In seven-league boots… through Burkina Faso

Sadia (11) with a walking aid

When Sadia is born in a small village in Burkina Faso 11 years ago, the bones in her right lower leg are not fully developed. She has difficulty learning to walk, because her leg cannot carry her. Multiple painful collapses, injuries and bone fractures follow. Her family lives off farming; they have a few chickens and donkeys. For this reason the parents cannot afford medical treatment for their daughter. The injuries heal badly, the fractures grow together crookedly, with the final result of the right leg being 20 centimetres shorter than the left one. Sadia, who never learned to walk independently in the first place, grows more and more insecure in her movements.

Finally a rehabilitation therapist from a community-based rehabilitation programme sponsored by LIGHT FOR THE WORLD in Manga notices the by then 10-year-old girl’s struggle and brings her to a doctor. The diagnosis at first sounds horrifying: The leg has to be amputated; otherwise Sadia will never be able to walk. But what at the first glance seems like yet another blow in reality brought Sadia freedom and independence! After the wounds from the surgery have healed, Sadia gets another leg – a prosthesis. Soon afterwards she takes her first steps!

Today Sadia stands on her own two feet. In the past her father had to bring her to school every day on the rear rack of his bicycle - today she walks to school together with her friends. In the past she could hardly wash herself - today she helps her mother with the cooking and cleaning, and she even participates in the millet harvest. Her life has changed thoroughly. Joyfully and proudly Sadia now copes with her daily life, she is looking forward to her future.

Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world.
Blind and disabled persons are especially affected by poverty, because often stigmatisation and discrimination come along with the inability to earn their own livelihood.

The rate of blindness in this West African country, formerly known under the name of Upper Volta, is as high as 1.5 percent! In order to be able to help ophthalmically challenged and blind persons sustainably, LIGHT FOR THE WORLD in 2005 founded the first ophthalmic clinic in the region of Koupela, a region with a population of 2.5 million people. Today we do not only support this ophthalmic clinic in Zorgho, but we also carry out ophthalmic relief operations in remote areas with the aim of providing access to ophthalmic care for the people living in those areas.

LIGHT FOR THE WORLD also helps blind and otherwise disabled persons: In Burkina Faso alone 6,500 disabled persons every year receive medical care in the course of community-based rehabilitation programmes. They are furthermore provided with access to therapeutic care and education. That way children like little Sadia get the chance of a future!