Sillanka, the language of the Sillanko people in Burkina Faso, was spoken by fewer than seven hundred people in 1989. Toward the end of the twentieth century, concern within the community for the fate of their mother tongue intensified, leading to this project to maintain and promote the use of Sillanka and to safeguard Sillanko cultural heritage.In 2007, the Institute for Social Science in Burkina Faso worked with the language community to advance its goals by:

• Building and equipping a community and cultural centre, Sillanka Wundi (“Sillanka House”), opened in June 2008 at a ceremony attended by local and national political, religious, and academic leaders,
• Documenting the language and oral traditions,
• Initiating writing classes for 30 Sillanko using a newly devised lexicon and reading manual and
• Organizing a National Subcommittee on Sillanko to take advantage of rising interest in the cultural heritage and local knowledge of this community.