November 2019 - The Tea Grin, or Tea Gatherings, is a long-standing cultural tradition in West Africa where a group of young people meet in the evenings to drink tea and discuss various issues that they face in their daily lives. These forums are places where youth from different neighborhoods can gather to openly discuss stigmitization, exclusion, and xenophobia.

OTI’s Burkina Faso Regional Program (BFRP) expanded these existing forums by gathering more than 200 youth from ten different neighborhoods in Arbinda, a community in the Sahel Region. In April 2019, inter-communal violence erupted between Foulse and Fulani ethnic groups in Arbinda, which resulted in over 60 deaths. The Tea Grin took place at an important moment in time to attempt to restore a sense of community and peace.

BFRP trained local youth leaders on skills to facilitate and encourage an open and honest dialogue at these informal Tea Grins. Following the discussions, the facilitators spoke with the mayor and other community leaders to share concerns, perceptions, and proposed solutions from youth across Arbinda.

"This is the first time that a tea debate br[ought] together young people in several areas of the town…Despite the security situation, we are very happy to be together and share our opinion on the issue of violent extremism that has been shaking our country. We took advantage of this opportunity to propose solutions, especially to emphasize social cohesion,"stated Soumaila, a youth leader.

Youth leaders found the experience to be an insightful way to come together and debate issues relevant to them. "We meet all the time, and we talk a lot [...] This kind of debate is very useful because [it forces] us to propose solutions to improving the situation rather than only criticizing," said Hassan, a participant. These youth leaders are also committed to creating a social network composed of members from a variety of ethnic groups in Arbinda, to raise awareness on social cohesion and help put an end to violence in Burkina Faso.

Debating Social Cohesion Over Tea

“This kind of debate is very useful because they push us to propose solutions to improving the situation rather than only criticizing.”

- Hassan, a participant of a Tea Grin in Arbinda, Burkina Faso