Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is supporting a dozen congregations of sisters working in all sectors of parish pastoral work in Burkina Faso: catechesis, spiritual formation, accompaniment of religious groups, formation on the integral human promotion of children and women and visiting the sick at home or in hospitals.
ACN has received many testimonies from sisters who are working in the health ministry in the diocese of Fada N’Gourma. They explained how do they participate as nuns in the prevention and the
fight against Covid-19:
– Sr. Joséphine ZONGO.T soeur du Christ Rédempteur, is a nurse in the health center of the parish of Piela: «We are constantly educating patients and their companions to wear a mask and wash their hands, not to shake hands during greetings, to sneeze in the elbow and limit their movements.»
– Sr Marguerite Valea, SAB (Soeurs de l’Annonciation de Bobo) «My ministry consists in visiting the sick in the hospital as well as the elderly at home. We pray together. I seek to bring them comfort. I listen to them. In this time of crisis, I bring soap to families, I listen to the sick and I give them hope that they will recover. I visit all the sick, Christians, and non-Christians.»
– Sr Claire Belem, SIC (Soeurs de l’Immaculée Conception) «I work in the sick chaplaincy pharmacy. It is a pharmacy where the poor come to get medicines. In my place of apostolate we live the confinement through the implementation of barrier measures: use of masks and handwashing devices for patients who come for the consultation, respect for the distance of one meter between each patient.»
– Sister Lucie Kabore, consecrated virgin, working in a hospital in Fada N’Gourma: «Since the start of the pandemic, we have implemented measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Everyone who enters the hospital must wash their hands, wear a mask, and respect the distance. It is really important that everyone respects these measures because if ever a case appears, everyone will be infected.»
– Sr Laurence Traoré SAB (Soeurs de l’Annonciation de Bobo-Dioulasso). She is a nurse and she is the head of CREN (Center recuperation Nutrionnel) in Kantchari which is 150 km from Fada. The center carries out educational and preventive curative activities. «During the consultations, we continually meet displaced people due to the situation of insecurity. Malnourished children are interned at CREN for their internal recovery and outpatient follow-up. To cope with this pandemic which has no target, we practice awareness-raising and practice hygiene safety measures. Over the days our means are limited while the practice is de rigueur. With insecurity, we no longer have outside support to feed the children.»
