Shared by Philogène TEBABO LINGANAISO, postulant
I would like to share with you my experience at the Pan Bila center of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. I started my apostolate there in June 2024.
This center welcomes single mothers or those who have fled a forced marriage. The aim is to reunite them with their families or to study and become responsible and assume their role in society.
In our country Burkina Faso, there is a tribe where, according to its culture, if a girl becomes pregnant out of wedlock, her family will chase her away. She cannot meet her father or brothers until she gives birth; if she does it is believed that they will die.
At first, it was a little difficult for me to work with these girls because of the language barrier and it was also difficult to gain their trust, so the only way to do it was through different activities. We cooked, washed their children’s clothes, farmed together or I helped carry their children.
What gives me joy in this center is the love for others despite their history, the collaboration with the center’s leaders and living together unity in diversity.
Now, I am very fulfilled and happy to spend my day with them, because they have become my friends.
Where there are people, there are many problems. Some are not open enough; sometimes they are afraid to share their stories with the leaders. We have just lost one girl and she left us her one- month-old baby who is now in a foster family. It was difficult for us because she had not spoken about her health problem. She did not even see the father of her child until the day before she died. She died in her bed next to her baby and the others only noticed it when the child started crying.
Others are looking for the fathers of their children and in most cases, it destabilizes them. Now we welcome at the center, some people who come to raise awareness of human trafficking and children’s rights. It is a way to help the girls to be vigilant about what is happening now in our world, especially human trafficking and other dangers.
On the 20th, we celebrated Christmas. The girls were all beautiful and happy. Each girl had received a “kitenge”, her child’s outfit and 3000 francs, from a generous donor. For me, this apostolate makes me live and understand in all its meaning the words of our founder Cardinal Lavigerie:
“Go out towards the other, eat their food, and speak their language”.
