A Day in the Life of Dieubeni

  “A society is only as strong as its weakest and most vulnerable.
Making the case that orphans deserve our attention
and care should be easy to do?”

World Orphans Day 2021

Tragically, many of the children that ACT support lack the main support network that most of us take for granted – their parents.

The bereavement and uncertainty that a child goes through when experiencing the loss of both their parents at a young age is unimaginable. They face both mental and physical challenges. In the countries where there are no state-run children’s services, who will look after them?

Monday, 8^th November is World Orphan Day. At ACT we are raising awareness of the unique difficulties that many of our supported children face growing up, but also recognising their resilience in continuing to go to school and have ambitions for the future.

Among the nearly 8,000 disadvantaged orphans and fatherless children in Africa that we have supported in the past 23 years, some stand out in our memory for different reasons. One young boy that we recently supported has displayed particular resilience in the face of adversity. Dieubeni Ouedraogo from Burkina Faso is 10 years old. Dieubeni, translated from French means blessed by God.

He never knew his father – he died seven days before he was born from an unknown illness. Having been widowed, his mother Sylvie cherished her only child and cared passionately for him. Then last year, 2020, another tragedy – Sylvie was diagnosed with cancer. Tragically she died. This left Dieubeni as an orphan at just nine years old with no immediate family. He moved in with his aunt in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso.

Despite these immense challenges, Dieubeni is growing in confidence with each passing day. His school day starts when he meets his friends outside his house, and they walk together to school. He attends Ecolè Primaire Sakana which is close by to his home. He enjoys all his classes at school, particularly History. At the end of the school day, he walks back home with his friends and spends time completing any house chores or schoolwork before dinner. In his spare time and at the weekend he enjoys playing with his friends and loves to play football.

ACT support has been vital in supporting his aunt to enable her to provide the material needs of this child, pay school fees and buy school uniforms, shoes, school meals and other needs to enable Dieubeni go to school uninterrupted and to live a normal life like other children in his community. The family also receive periodic visits from care team volunteers at Hope Missions, our local partner. They check on them and attend to issues that they may be going through as a household. Without the help of ACT, his aunt would have struggled to afford his schooling and allow him to follow his dream of becoming a doctor when he grows up. He would also have missed out on the vital support children can gain from being surrounded by their peers in a school setting. When a child is experiencing loss like that of Dieubeni, being able to remain close to friends is vital.

Across the eight African countries where we work, there are many children who have gone through huge loss and who need urgent support to help them stay on the right track. Without their parents they have lost their primary caregiver and must now rely on other family members or an orphanage to provide them with food, emotional support and the means to go to school to gain an education.

ACT is for the people otherwise forgotten

A society is only as strong as its weakest and most vulnerable. Making the case that orphans deserve our attention and care should be easy to do, but is not always the case. On the World Orphans Day 2021, we ask you to please support ou work, so that we can continue to help orphans across the 8 African countries where we work. For just £15 a month you can sponsor a child, like Dieubeni. Your sponsorship can transform their lives for the better. Please Click here here to sponsor a child or donate.