Burkina is approximately 274,200 square kilometers and has a population size of 15,757,000 people, known as Burkinabé. The country itself is divided into 13 regions and 45 provinces. The majority of the country is savanna-like flatlands, but as one travels to the southwest of the country one is able to find Burkina’s highest peak, Ténakourou, amongst the other low-lying hills. The country possesses only two rivers that run the entirety of the year, those two being the Black Volta (Mouhoun) and the Niger River (Komoé). In spite of the fact that the country is dotted with numerous lakes and ponds, these ponds are often seasonal in that they evaporate completely during the country's dry season, the result of the harmattan, an arid wind that blows across the country from the Sahara. This leaves the millions of inhabitants of country without water, forcing them to walk an average of 5 kilometers (3 miles) for 5 gallons of water. In addition to the sheer distance that the Burkinabé must walk in order to find water, this water is highly unsanitary and causes treatable and potentially deadly diseases including cholera (dysentery) and parasites including hookworms and roundworms that have the same devastating effect. Because of these diseases, along with several other factors, the average life expectancy in Burkina is 52 for females and 50 for males. In 2001, only 3% of the country’s budget was dedicated to healthcare, which results in a poor dispersion of qualified medical professionals, so approximately 41 nurses and 13 midwives per 100,000 people. By providing clean water for these people we can help increase their life expectancy by preventing them from becoming infected by these maladies.   

       In spite of their substandard living conditions, the Burkinabé remain a people of culture, cuisine, and religion. Religious domination is shared between Islam (60.5%), Christianity (23.2%), and Indigenous beliefs (15.3%); however, disputes between the various religions are not common in that there is an atmosphere of acceptance found in Burkina like in no other place. This characteristic is exemplified by The Great Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso, which was built by individuals of all religions as an asylum intended for peace for all. Religion plays a relatively significant role in Burkina’s culture, specifically via the use of masks, and the method by which traditional beliefs and stories are preserved: orally. Burkina culture is centered on the theatre which incorporates both traditional practices as well as French influences that were introduced after colonization. Together, they create a cultural atmosphere that is uniquely of Burkina. Much like the crops they export, the Burkinabé rely heavily on the staple crops of sorghum, pearl millet, rice, maize, potatoes, yams, and okra. These staples are often supplemented by several meats including, fresh water fish and chicken. However, during the last week of August in 2009, Burkina experienced one of the country’s most devastating floods in its recorded history.  Leaving thousands homeless and several dead, the flood resulted in even more difficulties for the Burkinabé to find fresh, clean water. Although several institutions have worked to increase the availability of fresh water to the people of Burkina Faso, millions are still stranded without what the United Nations has declared “a basic human right.” It is now up to us, along with grassroots and community-lead organizations like the BARKA Foundation, to spread the most essential component of life, water, something we take for granted, to the millions of individuals in Burkina Faso who so desperately deserve access to this necessary resource.