Monday, August 14, 2006

What's in a Name?

Many people ask what's the story or meaning behind Yarbi in Yarbi Design. Well, Rabi is from the Mossi ethnic group. More specifically, he's from the Yarse tribe. The young people of the Yarse are called Yarbi, thus Yarbi Design. He'll always be a Yarbi to his elders, and one day, he'll be a Yarse to folks younger than him.

As far as the graphic, which we use in our marketing pieces and on our business card, it is the village of Rabi's dad Emile Sanfo. The village is named Nambugyan and it is nestled in the hills near Koungoussi. There are maybe 150 people that live there and it has stayed an authentic village. There is 1 water pump, which is in the lower right hand corner of the photo under the big tree. Most people are farmers and raise livestock like goats and cows. Rabi's family is only family in the village that is Catholic because Rabi's grandfather was in the first wave of men choosen by the missionaries to become a catechist. The rest of Rabi's extended family is Muslim; all of Rabi's aunts and uncles and their children were raised Catholic. Rabi and I visited his village in April 2004, and it was at this time that I took the photo.

Koungoussi, the largest town near Nambugyan, means "where you can't sleep." Rabi thinks it's because of the mosquitoes which are many since there is a large lake in this town; the lake is called Lac Baam. Because of the lake, the region is well known for its potatoes and green beans. There is fish and shrimp available year round.

We hope to one day settle in this area. Big plans!

1 comment:

African Painters said...

This message is going out to Rabi and Nancy at Yabi Designs. Good luck with your project with Burkinabe artists. The best people to talk to about the subject outside of Burkina is firstly a chap I met about 5 years ago called Ronald Jung from Essen, Germany. He has dedicated the last decade in promoting artists from Burkina. Here is his website: www.modern-african-art.com. It is in German, French and English.

Also I found this as well.
http://burkinafaso.africancolours.net/virtuelle/

Good luck with all your efforts from African Painters and love to Suzanne when you next see her. XX