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Burkina Faso Outreach (BFOAfrica.org) is a non-profit Christian organization founded by Lynn Peters (St. Louis, MO). The organization was created to share the gospel and care for orphans and widows through Education and a Child Sponsorship Program in a small land locked country called Burkina Faso, West Africa. "These people suffer in ways we can't imagine. Ninety percent of the population are subsistence farmers. In this dry sub-Saharan climate, they live day to day, hoping to have rain during the very short rainy season to grow a crop of millet. When the rains don't come, the children die from malnutrition. Families can't imagine having the means to treat their children for the deadly and all-too-common Malaria much less the many other diseases. A small 20% of the population is literate because they just don't have the means to pay the $3 annual primary school tuition. It's just a seemingly hopeless place."
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES: August 2005
How is it I always end up writing you when times are
hard? I promise it’s usually not so
hard. But, right now is a very difficult
time for the people of Burkina Faso.
RAINY SEASON vs. DROUGHT
We’re in the midst of our rainy season, but unlike last
year, it’s actually raining (Thank You Lord!).
From what I hear from the Midwest, it sounds like
we’ve switched places. Last year, there
wasn’t enough rain here; so just about everyone lost their crop. Since everyone lives ‘harvest to harvest’ (paycheck
to paycheck), we are now seeing the results of the drought – hunger and
malnutrition. Not a day goes by when I
don’t have several women outside my door asking for food. Fortunately, I had anticipated this and set
aside several bags of beans, rice, and milk from the container received in
November – what a blessing!
MALNUTRITION
Many of these women also come with malnourished
children. We’ve been able to treat
several with a special diet including a supplement (Ambrotose) we received from
the States and they have recovered beautifully.
Often, they are too far along and need to be hospitalized with an IV
pumping antibiotics and vitamins into their bodies, but we’ve also seen several
of these cases recover. You can’t
imagine how exciting it is when these once lethargic kids come walking up to us
smiling and healthy!
BERNARDIN AND HIS MOTHER
They don’t always recover.
One woman came to me with 1-year old twins, Bernard and Bernardin. Bernard was a fat, happy little baby. Bernardin, however, had all the symptoms of
malnutrition. We hospitalized him
immediately. But, it was too late. He was gone by the end of the day.
I wasn’t shocked he didn’t make it. But, what really broke my heart was this
mother. Her husband’s whereabouts are
unknown. She had come alone, 10 miles on
foot, carrying these twins the night before.
The nurses had given her a list of meds she needed to buy. (Have I explained that unless you have the
means to purchase everything from the gloves, thermometer, and syringes to all
prescribed meds you cannot receive care?
You must bring a cloth to cover the examining table and your bed. You must bring your own dishes and have
someone that can bring food and water to you.)
Anyway, she walked the 10 miles home and, begging family members
scrounged enough money to purchase half the meds. She was at my gate at 6:00 the next morning, asking for help with the rest of
the meds.
During the 5 hours and 5 doctors it took to get an IV into
Bernardin, her father-in-law came by. He
seemed kind enough and told us he would bring her food and clean clothes for
the child. We left before noon and returned at 6:00 that night, finding the room empty. We were informed Bernardin had died at 5:00.
Asking other women what had happened, they informed us the father-in-law
had left shortly after us and never returned.
So, not only did this woman not eat all day, but her baby died in her
arms and she walked him home the 10
miles alone! Oh, it made me sick that we
had not been there just one hour earlier and that she had gone through all this
completely alone. Nice
father-in-law.
PELAGIE NEEDED BLOOD
Most days, I handle it okay when a child dies as long as I
know we did everything possible. But,
when they die in my arms, it’s just hard.
Most recently, it was 1-year old Pelagie. I sometimes wish I had walked away when I saw
her mother crying, approaching me with this very sick child. It was already 7:00
pm and I had just stopped by the hospital to get meds to another
child. But, the doctors told this woman her
child needed blood and without it, there was nothing they could do. So, I turned to Boris, one of my workers, and
asked, “Is there anything we can do?” He
responded, “I’ll give my blood.”
Of course there was no lab tech available at this hour to
take the blood, so we had to call someone to go find the emergency tech. We were informed if there were at least 5
men, he would come and do blood tests. Well,
I’ve never met this woman before and of course she had come about 15 miles by
bike alone with the child, so where were we going to find 5 men willing to give
their blood? Within 5 minutes, 2 men
were there – they had heard a child needed blood and were there to give. Fifteen minutes later a group of about 8 men
came saying they heard a child needed blood and they also were there to
give. How the word got out, I don’t
know, but I was encouraged as I’m sure was the mother.
At this point, everyone is assuming I’m responsible for this
child’s care. Knowing that a white
woman’s involvement tends to get the medical staff to DO SOMETHING, I
stayed. If I hadn’t been there, the
child would have been left to die without effort. Maybe they know best? But I have this problem/blessing of knowing
God is really BIG and He can heal children.
I believe prayer is powerful and ‘in Jesus’ name’ miracles can and do
happen. So, I stay.
By now Pelagie occasionally whimpers. As her mother hands her to me, she is like a
rag doll. Her eyes are already rolling
back; so there was anxiety in the air as we all waited patiently (or not) for
the ‘emergency’ lab tech to arrive. I
prayed like I’ve never prayed before.
That’s all I could do. Those of
you who read my story about Lucy have heard this before. I held Pelagie and prayed and rubbed her
hands and kept repeating her name as if all of this would keep her alive. The tech arrived and slowly began testing
blood while I just kept on praying. I
kept thinking there must be a reason why I happened to be there for this woman,
so surely Pelagie would live.
Well, Pelagie did not live.
After the lab tech had taken 7 blood samples, he announced that none of
them were a clean enough match and we would have to continue in the
morning. It was as if Pelagie heard
because not a minute later, she gasped and died.
I was left with this woman and this baby, surrounded by a
bunch of men I don’t know. Boris had
left before she died to get the meds that had been prescribed. Of course the mother broke down. As is typical here, the men all started
yelling at her to stop. I know just
enough of the Moret language to know they were telling her she needed to stop
crying in front of the white woman. They
kept throwing the cover over Pelagie’s face.
But her mother just kept sobbing and removing the cover. I was so thankful when Boris returned. Eventually, a couple men from the woman’s
village arrived on motos to carry her and Pelagie home for the burial which
would take place that night. As is
custom here, the men would bury Pelagie.
Her mother would not be allowed near the site.
WHY?
The honest truth is I questioned why? Why didn’t the prayers work? We were all trying so hard to save this one –
why couldn’t He? Is my faith too
small? How will I trust Him to heal the
next one when so many die? And, why do I
question, “Why?”
By the way, the child I happened to be visiting when I met
Pelagie and her mother – his name was Madi.
His grandmother had come to me asking for help about a week before. He was severely malnourished, so pitiful, and
yet, so darn cute. He died 2 days later
as did the little baby girl in the same room with him. Her mother had just asked me to pray with her
the day before. And then another, baby
Kader, died that same morning. And, finally, I cried and didn’t stop for 2
days.
Don’t worry; I’ll keep on trusting Him because I always come
back to He IS good, He IS faithful, He IS in control and I can’t imagine life
without Him! And, I’m hoping it’s safe
to be honest with all of you. I’m hoping
we all have moments of questioning our faith?
I know we’ve all been through difficult situations and prayed and didn’t
get the results we expected.
MALARIA
In addition to the malnutrition, Malaria is rampant. With all the wonderful rain, mosquitoes are
swarming. The hospital is full – the
beds are all taken, so they’re sleeping on the floors. I saw a strong grown man stumbling into the
hospital as 3 friends carried him in. He
was in a daze. Malaria even gets the
adults if they don’t get treatment. But
the babies are so vulnerable. I’m safe
because I take a preventative which I’m obviously not immune to as the Africans
are and I know the signs to watch for. I
also don’t have to question whether to spend $1 on meds or a meal that would
feed my entire family.
THE JOY OF THE HARVEST!
The joy of the rain is the millet crops are growing tall
this year, so everyone is anticipating a bountiful harvest. Basically, if I could just stay away from the
hospital, this is an exciting season.
It’s even nice that some days I’m forced to stay in and relax or get
caught up with emails because I can’t get out with the rains. The roads become flowing streams and are
impassable until several hours after the sun comes out. We even have cool days requiring a jacket –
what a treat!
SCHOOL ON ITS WAY!
More excitement – have you heard the incredibly awesome
news! We received an anonymous
contribution for the remaining balance needed to build the school -
$15,000! Now I know it’s time. Well, except for the fact that we currently
have millet planted on the land. Once
the harvest is finished sometime in October, we can begin building – most
likely mid to late November.
CHILD SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM
I still love working with the Child Sponsorship
Program. We’re up to 230 sponsored
children. Since everyone is out in the
fields all day, Aaron and I head out at 6:30
every morning to catch them home so we can continue to keep up with the home
visits. It’s working out great.
We still have (and will probably always have) a couple
hundred children waiting for sponsors if you happen to know anyone who would
like to sponsor a child. Just email me
if you have questions.
TRUCK
By the way, to those of you who have heard about my truck
and its issues, it still has issues! It
still won’t go above 55 mph and loses power in 5th gear. I’m happy to drive 55 mph, but am not happy
about driving from Ouagadougou to Yako knowing I most likely have a bad engine
that could break down in the middle of nowhere at any time. They tell me you can’t get a new engine here,
so buying one is a risk because it may only last a couple weeks. So, in the meantime, I just keep driving it
and praying a lot!
Okay, let’s see if I can wrap this up before it goes onto a
5th page. I can’t close
without saying THANK YOU for all you do for me.
Thank you for making it possible for me to be here. And, feel free to email me anytime at
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.
God Bless You All!
Love, Lynn
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES: June 2004
I need to get a letter out to everyone before anything else
happens here, or I’ll be writing another 5-pager! I think many of you last heard from me
following our dedication ceremony, the day we lost Prisca to Meningitis and Christoph
to a complete stranger. Since then, so
much has occurred. The last couple days,
in particular, have been an experience as I learn more about life in Burkina;
but let me back up to what’s been happening since the last letter.
Where to begin?
Since returning in March, my main focus has been developing
a program for our young children. The
goal is to give them a strong foundation so that if they have to attend one of
our local schools they will be better prepared.
Classrooms average 100 children per teacher and children are expected to
transition from the local Moret language to French at the start of
Kindergarten! And of course, the
teachers have no resources to teach them with except for a chalkboard, chalk
and a big threatening stick that they use quite frequently if you don’t get it
right the first time. Our goal, however, is to have our own
primary school complete before our preschoolers begin school in October of 2005
(no big sticks allowed!).
The rumors about the
intense heat in April and May turned out not to be rumors. Each day was hitting 115 and I’m told it was a
mild season this year. The challenge to
it is it doesn’t cool down at night during those months. The heat didn’t bother me during the day but
nights were difficult, especially at midnight
when the tiny bit of relief we got from the ceiling fan was lost as the
electricity is cut each night from midnight
to morning. Fortunately, everyone here
sleeps outside, so it isn’t a problem for me to join them (not
literally!). I have a cot set up on the
upper ‘terrace’ with a mattress and mosquito net. I now love saying goodnight to Francois, the guard down below, reading
a bit by flashlight and falling asleep
under the stars to the sounds I’ve come to love (those of the donkeys, the
chickens, the music at the local ‘restaurant’...) I even sleep through the
Muslim call to prayer at whatever obnoxious hour that is and wake up each
morning when the sun is up at 5:30 a.m.
I will actually miss it when rainy season begins.
Have you heard God found a great little truck for me/the
project, and Joyce Meyer
Ministries is paying for it – what an incredible blessing! We needed it so badly – too many emergency
situations with these babies and no way to get them to the hospital (except in
my arms on the back of a moped.) God
is good!
You may have also heard I received another major blessing
soon after the truck. A week before my
brother’s wedding in Atlanta Georgia,
I received a call that a Delta agent (now known as the Delta Angel),
whom I’d never met before was giving me a tax-only ticket to be able to come
home for the wedding. It was a whirlwind
trip, and my return trip took me 5 days; but it was absolutely worth it. It was a definite reminder to me that we
should present all our requests to the Lord, not just the ones that seem
possible.
This past week has
been interesting. A man was
killed. The killer was imprisoned. A group of men somehow related to the man
killed went to the prison and demanded the killer be released. The prison guards refused. The group threatened to burn the prison down
if they would not release this man. The
guards relented and released him to this group.
He was beaten, stabbed with knives and left for dead. The prison guards called in a corps of the
police from Ouagadougou (led by one known as “Le Diable”, the Devil) whose role is basically to scare a town
straight. Their main purpose was to hunt down each of the men from the
group. In doing so (apparently for entertainment purposes), they
also decided to enforce a law that has never really been enforced here -
everyone is to carry identification with them at all times as well as have a
receipt for their bikes to prove they are not thieves. The
'police' drove through the streets checking everyone's identification.
Those who did not have ID or a receipt were thrown in the wagon and hauled
to prison. Our translator,
Aaron, was one of them. When they arrived, they were told to get
on their knees and walk on the gravel for hours while the police beat
their calves with hard plastic clubs. They also beat the palms of their
hands. They had them stand up, put their finger to the ground and
spin in circles until they couldn't stand up and beat them some more.
There were about 50 people, only 2 of them women. The women were forced
to dance for the men while the men were told to sing and clap. I pray
that’s all they were forced to do amongst this group of evil men. During
the night they came in with tear gas, saying “There are too many mosquitoes
here” and sprayed everyone in the face.
Aaron said the hardest part was seeing the old men cry. But
he also said he was comforted as he found 2 other Christians
there. One of them leaned over and whispered, "We can still pray". They
humiliated and beat these people all night and released them when they could
come up with a bribe of $25, all because they didn’t have their ID!
Fortunately, Aaron was able to get a message to us and we were able to get him
out the next morning.
So, the next few days, Yako was a ghost town as soon as the
sun went down. Everyone was hiding in fear. I’m still not
in any danger. Everyone knows they would
never bother the white women, partially because they fear how our
Embassy would react. But it bothers me even more to realize they look
at us as superior beings. They treat their own people like dogs
because they know there's nothing they can or will do. Oh, how I'm
tempted to give them a piece of my mind; but fortunately wisdom reigns and
I am leaving the vengeance to the Lord.
I visited the hospital the other day and as I was leaving I
saw a little old woman with a baby in another room, calling for me. I greeted her and entered the room. With a sweet little smile on her face, she
seemed to be pleading for help. With
hand signals and body language, she kept showing me how this boy’s head just
kept falling. As she removed the cloth
from his body, I saw his skeleton – the large ribs clearly protruding from his
body, no bottom, sagging skin on his arms and legs. And yet, this woman kept telling me he can’t
hold his head up. She would put her
hands out as if to say “What’s wrong?
What am I to do?” I wondered -
does she really not get it? Does she
really not know she needed to be concerned months ago when he wasn’t
eating? When his ribs started to become
so obvious? When he slept for
hours? - A 2-year old boy – just a
skeleton? Is she still wondering why he
couldn’t hold his head up? Why he died?
It was clear the doctors knew. I wondered why she was left to sit there,
apparently for hours, alone with the child, waiting for a doctor to come. Then I saw the treatment plan, a prescription
for ibuprofen. Just ibuprofen – no IV,
no attempt, it was too late; and the reality of it made me nauseous. The ibuprofen was to pacify the woman and
comfort the child while he died.
I did pray with her and the boy, but I prayed that it would
go quickly and that this woman would be comforted. I returned that afternoon, and the room was
already empty. Now I can’t get the
picture out of my mind. I continue to
see her sweet smiling face, looking at me, the white woman, with hope that
surely I can do something. And the
skeleton with a child’s face, a 2-year old.
I wish I had asked his name.
Well, the Lord knows his name and I’m sure they’re together now. Now I pray this helpless woman will never
know – this boy died because she didn’t feed him. How many others die because they just don’t
get it – you have to feed them? I’m thankful to all of you who help in any way that you do;
with your prayers, your emails, your letters and packages, your money, or just
for listening and maybe telling others.
I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the support from each of you.
Thank You. God Bless You. And, as always, feel free to send me an email
at
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. I love hearing
from you! Love, Lynn NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES: October 2003
Hello Friends and Family!
It’s time I write again.
It’s been a very good week, so this is a good time for me to write. Many of you are regular email users, so you
may already know much of what’s been happening.
Where to begin? Well,
in September we took 3 malnourished children to the hospital in
Ouahigouya. They have a wonderful place
on hospital property called the CREN, which is a residential program
specifically for malnourished children and their caregivers. The first child, Oumarou was able to go
directly to the CREN and is now doing very well. Adele spent a week in the hospital (a true
miracle she survived), and is now fighting for her health at the CREN. I visited her today, and learned she is up
and down with weight gain and now has Malaria.
She needs prayer as Malaria is difficult on a healthy toddler, much less
a very weak toddler. Getwendi spent a
couple weeks in the hospital, but did not make it. We suspect he died of AIDS. Adele and Getwendi had both lived with us for
3-4 weeks before being admitted to the hospital, so we’ve developed a wonderful
relationship with their families.
Unfortunately, while the team was here visiting, a 2-year
old Stephan came down with a severe case of Malaria. I spent 5 of 7 days in the Ouagadougou
Hospital with him. On the 3rd day, we had quite a
scare when he was also diagnosed with Meningitis. He is now doing very well. The locals tell us this is a miracle. In their words, “Children always die from
Meningitis here”. Although the stay was
terribly unpleasant due to the heat, the stench in the rooms, the filth, and
the swarms of bugs which took over the rooms at night, I met some wonderful
people. One little 3-year old patient
and his mother visited us in our room each day.
One night, I showed the movie, “Cats and Dogs” on my computer! Wow, was it a hit. My doctor and nurse friends visited often as
well.
On October 13th, I began my first English
Class. I set the limit at 15 adult
students, finally cut it off at 20, and have 8 on a waiting list for the next
class. Fourteen of the 20 are local
Pastors! I bought their favor the first
night with Cokes for everyone. Although
I feel completely unqualified for this position, I’m reminded “with God all
things are possible”, and the class seems to be going very well.
I’ve been able to visit the sponsored children a bit more
now that the rainy season is ending. I
had heard the story of 2 children who had come for help with their father
riding in a donkey cart. His legs were
eaten away by leprosy. As it turns out,
my mother is sponsoring this child. As I
entered the courtyard, I greeted the father in the Moret language. He laughed and laughed and blessed me over
and over again. I was so touched by his
incredible attitude and fun personality as he sat there in the stench of his
own filth, working away on the peanuts with what is left of his hands and one
eye.
Then there was the woman who grabbed my arm, did not speak,
but was clearly trying to tell me something.
Confused, I finally looked down and hope I managed to hide the horror of
seeing my first case of elephantitis.
She was asking me to pray for her.
It’s shocking to see this stuff is real.
I think we must be in the midst of a plague of frogs. Or maybe the frogs are here because of the
plague of insects! Whatever - they’re
everywhere. One night as Stephanie and I
were sitting quietly in the room, we suddenly heard a loud thud in the toilet. We looked at each other, ran to the bathroom,
counted to 3 and lifted the toilet lid. There, staring us right in the face was a frog
– IN THE TOILET! He came right in
through the drain, and I’m told this was not the first time. As I was chasing another out of the room, he
ran into the bathroom and tried to make his escape the same way he came in –
through the shower drain. When I come
home at night, there are literally at least 100 in the courtyard, the majority
of them hanging out on the terrace fighting over the millions of insects. Oh well, I’m counting my blessings as I’ve
not yet seen a scorpion. (Although, I
might prefer a scorpion to the huge cockroaches.)
Well, I think that sums it up. I continue to love and appreciate the emails
and snail mail I’ve been receiving. Most
importantly, thank you for the prayers.
I can’t say enough how impossible this work would be for me were it not
for Jesus Christ, your prayers on my behalf, and communication from friends and
family. Please be sure to let me know as
you have your own prayer requests so I can return the favor!
An additional thank you for the many packages of supplies we
have received. Not only is it an
incredible blessing to the work, but it’s a major treat for me when I see I
have a package!
I’m looking forward to seeing as many of you as I can when
I’m home for about 6 weeks beginning December 15th. I’m sure I’ll write one more group letter
before then. Until then, Au Revoir et
Wennam Songé (Good Bye and God Bless You).
Love, Lynn
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