Burkina Faso: Help for displaced children
For ten years, the West African country of Burkina Faso has suffered from jihadist terror and the brutal military response. Around 20,000 people have lost their lives, and around two million have fled. In the Terre des Hommes project, displaced children not only learn to read, write, and count, but also to look to the future with hope. At his school in the small town of Boussouma, a two-hour drive northeast of the capital, Ouagadougou, Moctar Sawadogo loves everything, but most of all the kids' club: "I don't miss a single event," says the 13-year-old. "The counselor is always willing to listen to us, and we have a lot of fun. I'm very happy there." He used to be afraid to go into town alone, Moctar continues. But since going to the kids' club, he has become much more self-confident. "I know how to protect myself if someone wants to harm me."
Four family members died in one day
Moctar hasn't always lived in Boussouma. He is one of more than a million children in Burkina Faso who have fled attacks by armed groups. His home village of Yirgou was repeatedly raided. So the family decided to leave all their possessions behind and flee to Fouba. But there was no safety there either. "The armed men came and shot at everything that moved," says his father. "Four family members died that day. But I managed to escape with my children. We've been in Boussouma for two years now. Life is hard here too. We lack almost everything." Nevertheless, Moctar is a child who radiates joy. The children's club at his school and the learning center, which was opened in Boussouma with the help of the local organization FDC*, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development**, the Postcode Lottery, and Terre des Hommes , have contributed to this. It enables hundreds of displaced children who never attended school or dropped out early to catch up on missed lessons and find their way into public school. Moctar is one of them. He's now in fifth grade and is a very good student, something he's proud of.
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