By sharing with others we are building a better world.

I would like to share my own story, my family’s story. Tell how it gave me strength to continue today helping others in the same situation.

By Elise Kabré (Burkina Faso)

I was living with my family in a suburb of the town, called Karpala. When we first came here we didn’t know anyone. There was just me and my children and my mother, the “Ancient One”. We didn’t always have enough to eat and the children often went to school hungry.

With friends from ATD Fourth World we decided to organise a book activity in the Ancient One’s house. That enabled us to build a network of relations with families and children in our neighbourhood.

The activity took place Thursday mornings at 8 am. A volunteer from the team and other friends came with a mat, a few books, sometimes with paper and colouring crayons. We also played games, sang songs, danced, told stories…All the children gathered together in the Ancient One’s yard, children in poverty, rich children, others whom we had no idea where they came from, they all gathered in the Ancient One’s yard. Every Thursday they waited for the entertainers.

Through these gatherings we learned to trust the neighbours and today I am proud of the role played by my family and myself in Karpala.

One day there was a big downpour, the tin roof was torn off and the Ancient One’s bedroom was flooded. I am her only child and I’m not a man, but I got repairing with all my strength and the neighbours came to help. They helped us move all the material to safety, bale out the water and mend the roof. We had to live outdoors for two days while the house was fixed. We couldn’t afford to build a new house but thanks to our new friends in the neighbourhood we got help to pay for cement, sand, tin sheets. I was in charge of mixing the cement, to repair my mother’s house where my family could sleep.

All that experience gave me the strength to reach out to lone people like myself and help them share the experience that I had with my family. What other people do for us, encourages us to help others in turn who are like ourselves, people who are not as fortunate as others. That is how I came to run a street library in another neighbourhood. I wanted to share something with people so that they in turn would share with others in the same situation. In sharing with others we can all build a better world.