Burkina Faso / Humanitarian situation: Boukary Pakmogda, shadow of “Good Samaritan” among internally displaced persons in Kienfange

On Wednesday, June 18, 2024, the sun rose over the informal IDP camp in Kienfanga, home to nearly 500 people forced to flee terrorist violence. These IDPs, mainly women and children, have been established at the Qatar Navy Multipurpose Complex School for nearly five years, living in “crowded” classrooms, away from the inhumane practices of these disloyal people and away from the law. They always remember the difficult times they went through in their homeland.

Thanks to this “good Samaritan”, Boukary Pakmogda, the lives of these IDPs have returned to normal. “Salam aleykoum, Salam aleykoum” (Arabic for peace be upon you) Boukary Pakmogda said to his hosts when we arrived at the scene. He said it was almost his duty to say “salam aleykoum” to these IDPs whose dignity he had restored before starting a new day.

The goal of this “good Samaritan” is to bring back smiles and hope to these victims of terrorism, and he devotes himself to ensuring that these “guests” do not go hungry. According to him, this means that he often disagrees with certain authorities on the issue of internally displaced persons. “Because often, when I mobilize supplies to go to certain locations, especially Kaya (the capital of the central north), the authorities tell me that I should not do this and that I have to pass through these locations. This means that we often do not get along well, because the most important thing for me is that these people have something to eat, not to quarrel over who should do what,” he complained.

It is difficult to understand why people are left hungry because of administrative requirements. This is also why he said he decided to stop collecting donations and delivering them to the reception area and instead stay on the ground in Ouaga to take action. He said that in addition to these administrative difficulties, he often encounters ingratitude from some IDPs.

But he claims that the most important thing for him is to help those in need, not in the name of humanity, but in the name of the one he prays to, his God. And in the eyes of the residents of this site, he is a foster father, a guardian, and even a husband to the women, as shown by his commitment to these orphans and widows.

Aminata Gueraka, a 50-year-old widow and mother of six, has lived at the additional site for five years after fleeing her hometown of Burzanga, a commune in the north-central region, because of abuse by terrorists.

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Thanks to the generosity of “Bubba”, she was able to breathe the air of normal daily life. “Since we got here, he has never eaten or drunk without us. When he goes into town for work, he brings people back to give us food and clothes. A man you don’t know, a man you are not related to by blood, adopts you and does everything for you, and aren’t we grateful enough to him?” she whispered, almost with tears in her eyes.

To her, he was their “Gansoaba” (Moore’s mentor) in this foreign village. The benefits this Gansoaba brought them were immeasurable. “Only God can put it back together,” she blessed.

On this site, everyone agrees that he means it with all his heart. Taïrou Gassembé and Moussa Gassembé, both fathers of families and from Burzanga for the same reasons, are speechless when it comes to “Bubba”. Without the help of this altruist, their situation would be much more difficult. “What would we do with our children? His yard is next door and every morning, like today, he stops here before going into town, collects everything he earns from well-wishers and brings it to us. In any case, he is a man of God because he does so much for us. He becomes one of us. This place is a second home,” they confess.

According to his son’s testimony, Gansoba (as he is called in this temporary location) was undoubtedly influenced by his late father, for whom the happiness of others was more important than his own. His kindness, his self-sacrifice, his devotion to others, as described, was inherited by him.

For the man who under other skies was also known as the “Mayor of the Cemetery”, due to his influence on this asylum for the dead, tomorrow’s life, “Paradise”, is being prepared today through his “actions that we propose”.

According to the records, Boukary Pakmogda, a fifty-year-old father of a large family, has been working as a cemetery cleaner for about fifteen years. Man defines himself as a friend of the weakest and the voiceless. He believes that everyone must do good, without exception. He convinces himself that the good we do to others will always be returned to us in other forms.

Mr. Park Mogda, the eldest son of a polygamous family, has become a foster father to these orphans in this security crisis, a “good” guardian to the adults, and a “husband” to the widows in this makeshift camp that houses more than 500 internally displaced people, most of whom come from villages in Burzanga commune.

This commune in the center-north region ranks second among the regions hosting more internally displaced persons (IDPs), with a number approaching 500,000 (493,954) as of March 31, 2023, according to the National Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (UNASUR).

This peripheral community, like most of the peripheral communities of the Burkina Faso capital, welcomed thousands of internally displaced persons, despite the prohibition of settlement in towns and villages that were not defined as reception areas by the country’s authorities at the time. Thus, the commune of Komcierga welcomed more than 1,000 of the 59,822 settlers in the central region (latest CONASUR report).

The same people who made Nagrin Cemetery a model of cleanliness also hope that these internally displaced persons fleeing the noise and crackle of bullets will also be welcomed with open arms and helped everywhere.

Now it is his battle and he defends it to anyone who can help them within their power. For Kienfangou, if the IDPs, wherever they are resettled, lack anything, then all Burkinabe people are responsible, and he expressed his regret with these words: “Because if they (PDIs) don’t eat, if they don’t eat and have clothes on, if they don’t take care of themselves, it’s our fault and God will hold us responsible. Because it’s our duty to take care of others. If everyone who throws food in the trash can thinks that there are people who don’t have anything to eat, these IDPs will never go hungry, because every day our trash cans are filled with food and old clothes. »

Also read: Humanitarian response in Burkina Faso: Amazonian Roukiatou Maïga brings hope to internally displaced people in Dori

He says that this battle, which he has started since the beginning of the security crisis, he has to mobilize large quantities of rice and send it to the Kaya IDP camp in the north-central part. All this is done discreetly and anonymously. Because, according to his philosophy, he does not need to talk about what he does, because the most important thing is that people do not sleep on the streets and do not go hungry, if only we can do something for them. He advocates for caution, but the works speak for themselves.

Now, these IDPs are integrated into the Komsilga group of 101,193 people (according to the 2019 INSD census), and they are managing to earn a living through small income generating activities (IGAs). This is thanks to the unwavering support of Boukary Pakmogda.

Among these IDPs he helps reintegrate into professional society is Ousmane Diallo. We met this father at noon on 19 June at the Nagrin cemetery, who had fled the terrorist crisis in the north and settled in this area of ​​Ouagadougou. He is one of about thirty employees employed by the Good Samaritan at the cemetery.

“When I arrived in Ouagadougou with my family, I didn’t know where to go and when I asked, I got his phone number and he invited me to work with him in this cemetery. For more than three years, it is through this work that I have been able to support my family and we hope that one day we can go home. He did for me what my family didn’t do because when I arrived, I didn’t know where to go and it was he who helped me settle and find a small job to make ends meet at the same time,” said the PDI.

Ousmane Diallo is not the only one who has benefited from Boukary Pakmogda’s services. Following the example of this father from northern Burkina Faso, we also met Salif Maïga there, who came to express his gratitude to his benefactor (Boukary Pakmogda). For this twenty-year-old and very lively man from the village of Djibo, after spending two years with the “Good Samaritan” in this cemetery, he said he wanted to go to Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso’s second largest city), where some of his family have settled.

“I can’t go to the battlefield, so this is my way of fighting to liberate my country,” he said in defence of his work.

Yvette Zongo

Lefaso.com