Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association relief news update from Burkina Faso. As rain swept through many West African countries at the beginning of September, Burkina Faso was hit by the worst downpours in 90 years, with at least eight people succumbing to the storms.
Some 24,000 homes were damaged by flooding and 150,000 people were forced from their homes. On September 6, conveying much sorrow and her prayers, Supreme Master Ching Hai donated US$15,000 in emergency aid, asking our Association members to go help the most desperate and the lonely, as well as the wounded and elderly without caregivers.
This amount could obtain US$511,000 in items if purchased in the United States, based on the average cost of living in West Africa. Covering their own travel and related expenses, our Association’s relief team from Burkina Faso and neighboring Togo quickly went to evaluate the situation and then traveled to three locations where they distributed much-needed cloth, shirts, food and books.
Tiemtoré Sayouba, Victims leader, Burkina Faso (F): We don’t have words to thank you. Yago Mamadou Baba, responsible for the site, Burkina Faso (M): We say thank you to Supreme Master Ching Hai for her help to our population. We were really waiting for this help, and we say once again: Thank you, thank you very much.
VOICE: We, too, are grateful for Supreme Master Ching Hai’s heartfelt care to those in need as well as the timely efforts of our Association’s relief team. Our prayers for the continued recovery of the people of Burkina Faso to their meaningful daily lives and that all may be uplifted from such disastrous conditions through our kinder care of the environment.
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