Mennonite Weekly Review

KANGALA, Burkina Faso —Mennonites are responding to the devastation caused by lightning-induced fires in three villages.

Balahalama Sourabie, left, Burkina Faso Mennonite Church treasurer, joins Joël and Mamou Traoré and their son Jacob, right, in Kangala, Burkina Faso, to assess fire damage to their kitchen after a lightning strike. The child at left is unidentified. — Photo by Siaka Traore/MMN

Five days after the May 21 storm, leaders of Eglise Evangélique Mennonite du Burkina Faso (Evangelical Mennonite Church of Burkina Faso) visited communities that had lost homes, food supplies and their means of transportation — bicycles and motorcycles.

Members of two Mennonite congregations were among those left only with the clothes they were wearing and their hoes. The three lightning strikes ignited fires late in the afternoon while most of the villagers were working in their fields, located at a distance from their homes.

“We cannot remain indifferent as we observe this picture of desolation,” four members of the Mennonite executive committee wrote in their report after visiting the scene of the fires. “We want to express our compassion and bring aid at all levels — individually, as a community and internationally — to comfort those who have experienced this disaster.”

After consulting with local authorities who are coordinating grain collection, the Mennonite Church of Burkina Faso contributed an initial $600 and is encouraging each congregation to take a love offering for fire relief. Church leaders also committed to repairing five damaged roofs.

“As a result of our visit, the executive committee saw the immediate needs and decided to offer the modest means we had to the victims,” said Siaka Traoré, national president of the church.

Firefighters battled the inferno for close to four hours May 21. In Kangala, 468 people are now without shelter. Because most of the homes were constructed in the traditional style with mud walls and thatched roofs, the walls remain. Given the season, thatch will be difficult to replace. Villagers must wait for new grass to grow long enough to be harvested for their roofs.

The losses in Kotoura were limited to five homes. About 12 miles away in Fitiguedjassa, a mother and her two children were the only casualties.

There are Mennonite churches in Kangala and Kotoura, a village less than two miles from Kangala. These churches grew out of the ministry of Africa Inter-Mennonite Mission and the predecessor agencies of Mennonite Mission Network and Mennonite Church Canada Witness.