A New Maternity Unit in Bobo Dioulasso

The students from La Bonne Nouvelle who have been part of the Trauma Care Programme have been delighted to show off their produce…

(Directly above) the beauty of organic vegetables can be seen in their unusual shapes! The tomato harvest was a great success!

(Above) Melons, salad and cauliflowers are just a few of the vegetables harvested by students on the Trauma Care Support programme.

(Above) Students who are part of the Trauma Care Programme were excited to see the progress of their onions

(Above) Lots of Aubergines were harvested by the refugee students

(Directly above, left) Bitter tomato, also known as Ethiopian Eggplant

(Directly above: one of the juicy homegrown cucumbers)

One of the young women joyfully tasting a tomato, a tasty result from hard work!

25 internally displaced children attend woodworking sessions.

In a heartening display of healing and hope, we have seen a transformative journey unfold for displaced children in our care. Trauma counselling support by a psychologist and prayer sessions led by a pastor have given children a safe space to heal. Remarkably, 50 of these children now claim to be completely healed from their traumas, a testament to the power of compassionate care. Additionally, some youngsters have embraced Jesus as their personal saviour, and have found solace in regularly attending church services. We continue to foster healing, faith, and resilience in the lives of those we serve.

Dieudonné Kone 19th July 1986 – 25 August 2023
Bobo Dioulasso

Friends, it’s with great sadness and shock that we learned of Dieudonné’s untimely death last week.  He had been taken seriously ill with complications from malaria and died with his family around him late on Friday evening.

I got to know Dieudonné in 2015 when I first travelled out to meet the team. We developed a firm friendship and partnership that was able to move our project forward with increased support. He was a thoughtful, kind, considerate, and intelligent young man. We readily laughed at our own mistakes and misdemeanours, and he willingly forgave my cultural clumsiness. He persuaded me to initiate the maternity unit project and more latterly the expansion of the classrooms at La Bonne Nouvelle school. It was his skill in the administration of the medical centre and latterly other projects in Burkina, that gave partners confidence. We fail to comprehend why this has happened, but we give thanks to God for the steadfast race he ran.

Please pray for his widow Nafi and their two children Leslie (9) and Prince (6), as well as his parents Pastor Jean and Rachel, Esaie, and Tabitha, the wider family, and the community of Bobo that will dearly miss him. If you would like to write a letter to send to his loved ones and the IN team, please send this to our office marked for Dieudonné and we will compile all communication from everyone. We have also created a special page at remembr.com/dieudonne.kone on which you can share messages of condolence or your own memories of Dieudonné.

Danny Morris

CEO and Executive Director International Needs UK

Dieudonné in 2015

Dieudonné in his office, 2015

Dieudonné in 2016, overseeing a new maternity ward

Dieudonné standing outside the maternity ward construction, 2016

2017, Dieudonné stands with Danny outside the new, functioning maternity ward

Dieudonné holding plans for four new classrooms at La Bonne Nouvelle School, 2018

We are happy that we were able to have the Peter Craig Awards this year to commend and encourage La Bonne Nouvelle school’s outstanding students.  

The awards took place last month with International Needs Burkina Faso granting school bags, text books, notebooks, pens and mathematical sets to 18 primary school and 18 secondary school students who had all scored a total of 7 and above out of 10 points at Primary level and 12 and above out of 20 points at the secondary school level.  

It was a happy day of celebrations as the students, teachers and parents gathered in the open grounds of the school to witness the award ceremony which was followed by food sharing, dancing and singing by the students and community. It is uplifting to see La Bonne Nouvelle’s students excelling academically given that most of these children come from very impoverished homes with a quarter of the student population being refugee children who fled into Bobo Dioulasso after facing violence from terrorism in their homelands.  

Testimony of one of the Awardees; 

“I’m an internally displaced pupil from the village of Titao, 404 km from Bobo-Dioulasso. In 2021, we fled Titao to come to Bobo-Dioulasso. I lost my father in the attacks and my mother brought me and my brothers to Bobo-Dioulasso, here, thanks to International Needs, we’re being looked after by a psychologist and a pastor, and I’ve been able to regain the confidence to work at school. I’m one of the top three in my class. Today, even though I’m an internally displaced person, I see myself like the other children who are with their two parents and who haven’t suffered a shock”. Rasmane*, Grade 1. La Bonne Nouvelle School. 

Peter and Judith Craig left a strong and lasting legacy in Bobo Dioulasso by impacting the lives of hundreds of families in this community. Prior to Peter’s passing in 2018, the couple supported the original construction of La Bonne Nouvelle school and the community medical centre managed by International Needs Burkina Faso. Judith continues to honor Peter’s legacy by supporting the annual Peter Craig Awards. We are very thankful for this.  

‘In Loving Memory of Peter Craig who was committed to helping the people of Bobo. “Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust” Psalm 40 v 4’

Issaka’s Story

“I come from KONGOUSSI, a village 106km away. My parents had to flee the village because of the terrorists who burnt our field and killed my uncle. Since then my father has taken us to Bobo-Dioulasso.”

Issaka* with his prizes, having just won 3rd place out of of 63 pupils!

“Thank God, the Bonne Nouvelle school took us in on 15 September 2022. I was scared, I couldn’t learn my lessons when I started, but thanks to the TRAUMA counselling programme, we were looked after by a psychologist and a pastor. After a few sessions with them, I managed to overcome these difficulties and got a good average to come third in my class out of 63 pupils.”

Aissatou’s Story

“I’m an internally displaced child from the village of Koflandé, 160 km from Bobo-Dioulasso. Armed men killed my father in February 2022, and I came to Bobo-Dioulasso with three older sisters. I saw my father’s blood spilled and I couldn’t forget. I had a lot of nightmares and I was afraid of the armed men.”

Aissatou* with a smile on her face having received the award for being an outstanding student.

“I went to the La Bonne Nouvelle school and they looked after me. Thank you to everyone who supports me.”

*Names changed to protect identity

• Support our Burkina Faso Trauma Care appeal

A Terrible Dilemma

According to the World Health Organisation, half of the world’s population are still unable to readily access essential health services. For up to 100 million people, the cost of basic healthcare puts their family at material risk of being pushed into extreme poverty. It is hard to fathom the personal tragedy of having to choose between buying food and life-saving medicine for your child. It is harder still to grasp the vast scale of how many families have to face this dilemma, year after year.

The pandemic has thrown the disparity in global healthcare provision into sharp relief. Health systems in developing countries remain fragile and an area for grave concern. Thankfully, Africa’s very young population and relatively strict lockdown responses appear to have prevented high mortality rates. At present, other deadly endemic diseases such as malaria and typhoid continue to pose the most urgent threat to life for many. Providing access to affordable testing and treatment facilities remains a top priority – both for saving lives and preventing further collapse into poverty.

Hope through Healthcare

The St Ophel centre in Burkina Faso was set up specifically in response to the exponential population growth in Bobo-Dioulasso. Our IN partners realised that many poor people were simply not able to afford to use existing over-stretched clinics in the area. The medical centre has grown and made significant steps towards improving patient care and sustainability. The centre now has a thriving maternity unit, pharmacy and dispensary equipped to treat a wide range of common illnesses. Malaria typically accounts for over half of all patients.

Urgent Appeal – Medical Equipment for Burkina Faso

Over the last five years the St Ophel laboratory has been able to screen over 50,000 patients for various diseases. Unfortunately, the core testing equipment is now at the end of its lifespan and no longer able to give reliable results.

We need to raise £30,000 to replace the microscope, haematology analyser and bio-chemistry analyser in order to restore the essential diagnostic capacity of the centre. The urgent appeal will also enable us to help them acquire an ambulance vehicle to transfer critical patients to the district hospital. Anything raised over and above the target will go towards resourcing the centre with further provision of PPE.

We’d love to invite you to consider giving towards this urgent appeal so that INBF can continue to provide families with excellent, affordable and life-saving treatment.

Donate online HERE

If you’d like more information, please get in touch with Rich at rich@ineeds.org.uk.

Virtual Tour of the Burkina Faso Medical Centre – 25th Feb

Join us on 25th Feb at 3PM  for a virtual tour of the Medical Centre in Burkina Faso. We will hear directly from the doctors and medical staff and a great chance to ask any questions. Sign up HERE.

Thank you to everyone who has been partnering with us on this project, we are finally finished and the maternity unit is open for use. Young families, mothers and babies will experience a health centre that offers all the support required for antenatal and postnatal care as well as a safe place for delivery. With over £100,000 raised, we finally (more…)