The “Since you are leaving…” project has provided food aid to displaced people in Burkina Faso.

In Nouna, in the northwest of Burkina Faso, the influx of displaced people increases the demographic pressure on land where poor populations are already victims of threats and droughts.

Sister Toyin, who lives in this region, asked the “Rosalie Projects” for help to support these internal refugees. She says:

The rise of violent extremism in recent years has led to an unprecedented security crisis, which has now become one of the major humanitarian challenges. Terrorist attacks have killed hundreds of families, causing human misery that has also displaced thousands of people.

In the provinces of Kossi and Banwa, this security crisis has resulted in almost 22,000 internally displaced persons in need of humanitarian assistance.

Working with pastoral agents, we were able to help beneficiaries in the community of Bourasso, a village twenty kilometers from Nouna, which had just been emptied of its inhabitants by the terrorist threat.

The donations collected as part of the project have made it possible to purchase and distribute food and household essentials to these people, who are struggling to get a daily meal.

The beneficiaries

100 displaced families from the town of Bourasso have found refuge in Nouna, i.e. a minimum of 700 people.

Alain Aubin COULIBALY, farmer and head of a 15-member family, received 100 kg of rice, 100 kg of maize, 100 kg of “petit mill”, 25 kg of salt, 1 can of oil, 25 cans of sardines and 4 packs of sugar, as well as basic household items for three months.

“I had nothing left, I didn’t know how to feed the many mouths waiting for me at home,” he says, “I thank the donors from the bottom of my heart”.

The students were also able to benefit from this food aid to continue their studies normally.

But many displaced people still need help:

The Provincial Department of Humanitarian Action has told us that these people walk the corridors of their offices every day, begging for goodwill and providence for their basic needs. The offices of the Human Solidarity Department of OCADES NOUNA are also full to overflowing, with these new “cohabitants” who do not know which way to turn. Feeding them and their children remains a daily challenge. So it is “the hand of God” that acts through this project “to help us…”, confess several mothers, in tears.

“This has made our decisions difficult, because there are so many people in need. Indeed, there is great suffering among these populations, suffering that we have also felt in not being able to meet everyone’s needs.”

“This is, therefore, an opportunity to thank wholeheartedly the generosity of the donors of the Rosalie Projects on behalf of all the people we have been able to help so far” (Sr. Toyin).

With them and on their behalf, thank you all.

Source: https://www.projets-rosalie.com/