I Took Turquoise Pants to Burkina Faso, West Africa

Written by Edith Suárez Torres

“Do you have a preference on where you want to go?” asked the Peace Corps recruiter.

“A part of me is open to going to a Spanish-speaking country in Latin America since i speak Spanish. And i am open to going anywhere else and learning a new language.”

“Anywhere,” must have been the keyword because i ended up being chosen to go to a country i did not know existed at the time: Burkina Faso. 

i remember receiving an email from the Peace Corps while i was sitting at the kitchen table. When i opened the acceptance letter and saw Burkina Faso, West Africa i immediately Googled it. i was excited to read about the culture and how the people were some of the nicest in the world. i wasn’t sure how they measured that, but that didn’t matter. i was soaking it all in. 

i was also scared. i still had not told my parents i had applied. One reason was that i did not know how to tell them. As the first in my immediate family to finish college, I felt that ‘getting a good-paying job’ was next in their eyes. Yes, they both left their families behind to come to California, but my leaving without real necessity was not fully understood.

i remember asking them if we could chat in the living room. Most of it is a blur. i was nervous. i do remember my mom shedding tears. Ultimately, they were supportive. 

One of the first things I did was go to a thrift store to buy clothes. i remember walking through the thrift store and choosing a couple of outfits that i felt had an… African vibe? I know it sounds so ignorant, but at that time that was my thinking process. i was looking for clothes to wear in Africa. When I thought of Africa at the time I thought of bright colors and bright patterns. i bought these satin-like turquoise loose pants with a loose blouse that was full of brown, red, and yellow shapes. When I got to Burkina Faso, I probably wore that outfit once. 

First of all, what I bought was not at all how people dressed. Africa is a whole continent and i was thinking and talking about it like it was a country. Even then, like everywhere else, there was not one style. Second, the clothes I could buy there were so much nicer than what I had bought to fit in, so they all stayed in the luggage. Third, buying fabric and finding a tailor to customize your clothes was easy and affordable in the village. So I got my clothes tailored and used clothes left behind by previous Peace Corps volunteers. 

I now laugh at my ignorance at the time. I also notice more and more the power that the stories we’re told or not told shape how we see the world. For me, this thinking had so much to do with what i saw on television, specifically the World Vision commercials, National Geographic episodes, or even a live dance performance from a group of people in Uganda that i saw while visiting the San Diego Zoo. 

I also notice more and more the power that the stories we’re told or not told shape how we see the world.

Today i am more intentional about the stories i allow myself to consume, the stories i seek, and the stories i tell because i know that with intention, the stories we tell can change the world for the better.