News

Training in the hospitality sector - Can dreams come true?

Katrin has come up with a great idea:

These three young women would love to start training in the hotel business here in Germany and Katrin spontaneously invited them for coffee to a luxury hotel newly opened in Ouagadougou.

What is a modern reception area, what is it like to step into an elevator, what does the huge lobby look like, etc.? You can see the gleam and the hope in their eyes.

We are doing all we can to make their dreams come true.

We bid farewell

Last weekend we received the sad news that Madame Christine Adamou,  who for many years had been Director of the Girls‘ Orphanage, passed away unexpectedly.

She was a remarkable woman who truly understood the needs of the girls in her charge.

Our thoughts are with her family.

May God bless her.

Tradition in Burkina – building a crib

Christmas is on the doorstep and in Burkina Faso the tradition is to build a crib in front of your house. No, they are not simply made of wood – they are built with love using bricks and cement.

Once dry, they are painted in bright colours. We have just received these photos and video clips from AMPO. It is always a big event for all the kids. Everyone lends a hand ... or just stands to watch.

For and against – unpacking donations from the container

We would like to show you some examples of the things AMPO has received as donations. There were hundreds of boxes packed with love with hand-knitted blankets, matinee jackets for children, toys and even handcream to soothe the hands of the hard-working cooks.

Not to mention, medical supplies, glasses, orthoses, wheelchairs, etc.

The container has arrived!

Dear donors,

For those among you who have donated in kind, your donations have arrived. Everyone involved is on tenterhooks, wondering if it will all go according to plan, Loading in Hamburg was delayed by several days, no one knows how long the container has to wait in the port of arrival, Lomé, and if it will survive the last leg of the journey by rail to Ouagadougou. And then we don’t know how long it will take to clear customs.

It is here at last! Everything is unloaded and sorted by hand. But please bear with us, dear donors, you will of course receive photos from us as soon as possible.

Katrin cannot hide her delight at having toilet rolls from Germany. Such things are mere trifles for us, but here they are the height of luxury.

However, the day was also tinged with a moment of sadness.  You may have read in the newspapers that the German military unit is being withdrawn. These men have been supporting AMPO over the years and they were always received as welcome guests.

That same day they brought along 4 generators which AMPO was able to purchase at a bargain price. Our facilities, especially the Clinic, are now able to cope with the frequent power cuts.

Our thanks go to all of you!

Urgently required delivery arrives

What would become of the people in Burkina Faso without the incredible support and assistance of our wonderful action medeor partners?

AMPO has received another huge delivery of medicines urgently needed in Ouagadougou where our Clinic treats up to 90,000 patients, mostly women and children, free of charge.

Many of these people have survived the worst, some of them fleeing from terrorists in the rural areas, as we have just heard from the Barsalogho district where 600 were killed  in a massacre.

Sadly, events like this are rarely mentioned in our media.

We need strong partners by our side. Thank you, action medeor!

Success story in Kaya

Kaya is a town in the Centre-Nord region, north-east of Ouagadougou. TondTenga, our agricultural college, works together with local rural communities including Kaya.

12 young people formed a cooperative there after completing their training and the town gave them a piece of land which they are now able to cultivate. AMPO donated machines and farm equipment to secure their livliehood and provide food for the community.

It was a great honour when the tribal leader not only approved the initiative, he even  attended the opening. This success story is an indication of the work done by AMPO to secure the future.

All this is thanks to the Fondation Dr. Elvire Engel in Luxemburg, cooperating with AMPO for many years, and underlining the importance of sustainability.

Night of the NGOs in Ouaga – congratulations!

The night of the NGOs (non-governmental organisations) took place once more in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. This is an event organised by the renowned KEREN COMMUNICATION agency.

60 organisations, including AMPO of course, presented at the event last weekend.

And we were thrilled to hear the news from Director General Dénis Yameogo on Saturday evening that AMPO had won the first prize in the humanitarian aid sector.

Thank you for a great job!

Awards of this kind create confidence for all our donors.

Edmond Tapsoba Foundation visits AMPO in Ouagadougou

Edmond Tapsoba - Burkinabé, soccer player with German national league team and German champion Bayer Leverkusen since 2020 – set up his own foundation in February 2024.

The staff at the foundation based in Ouagadougou was invited to our farewell ceremony in July. We took the opportunity to set another date for them to visit the  various AMPO facilities. They came to see us on 31st July 2024. The photos show the interesting exchange between us and our guests.

We are very pleased that this contact came about because the foundation pursues exactly the same goals as we do: access to education, food security, health care, etc..

And we discovered that there is little to stop us working closer together.

That would be absolutely great!

A fateful day in the Clinic

Once more our Clinic was called on to intervene in a very special case:

Nikiema F. is 28 years old and lives in Karpala. He came to us on account of extensive ulceration of the right foot, which had developed about a month ago following an injury caused by the pedal on his moped. He was referred to the Yalgado OUEDRAOGO Hospital for treatment of a deep wound.

AMPO summer holidays

The children at the orphanages set off to visit their remaining families, an important event to maintain contact to their roots.

It is a long-standing tradition for Katrin to hand out sweets to the children - let the holidays begin!

Farewell ceremony at AMPO

Farewell ceremony – Many of the young people leave the orphanages and the women’s shelter each year to make room for new children and other young women.

This event is a cause for celebration every year. The young people leave the orphanages at the age of 18 but AMPO continues to support them.