July 22, 2010
July Flood Update
Another letter from Alan Dixon in Ouagadougou. If you would like to make a donation which will benefit homeless families and/or reconstruction, you can make a secure online donation here. In the box titled 'Missionary or Project Name', please type BF General 93918 Ouagadougou Flood Relief. Thank you so much.
Mariam had been camping under a tree surrounded by her few possessions. She had been allocated a small building lot, 20 roofing sheets and 30 sacks of cement, but had nowhere to sleep. The tree at least offered some shelter from the wind and rain. She was discovered by another newcomer to Yagma living nearby in a newly constructed home and invited Mariam to take shelter with her. Mariam’s situation was brought to our attention. When Alison and I visited Yagma on Saturday Mariam’s building lot was occupied by a new house, half-way to being completed. Mariam’s house is the thirteenth we have built in the last three months and will be the last till the rains abate in late September. In addition to building these thirteen houses we have been able to provide microcredit loans for small businesses to 49 widows who are now able to provide some measure of income to support themselves and their children. We have continued (till school closed July 15th) to provide a noon meal to the 400 students of the Yagma primary school, a school currently under the shelter of UNICEF tents. Thanks so much to each of you who have helped us to make a difference in the lives of the Mariams of Yagma. Please pray for Ismael, Boukary, Ablassé, Paul, and Jeanne, all working with us faithfully in Yagma.
Alan and Alison
Posted by sahelsteve at 05:56 PM
March 17, 2010
March Flood Update
Another letter from Alan Dixon in Ouagadougou. If you would like to make a donation which will benefit homeless families and/or reconstruction, you can make a secure online donation here. In the box titled 'Missionary or Project Name', please type BF General 93918 Ouagadougou Flood Relief. Thank you so much.
As temperatures edge into the forties, the humidity hovers around 20%, and a heavy layer of harmattan dust blankets the city of Ouagadougou, memories of the flood of September 1 have dimmed. For many thousands of people in Ouagadougou, however, the aftermath remains a daily reality. On Tuesday we visited Paspanga, one of the several neighborhoods largely destroyed in the flood, and visited the local SIM-related church and several of the 22 families whom we are helping with reconstruction. The local church has identified the neediest families in the neighborhood and with the help of another organization, Burkina Faso Outreach, we are helping with reconstruction, providing food-aid, and providing school fees for a number of families. Other than for this input and that of Compassion International, which is also rebuilding some homes for families of sponsored children, this neighborhood has benefited from very little outside help and remains for the most part, in ruins.
Last week we were also in Yagma, the resettlement site for many who lost their homes on September 1. On our first visit there just before Christmas we had encountered only a hundred or so new arrivals living in makeshift shelters made of sacks of cement and grass mats. Yagma is now a growing community of several thousand, mostly living in temporary shelters, with many in the process of erecting permanent structures on the small building lots allocated to them. Several wells have been drilled and water is being trucked in to provide water for construction. The Red Cross has been especially impressive in the scale and quality of their involvement in this resettlement effort.
With the help of a few of the newly settled local residents, we have been able to identify and begin meeting with small groups of widows, about 180 women in total, in order to help them re-establish themselves and find new means of earning a living and providing for their children. We have arranged micro-credit loans for thirty women to help them start or expand small businesses and have financed the beginning of a small soap-making business for another group of ten. We met with leaders of AFEC (the women’s group of the SIM-related church) on Thursday to see how they may get involved with us in reaching out in other ways to this group of women, some of the most vulnerable in the growing settlement. We will visit Yagma with them this week.
A group of seven tents make up the growing primary school in Yagma. A week ago the number of students in the school had grown to 405 with new arrivals each day. The grade one class has 120. Following a request from the Parents Association of the school, we have begun providing food for a noon-meal program for the students. This we hope to be able to continue through the remainder of the school year, with several of the moms doing the cooking.
Alison continues her coordination of English for Everyone with 105 students enrolled in six classes. Thanks for praying for the teachers and for the spiritual impact of this program. We have a team visiting from England this week who will be helping out with classes and who will participate in a games night for the students at the end of the week. Leadership classes continue to add an element of challenge to my schedule. One week of teaching in Fada at the end of February reinforced for me our need to continue to plug away at modeling and teaching biblically-based principles of leadership to our current and upcoming leaders. I have begun facilitating a course on Integrity and Finance with a class of eleven at IMS, our mission training school here in Ouaga, and I travel to Burundi for a week at the end of the month to facilitate a new course (for me) on Conflict Management and Resolution.
Life is full. Thanks for your part in helping us serve in this way.
Alan and Alison
Posted by sahelsteve at 07:08 PM
December 21, 2009
December Flood Update
Another letter from Alan Dixon in Ouagadougou. If you would like to make a donation which will benefit homeless families and/or reconstruction, you can make a secure online donation here. In the box titled 'Missionary or Project Name', please type BF General 93918 Ouagadougou Flood Relief. Thank you so much.
Yesterday we went to Yagma, one of the three sites that the government is developing to provide lots on which new housing can be built away from flood prone areas of Ouagadougou. As I mentioned in my last update, November 30th had been set as the final date for leaving the tent cities and that those taking refuge there would be enabled to find some other solution to their individual housing crises. On Wednesday we visited Cissen, one of the tent cities where we have been helping with some food relief, to find that about half of those who had taken refuge there were still on site with no plans for leaving in the immediate future. Despite the fact that government aid at the centre has greatly diminished, many expressed their reality that a tent is still better than nothing. The spirit among those still at Cissen was much more agitated than on previous visits and there was obvious discontent that the government was so slow in coming through on the promises for housing and other aid. Many of those who have received promised government help for housing have left the center, most for other temporary shelter and a few to the newly developing areas, of which Yagma is one.
We accompanied one father from Cissen to see where he would be relocating at Yagma and to see how things were progressing with resettlement there. What we found made both Alison and I think of what it must have been like, to some extent, for settlers in frontier days. Yagma is not far from Ouagadougou, but seems completely removed from the realities of big city life. Heavy equipment is at work scratching out roadways in what used to be farmers fields and surveyors are continuing to mark building lots and for distribution to those arriving. On arrival we found a group of about 200 people who had arrived recently, the real pioneers. These families have received their promised 30 bags of cement and each had piled the bags so as to be able to make a small hut, covered with a grass mat, into which they could crawl to sleep. No reconstruction has started as there is virtually no water in this location, people needing to walk 2 to 3 km to find water for washing, cooking and drinking. We talked to one father who had been there for 10 days who had found a small water hole about 1 km away from the Yagma encampment, where he was making mud bricks. He said the hole would be dry in a few days. We talked with several widows, there with their small children, wondering just what they were going to do if water was not soon available for construction. We left just a bit shaken by the realities of resettlement that many are facing. We returned yesterday morning and then again in the afternoon where Matthew, Alison, and I, with another SIMer Mark Dartnell and two Burkinabe colleagues from the Goundrin church, shared a week’s ration of rice and canned fish with 40 families, those we had discerned were the most needy.
What next? We will meet together on Monday to discuss further strategy for Yagma and for those who remain at the tent city at Cissen. During our visits this week we were struck by the complete absence of any government authority at either Yagma or Cissen. We need more information as to what can be expected in the near future for both locations and how we can best contribute to meeting needs, both in the short and medium term. We continue to work through the church in Paspanga to respond to food, schooling, and shelter needs in that part of Ouagadougou.
Christmas is just ahead. We are so pleased to have Matthew here with us. Joel will spend Christmas with good friends in Toronto for whom we are so thankful. His semester in the teaching program at the University of Toronto has gone well. Luke and Mariena will be in Calgary, battling the snow and cold there. They are both doing well, both working, and enjoying a new home recently purchased. We are readjusting to the dust, haze and cooler temps of the Burkinabe winter (33C daytime, 20C at night). Please continue to pray for the displaced poor of Ouagadougou, that the joy of knowing Jesus and celebrating his birth would gladden the hearts of many in the midst of very difficult times. Donations can still be sent through SIM offices and designated for Ouagadougou Flood Relief, BF 93918. Thanks to so many of you who have given.
Merry Christmas to one and all!
With thankful hearts,
Alan, Alison, and Matt
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:20 AM
November 02, 2009
November Flood Update
Another letter from Alan Dixon in Ouagadougou. If you would like to make a donation which will benefit homeless families and/or reconstruction, you can make a secure online donation here. In the box titled 'Missionary or Project Name', please type BF General 93918 Ouagadougou Flood Relief. Thank you so much.
It is now eight weeks since the flood. The rains have stopped and the dry season is setting in with increasing dust and moderating temperatures. Life in Ouagadougou, although far from normal for 100,000 of its inhabitants, seems to have resumed its normal rhythm. Many of those staying in the 88 government shelters have found alternate housing, staying with friends, neighbors and relatives and in some cases rebuilding. The rest, maybe 30-40%, have relocated to 14 government shelters, most living in tents.
We visited three of these tent cities yesterday to see first hand the conditions there and to determine where we may continue to contribute to any persistent needs. For the most part basic needs are being cared for, although problems related to such a large displacement of people, often far from their previous homes, are obvious. In two of the three centres, primary schools have been erected and life seems to be carrying on with some degree of normalcy. Preparation of meals is done in communal kitchens, adequate for the most part, with the World Food Program, Cathwell and the Burkina Government providing most of the food. Organization seems good and health concerns are being cared for to a great degree. Our interventions over the last four weeks have been focused on isolated cases where holes have appeared and where we had enough knowledge of the situation to be able to plug them, mostly with food aid and some building materials.
The big question being asked is where to eventually house those who have been relocated in these 14 tent cities scattered around the city. The Prime Minister, in a press conference on October 15, said that even those who have been relocated must find some other place to live by November 30. The reason given for this deadline is the increasing possibility of epidemic as the harmattan season arrives and its accompanying dust, respiratory illnesses, and meningitis outbreaks. The government has clarified that they will not rebuild people's homes and that people will not be allowed to rebuild in many of the flooded areas. The plan is that building lots in newly developing areas of the city, about 15,000 of them, will be attributed to those who were previously living in the most flood-prone areas. Those homeowners who lost their homes will be allocated a building lot and up to 280,000 cfa (about $700) worth of building materials with which to rebuild. Those who were in rented houses that collapsed will receive compensation of 50,000 cfa ($125) per household to help with relocation. For those who had taken refuge other than in government shelters, they have been encouraged to make themselves known and will receive rations of rice and other goods to help in their re-establishment.
Over the next few weeks we will continue to help with particular needs identified in at least one of the remaining shelters. We will also be working to identify those who we can help in reconstruction, focusing again on those who are least able to provide for themselves. Although the government is making big efforts to help its population, the amount being given to help each family in rebuilding is minimal compared to the need. One person commented yesterday that what the government is planning to contribute in building materials will build them a kitchen but not the rest of the house. Please pray for the people of Ouagadougou as they continue to overcome obstacles to reconstruction. Pray for us, particularly for wisdom in making choices, as we continue to work with churches and others here in Ouaga to meet needs as we are able.
Many thanks to many who have made gifts to help with this need. Donations can still be sent through SIM offices and designated for Ouagadougou Flood Relief, BF 93918.
Alan
Posted by sahelsteve at 01:57 PM
September 25, 2009
Ouagadougou Flood Update Burkina Faso
Another letter from Alan Dixon in Ouagadougou. If you would like to make a donation which will benefit homeless families and/or reconstruction, you can make a secure online donation here. In the box titled 'Missionary or Project Name', please type BF General 93918 Ouagadougou Flood Relief. Thank you so much.
It is now three weeks since the flood. Things have stabilized somewhat and basic needs are being increasingly met for those who have taken refuge in government and unofficial shelters. Efforts are being made to improve sanitary conditions and bring medical treatment. In one centre we visited last week, nurses were making regular visits to treat malaria and diarrhea. In another center portable latrines were being built that would later be moved to other locations. Local governments now have 88 official sites with about 115,000 people currently receiving food, lodging, basic necessities and some medial care.
The majority of those who have lost their homes were located in two types of areas. Many of the homes flooded were in older, well established areas, located near Ouagadougou’s main waterway which includes an interlinked system of three dams. These dams greatly overflowed their boundaries inundating homes, businesses and other structures on both the north and south sides of the dams over a wide area, collapsing most mud-brick structures and damaging others. As a flood of this magnitude is a very rare occurrence most of these people will likely rebuild in the same place, advisedly with cement block on concrete foundations.
The other areas greatly affected have been non-developed areas on the outskirts of the city where most construction is in mud brick, without significant foundations and where water-control structures are minimal. Normal watercourses greatly overflowed their normal boundaries on September 1, inundating wide areas for several hours causing widespread collapse of water-logged mud brick structures. We visited two of these areas last week, one in Somgandé where one EE-SIM church was almost completely destroyed and another in Goudrin where another EE-SIM church is located. Widespread destruction of mud brick homes occurred in areas near swollen waterways and where water collected. In many areas devastation is total. One of the organizers at one of the government centres where we have been distributing basic necessities pointed out what used to be his home, now nothing but a pile of mud. He said that some personal effects remained under the pile but that he had not had the courage or the time to continue to dig for them. He and his family are housed at the school nearby. The government is urging people in these non-developed areas not to rebuild but is seeking a more permanent and adequate solution to their housing needs.
The new school year starts on October 1st and the government is anxious to relocate those who are currently staying in schools, the large majority of the 115,000 people being sheltered. People were expected to have begun moving to the first of the tented sites by Tuesday September 22, priority being given to moving people out of the secondary schools first. New temporary schools are to be erected as part of the tent cities.
In cooperation with 5 local churches and another local Christian organization, we have been able to purchase and distribute $20,000 worth of basic necessities, food, and medicine in 10 shelters. In two of the neighborhoods heavily affected, we (SIM and EE-SIM churches) have been able to intervene directly in the neighborhoods affected, distributing another $5,000 worth of food and other basic necessities. We are continuing to evaluate needs and responding as we are able. We will be monitoring the movement of those being sheltered, from the schools to the tent-cities being/to be erected, to see what needs we can effectively respond to. As the rains normally continue into October, it will likely be another month before reconstruction of homes will begin on a large scale.
Please continue to pray for wisdom for us and the churches as we identify needs and seek to respond to them Pray for wisdom in decisions regarding rebuilding and as we seek to identify and help those most vulnerable and needy.
Alan
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:10 AM
September 07, 2009
Burkina Faso flood news
News report from Ouagadougou (this video is in French):
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:51 AM
September 04, 2009
Ouagadougou flooding latest news
The following newsletter comes from our colleagues Alan and Alison Dixon in Ouagadougou and it describes the recent flooding there. If you would like to make a donation which will benefit homeless families and/or reconstruction, you can make a secure online donation here. In the box titled 'Missionary or Project Name', please type BF General 93918 Ouagadougou Flood Relief. Thank you so much.
Dear friends,
It seems that the city of Ouagadougou just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. On September 1, a strong tropical storm system stalled over Ouagadougou. It started to rain about 4:30 in the morning, a nice gentle rain for over an hour. About 6:00, the time we usually get out of bed, the downpour started and continued off and on till about 4:00 in the afternoon. The metrological service registered 97 mm (about 4 inches) of rain between 7:00 and 8:00 AM, an incredible downpour. The rainfall recorded by 4:00 PM was 263 mm (over 10 inches) for the day. This is the highest one day rainfall in recorded history in Burkina Faso. On August 31,1914, 246 mm were recorded in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso’s second largest city. The previous highest one-day recorded rainfall for Ouagadougou was 120 mm in 1953. There was likely some variation throughout the city which may account for varied reports. Ouaga has several low areas and water courses with damage particularly significant in those areas.
Just after noon Alison and I went to Paspanga, an area of town about 4 km from our house, to help out the family of a church member there, carrying two of his children and some of their personal effects back to the SIM compound. Water was rising in his yard but had not yet entered his house. Water had backed up about 6 city blocks at that point. We were able to wade through water to a nearby office building under construction where we went up to the fifth floor to survey the damage. A widespread area was flooded and the EE-SIM church, several blocks away, was under about 8 feet of water. It is located just one block from the floodway, downstream from one of Ouagadougou’s dams, which itself was under two feet of water. This is one of the areas where many houses fell. We heard one fall quite close by while we were loading up the car for this family. This is one of the rare times that we have seen hundreds of people in the streets in the pouring rain.
Electricity was cut by mid-morning as the main diesel generating station located in Paspanga flooded. Our power came back on at 8 PM, for many it was the next day, but some are still without power. The water treatment plant at Paspanga was also flooded and shut down. This has resulted in no water in some areas of the city and very low pressure in others. The official word from ONEA (the government water service) is that they are having difficulties but do have adequate reserves.
The main hospital, Yalgado, is not far from the same dam. Its back wall came down and several of the buildings of the hospital compound were flooded. Many patients were evacuated to other hospitals in town. Clean-up is underway but damage, particularly to equipment, is extensive. One of the local newspapers was flooded and only produced a limited edition yesterday with mostly photos of destruction throughout the city.
The city is much calmer this morning and the flood waters have mostly receded. The government estimates that there are about 150,000 people whose homes are no longer habitable- either completely or partially destroyed. About 110,000 of these people have taken shelter in schools and are receiving some emergency aid through government channels. They report only five deaths but many still unaccounted for. If this flood had happened during nighttime hours it would certainly have resulted in a much greater catastrophe in terms of loss of life.
The SIM Ouaga team has set up a fund to begin helping people in need. For now it is initial emergency aid but within a few days I expect we will be looking at helping with housing and other needs, particularly for those in SIM-related churches and their neighbors. Any help that can be directed our way will be appreciated. Gifts can be made through any SIM office to project BF General 81250, designated for Ouagadougou Flood Relief. It's going to take a long time for this to go away.
There was no serious damage for SIMBF missionaries, although Robin had a couple of inches of water throughout his house- water running in from the street. A wall fell down at Ruten's house, resulting in minor damage to two vehicles. Several of our Burkinabe staff had some damage to their homes and one’s car was engulfed in water after getting caught in the flood-waters while attempting to get to work. We are thankful for God’s protection and pray that those much less fortunate will get the help they need.
Alan and Alison
Posted by sahelsteve at 03:36 PM
September 03, 2009
Ouaga under water
6 emails yesterday from friends in Ouagadougou (capital of Burkina Faso), telling me about the flooding there. It's very serious - you may have seen it on BBC news. 12 inches of water in under 10 hours - the heaviest rain there in 90 years - no wonder the city is flooded.
Thousands of houses have fallen down. Schools and churches at 193 sites across Ouagadougou are sheltering 110,000 flood victims.
Please pray for the many needs, and for our colleagues there - missionaries and aid workers - that they would respond well to this crisis.
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:21 AM
June 22, 2008
Refugee update
Photos of Friday's aid distribution to the Tuareg refugees in Mentao
A few more smiles in this album than in the last one, thank God.
Posted by sahelsteve at 07:43 PM
June 21, 2008
Food Distribution to Tuareg Refugees
We went out to Mentao yesterday to distribute rice, oil, milk and plastic sheeting.
Action Sociale is the local organisation charged with the refugee situation, so we invited two of their representatives to come with us. They suggested that we distribute the stocks according to the number of children in any one family, rather than simply giving one sack per family. This seemed fair enough, since some families have four children and some have twelve.
The other change to the plan was that our purchase of tea and sugar was scrapped in favour of milk - which is more nutritious, even if less culturally appropriate.
The haut commissaire and a good helping of gendarmes came along as well for moral support!
I've been trying to upload photos, but the connection here is terrible at the moment and I haven't been able to do so. More later...
Posted by sahelsteve at 05:30 PM
June 17, 2008
Refugee update
I went down to Ouagadougou last week to pick up Charlie (who is back from England) and to withdraw the funds you so generously donated - a total of 1000 GBP.
Visited Mentao with Mark again yesterday to do a final needs assessment. There are some new families who have arrived since we were last there.
We are planning a major distribution on Friday: temporary aid for the 30 large families currently in Mentao. The sum donated will buy the following for each family:
- one 50 kg sack of rice
- one 5 litre bottle of palm oil
- one small box of tea and one kilogram of sugar
- ten metres of waterproof sheeting
This will keep the Mentao refugees fed and sheltered until well into rainy season. It is not a solution to the problem, but it is a temporary help. Many thanks to all who gave.
Two pregnant mothers (one of whom was pictured on the Facebook album) have given birth at the camp. Mothers and babies doing all right.
I'll post some pictures of the distribution at the weekend.
Posted by sahelsteve at 06:23 PM
June 06, 2008
Thank you
Thank you to everyone who has responded so generously to my appeal on behalf of the Tuareg refugees in Djibo.
It looks like we are going to be able to help significantly. I'll post details of the distributions as they happen.
Meanwhile, if you are a blogger and you would like to help, please consider writing about the Timbuktu refugee situation on your blog. Feel free to use any of the words or pictures here or on Facebook.
Posted by sahelsteve at 01:10 PM
June 04, 2008
600 Malian refugees are setting up camp around Djibo
Mentao is a Tuareg settlement about 5k from Djibo on the Ouagadougou road. Mark's friend Mohammed lives there with his large family and many camels. I have blogged about camel-riding there on a couple occasions (here and here!).
Hospitality is very important in Tuareg culture, which is part of the reason why we always have such a good time at Mohammed's place. But over the last couple weeks, Mohammed's hospitality has been tested to the limit - he is currently playing host to over 20 large families of Tuareg refugees from the Timbuktu area of Mali. They descended on Mohammed because he too originates from that area, and they knew he was here.
According to this report over at allafrica.com, the number of refugees in the Djibo area totals over 600, with a further 300 down in the capital Ouagadougou.
Yesterday Mark Gibson (SIM) and I visited the refugees and listened to their stories. I asked them whether I could take their photos and publicize their situation, and they agreed. I have put the photos and stories of a few of the refugees into a public album which you can access via this link: Tuareg refugees in Djibo June 2008.
It's a strange feeling to be in the middle of writing a novel set in Timbuktu and to suddenly have Timbuktu descend on your doorstep. In spite of Timbuktu's romantic image, the current reality of that region is anything but romantic. Violence between Malian soldiers and Tuareg rebels has been mounting in recent months. The refugees in Mentao claim that Malian soldiers are now launching indiscriminate attacks on Tuareg settlements.
We are thinking and praying about how best to respond to this situation. Joint teams from the Burkina Faso government and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) assessed the situation in Mentao last week, but no aid has yet arrived, except for the four sacks of grain which Mark has already taken out there. And as Mohammed commented drily, 'The refugees can't eat clipboards.'
We would like to take a few more sacks of grain over to Mentao just to relieve the pressure on Mohammed in the short-term. If you would like to give to this, email me: steve (at) voiceinthedesert (dot) org (dot) uk.
Once NGO aid actually starts arriving (which could be many weeks), we'll stop delivering food ourselves.
Posted by sahelsteve at 06:02 PM
December 23, 2007
Free Rice
 | 'What if just knowing what a word meant could help feed hungry people around the world? Well, at Free Rice it does.' (Washington Post) I just came across the Free Rice website (thanks, Africakid). It's worth a look if you like words or want to help the World Food Programme |
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:17 PM
October 02, 2006
Gorom-Gorom Flood Pictures
Gorom-Gorom is always finding original ways to chew up its inhabitants. On 9 August 2006, heavy rains broke a dam and flooded large sections of the town.
| This building was a grocery shop owned by a North African merchant. “You should have seen it,” said one eye-witness. “Hundreds of packets of spaghetti went bobbing off on the surface of the water.” |  | |
 | Mamadou’s family compound consisted of seventeen mud-brick houses. Sixteen of them fell down. | |
| This lady told us that the water in her house came up to her armpits. “I carried my goats on my head, one by one, taking them to higher ground.” |  | |
 | An old woman surveys the remains of her house. “This is the third time in five years that my house has fallen down. A poor person can not keep rebuilding.” | |
| Pastor Pascal of the ‘Deeper Life’ church in Gorom-Gorom found it hard to sleep during the nights following the flood. “Whenever I closed my eyes I would see water.” |  | |
 | The displaced families stayed in local primary schools, but the school year starts tomorrow so they have been told to move on. Some are now staying with relatives in the bush. Others have moved into UNICEF tents like this one. | |
| As the rain fell, people asked a local marabout whether they should abandon their houses. He spat on his staff and placed it on the ground. “If the water arrives at this point, our town is doomed,” he said. Minutes later the staff was swept away by the flood. |  | |
 | Several old men refused to leave their houses, preferring to have the roof cave in on them than to brave the flood waters. They were forcibly evicted by local gendarmes. | |
| All over town people are making mud-bricks to rebuild their houses. They have been greatly encouraged by the gifts of food and mosquito nets that have come to them via Under the Acacias. |  | |
 | Remember the woman who carried her goats on her head? She is paying these lads to build her a new house. Meanwhile, those who cannot afford to rebuild are waiting to see what help they will receive from the government. | |
| This old man has had a new house built for him by his sons. It is one room, only just long enough for him to lie down in, but at least it is a roof over his head. |  | |
 | Isa (guitarist, second left) was due to be married in August, but his house fell down so he postponed the wedding. He now spends his days playing the guitar at other people’s weddings and making bricks for his new house. | |
Posted by sahelsteve at 10:46 PM
September 04, 2006
Gorom Gorom under water
Gorom Gorom is not an imaginary setting for a children's book. It is a real place, which currently needs our help.
There was an article in Inspire Magazine this week about the flooding in Gorom Gorom, and the ensuing relief work.
Posted by sahelsteve at 12:43 PM
August 15, 2006
Gorom-Gorom floods
There has been disastrous flooding in Gorom-Gorom. Hundreds of mud-brick houses have collapsed, leaving thousands homeless.
Keith is helping to organise a relief effort.
Flood, drought, winds, locusts: spin the wheel, pick a calamity. When I moved to Gorom-Gorom in 2001 I soon realised what a fascinating but unliveable place it was. Unliveable in that year after year people see the things they have worked for destroyed - one year their houses, another year their harvest. Year after year it happens and year after year, in true If Spirit, the people of Gorom-Gorom stoop and build them up with worn-out tools. Flood, drought, winds, locusts - calamities come and go but the people, for the most part, stay.
When I ask my friends why they don't move away - further south perhaps, where the land and climate are less hostile - they often reply with the verb woowude, which means 'to be used to something'. Min mboowi gaa - We are used to it here.
The Wodaabe Fulani say that Suffering is like the sparks that jump out of the fire at night and burn your feet as you sit nearby. They say that Joy is like the droplets of milk that jump out of the calabash when you are milking a cow and wet your face and arms. Life is a mixture of the two - sparks and droplets.
Please read Keith's report on the flooding in Gorom and then his update on the Gorom-Gorom floods, and consider whether or not you can contribute to the relief effort.
Posted by sahelsteve at 10:21 PM
August 29, 2005
Corn harvest
Yesterday I started harvesting the corn in my back yard. All over Djibo people are doing the same - they are taking corn to each other as gifts and will eat it until the main millet harvest.
When someone gives you corn you say 'Alla hollu en wartoore' (May God show us next year). It is an expression of hope for a plentiful year to come.
At last, we are through the worst of 'hungry season'.
Posted by sahelsteve at 08:19 PM
August 21, 2005
Peace only
I pass Bukari Hassan and Mawna Belko on my way to the market, and as always I stop to greet them. They are sitting in wicker chairs on the left side of the street in the shade of Bukari Hassan's hut, as they do every morning. In a few hours the rays of the sun will reach their feet and they will call a child to move their chairs to the other side of the street, to the shade of Mawna Belko's hut. There they will sit until the mosquitoes come out at dusk.
'Jam waali?' I say (Did you pass the night in peace?).
'Jam tan' (Peace only), replies Bukari Hassan, squinting up at me. He is sitting forward on his chair and leaning some of his weight on a wooden staff.
'Did your household wake in peace?' I ask.
'Peace only.'
'How is your family?'
'There are no problems, God be praised.'
This is not entirely true. I know already from my neighbours that Bukari's granddaughter died during the night and that he and the rest of the family were up before sunrise to bury her at the cemetery. It is part of the greeting ritual to proclaim peace where there is no peace, and Bukari is playing the role as best he can.
'I heard about Amnata's child,' I say. 'Alla hoynu.' (May God make it easier)
'Amen,' he says quietly, fingering a string of prayer beads.
Mawna Belko pulls up a small wooden stool for me, and we sit in silence. Donkey carts lurch past with loads of wood and fertilizer. From the yard behind me come the low syncopated spurts of a cow being milked. People pass by on foot or bicycle and some of them call out 'Jam waali?'
'Jam tan!' calls back Mawna Belko. 'They are on the way to the Red Cross,' he tells me in a low voice, pointing at the empty rice sacks that some of the passers-by are holding.
Bukari Hassan and Mawna Belko will not be going to the grain distribution themselves. They have entrusted their identity cards to younger members of the family who will claim on their behalf. Perhaps today they will get lucky or perhaps they will wait in vain.
A small boy comes out of Bukari's yard bearing three small glasses of tea on a metal tray.
'The second pouring,' says Bukari. 'Bitter and sweet - like hope.' He offers me a glass, his hand trembling.
'Bismillahi' (In the name of God), I say, taking it.
We drink. In three short sips my glass is empty. The strong China tea clears my head and makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. The old men are watching me to see if I will wince. I thank them and put the glass back on the tray.
Mawna Belko sighs. 'God be praised,' he says. 'If on the day the babbatti came last year you had told us that we would still be drinking tea in August, we would not have believed you.'
Babbatti.. The word has never been far from our lips since 27th September last year when the pink cloud came from the north. At first people thought it was an approaching dust storm, but then the cloud turned into millions of tiny dots, pink and flickering and strangely beautiful. The dots swarmed towards the fields and began to dive, and for an hour the air was thick with legs, wings and mandibles. The babbatti ate everything and left.
Now rainy season is here again, and the fields are again filled with ranks of almost-millet. Everyone knows how precious the crop is, and how precarious. One month to go, and then the millet can be harvested. A repeat of last year's locust invasion would be catastrophic.
A man on a bicycle stops to greet Bukari and pass on his condolences. The man's turban covers his forehead and chin, and his eyes are surrounded by deep crows' feet. He is holding an empty rice sack.
'Ko jemma boni fuu, weetu,' says the stranger. The Fulani have many proverbs about patience and endurance, and this is one of them. 'Even if the night is bad, morning will come.'
'A haali goonga' (You have spoken truth), says Bukari.
'Alla wan' nyallen e jam.' (God grant us to pass the day in peace)
'Amen.'
The man gets back on his bicycle and peddles away towards the Red Cross. Mawna Belko and I watch him disappear into the distance. Bukari Hassan looks down at his feet and he grips the head of his staff so hard that his knuckles go white.
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:59 PM
August 12, 2005
Hamidou and Mamadou
Sorry for the infrequent postings. I have had malaria the last few days, but am getting over that now. Thanks to those of you who have emailed and asked about the famine here. Let me try and sum up.
The food security situation is very serious at the moment, not in the whole of Burkina Faso, but in particular areas. The worst affected areas are, as always, all in the north of the country, and the hunger gets more acute the further north you go.
I have been asking some of the older people in Djibo how this year compares to the 'great' famines of 1972 and 1973, and it seems that the main difference is this: in 1972 there was money but no food, in 2005 there is food but no money. The results are similar though. The people in Djibo have sold all their assets (including animals, if they had any) to buy millet in the market. Now they have nothing, and there are still two months to go until the harvest.
It is very difficult to measure hunger. If you come to Djibo and say 'Hands up if you're hungry', the whole town (including the mayor) will put their hands up. And it is true that everyone (except the mayor) is looking thin these days. When I returned last week from ten days in Ouagadougou, I did a double-take at how emaciated some of my friends had become.
Targetting aid is tricky - everyone thinks that they and their family should be entitled to it and that so-and-so down the street should not. There is no consensus about who the 'poorest of the poor' are. But sometimes it is crystal clear...
Carl and Sharlene Pilkinton are SIM missionaries in Djibo. They are in their first term here, learning Fulfulde and ministering in a variety of different ways. Shar writes:
| Hamidou and Mamadou are 6 week-old twins, barely 2 kgs each. Their mother walked 45 kilometres to Djibo from Kabaoua to see if her twins could go on our milk-powder supplement programme. Her babies need breast milk but she does not have enough milk to feed them. Because of the food shortage she herself is eating only one meal a day - one bowl of plain rice with salt. Up until now she has been able to get cow-milk from her neighbours but now they are refusing her. She has no animals of her own to milk or to sell. |  | |
 | At first sight of the twins I was so horrified that I thought they should go straight to the local hospital. However, this is not possible. Their mother needs to care for her other children back at home and can not leave Hamidou and Mamadou in Djibo. If only she herself could eat better/more then she be able to give these babies all the breast-milk they need. | |
| (Thanks, Shar, for this case-study) | ||
I (Steve) am finding things here quite hard at the moment. In particular I feel guilty that I can eat till I am full and my next-door neighbours can not.
If you would like to know more about SIM's milk-powder supplement project in Djibo, contact me, and I will pass on your message to the right person.
If you would like to give to the relief effort in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Mauritania, contact DEC.
Posted by sahelsteve at 08:12 AM
July 02, 2005
Djibo and Edinburgh
The work of the Red Cross in Djibo goes on day in, day out. In times of crisis they do emergency seed or food distributions; otherwise they concentrate on their literacy and health-teaching programmes. Boureima Petechudi attended one of their seminars on health and was very amused to be told he should exercise every day – I’ve never seen a man run, he said to me, unless he was running away from a beating or running towards a millet distribution.
The Red Cross does good work though, and one of their strengths is local knowledge. Workers here know Djibo well, they know who is most in need (see the photo-story) and they act to try and help them. Local knowledge and local action are essential for the success of aid and development.
Local knowledge and local action are important for Christian mission too, which is why missionaries spend years learning local languages and customs. Kosuke Koyama describes mission as ‘agape-nizing’ space.
But local knowledge and local action in themselves are not enough. Every single village and town in Africa is in the grip of powerful socio-economic forces which are outside of their control. Unjust trade rules keep Africa in poverty while the West gets ever richer. However many proverbs I learn in Fulfulde, I can’t get rid of those crushing agricultural subsidies. They are the domain of the G8 and the European Union and the US Senate and the WTO.
That is why I email Tony Blair from the telecentre in Djibo.
And why my colleague Keith has gone to Edinburgh today.
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:14 AM
June 28, 2005
Seed Distribution in Djibo
Now is the time for planting, but millet seed in the market is expensive. The solution: buy up seed and give it away to those who need it most.
Here are a few photos of yesterday's work. As always, click on an image to enlarge it:
| This is the Red Cross committee charged with organising the distribution of seed in Djibo - a challenging task in a town of 15,000 needy people |  | |
 | With representatives from each of Djibo's nine sectors, they sat down and worked out who were the poorest of the poor - giving preference to the old, the disabled, widows and carers for orphans | |
| The people chosen were then given a day to come and be registered - they brought their identity cards with them, which show their name and how many children they are responsible for. One farmer was official carer for 51 children. |  | |
 | Although people had already been selected, many more turned up on the offchance of being registered. They surrounded the table, waving their identity cards and clamouring 'Winndu kam' (write me down) or 'Yurma kam' (have pity on me). | |
| Today was distribution day. People came with their Red Cross card and an empty sack and queued up outside the seed store. |  | |
 | Some people from far outside Djibo had heard about the distribution and come to town - including this seventy year-old man from Mali. His name was not on the list so he had to wait till the bitter end to see if there was any left over. | |
| At the entrance to the seed store people presented their cards showing how many tins of seed they were entitled to. Each person received between 6 and 12 kg, depending on the size of their family. |  | |
 | All of the seed given out today was bought by you - the visitors to 'Voice in the Desert'. Thank you once again for your generosity. | |
| The Red Cross 'volunteers' are mostly students from the lycee (picked for their writing skills). This is Oumarou, who measured out the tins of seed. |  | |
 | Millet seed can be eaten. There will be a temptation for those who received seed to eat it tonight rather than plant it tomorrow. Idrissa stood on the door, reminding those on their way out, 'This is seed, not food'. | |
| All in all, 1800 people received seed. We had a good rain last night, so the ground is soft and ready for planting. There will be a lot of people going out to their fields tomorrow morning. |  | |
 | Those who received seed today will hang on to their Red Cross cards, because there is a food distribution coming up soon - millet, oil and Danish lentils, provided by the World Food Programme. That too will be much appreciated as people start to cultivate. | |
If you would like to contribute to similar relief work in Gorom-Gorom, Keith is busy organising something over at Under the Acacias.
Posted by sahelsteve at 03:06 PM
May 19, 2005
Food aid update
Met with the WFP in Ouaga today to go over the figures for the schools feeding project. The money you gave was sufficient to cover the cost of all the grain for the primary schools in Soum and Oudalan, the two poorest provinces in Burkina. It amounted to 56 tonnes of millet. Thank you.
We have 4.5 million CFA (over £4,000) left over, and have decided to use this on a project to help families in Soum who can not afford to buy seeds for when the rains start next month. The plan is to distribute some 24 tonnes of millet seed in and around Djibo. Am meeting with WFP and Red Cross directors on Monday to work out details of this.
We are not out of the woods yet. During rainy season there is still a need for food aid in the north of Burkina Faso. I am starting to hear the first reports now of people dying as a direct result of malnutrition. If you would like to give food to some of those in greatest danger see this appeal from Keith at 'Under the Acacias'.
Posted by sahelsteve at 05:51 PM
February 22, 2005
Grain Aid photos
Here are some photos of the grain aid project in Oudalan. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.
The WFP (World Food Programme) headquarters in Dori, and one of several stylish WFP lorries:
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This is a school in Barbare, made entirely out of sticks and plastic bags. And the headmaster Mikaelu with some of the pupils. He invited me to say a few words to the kids so I gabbled something about how useful education is, and beat a hasty retreat.
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This is a new school in Daybeere, near Gorom-Gorom - not a single stick or plastic bag in sight. Nice classroom, nice teachers, nice grain store, nice canteen (when I visited, the canteen roof was just being put on). By the way, the chap in the glasses is Victor.
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Those children who live near enough to school usually take their lunch home with them at midday. Here are Iisaa and Amadou tucking into their rice and beans, assisted by their baby brother Yunusa:
Posted by sahelsteve at 07:15 PM
February 17, 2005
A day out with Victor
The latest round of WFP grain aid has started to arrive in Oudalan, the province worst affected by this year's drought and locust plague. I spent the day yesterday with Victor Ouedraogo (head of education in Oudalan), visiting schools in the bush which are benefitting from this aid. Overall it was an encouraging experience; I saw hundreds of children who are now being fed one meal a day in the WFP canteen project - and for some of them this is the only meal they get. The aid is not sufficient but it is significant. Photos etc to follow, when I get back to Djibo. Thanks again to all who contributed.
One of the schools we visited (Barbare) had not yet received any food and there was some confusion over why this was so. The lorry was supposed to pass by there yesterday on the way up to the border with Mali. Victor was surprised but assured me it was only a glitch - the drivers had probably changed their itinerary. We will stay in touch over this until the aid arrives there. The headmaster there is someone I know from Boukouma - his class had prepared a song with which to greet me - an army marching song in French which went as follows:
Ca ne va pas
Ca ne va pas
Pourquoi ca ne va pas?
Parce ce que je suis fatiguee
Je suis venu pour creuser
Je suis venu pour gruiller
Je suis venu pour travailler
Et je suis fatiguee
Ca ne va pas du tout.
All in all a fairly depressing song, and in the circumstances an appropriate one too. I will let you know when the kids at Barbare get their food aid.
Posted by sahelsteve at 05:43 PM
February 04, 2005
Provisioning
News from WFP at last - it looks like we are still on for the grain distribution in schools in Djibo and Gorom.
"The provisioning of cantines in the Sahel should start late next week or early the following week. We are finalising the contract with the transporters.
"We will draft the letter to the government regarding your contribution to the school feeding. You can contact Ali to meet him and to finalise a day/s to visit the schools. He knows the schools already and will be in contact with the transporters (SPAP) so can organise the timing of your visit."
Fine.
Posted by sahelsteve at 08:29 AM
February 03, 2005
Cow for 30 quid
The prices at the cattle market in Djibo, Adama told me today, are at a twenty-year low. People have no money to buy with, and are desperate to sell their animals to buy millet. You can pick up a two-year old cow for 30,000 CFA. Ridiculous.
Still no news from the WFP about when they are sending the grain up to Djibo; the end of Jan has come and gone with no word from them - I will post here as soon as I know.
Posted by sahelsteve at 03:00 PM
January 29, 2005
Locusts - an eyewitness account
Andy has just posted an eyewitness account of the locust swarm in Djibo - worth reading.
Posted by sahelsteve at 07:38 AM
January 11, 2005
Visit to the World Food Programme in Ouagadougou
Conversation with a young man in the street in Ouagadougou this morning
Me: Excusez-moi, ou se trouve PAM? (Excuse me, where is Pam?)
Him: Pam qui (Pam who?)
Me: Pas Pam, PAM - Programme Alimentaire Mondial (not Pam, PAM - World Food Programme)
Him: Mille Francs pour te montrer (for 1000 francs I will direct you there)
Me: Non, ca va - merci. (thanks but no thanks)
I found it eventually, and a very impressive place it is too. The offices are nice without being over the top - the corridor walls all covered in poster-sized photos of cute children holding bowls of rice - you know the sort of thing.
Anyway, I spoke with a nice American lady called Kerren Hedlund who is deputy director of the World Food Programme in Burkina, and the upshot is that we can go ahead as planned. They will assist me in buying grain in the south and transporting it up north, where it will be distributed to school canteens.
Kerren assured me that in this project there is no problem with the grain getting into the hands of those it is intended for - it is all accounted for, we can be confident of that.
At the end of this month (Jan 2005) there will be an approvisonnement (provision-ment) in Djibo, which is a grand way of saying that the WFP trucks will be coming. I will be there to meet them, and will post some photos etc on this page.
Thanks again to all of you who have given so generously. Watch this page for further updates.
You can also visit www.wfp.org for further information about the World Food Programme.
Posted by sahelsteve at 03:28 PM
December 21, 2004
Food for malnourished children in Burkina Faso
Back in March I posted the story Two Beakers about my friend Iisaa, a boy who came to Djibo to study. His story is not unique; there are many pupils in the north of Burkina Faso who regularly have to face school on an empty stomach.
One of the stated aims of the World Food Programme in Burkina Faso is to 'improve the health and nutritional status of vulnerable groups' - in 2005 they will set up a canteen in every primary school in the ten poorest provinces of Burkina (including Djibo and Gorom-Gorom), giving free meals to all pupils. If the WFP get the funds they need for this, over 28,000 children will benefit from the scheme.
I am in contact with the WFP reps in Burkina, and will be working closely with them when I return. For updates on this project, see Grain Aid Updates, which is a page you can bookmark and check regularly.
Let's confine the 'Two Beakers' story to the past.
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:54 AM
December 20, 2004
Good news re locust situation
I just noticed on Keith Smith's blog that the World Bank has approved $60m to fight against future locust invasions in the Sahel. This provides real hope for the area.
Meanwhile, our fundraising continues for the current famine in the north of Burkina Faso. To all those who have already given, a massive THANK YOU.
As you know, I will return to Burkina Faso on 7 January. Every two weeks I will post updates on the famine relief effort, including photos and stories, so that those who are contributing can see how their money is being spent. Just bookmark the above link and check back occasionally.
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:14 PM
December 19, 2004
Cracker FM
Many thanks to Mike and Katie down at Cracker FM. I was on their show this morning and had the chance to talk about the famine going on in the north of Burkina Faso at the moment.
If you listened to the show, you can find out here how to contribute to the famine relief effort.
Posted by sahelsteve at 08:54 AM
December 01, 2004
An appeal in the wake of the locust swarms in Africa
'Listen, you elders;
hear me, all you who live in the land:
has the like of this happened in all your days
or in your fathers' days?
Tell it to your sons and they may tell theirs;
let them pass it on from generation to generation.
What the locust has left, the swarm eats,
what the swarm has left, the hopper eats,
and what the hopper has left, the grub eats.'
(Joel 1:2-4)
How do you feel about locusts? Chances are, you aren't keen. Even one locust on its own can be a terror, as Sophie Anderton found out in one of her 'I'm a Celebrity' bushtucker trials. But imagine two million of them descending on you. That is what happened yesterday in Lanzarote - you probably saw the pictures - millions of locusts hopping all over the beaches, whilst British sun-worshippers ran and cowered in their hotel rooms.
Radio 1 reported at the time that locals were attacking the insects with flamethrowers. This technique had some success because the locusts were by that time getting a bit long in the tooth - they must also have been a bit tired in the tooth, having systematically chomped their way through vast swaths of Africa. As you know, the real locust victims last year were not Sophie Anderton and company, nor the Lanzarote holiday-makers, but farmers in North and West Africa.
It was back in March 2003, shortly before I came home from Burkina Faso, that the first locusts arrived in Djibo. They settled on the barkeehi tree by the clinic and stripped it bare with ruthless efficiency. At that time there were not enough of them to make us seriously worried. People joked about the locusts and little children ran to catch them and make 'helicopters' with them (cruel but creative - remember that there is no 'Toys R Us' in Djibo). Mossi women netted some of the insects to add to their soup, much to the disgust of their Fulani neighbours.
I left Burkina Faso in March and returned to Chesterfield. In my absence life went on as normal. Men went ahead and planted their millet at the start of the rainy season in June, and worked their fields through July and August. By the end of September the millet fields around Djibo were almost ready - just two or three weeks and then the harvest. But on Sunday September 26, the locusts arrived again - this time in a huge swarm, the biggest for 15 years. As the prophet Joel observed, a locust swarm is like an army, 'Like a countless host in battle array, / Before them nations tremble, / every face turns pale, / Like warriors they charge…' (Joel 2:5-7)
Some of my closest Fulani friends would have been in church when the locust swarm arrived in Djibo, but even if they had been in their fields there was nothing they could have done. Those who were out in their fields that day could only stand and bat locusts away from their faces as they watched the devastation unfold. The locusts ate their fill and left, then returned the next day for breakfast.
90% of the harvest was destroyed. The price of a 100kg sack of millet in Djibo market shot up overnight from 8,000 CFA (£8) to 18,000 CFA (£18), more expensive than I have ever known it. At this price, people simply cannot afford to buy food. When I return to Djibo in January, I am returning to a famine.
I have contacted the World Food Programme in Burkina Faso and (thank God) they are planning to do relief work in Djibo - and in Dori and Gorom-Gorom which have also been declared a famine zone. Their priority is malnourished children, so they are going to be distributing grain primarily to schools and health clinics, and then in various cereal banks around the north of Burkina. They have said that I am welcome to collaborate with them in this, and I am fundraising for that purpose.
As you know, my focus in Africa is not usually humanitarian relief. But in the face of a situation this desperate, all organisations in the area must co-operate to help alleviate hunger. Bearing in mind that whatever we do for our brothers and sisters in Burkina, we are doing for Jesus.
If you would like to donate to this grain project, 100% of your gift will be used to buy grain for distribution in the north of Burkina Faso. I will buy grain in the south of the country and World Food Programme lorries will transport it up north. In my monthly newsletters I will keep you in touch with exactly what is happening.
Please make cheques payable to World Horizons. Write GRAIN AID on the back of the cheque (so that Margaret in the finance office knows what the cheque is intended for).
If you are a UK tax-payer, you are eligible for gift aid - this increases the value of your gift by 28%. Simply enclose a note with your cheque stating that you are a UK tax-payer and that you would like your donation to be gift-aided.
Send to:
Centre for the Nations
North Dock
Llanelli
Wales
United Kingdom
SA15 2LF
Thanks for taking the time to read this appeal.
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:13 PM
October 27, 2004
Locust plague
They came to Djibo a couple weeks ago. Here is an extract from an email I received today from a friend there. The situation is already fairly desperate and it will get worse as the year goes on. Please pray. I will post something soon about other practical things you can do if you want to help out.
...there seem to be pockets where the locust didn't touch, but generally they've wiped out probably in the region of 90% (and that's being optimistic) of peoples crops, and many people got nothing. However, even if the locust didn't come the crops would have been pretty poor any way. In the Sebba and Piela regions the locust didn't even reach there and still the church is calling it a famine situation. In Djibo during the space of three weeks the grain has gone up from 11,000 per sack to nearly 18000. Boureima did get some grain, probably enough for two meals. I think Du'aawjo may have got a little bit more, but he hasn't come in this year. Only his boys have. We are at present looking into various options for helping with grain.
Update: Read my appeal in the wake of the locust swarms.
Posted by sahelsteve at 10:20 PM
August 12, 2004
haiku #10
launching off bare stalks
the locusts are leaving town;
harvest came early
Update: Read my appeal in the wake of the locust swarms.
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:31 PM