Tag Archives: Sida

Partnership SÄS Borås – Clinic “Porte Ouverte”, Ouagadougou

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SÄS – « Södra Älvsborgs Sjukhus » has since many years a partnership with Burkina Faso, from the beginning mostly with the regional hospital in Bobo-Dioulasso.  When the ECLA Clinique was established in the outskirts of Ouagadougou, in collaboration with Yennenga Progress, the Swedish hospital, SÄS , donated most of the equipment to make it possible to start the clinic.

To improve the capacity of the clinic in Ouagadougou, SÄS has now given a new donation consisting of very important equipment as a mobile X-Ray unit,  a sterilizer unit, gynecological instruments, instruments for ophthalmic examinations etc. etc. Altogether this donation has a volume of 14 cubic meters.

Martti Valkonen and Urban Tapper, the two responsible for the technical support at the hospital in Borås, have done a tremendous job to select the right equipment and to pack everything carefully in specially designed wooden boxes. Their willingness to support is heart warming.

All this equipment has to be transported to Tierp where a big container shall be loaded with lots of different materials for different Yennenga Progress projects in Burkina Faso. Nils Westlin from Valbo, Sandviken, offered valuable time and efforts to find a truck and take care of the transportation. Sotissi Compaoré, the coordinator of the Yennenga Progress projects in Nakamtenga, Ziniaré, actually on a study trip in Sweden, also assisted in the transportation. Many Yennenga Progress friends are involved in collecting the material.  A big thank to you all for your support and engagement.

The container will be shipped to Burkina Faso in the beginning of August.

When comes the rains?

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The time for the rainy season is approaching. Everyone is longing for rain. Not only for its cooling effect but more because it gives the possibility to start planting for a new harvest. Last year was a disaster and everyone at the countryside is now suffering. Almost nothing remains from the last harvest season and there is still three, four month before something can be collected again from the fields. This period is here in Burkina Faso called “la soudure”  – there is hardly anything left to eat, but still, everyone has to work hard on the fields.  This year there is also big difficulties to get seeds to plant.

Water is life and without water no life. That’s way the young boys in the village are eager to participate to deepen the dam in the village. With a bigger volume of water that can be collected during the rains, the dam will not dry out so quickly when the rains are over.  There is not yet any financing of the dam project but as it is so important, we have started, in a first test phase, to dig out around 125 cubic meter of soil before the rains comes. After an evaluation of the result of this first phase, there will decide how to proceed.

Yennenga Progress has become a symbol for a brighter future to the young generation in Nakamtenga. The fact that someone from the outside is interested in the well being of the people in the village, especially the young, gives hope and energy. In a meeting Tuesday evening were discussed a list of projects that the youngsters hope can be realized in a near future.

 

If you have planted a tree – you have not lived in vain!

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It is still a couple of month before the rainy season hopefully starts in Burkina Faso. The landscape is completely dry and it is extremely hot. Goats, sheep’s and other domestic animals try their best to find something to eat. The only greens they can find are leaves on the newly planted trees, which we try protect with all means.

Monsieur  Ilbodou has 30 cows and he don’t know how to keep them alive until the rains comes. He said the other day – Now I can’t see any other way than sell half of the heard.  That is not a good solution because he is not the only one in the same position, which means that the prices are very low and are getting still lower.

In spite of this situation, the Center at Nakamtenga is looking for the future. When we have some spare time, we go out and mark with stones where new trees will be planted as soon as the rains comes.  For every tree a hole has to be dug. 50x50x50 cm. This is because the ground is so hard that nothing can grow without digging such a hole and than re-fill it with some natural manure and better soil. There is barely time to mark where to plant, before the young men from the neighbourhood comes with their shovels and picks to start to dig. Everybody understand the need of planting and as they also can gain some money the labourer are not difficult to find.

The first hundred of holes are already done –  We are hoping for rain!