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This month's diary from AMPO

Orphanage for girls: Hi, my name is Achata Samake and I live in the Orphanage for girls. This month I’d like to talk to you about traditional medicine which Mogho Naaba has claimed can be used to combat Covid-19 since 9th March.

Everything has come to a standstill and we haven’t been to school since 16th March. We have just heard That schools won’t go back until 1st June wird. Markets have shut down, airspace and land borders are closed, along with mosques and churches. A curfew has been imposed from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. and everyone is living in fear. The authorities are looking for solutions to stop the spread of this terrible disease. Some of the measures include wearing a mask, quarantine in certain towns and “Stay at home!” The problem is so serious that any solution proposal is welcome. That is why our Emperor Mogho Naaba invited the associations of traditional healers to submit their opinion. Good healers are often very successful here and are very much respected. Nine plants were identified that are said to offer protection against infectious diseases. We only hope that they can also help against Covid-19. The following herbal remedies were named:

Beng vãndo, Kafr mandé, Wiliwigavãndo, Kelpõko, Zangpõko, Tiigayawilinga, Zãnga, Tãnga, Bita vãndo.

Fortunately most of these plants can be found at Tondtenga, our AMPO farm. The educators went off to fetch them and now the AMPO kids can wash themselves once a week with the brew made from the boiled leaves.

We’d like to thank Mogho Naaba for thinking of us. We wish him long life and may God save the whole world.“

 

4,000 masks for AMPO

On 4th May 2020 AMPO in Ouagadougou received a message through the local German Embassy that the Clinic would receive a donation in the form of 4,000 facemasks.

The masks were donated by SODJI Holding GmbH, a company founded in Berlin in 2001.

AMPO and Corona

As we expected, COVID-19 arrived Burkina Faso. The first cases were registered on 9th March and the health authorities declared an epidemic. The AMPO Clinic was aware of the high risk of infection and they were faced with the following question: ...

AMPO and Rotary Jever-Jeverland

The Rotary Club Jever-Jeverland invited us for a visit on 6th March 2020. Thomas Wolff reports:

Jever/ff- "The good is never lost" is how Katrin Rohde (71) describes the charity she founded 25 years ago in Burkina Faso on a former rubbish dump in the capital, Ouagadougou, "Association Managré Nooma pour la Protection des Orphélins “, AMPO for short. Katrin Rohde, previously owner of a bookshop in Plön, paid a return visit to Rotary Jever-Jeverland and reported to an audience in the Lokschuppen about the organisation known throughout West Africa as the "Kingdom of the poor" that started by setting up an orphanage for streetkids. As with the fist visit to Jever in July 2015, Katrin, known in the Third World as "Mama Tenga" (Mother Fatherland), kept the audience spell-bound with fascinating accounts of her life in Africa. The African mood and African vibes were set by the East Frisian choir "Taktwechsel", mirroring their performance at the charity concert held for AMPO in the church in Jever in September 2015, conducted by Harm-Dierk Wellhausen.
AMPO has been receiving support from the Jeverland Rotarians, the Dutch partner club Leeuwarden-Nijehove and the Rotary Club Wittmund-Esens since 2015. It started by collecting school satchels, providing sportswear and now they support a workshop that builds tricycle wheelchairs for people wit disabilities to enable them to lead independent lives. Rotary support for these projects was launched by Theda Janssen-Nickel (Jever-Jeverland) , who acted for many years as an expert for major organisations such as the United Nations in development aid in Burkina Faso. With the help of Rotary District 1850 more than €20,000 has been transferred to Ouagadougou. "This is help for self-help in one of the poorest countries in the world at its best", said Jever Rotary President Dr. Regina Fladung in her welcoming address, echoing the words of Theda Janssen-Nickel. "Thank you, Rotary" replied Katrin Rohde, stating that the mobile wheelchair project travelling outside the capital brings mobility to people with disabilities in remote villages. She also expressed her thanks for the €648 donated spontaneously by the guests that evening in the Lokschuppen who were enthralled by her passionate presentation.
With the money entrusted to the organisation Katrin Rohde and the AMPO team provide support not only for children and young people. She stresses the point that she expects the children to actively engage in the project and make an effort. "The older ones look after the younger ones and vice versa. Only those who perform well at school have their school fees paid."  That is why an essential part of the AMPO success story is the uncomplicated and unbureaucratic implicit cooperation of the children who benefit. For her it is also important that the successful projects are continued sustainably by Africans themselves. "After 25 years I'm proud to note that I no longer have a say.“ For in the meantime AMPO is managed locally by seven African Directors on the principle of "Africa for the Africans".
Doch nicht nur die von den Rotariern unterstützte Rollstuhlwerkstatt ist ein wichtiges Projekt. Dazu gehören auch das von Katrin Rohde initiierte Zuhause für 120 verlassene oder misshandelte Waisenkinder im Alter von sechs bis 20 Jahren, ein Mädchenhaus, ein Patenschafts-Programm, Schulgeld, um die jungen Menschen über Bildung langfristig aus dem Kreis der Armut herauszuführen und ihnen den Weg zu einer Berufsausbildung zu öffnen. Viel Gutes mehr wie die Ausbildungsförderung, Werkstätten, eine Krankenstation, die jährlich 100 000 Menschen versorgt, Projekte gegen Unterernährung, ein Frauenberatungszentrum, Mikrokredite und nicht zuletzt ein Farmbetrieb mit Internat für 60 Jungen aus den umliegenden Dörfern gehören zu den Aufgaben von AMPO. Über all das berichtete Katrin Rohde, die mit Geschäftsführerin Ute Krüger (Berlin) von Freunde für AMPO e.V. nach Jever gekommen war. Eifrig warben beide denn auch darum, ihre nun von Afrikanern selbstverwaltete Organisation mit Mitglied- oder Patenschaften, Fundraising oder Geld zu unterstützen.
Wer das tun möchte kann dies tun unter:
AMPO International e.V. - GLS Gemeinschaftsbank - IBAN: DE 80 4306 0967 1038 3287 00 - BIC: GENODEM1GLS.
Infos auch unter www.sahel.de oder www.freunde-fuer-ampo.de



Bildunterschrift: Katrin Rohde und Ute Krüger (vorne v.l.) waren nach Jever gekommen, um auf Einladung des RC Jever-Jeverland über die Arbeit von AMPO zu berichten. Theda Janssen- Nickel und RC-Präsidentin Dr. Regina Fladung begrüssten sie. Musikalisch gestaltete der Chor „Taktwechsel“ unter Leitung von Harm-Dierk Wellhausen (r.) den Abend. Bild: Thomas Wolff

AMPO visits TAMIGA AG in Bad Zwischenahn

Katrin Rohde and Ute Krüger were invited to visit TAMIGA AG in Bad Zwischenahn on 5th March 2020. The local high school has been supporting AMPO for many years, organising fundraisers like sponsored runs. Visits to their own project in TAMIGA, northeast of the capital, Ouagadougou, are not possible owing to the current terrorist threat.

And so the high school decided to provide more support for AMPO.

Katrin Rohde gave a report about the present situation in the country to the pupils and teachers.

We would like to express our thanks to TAMIGA AG and hope that they will soon have the opprtunuty to visit their own project again.

https://www.gze-ni.de/index.php/tamiga-ag/tamiga-blog/2087-tamiga-ag-bekommt-besuch-von-katrin-rohde

 

Congratulations from the Emperor of the Mossi

Once again the Emperor of the Mossi granted an audience to the entire team of directors and Katrin Rohde. The Emperor wished to congratulate AMPO on its 25th anniversary and invited his guests to the "Palace".
This was a great honour for the AMPO team and for Katrin in particular.