A new member of the AMPO family

A few weeks ago we welcomed a new member into the family. His name is Bilbo and he is still a little puppy. Our children come from poor backgrounds where most families do not keep pets. There has always been a dog at the boys‘ orphanage, guarding the yard and protecting the children. Since Bilbo’s arrival the children rush back from school to play with him and to feed him. They love watching him digging a hole in the wet soil to bury his bones.

Bilbo is always around at meal times. With his puppy eyes he melts the hearts of the children and is sometimes rewarded with a morsel of fish.

It is a joy to see the children caring for him, learning to take on responsibility.

A visit from Dr. Ute Leifert

As usual, the children at the orphanages are always delighted when Frau Dr. Ute Leifert comes to visit  AMPO. In addition to her strong commitment to the AMPO Clinic, supporting the team in looking after their patients, she never forgets the children in the orphanages. It has now become a tradition for Ute Leifert to organise a fruit evening for the kids as soon as she arrives at AMPO, with strawberries, oranges and pineapple for all to enjoy.

On this occasion the children were able to congratulate her on the order of merit she received in Germany. Thank you Dr Ute – you are a heroine for your tireless efforts on behalf of the AMPO projects.

Doundouni in the spotlight

In February the CINÉMOBILE team took its awareness campaign to the village of Doundouni in the Bazega Province. A mixed-age audience participated in the discussions and presentations.

In this village most boys and girls attend school, which is really terrific. There were 87 school pupils listening to the team’s presentation on unwanted pregnancy.

A round of discussion was organised for the adults on family planning. The contributions were lively and at the end the advantages of family planning were clear to all. We are pleased that so many people participated so actively and the village community now has something new to think about.

Lafia Care & the prevention of Hepatitis B

On 27th February the AMPO Clinic in cooperation with Lafia Care, an association of young Burkina doctors, launched an awareness campaign concerning Hepatitis B. This is an infectious disease of the liver, occurring in nearly one third of the world’s population and for which however there is a vaccine. All of those who participated in the awareness campaign received the vaccine at the end of the campaign.

The objective of Lafia Care is to promote health in the community, based on prevention and collective action on the part of community members. The campaign took place at the AMPO Clinic premises.

That day more than two hundred people benefited from free screening and counselling. Around one hundred who tested negative were given the injection. The colleagues from the AMPO Clinic were delighted to take part in this campaign.

Our sincere thanks go to Lafia Care and our partners for their confidence and unwavering support.

Bonding with a game of table tennis

AMPO is one big family. To strengthen this bond of togetherness the boys from the orphanage visited the girls at  MIA/ALMA. To bring the girls and boys out of their habitual groups and get to know each other better we set up a table for table tennis. It was an opportunity for the girls to learn a different kind of sport which is just as enjoyable as the football they regularly play. The game ended in a victory for the boys. Now the girls want to train for a return match for them to win. It’s all very exciting!