Air Algerie Flight 5017

A plane holding 118 passengers crashed in Africa. That's probably the most information the average American took away from the tragedy that happened last Thursday morning. The people of Burkina Faso are part of one big family, so to hear that they lost 28 in a plane crash absolutely devastated them. The Government of Burkina Faso declared Friday and Saturday as mourning period in remembrance of the victims of the crash. France declared Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as mourning period in remembrance of the victims, especially the 54 French, onboard. No matter the cause of the flight, the Burkina government provided psychological services so that all of those impacted by the crash can have someone professional to talk to. I thought that was amazing.

The media's lack of censorship in its coverage of the event shocked me the most. Friday night's broadcast showed a number of things that would never be shown on American broadcasts.

First, the news showed camera footage of the scene of the crash. The crash occurred in the desert frontier between Mali and Burkina Faso. The camera footage showed shapeless debris, a smoking worker's boot and quite possibly limbs. The coverage wasn't great quality and it panned quickly, so there's no saying what I really saw. But, my jaw dropped once they started to show the coverage. I thought I'd mistranslated their warning for upcoming disturbing images. Material like that would never be released in the US. If it is released, it is usually years after the event after all investigation is complete.

Second, the news showed Burkina's Prime Minister telling the victims' families the news that the plane had been recovered, there was only debris and no survivors. I was completely shocked that something as intimate as this would be shown on the national news. The amount of grief was unbearable.

Third, the news reporters started to interview family friends and those close with the victims. Hearing my host mom's gasps at the details of the families onboard was the hardest thing for me. A Burkinabe family of 5 was onboard. So sad.

Fourth, Burkina Faso's President traveled to the site of the crash to meet with the French military and say words of condolences. 

As a result of the plane's take-off from Ouagadougou, BURKINA FASO was the #2 search on Google Thursday. It's sad that it took such a tragedy to put Burkina on the map.