BURKINA FASONoma detected earlier thanks to raising awareness

SENEGALPreventing the abuse of children

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TESTIMONYAccompanying them on the road to resilience

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A family needs a roofIn the Nyantende region, on the outskirts of Bukavu, a Sent-inelles team discovered one more totally destitute and neglected family. Justine, a 50-year-old woman, lives in extreme poverty with her 15-people family. Married to an alcoholic man, she suffered domestic violence until the day he died. At the same period, two of her daughters got pregnant and became single mothers.

In addition, there are conflicts with Justine’s family-in-law who don’t support her at all. With her two elder daughters’ support, the mother tries to survive with a small business yielding far from enough to cover their basic needs.

“It is shocking to realise that, for lack of money, their house is deteriorating and their living conditions are becoming unbeara-ble. The walls have holes everywhere and can’t hold any longer. During the rainy season, the house is inundated and the family, that doesn’t own a bed, can’t sleep all night because of the mud that floods into the hut”, testifies the new programme manager returning from her first mission.

Sentinelles intends to enable this family to steer away from mis-ery and to provide these young women with the means to get their lives back into their hands and guarantee a future to their children. To be continued in a future edition.

MADAGASCAR, THOSE WHO ARE FORGOTTEN BY GROWTH

In Madagascar, one child out of two aged less than 5 years is suffering from a growth retardation; eight out of ten young people work in the informal sector, the country is n°5 in the world with the highest number of children out of school. This list of such telling indicators could become longer and longer.

The economic growth, higher than 4% since 2016, doesn’t visibly benefit everyone. And when, during that same year, the current President exclaimed: “Show me evidence that Madagascans get poorer and poorer”, the indignation on the Great Island was strong. Two long years after that cyni-cal sentence and without an ounce of change for an impor-tant fringe of the population, wrath ought to have been replaced by weariness and resignation.

How could it be different, will you ask me? Isn’t survival more of an urgency?

On the contrary, the working capacity of farmers using their bare hands as tools, the creativity and inventiveness of young people who aspire to a better life, the courage of entrepreneurial women, their strength, are shaking this belief. In a context of rampant poverty, all these men and women, everyday heroes, deserve our respect. They are still standing. And you, Mr. President, who haven’t acknowl-edged their needs during your full term, you certainly don’t have eyes to see their willpower and their dignity.

Editorial

2 | SENTINELLES | October 2018

Independent of any ideology, Sentinelles, founded 1980 by Edmond Kaiser, works to rescue and accompany children and adults in deep distress.

Marlyse Morard Managing Director

I N B R I E F

Marieta is a true survivor. Above all thanks to her incredible life force but also to an incredible solidarity chain including a doctor at the medical centre in Zorgho. In July 2017, he contacts us to refer to our Sentinelles Centre in Ouaga-dougou a 5-year-old girl who is afflicted with noma in acute phase. Until then, the procedure is usual. Medical workers and doctors regularly bring children affected by this illness, since our Centre is recog-nized for the treatment of noma cases. But the rest of the story goes beyond ordinary and becomes more revolting and tragic than what anyone could imagine.

How can one explain little Marieta’s story? It is difficult to conceive such a state of neglect.

Marieta’s father is opposed to a medical treatment and to a transfer to Ouagadou-gou for urgent care. We contact the social services and several mediators who go and talk with the father, unsuccessfully. A delegation of our team then goes to

Zorgho to convince him to leave the girl with us. An orphan on her mother’s side, Marieta lives with her father who has sev-eral additional wives and children liv-ing in the same family compound. As we discuss further, we understand that, not only didn’t her father bring her to a med-ical centre out of neglect, but he was let-ting her die.

It is the supervisor of the nearby school, who was worried about Marieta’s absence for some days whilst she would come to the school yard every day, who discovered Marieta abandoned in a corner of the fam-ily compound. Her father was letting her agonize without water or food. Worse still, he told us that he had already prepared a shroud and a shovel to bury her. Even-tually, he agrees to leave Marieta with us. Nemata, her 12-year-old half-sister, comes with us to the Centre to take care of her. Later on, we learn that Marieta is HIV-positive from birth, but that she was never given antiretroviral treatment even though it is free in Burkina Faso. During the next weeks, Marieta quickly recovers

thanks to medical treatment and good food. Remains the question of the psy-chological impact left by such neglect. When we see her laugh and play in the Sentinelles yard like any other carefree child, we are extremely happy to note that Marieta has an incredible resilience capacity and that she was able to benefit from the intervention of guardian angels at the right time so we could meet her.

In April 2018, Marieta was able to go back to her mother’s family who welcomed her with love. She now lives with her elder sis-ter Nemata in her grandmother’s hut, well surrounded by uncles from her mother’s family. Hervé and Marie-Lou, two stu-dents of the School for Arts and Commu-nication, who are shooting a documen-tary on noma for Sentinelles, went with our team in the field during this reunion. Very comprehensively, their movie depicts the noma problematic and retraces most of her story. Marieta, a noma survivor, has become the main character of a documen-tary that could raise awareness and pre-vent situations potentially. !

Marieta, a noma survivor

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6 | SENTINELLES | October 2018

In Burkina Faso, noma awareness and prevention are essential to prevent new cases and help affected children. A mass awareness project was recently and suc-cessfully carried out in the Eastern region of the country.

| BURKINA FASO

Raise awareness to avoid noma

In Burkina Faso, noma awareness and prevention are essential to prevent new cases and help affected children. A mass awareness project was recently and suc-cessfully carried out in the Eastern region of the country.

Every year, a tandem formed by Moussa, social worker, and David, driver, travels around the country to pass on informa-tion about noma to the various medical structures of Burkina Faso. They inform about the illness’ symptoms, its evolu-tion, its consequences and its treatment. Sentinelles pays a visit to the Health and Social Promotion Centres (CSPS) of the visited regions every second or third year to train the medical staff making regular rotations.

MEETING THE POPULATIONPrevention was also extended to popula-tions in vulnerable regions. A mass aware-ness project organised by Sentinelles and funded by Noma-Hilfe Schweiz enabled the dissemination of information in 315 villages of the Eastern Region of Burkina Faso between 2015 and 2017. This region is the one, with the Sahel region, where Sentinelles encountered most of the noma

cases. Germain and Ludovic, hired for this project, went to the villages every morn-ing. The sessions, held in schools, in health centres or in the shade of a mango tree, start with the screening of an aware-ness movie followed by a direct dialogue with the population.

The discussions are intended to question some popular beliefs that put noma down to a malediction or to evil. Some people also fear contagion, though non-existent. Germain and Ludovic presented the early signs of the illness – e.g. a simple gingi-vitis – so the parents bring their children earlier to a consultation. They also talked about the risk factors and shared advice.

Breastfeeding, tooth brushing with a toothbrush or a stick and vaccination against childhood illnesses allow a limitation of the risks or of the con-sequences of this violent disease.

They finally comforted the parents facing noma and explained they are not alone, that the illness can be cured, and that sur-gery can partly repair the sequelae affect-ing their children.

A very appreciated contest closed the ses-sions. Both young men were very com-mitted to carrying out this difficult and impressive work. Germain told us with great emotion how surprised he was by the harsh reality that so many people live with in these remote villages out in the bush of Burkina Faso. Originally from Ouagadougou, he had never realised the level of poverty and malnourishment from which a large portion of his coun-try’s population suffers, as well as its iso-lation, lack of information, hygiene and access to basic medical care.

RADIOS ARE PARTICIPATING This awareness project in the villages of the Eastern Region was a success. An assessment made in 2017 shows that almost every village was visited, touching a population of up to 80,000 people. An analysis of the CSPS records, six months before and after the awareness sessions has revealed an increase in early consul-tations for gingivitis, which is one of the main prevention objectives.

The project analysis also showed the importance of being rooted in the region, for example through community relays, so we can spread our messages more sus-tainably in the villages. In this sense, community radios such as the Farmer’s Voice have committed to a new aware-ness project that has begun this year with the participation of the Chaîne de l’es-poir. Our team will raise awareness of all CSPS in the Mouhoun Ring, a group-ing of 6 provinces in the Western part of the country, whilst community radios will take care of the awareness side in all vil-lages of this region, through advocacy, broadcasting of radio messages and thea-tre forum. Essential work we are delighted to continue in collaboration with other organisations. There is so much preven-tion to do in this country! !

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During a visit to several families followed in the region of Ana-lavory, situated more than 100 km to the east of Antananarivo, our team had the happy surprise to meet a family taken in hand in the past who are now managing quite well thanks to our help and the fruits of their efforts. Anicet is a boy who suffered from bilateral clubfeet and a cleft lip and palate; the parents had begun a treatement that they had to abandon very quickly because of a lack of funds. Noticing their despair, someone who knew our work referred them to us. The child was then two and a half months old and was in a serious state of malnutrition. Indeed, children suffering from a cleft lip and palate face a lot of problems suckling from their mother’s breast. Put onto a nutri-tional recuperation course as a matter of urgency, Anicet then followed treatment to correct his feet and he became the subject of close monitoring of his weight in order to achieve the ideal weight for an operation on his cleft lip and palate.

During all this time, we also worked on reinforcing the finan-cial capacity of the family to allow them to become independ-ent. Thanks to a modest micro-credit (about 15.- CHF) his father was able to launch a business selling vegetables. This busi-ness worked well and allowed the family to save money, even after the end of our follow-up in 2016. In 2017, the parents were able to open their own little grocer’s shop to cover their needs and send their children to school. Anicet, who is now a very healthy little boy, started school last year. He has gone on to his second year. An example which encourages us to continue our work.

| SWITZERLAND/BURKINA FASO

Going back homeBalkissa and Yérissieni, two girls from Burkina Faso who suffer from noma sequelae and whom we featured in our last edition, took a plane back home in June. We bid fare-well to them with mixed feelings. Happy to see them cured and able to go back to their families and country; sad to say goodbye to these two endearing children with whom we created strong bonds during our accompaniment. We entrusted them with emotion to the conveyor of Aviation Without Borders, a long-time partner of Sentinelles, who escorted them during their full journey back. They arrived safely to destination where they were met by their families and one of our workers. They will be monitored at the Sentinelles Care Centre so their treatment continues in good conditions. We wish them the best for their future endeavours!

| ONLINE

Videos about our action

Discover on our website www.sentinelles.org some short movies describing in a playful and graphic way our programmes around the world. They were entirely con-ceived and produced with little resources by one of our interns, Marc Bavaud. Depict-ing the Democratic Republic of Congo, the first movie shows Sentinelles’ actions to help abandoned women in extreme pre-cariousness, alone with their children. You shall see how our workers support them through a participative, respectful approach until they reach autonomy.

| MADAGASCAR

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| THE EXPORT OF ARMS

Sentinelles’ position Ladies and Gentlemen, Members of the Federal Council

In his press release dated 27th December 1979, Edmond Kaiser, founder of Terre des hommes and Sentinelles to the rescue of wounded innocence, spoke out in these terms against the export of arms: “The hunger strike that I undertook has as its goal to alert the Swiss people to our ongoing complicity – through our export trade in arms – in the massacre of innocent people who have done noth-ing to us. There are therefore grounds for each one of us (adults and children) to cry out massively and urgently our horror, our indignation and our rejection by intervening personally and directly towards the Chief Executive office, the Federal Council, by confronting them with the real source of our history: love for humanity through fraternity and honour”. Today, almost 40 years later, these lines are once again topical in the light of your terrifying intention to relax the regulations governing the export of arms. We call on you to abandon this project, which would expose even further innocent people to the killing frenzy which would go against the humanitarian vocation of our coun-try, its credibility and its commitment to peace. Confident of your humanity, we send you, Ladies and Gentlemen, members of the Federal Council, our respectful regards.

For Sentinelles Foundation Board Christiane Badel, President, Bruno Barthélemy, Member

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| SENEGAL

Raising awareness of abuseIn schools in Mbour, pupils perform a play to raise awareness with their classmates about child abuse, present in some homes in Senegal.

A POWERFUL THEME In Senegal, it’s difficult to close doors which – we see on a daily basis – are especially made to be opened. The public, normally limited to 150 children, exceeds 300 or even 400 people for the last performance. Indeed, many curious people join the public. A crowd of this size is however very silent during such a show. The theme speaks to them, we’ve won! The performance opens on a scene from daily life. A mother orders her daughter to do the washing up, she shouts loudly and ends by hitting her, because she thinks that her daughter isn’t going fast enough.

Abuse, whether physical or mental, is treated in all its forms. Rape, excision, exploitation, blows, all of these are dealt with through scenes of daily life, so that the child can eventually recognise himself and imagine this.

A father who decides to send his son to a daara with a tyranni-cal marabout, a young girl on the point of being excised by her aunt in the name of tradition, another child raped by her uncle and then rejected by her family, talibes forced to beg in the mar-ket to get a few coins: the play, full of emotion, is performed by young actors freshly trained, brilliant and committed. “A child’s place is neither the bus station nor the market, begging”, “Being a parent is to be responsible for one’s children”, “Excision can

Regularly, Sentinelles takes charge of abused children to treat them and to organise a social accompaniment, whilst search-ing for the best solution for their future. A child who is beaten, raped or exploited must be helped. But above all, a child who is beaten, raped or exploited should never suffer this situation. For this reason, Sentinelles wants to prevent as well as heal by investing more and more in the prevention of bad treatment of young people. We notice that abuse and neglect are present in certain Senegalese homes. These children, who do not always show signs of abuse, suffer within their families without us knowing about their situation.

On the theme of the defence of children’s rights and the preven-tion of abuse, Sentinelles has developed an awareness-raising pro-ject in five schools in Mbour. A Senegalese theatre director, spe-cialist in raising awareness in the community, has been appointed to put in place a forward-looking project for schoolchildren.

Once the project has been approved by the school’s princi-pal, ten or so meetings are organised in the school. The direc-tor identifies the actors for awareness-raising from amongst the pupils and then trains them to put on a short play in front of their schoolmates. One hundred and fifty schoolchildren from the ages of 10 to 15 then attend the performance and relay what they have seen to their classmates.

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have serious consequences for the health of young girls”, these are the slogans that ring out in Wolof and in French all through the first act.

If the public immediately recognises the gravity of these ges-tures committed by adults in the first act, it is the second part of the play that completes the understanding. With the help of a large poster on which is printed the scales of justice, the decor recreates a courtroom and the actors are dressed in black robes. With serious faces, they take on the roles of judges, lawyers, prosecutors... and the accused. One by one, all the adults who have abused children are judged after speeches from their law-yer and the prosecutor. Each time, the latter proves much more convincing and brandishes large photos of the bruised bodies of children who are victims of the abuse in question. Two months in prison for the terrible marabout. “Only two months?” shouts a young man in the public, aghast. Ten years in prison for the rapist uncle, “Me, I would have given him twenty, adds a young girl, a little disappointed.

FIRST STEPS TOWARDS HELPThe aim of the play is to raise awareness with the children of the abuse to which they could become victims. But what should they do if they are concerned or if they know a classmate who is himself a victim? It is in order to address this need that different community leaders are invited to these awareness-raising ses-sions and take the floor to introduce themselves. So, the neigh-bourhood delegate, the community representative and the “Bay-génougokh”, responsible for social health and good practice in her neighbourhood, introduce themselves in turn to underline their availability for children in cases of abuse or family diffi-culties.

These awareness-raising sessions are very important in break-ing preconceptions and ending common practices which flout children’s rights in the name of customs or traditions. They are useful in the measure that solutions – with the help of commu-nity leaders – are given to children who could identify with the situations seen. It is then a question of intervening for a second time in the schools and approaching teachers to see if they have been able to come to the aid of some children. Sentinelles cannot hope to prevent abuse in all the homes of those who participate in these sessions. If only one child finds comfort and a solution to his suffering, this work will not have been in vain. Everything leads us to believe that other children will leave these sessions having understood the message, ready to pass it on one day to their future children. !

COUMBA, FORCED TO WORK HARD AT HOME

Coumba Sene, the daughter of a farmer, is the only girl in a family of eight children. She is sent to live with her aunt in Dakar at a very young age. There, she is the victim of regu-lar abuse. Every morning before going to school, she has to fetch water and carry out the housekeeping tasks. Back from school, it is also up to her to cook for the whole household. Not only is Coumba beaten by her aunt if she thinks that the housework isn’t well done, but she doesn’t have time to do her homework or revise her lessons. Her neighbours inter-vene several times to avoid an unhappy outcome to the vio-lence that she suffers.

However, Coumba likes to learn and is a brilliant student. School is her way out and when she realises that she can no longer read from the blackboard without getting very close, she hides her problem in fear of having to stop her studies. And this is what ends by happening without her parents or her teachers knowing. Her aunt takes her to a doctor, but doesn’t follow the recommended treatment. Letting her health deteri-orate, she finishes by taking her out of school. It’s thanks to a visit by an uncle that Coumba’s parents enquire about the sit-uation and take her back to their village. Coumba is suffering from a brain tumour. She is finally operated on for its removal with the support of Sentinelles. If her life is no longer in dan-ger, the delayed operation gives her no chance of recovering her sight. Sentinelles is at the moment taking the necessary steps to allow her to enrol in the only school for the blind in Senegal.

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When, having been a volunteer worker with an association in Calcutta for six months, I simply replied to an advertisement by Sentinelles sent to me by my parents, I didn’t imagine that my life would be transformed by it. This was in 1996 and I haven’t left the Foundation until today, when the time for retirement has arrived.

Once my Indian contract finished and after a two-week stay in Nepal to get to know the programme opened by Sentinelles for children in prison and street children, I left for the foothills of the Himalayas to live one of the most intense periods of my life. These two years of volunteer work were my school, the founda-tion of my commitment and the confirmation of my motivation to work to help the most deprived people, to share my luck in being born in better circumstances. There, close to the moun-tains, surrounded by children and accompanied by a team of Nepalese colleagues, I experienced moments that were some-times difficult, but more often magnificent.

Then came the return to Switzerland, with regular missions in the field. Bonds forged in Nepal were consolidated and others created in India. In 2007, Sentinelles’ programme to help women victims of violence and their children was opened in the Dem-ocratic Republic of Congo in the eastern region of South Kivu which has suffered so much from successive wars. In this way another continent adopted me. The DRC is amongst the poor-

My 22 years with Sentinelles

est countries in the world and in all these years, I have not seen any improvement in structures, roads and the general situation of the country. Most Congolese live in profound deprivation and the dramatic living conditions endured by countless women in this region of the world are shameful.

Their resistance in the face of unbearable suffering is admirable. They show remarkable courage.

The modest help that Sentinelles can bring often represents the only glimmer of hope in their lives made up of poverty and humiliation. Accompanying them on the road to resilience is a privilege. It will take a lot more for these little drops of water to allow us to see a change in the general situation in the country, but they are important and essential for those who receive them. Each visit to the families followed, to these children who at last have enough to eat and who are so proud to go to school, shows this with no possible doubt.

Travelling through the beautiful hills of South Kivu meeting wounded and humiliated Congolese people does not leave you unscathed. And at the moment of my retirement, it is the image of these joyful and mischievous children and their cou-rageous mothers with their rediscovered smiles that I would like to keep.

Claudine Bonis recounts her devoted commitment to rescuing wounded innocence.

Les Cerisiers, route de CeryCH-1008 Prilly/Lausanne (Switzerland) Tel. +41 21 646 19 46info@sentinelles.orgwww.sentinelles.org

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Publisher: SentinellesLayout: Mathias RegameyImpression: PCL Presses Centrales SAEnglish translation: Volunteers