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AMPO Orphanages

MIA-ALMA
Refuge for abandoned girls

AMPO - Social Services

TONDTENGA
Agricultural college and organic farm

MAM DUNIA
Training kitchen and restaurant

PANG LA WENDE
Wheelchair project

HANDICAP MOBILE
Mobile wheelchair project

AMPO Clinic

AMPOmed.aid -
Medical aid for children in need

AMPO
Training facilities

KAM NOGLOOM -
Association of former AMPO children

Who we are

The purpose of our Association is to support the facilities of AMPO, Association Managré Nooma pour la protection des orphelins (Association for the protection of orphans) in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. We assist children who are orphans or half-orphans, offering them protection, food, accommodation, schooling and psychological support. Another AMPO facility is there to assist young women who have been driven out of their villages, providing them with a fresh start and enabling them to lead independent lives. Our mission is therefore to promote education, integration, courage and strength towards a life of self-determination. . ...Mission statement

News from the world of AMPO

13.08.2025

By order of the President ...

By order of the President, Ouagadougou is to become a clean and hygienic city at last. People have been given short notice to dig out and clean the drainage ditches in front of their property. Many applications had already been made to the Mayor, but nothing happened.

Now the President has cracked down.

It was only to be expected that the work would not be completed without injury, because after months of hot weather, rubbish had congealed into hard lumps. It was a case of hard physical labour, seeing that AMPO’s property has very long walls facing the road.

Everyone joined in and banded together.

28.07.2025

The start of the AMPO holidays - Katrin reports

With a smile and tear … all the children are off to their original families, grandparents, uncles, older sisters, etc. until the beginning of September.

They are looking forward to it, but at the same time some of them will not have enough to eat. For the poorest families of course we send along a sack of rice. But still some children return to AMPO looking very thin. At least then they can get back to their routine of three meals a day.

The yard is empty and we start working on necessary repairs but we still miss the children terribly!

23.07.2025

The start of a new chapter in life

On the 19th of July 19 young people said goodbye to the orphanages and the MIA/ALMA refuge. They are now on the threshold of a completely new chapter in life and they are ready to go.

AMPO will continue to support them for another two years to assist them in the transition.

9 young men from the Orphanage for Boys, 5 young women from the Orphanage for Girls and another 5 from the MIA/ALMA Women’s Refuge took part in the lovely farewell ceremony not without emotion.

Many of them have completed secondary school, have passed their final certificate exams or have undergone vocational training.

The best ones received a Burkina Faso state bursary to enable them to buy school supplies.

We wish them all the very best for the future!

21.07.2025

Weaving – a new training opportunity

Thanks to a cooperative initiative of WEBEREI HAMBURG & Flying8 GbR weaving mill and the Wunschträume / Netzwerk für Mädchen- & Frauenprojekte e.V. association, some of the young women from the MIA/ALMA refuge can now learn to weave.

However before they start, the looms have to be erected and installed. John Baller, who works at the weaving mill, flew to Burkina Faso to help set up the looms on site. You can see from the photos how painstaking the job is, but they all seem to be enjoying it.

Such incredible hard work like this is appreciated all the more when the finished products finally appear in the form of rugs, blankets, table runners and more.

02.07.2025

Charity gala for the treatment of children with severe burns

Charity gala in Ouagadougou! Katrin Rohde and Abou Ouattara (an international soccer player from Burkina Faso and former AMPO child) participated in a charity gala dinner organized by the Edmond Tapsoba Foundation to support the pediatrics department of the Charles de Gaulle Hospital in treating children with severe burns.

The event was attended by numerous professional soccer players from Burkina Faso and other countries, including André Onana from Cameroon. Jerseys were auctioned and donations were collected for the charity.

12.06.2025

Professional German Bundesliga soccer player visits AMPO!

Edmond Tapsoba, professional soccer player for Bayer 04 Leverkusen, a native Burkinabé, drummed up a few friends and came to visit AMPO. They played against the boys from the orphanage! How exciting was that to play against such a star?

The boys of course were strongly supported by all the others and the noise was deafening.

It ended in a 5:4 win for the Edmond Tapsoba team – no mean feat. Well done boys!

After the match he went to visit the orphanages and talked to the directors of the various facilities.

What a wonderful day for everyone involved. Here in Europe we can’t stop looking at the photos.

Our thanks go to Edmond Tapsoba for this amazing visit.

05.06.2025

Happy birthday!

Every year Katrin tries to be back in Ouagadougou with “her” children for her birthday. And this year too she managed to be there. The day before her 77^th birthday she landed on time.

Looking at these photos it is easy to understand why she always wants to celebrate there. She was welcomed yesterday with flowers, dancing and singing.

Finally sweets are handed round to everyone.

Congratulations, Katrin. Stay healthy and full of energy as always!

Do too many cooks spoil the broth?

No, certainly not!

These four wonderful ladies prepare top-quality dishes every day for the 111 orphan children we now look after.

On the menu for example is rice (with or without sauce), beans, spaghetti, Tô (made from cornmeal) and Babinda (a typical Burkina speciality).

There are lots of advantages in cooking together and enjoying regular meals:

eating healthy food, reducing stress levels, strengthening team spirit, increasing concentration and learning to share.

And the wonderful faces of these four cooks give a whole new meaning to a happy meal.

Bravo to the ladies who give and receive so much love from our children.

AMPO 30-year jubilee in Hamburg on 10.10.2025

30 years of AMPO – that was really something to celebrate!

A charity enterprise focussed solely on one organisation has been in existence for 30 years against all the odds.

We do not have global sponsors or a huge advertising budget to support large-scale sporting events. Our aim is to pass on any donations we receive to children, women and people with disabilities in need.

That is why this unique celebration was organised as a charity event.

The Director General of AMPO, Dénis P. Yameogo, and the Orphanage Director, Lamsa Bogni, were invited from Burkina Faso to report first-hand on the local situation.

We also had the good fortune to have the support of our wonderful partners.

Our thanks go to:

Strandpauli, a fantastic location with good service and great food
Superlaut event management in the capable hands of Sabrina Frahm
Jon Flemming Olsen, together with his band, for terrific music throughout the evening
Katharina Fegebank (Deputy Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg), who had some very moving words to say in honour of Katrin Rohde and AMPO
H.E. Toro Justin Ouoro, the Ambassador of Burkina Faso to Germany, who travelled from Berlin to give a speech in honour of AMPO
Eric Marr, the talkmaster who guided us through the evening with professionalism and kind words
sevenpeaks film production for giving us lasting memories of the event
Nils Rehm, the photographer who also captured every moving moment
Dietlind Broders, the interpreter who helped us overcome any language barriers.

And of course we would express our sincere thanks to all our sponsors for making this evening possible!

We received considerable donations for the benefit of many people in need in Burkina Faso, a country that goes largely unnoticed in Europe.

02.07.2025

The audiobook MAMA TENGA: My African Life has been released

Katrin Rohde's book "MAMA TENGA: My African Life" is now available as an audiobook and can be listened to through well-known audiobook providers.

If you haven't read the book yet, now is the perfect opportunity to listen to the audiobook. It is read by Katrin Rohde herself!

"Courage, humanity, and the call of a new life – told by the woman who became MAMA TENGA. After a fateful trip to West Africa, Katrin Rohde makes a radical decision: She sells all her possessions in Germany and emigrates to Burkina Faso. In the capital, Ouagadougou, she begins to dedicate herself to street children – boys struggling to survive amidst poverty, drugs, and violence. This first step becomes a life-changing mission."

Listen to the audiobook on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/0vtPT9kQBY51d8ZoV1DjRz?si=UErgchI1SBiL_i_nLIL73g

05.06.2025

Katrin Rohde Foundation, NY

Did you know we have a Foundation in New York?

Fortunately for the Foundation there is a university there where some of the students are trying to publicise AMPO in the US as part of their marketing studies.

Two professors from the Fordham University came to visit us in Berlin:

Genevieve O’Connor, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Marketing

Yuliya Komarova, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Marketing

This was their second visit and they met Katrin Rohde to discuss the way forward.

They already published an article on AMPO in the “Fordham Business” university magazine, presenting the Charity and all its facilities.

It’s very exciting!

Read more … Katrin Rohde Foundation, NY

27.05.2025

We have a new Board!

This year our Annual General Meeting took place in Hamburg – and we were really pleased to see a large turnout. Some of our members travelled quite a distance to join us.

Every 2 years we hold elections for the Board. Andrew Sharp, Magrit Ketelsen, Fabiola Richter and Diren Bulut were not standing for re-election. For the past 8 years Andrew and Magrit have spared no effort to provide loyal support to the association and for that they deserve our heartfelt thanks.

Charity concert for AMPO!

A charity concert for AMPO was held alongside the Exhibition for Peace in the Johanniskirche in Bonn. We were completely taken by surprise when we were asked to send some flyers and some of the products we have for sale and of course we were only too happy to do so.

The performers were the Nils Kercher Trio with a special guest from Mali, Barou Kouyaté, a virtuoso on the traditional Ngoni lute.

Entrance was by donation. We would like to express our thanks to all the members of the audience who responded to the appeal to make a donation to AMPO.

Our special thanks go to Nils Kercher and his musicians for this wonderful initiative!

If you would like to plan an event, please get in touch

Photos: (c) Klaus Martin Bardey

Recent activities

We had a lot going on last week.

On 19.09. we had an opportunity once more to report on our trip to Burkina Faso in Berlin and invited the residents at Wohnungsbaugenossenschaft Berolina eG to join us on our journey, sharing all our emotions and impressions.

We were supported by Renate and her husband from the Alsamar e.V., association who drummed in the evening and prepared a wonderful African finger food buffet.

Back in Hamburg at the church fair on 21.09. we met with great success selling our products. The sun was shining, temperatures rising and our members were there to answer any questions about our products.

Katrin Rohde gave a presentation in Würzburg as part of her lecture tour to schools in the Roth District.

Further details will follow later.

If you would like us to arrange a talk, or if you would like to organise a stall to offer our products, please let us know.

We’re ready to help!

With heart and hand

One of our members, Christine Labudda, spares no effort in her ongoing support for AMPO. Her latest foray was at the open-air theatre festival in Merxhausen.

During the interval at the production of “Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter“ she raised more than 2.900 euros selling chocolate. She regularly asks the manufacturer to donate “second quality“ chocolate which is not sold in normal supermarkets.

She spends a great deal of time wrapping the chocolate and uses her charm to sell it to the theatre-goers.

If you would like to follow her example by doing something similar, Let us know and we will send you supporting information.