On 11th March 2019 we were lucky to be visited by Gillie Nicholls, founder of the charity Les Amis Burkina Faso.
Les Amis is a charity which particularly supports women. The lives of women in Africa can be extremely difficult, but particularly so for those who have given birth to a disabled child. This can often lead to the woman and her disabled child being abandoned.
Women who find themselves in this situation face not only the difficulties of caring for a disabled child, but also the anguish of being abandoned to a life of poverty and destitution. Les Amis Burkina Faso makes sure these women have somewhere to turn, and aims to not only provide the financial help so desperately needed, but also encourage the women to help and befriend each other.
Keeping girls in education is an important part of the work of Les Amis as there remain some customs in Burkina Faso which make the girls vulnerable to abusive and undesirable situations. Keeping them in education is a way of protecting them from these customs. The charity is also involved in protecting young women from an unwanted early marriage by funding a refuge to which they can turn. At this refuge they are housed, fed, clothed and taught several skills such as weaving, embroidery, brewing, soap making, growing crops and animal husbandry. They are also taught how to read and write. With these skills they can become self-sufficient.
Gillie drove all the way from Godalming to give us a fascinating talk about the lives of women in Fada N’Gourma – where the Les Amis training centre is located, and in Baskoure – where the charity operates a refuge which supports young women who have run away from forced marriages. Gillie also recounted stories and successes of the seamstresses our Club has helped to support over the years. You can read more about Les Amis projects in Burkina Faso here.
Club President Karen Whitworth presented Gillie with a cheque for £250 towards the charity’s work ongoing work in training seamstresses. Club founder member Julia Pinner commented that Gillie’s talk was the “most inspiring one she had heard for a long time!” The lady certainly had a lot of energy and her passion for the work the charity does shone from her.
In addition Founder Member Angela Reynolds celebrated her 80th Birthday in March so Club took the opportunity to bake and eat several lovely cakes in her honour – such a hardship!
Les Amis Burkina Faso is one of our club’s ongoing projects, learn more about them here.