Burkina Faso Diaries: Tegwende
For nearly ten years, Burkina Faso, located in the heart of West Africa, has been experiencing a security crisis due to terrorism. This situation, which has been raging on for several years, is one of the most forgotten and neglected in the world. It has led to a humanitarian crisis, with over 2 million internally displaced and over 39,000 refugees who have lost everything and fled their lands to escape the terrorists.
This has had dire consequences. Our people who once had arable land, livestock, family, a life, dignity, and enough to eat, find themselves stripped of everything. These vulnerable groups are forced to leave their homes for an uncertain future. While some initiatives and measures have made it possible to establish reception sites for internally displaced persons (IDPs), certain critical questions go unanswered. There is, in particular, the issue of women’s empowerment and children’s education. How can we ensure that these women have a source of income that allows them to provide for themselves and their families? How can we enable internally displaced children to return to school and have access to education? How can we promote their development?
The number of times I have had the opportunity to leave my country can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and it does not reach five. Why do I mention this? Because I was born and raised in Burkina Faso, and I love my country above all else. Having lived in the Center, the East, and the West, I can say that Burkina Faso is magnificent and full of countless treasures. It is a country with a warm, welcoming, and resilient population. The word resilience is engraved in us and is almost part of our DNA.
Today, it pains me to see that my homeland, which was once a haven of peace, is living this sad reality. Who would have believed it? The country of African cinema has become, over time, the stage of a dark theater... When will we find the light at the end of the tunnel? How many soldiers have fallen, how many wounded, how many widows and orphans, how many displaced people? How many victims? How high is the price of bloodshed?
On the economic front, we have gradually experienced monstrous inflation at all levels while incomes remain low. We are overwhelmed with taxes on everything, under the guise of everyone's contribution to the war effort. What can a resilient population do that seeks peace at all costs and is ready to make any sacrifice, any concessions to find its peace?
Today, an entire nation—its population ravaged by evil—fights daily to reclaim its land and restore peace. Fortunately, in the last two years, we have started to move in a direction that seems to offer a way out of the desolate situation we have been living in for a decade. The current authorities are fully committed to the complete reconquest of the territory, with the Burkinabe army leading the charge and the population increasingly engaged in their duty to support this effort.
But as a young person, and especially as a young woman, I find it increasingly difficult to live, let alone survive, on a daily basis. It is so difficult to find a job in our country that when you do find one, even if it is not well paid, you have to give thanks to God because at least you have a job, while others are still searching and do not have your “luck.” When I think of my peers, I sometimes wonder if they worry as much as I do about the future we will have. Will we get through this? What will be left for us? Will we be able to build our lives and grow in our dear country, Burkina Faso? Although I have a seed of hope, these questions, as if to bring me back to reality, always linger in my mind and remind me that I must keep moving; I must not rest on my laurels because outside, some have lost everything.
I firmly believe that each of us, each citizen, can be an agent of change on our own scale. For me, we are all ambassadors of our country. As such, we all have the duty to uphold the values of Burkina Faso, our dear homeland. If each citizen adopts this attitude, we will contribute to conveying a positive image of our nation, even in these dark times.
Despite the trials we are going through, I keep faith in a better future for our country. It is by joining forces that we will be able to overcome this war against the terrorists that has already lasted too long. Like all Burkinabe who love their homeland, I simply wish to live in a peaceful Burkina Faso, painted in white and no longer in red, and I am convinced that if we remain determined and active, this peace is within our reach.
Tegwende,* 28, Burkina Faso
*Names have been changed.