117. Upper Volta Border

"Be Prepared"

117.

Upper Volta Border:

As we cross this border in the early afternoon the crowd begins to thin. By nightfall I have a place to sit on a wooden bench—what opulence!

At the last stop before we arrive at the final destination of the train, Ouagadougou, Upper Volta, four black Boy Scout leaders and three Boy Scouts all clad in splendid uniform climb aboard. They soon burst into a song in French, which I shall try to translate:

“In vino veritas, my brothers, declares the Latin proverb. God has given us wine, brothers, so that we may find truth. Therefore it is not wine that I love, brothers, but truth! Tra-la-la-la-la!”

and so forth.

The rest of the passengers seem to resent the singing, the fine clothes and the boisterous energy of these newcomers. They are not survivors of the Long March either so the veterans are sulking.

I have noted that quite a few of the woven “plastic burlap” gunny sacks in which many of the passengers on this train carry their belongings have the American eagle and shield symbol and these words printed in English “Provided by the People of the United States of America”. The closer we come to the current draught stricken area of the Sahara, the more of these handy bags I see. My country is not only providing a lot of food but luggage for these people.

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