When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Society

Meet The "Patchers," Burkina Faso's Mobile Tailors Cutting Corners On-The-Go

Seven days a week, the "patchers" of Burkina Faso roam the streets of the country's capital, looking out for any clothes that might need mending.

Photo of one of Ouagadougou's "rafistoleurs" carrying his sewing machine on his shoulder

One of Ouagadougou's "rafistoleurs" with his sewing machine

Flora Toelo Karambiri

OUAGADOUGOU — They are easy to spot as they crisscross the capital of Burkina Faso. With sewing machines on their shoulders and scissors in hand, they travel around in search of their daily tasks. Many in urgent need make use of their services to adjust an outfit, mend holes, replace a zipper, sew on buttons or repair a tear.

These are the mobile tailors or rafistoleurs ("patchers") of this West African nation of 22 million. They save people time, trouble and often money, and are a common sight on the streets of Ouagadougou.

Often young immigrants from other African countries to Burkina Faso, they roam the streets of the city and the neighborhoods on foot or bicycle, announcing their presence by loudly snipping their scissors. They offer services in mending clothing, for the most part. At bargain rates, they patch up torn clothes. The prices of the services vary according to the complexity of the service requested.

Journey to a better life

Mahamat is a young Nigerian in his twenties who has been working as a mobile tailor for more than five years in Burkina Faso. He learned to sew in his home country, Niger, where he says a difficult life led him to venture abroad in search of better living conditions.

With his sewing machine on his shoulder, Mahamat scouts different neighborhoods, getting attention with the clicking of his scissors. He can fulfill any request to restore clothing. He spent the modest sum of 20,000 CFA ($32) to buy a sewing machine, with which he can fulfill any request to restore clothing. The machine earns him the minimum to survive.

Mahamat has a goal: saving enough to open a sewing workshop where he can showcase his talent.

All week long, Mahamat walks the streets of Ouagadougou. Resting is out of the question for him, because money does not wait. On some days, he may return home with just 500 francs in his pocket. On other days however, when luck is on his side, he can earn more than 15,000 francs ($24). Not knowing what the day will bring, he prefers to go out seven days a week, only taking a day off when he is too sick to leave home.

The job is not easy. Walking with the weight of the machine on his shoulder can be particularly difficult, Mahamat says. He worries about his health in the future. Some customers also complain that the service is too expensive and refuse to pay what they owe after Mahamat finishes the repairs. Language can also pose a challenge for some tailors, many of whom are immigrants.

But Mahamat has a goal: saving enough to open a sewing workshop where he can showcase his talent. That's why, he says, he hasn't wasted money on a bicycle. Still, though he enjoys the trade, he doesn't plan to keep it up forever.

The activity of these menders-tailors is highly appreciated by some, and many of these hardworking young people like Mahamat manage to win regular clients, taking appointments by phone. "It is with the money we earn from clients that we live, so we are obliged to be courteous to them so that they call us tomorrow. I give my number to some ladies who have me come to their homes to fix their clothes in an emergency," he says.

Photo of a street scene in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Street scene in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Lou Jones/ZUMA

Quick and dirty?

For many clients, Mahamat and other tailors offer a fast and cheap service. Families with children are often among their most loyal clients. Madame Yaro's family is among them: "I have young children who play a lot. Every time I end up with torn clothes," she says. "Before, I used to collect everything to go to the local tailor. But he took too long and it didn't suit me. That's when I started working with the rafistoleurs. They are cheap, fast and I really appreciate having my children's clothes mended."

Still, while some appreciate the work that mobile tailors offer, others write them off as amateurs, preferring to work with "professionals" to avoid shoddy work.

Once they learn how to pedal the machine and thread the needle, they just go for it.

But the "mobile tailors" say they're not in competition with professional tailors, established in their workshops — and conversely, the latter say they can't compete with Mahamat when it comes to emergency repairs.

Most professional tailors surveyed by Burkina 24 said that they absolutely do not do the same job, and many argue that mobile tailors can only mend clothes, not sew a good outfit.

"Most of the mobile tailors I know didn't take the time to learn sewing. They want work and they want it quickly, so once they learn how to pedal the machine and thread the needle, they just go for it. However, some can be considered innovators in this regard, trying to find an edge by doing high-quality alterations. "On the other hand," as Tourou Selaboy, founder of Selah Design, points out, "only do quick-and-dirty work."

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Ideas

The Unifying Power Of Art In A World Divided By Religion And Morality

Political battle lines are becoming increasingly entrenched, and opposing views are being pushed towards ever greater extremes. Language has become a battlefield. If morality pushes us apart, and religion does not help in the process, we may find a solution in our sense of humanity, writes German psychiatrist Manfred Lütz in Die Welt.

The Unifying Power Of Art In A World Divided By Religion And Morality

Eugène Delacroix - La liberté guidant le peuple (1830). Commemorates the French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution.

Manfred Lütz

-Essay-

BERLIN — In the Middle Ages, people didn’t read texts about the meaning of life. Most of them couldn’t read at all, and they saw the meaning of life in the images in their churches. Academics have recently started speaking about the “iconic turn”, the return of images, and it is true that the Instagram generation prefers to communicate visually. Could pictures offer a way for our deeply divided society to come together once again?

For the latest news & views from every corner of the world, Worldcrunch Today is the only truly international newsletter. Sign up here.

Both in terms of foreign and domestic policy, political views are becoming increasingly entrenched, and on both sides of the debate, opposing views are being pushed towards ever greater extremes. In the world of today, many people are cut off from any contact with those who think differently, living in echo chambers, surrounded by people who confirm their worldview. When those who disagree with their position condemn them from a moral perspective, this only serves to vitalize the group under attack.

The public pillorying that dominates social media can be a cause of great anxiety for individuals. But for those who feel they are part of a community, their fear often transforms into an aggressive form of self-defense. The topic itself isn’t as important as the sense of being attacked.

That is a possible psychological explanation for a strange phenomenon, whereby attacks on groups such as the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and some of their individual members have strengthened the sense of community within these groups and brought together a surprising mix of people, from radical free marketeers to nationalists, conspiracy theorists, pro-lifers, COVID deniers, right-wing extremists, conservative Christians and racists.

They are united by a single experience, that of being excluded. Conversations within these groups are reminiscent of chats around a pub table: the more harshly someone criticizes “those in power”, “the lefties”, “right-wingers” or even, “the others”, the more likes they get.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest