
Taba raʋga yembr ya pɩɩsyoobe nãnãmsa zabdamẽ pedb soolgdame yuuda baa nẽ naab ramb sẽ mɩ yuud kela b zuudam. Tõnd taʋrdam kɛɛr yuudamẽ la n lʋbda b sã yã foo tɩ f yuuda b yõnkda fo tayɩ fo tuba kɩng nɩ guud kasmã nɩngẽ sã pa rẽ b mɩm tɩ taba paamẽ kẽ zɩɩmã ta basba yaa toogo.
Y bark wʋsgo.
Age of interviewee: 17
Sex: Male
Level of education: High School
Marital status: Bachelor
Prison situation: Convicted (8 months detention)
Offence accused of: Assault and battery
Place of arrest: Ouagadougou
Place: MACO/Burkina Faso
Duration of interview: 45 minutes
Date: March2021
Interview carried out by the author.
Data
Permanent ID: https://doi.org/10.34847/NKL.D17D1I63.
Download English translation (ODT, 15 KB; PDF, 147 KB), transcription in Mooré (ODT, 26 KB; PDF, 243 KB)
Transcript by OUEDRAOGO Ousmane, a school teacher and also a student in the third year of a degree course in Macroeconomics and Development Management at the Thomas Sankara University, Saaba.
A bibɛɛg goama lebgra yaa Ouedraogo Ousmane sěn ya lekoll kareng sǐngr kareng-saamba sěn leb-n ya karen-bi-bedr arzɛka koglgǎ kareng-dooga tǎab n soaba karenga zak-bedrǎ yʋʋr sɛn boond ti Thomas Sankara wǎ n maane.