Orphanage for girls: Hi, my name is Achata Samake and I live in the Orphanage for girls. This month I’d like to talk to you about traditional medicine which Mogho Naaba has claimed can be used to combat Covid-19 since 9^th March.

Everything has come to a standstill and we haven’t been to school since 16^th March. We have just heard That schools won’t go back until 1st June wird. Markets have shut down, airspace and land borders are closed, along with mosques and churches. A curfew has been imposed from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. and everyone is living in fear. The authorities are looking for solutions to stop the spread of this terrible disease. Some of the measures include wearing a mask, quarantine in certain towns and “Stay at home!” The problem is so serious that any solution proposal is welcome. That is why our Emperor Mogho Naaba invited the associations of traditional healers to submit their opinion. Good healers are often very successful here and are very much respected. Nine plants were identified that are said to offer protection against infectious diseases. We only hope that they can also help against Covid-19. The following herbal remedies were named:

Beng vãndo, Kafr mandé, Wiliwigavãndo, Kelpõko, Zangpõko, Tiigayawilinga, Zãnga, Tãnga, Bita vãndo.

Fortunately most of these plants can be found at Tondtenga, our AMPO farm. The educators went off to fetch them and now the AMPO kids can wash themselves once a week with the brew made from the boiled leaves.

We’d like to thank Mogho Naaba for thinking of us. We wish him long life and may God save the whole world.“

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MIA/ALMA: At this time of the Corona pandemic MIA/ALMA is also committed to strict hygiene and prevention measures. The girls are making masks to protect themselves, their children and others. They are available to all the staff and children. They go on sewing to offer as many as possible to the 600,000 refugees from other parts of the country.

Our MIA/ALMA motto is: Let’s fight Covid-19 together!”

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Orphanage for boys: Volleyball is always popular among the boys at the orphanage. Over the past few weeks they have been playing regularly every Wednesday afternoon. The boys just love to learn a new sport. Volleyball can be played at any age and so they form teams with different age groups. It is a sport that encourages team spirit and tolerance and teaches socialisation skills. It also contributes to the development of reflexes, agility and coordination. But we still implement preventive measures in times of Covid-19.

The children love it, no question, but we are short of equipment (nets, balls, jerseys, knee-pads). Is anyone out there able to help us find the right gear?

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Tondtenga: Hi, my name is Moustapha YANDA and I’ve heard of this pandemic that started in China and arrived in Burkina Faso by plane. In the beginning I was worried because the disease spread so quickly and killed so many people. I’ve been told that you can catch it from coughs and sneezes, if you come into contact with someone who is ill.

We now wear mask to protect ourselves and we now have wash basins and we use disinfectant gel we received from donors. We stay on the farm and are not allowed to leave. Fortunately we have everything we need and we still get regular provisions. Anything else we harvest ourselves from our vegetable garden or from our fields. We also send our produce to the orphanages in the city. But the disease is always present on our doorstep and we still have to be very careful. Maybe in a few weeks’ time  we’ll be able to visit our families in the villages, but we don’t want to be the carriers of the virus.

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P.P.Filles: The P.P.Filles team met on Monday morning as usual to take stock of the activities we carried out over the past week. We also plan and discuss the activities for the week ahead.

The staff take the floor one after the other and highlight the difficulties we encountered in our work because of the partial quarantine due to Corona. Our activities include home visits, taking care of women trying hard to make a living, group discussions, film presentations, working group meetings, etc.

Concerning home visits and care, our project team will contact the women by phone. Fortunately nearly every woman in Burkina Faso has a cellphone, it’s not a luxury. It’s really needed because of the large distances involved.

For meetings and discussions the women are split up into several groups to maintain the required social distance. This protects the staff and the women themselves.

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