Our partner organization in Burkina Faso, APDC has been busy since the middle of March supporting women who were forced to leave their rural homes and land at the end of December (at the request of the army, due to on-going terrorist issues). Families with few resources had to try to find a place to live in and around Fada, the major town in the province of Gnagna. With support from World Neighbours Canada, APDC trained a group of 35 women in a variety of agricultural income-generating activities that are possible to undertake in an urban refugee setting. These activities included soap-making, manufacture and marketing of soumbala (a very popular African condiment), preparation and sale of local food items and the manufacture and preparation of food items made with groundnuts (peanuts).
Nutrition is also a challenge. Most of the people living in the refugee reception sites are no longer able to practice good nutrition for themselves or their children. The difficulties they face are enormous. APDC, concerned about the dangers of child malnutrition for these vulnerable households, organized several awareness-raising sessions on nutrition. This activity involved explaining to participants the different types of food needed for children’s development, depending on their age, and how to combine local foods for healthy, balanced nutrition. After each awareness-raising session, the team carried out a cooking demonstration with the participants. The aim of the demonstration was to help the participants master the preparation of rich local meals (enriched porridge, enriched solid meals). A large quantity of rich meals was prepared at each site during the demonstration sessions and these meals were shared by all the participants at the end of the session (women and children). Each cooking demonstration was attended by between 150 and 180 people.
Due to the severe situation experienced by these internally displaced people, and with the aim of helping the most destitute beneficiaries to feed themselves during the initial stages of their move to Fada, APDC used part of World Neighbours Canada’s support to distribute food to particularly vulnerable people including widows, orphans, and old people who had been abandoned or disabled. In total, 32 people received 70 kg of cereals (millet) each.
It is hard to imagine the multiple difficulties faced by these villagers. The support APDC is providing with funding from World Neighbours Canada is definitely appreciated. Very few other organizations in eastern Burkina Faso are able to engage in community development work under the current circumstances. ADPC’s close links to rural people and its low profile allows it to continue working where other organizations have long ago left the area.