The Daughters of Charity alongside widowed women

The Daughters of Charity have been based in Nouna, the capital of the province of Kossy in north-west Burkina Faso, since 2009. They contribute to the development of the town and the diocese through their work in the fields of education, health and social pastoral care: helping the poor and prisoners, supporting disabled people and women, humanitarian aid and emergency relief.

The indigenous population is made up of several ethnic groups, the vast majority of whom are poor, with an average daily income of less than €1. There are 51% Muslims, 45% Catholics, 3% Protestants and 1% animists. 

The worsening security situation over the last two years has further weakened the socio-economic situation of these populations.

"Widowed women are particularly vulnerable. They are left with many children to support and have to look after the needs of the whole family. With no stable job to support their income, they live in extreme poverty. The insecurity in the area has made their living conditions even worse." Sr Toyin

The project: to ensure the autonomy of a group of widowed women from Nouna, organised into a cooperative, through a weaving workshop.

The beneficiaries are 50 widowed women who are members of a cooperative in Nouna and heads of household, each family comprising at least 7 people. 

A total of 350 people will benefit from this project. The stakeholders in this project are the beneficiaries themselves.

The aid provided will enable :

- build a hangar to set up a weaving workshop
- purchase six new looms and raw materials
- organise a one-month weaving training course run by a professional; some of these women already have basic weaving skills, which will be reinforced in this way
- help consolidate the bonds of solidarity between widowed women
- provide a stable income for these women, who will take charge of their own lives: they will use the profits from sales of their weaving to meet the daily needs of their large families and their cooperative.

All donations received in excess of the target will be donated to the project to enable Sr Toyin to continue her training courses and enable more women in vulnerable situations to benefit from them.

With them, thanks to you!